Tal Cohen's Bookshelf: A Collection of Personal Opinions about Books

Fiction

Science Fiction

Non-Fiction

Computer Science

Book In-Jokes
The Fiction Collection
“I wonder... What's in a book while it's closed... Because as soon as I open it, there's a whole story with people I don't know yet and all kinds of adventure and deeds and battles... All those things are somehow shut up in a book. But it's already there, that's the funny thing. I just wish I knew how it could be.”
Michael Ende, The Neverending Story

The Science Fiction Collection
“A wild dream and a far one -- but no wilder and no farther than some of the dreams of man.”
Clifford D. Simak, City

The Non-Fiction Collection
“That's the reason they're called lessons: because they lessen from day to day.”
Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

The Computer Science Collection
“Think of a computer program. Somewhere, there is one key instruction, and everything else is just functions calling themselves, or brackets billowing out endlessly through an infinite address space. What happens when the brackets collapse? Where's the final “END IF”? Is any of this making sense?”
Douglas Adams, Mostly Harmless

Book In-Jokes

Here I try to maintain a list of book in-jokes: little jokes that most readers won't notice, hidden in otherwise serious books (for more about what "in-jokes" are, see at the end of the list).

I'll need your help: if you find any such in-jokes, let me know. Please include the word “injoke” in the subject.

The books are listed in no particular order.


Book Reviews / Read Log Book Reviews: Fiction Science-Fiction Book Reviews Non-Fiction Book Reviews Computer Science Book Reviews
[2000-01-07]

Not one of the many new pattern catalogs, John Vlissides’s Pattern Hatching show how patterns are applied in real life — and also includes some interesting guidelines for would-be pattern writers.
[Computer Science]
Read more... Comments so far: 2

[1999-09-26]

Taking place in parallel to Ender’s Game, Card’s book Ender’s Shadow focuses on a different character in the same story. Anyone who enjoyed the first Ender book will not be disappointed by the new one.
[Science Fiction]
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[1999-08-28]

There is something inherently wrong about continuing the work of a dead writer. Blade Runner 2, however, is more of a sequel to the movie than to Philip K. Dick’s book.
[Science Fiction]
Read more... Comments so far: 2

[1999-08-27]

Geoffrey James’s The Tao of Programming is not a computer science book per se; however, only real programmers will understand its beautiful, subtle humor. The two less-known sequels, The Zen of Programming and Computer Parables are also reviewed.
[Computer Science]
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[1999-08-02]

An excursion into post-apocalyptic mayhem, Robert McCammon’s Swan Song is reviewed by guest reviewer Kevin McAllister.
[Fiction]
Read more... Comments so far: 2



[See earlier reviews]
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