Reviews and Comments

I read this excellent book sometime in the 90s; now it's time for a refresher.

This book reminded me of why I was so excited by category theory as an undergraduate. And because of that I found it to be a gripping read.

The only aspect lacking for me: I would have really liked a chapter exploring the connections that category theory has enabled, and the problems that have been solved as a result. But this excellent book has nonetheless fired me up to go and find those for myself.

I've been using the techniques from this book with great success for a couple of years. Everything presented here by Teresa Torres is clear, sensible, practical -- and works in practice.

Of course, this is only one of several product discovery processes that emphasise experimentation, small increments and iterative, conversational relationships with users and customers. But this is the one that works best for me.

Highly recommended.

There's plenty to like in this second book in the Oxford series, and I found myself gripped much of the time. The story does lose its way a little in the final quarter, but the last (short) chapter contains a spectacular surprise when the identity of the bad guy is revealed.

There's less humour here than in the first book, although that is rectified whenever Sarah appears. And as previously, the characters are well drawn and distinguished from each other.

Another gripping yarn -- recommended.

I loved the Jim Hutton series of Ellery Queen in the 70s, so I was really looking forward to reading a collection of Ellery Queen short stories. But after the fourth I was starting to wish there were no more...

The stories themselves are each expertly crafted, perfect examples of logical deduction. And the language used does evoke 1930s New York (I imagine). But I didn't /enjoy/ them, possibly because Queen himself comes across as a real smarty-pants. And so after reading a few of these stories, I found the remainder were quite a slog and I just wanted them to end.

This book is a very clear introduction to domain modelling and functional type systems, and indeed F#. The whole book uses a single, large worked example, and this provides good continuity through the various phases of requirements specification, design and implementation. The only problem I have with the book's approach is that tests / examples aren't used in specifying the application's behaviour; I would have liked to see the author exploring the relationship between type specifications and TDD.

This is the best book I've read for a few months -- a gripping romp in the manner of 'The 39 Steps'. It is clearly a first novel, and yet the characters -- especially in their long and detailed introspective moments -- are very well drawn. I will definitely be reading the other books in the Zoe Boehm series.

If this had been Edwards' first novel I would be saying it's not bad for a new novelist starting out. But for an author who had been writing for a decade by this time, I thought most aspects of this novel -- plotting, characters, dailogue, use of language -- were clumsy. And this applies particularly to the moment of inspiration in which the lead suddenly understands the identity of the murderer.

I'm put off reading the rest of the series now, which is perhaps a shame.

In a word: amateurish.

This is a fairly short "business novel" in which Eli Goldratt's daughter explains Lean and Kanban using Theory of Constraints terminology, by re-hashing most of what's in Goldratt's earlier 'Critical Chain'. I suppose some of the ideas might be new to some people, but there's nothing really important here if you're already familiar with Lean and Agile. And the "novel" is pretty thin on the ground, with little of the allegorical story-telling that made 'The Goal' so wonderful.

In a word: lame.

Gallows Court is a highly entertaining and gripping crime caper, told mostly through the eyes of a junior newspaper reporter. The plot's twists and turns are always unexpected, and so for once I had no advance inkling as to how things would play out. Highly recommended.

Currently re-reading the introductory sections on feedback loops in systems thinking and thoroughly enjoying it all again. Makes me want to build dynamic models for on of my current clients, or build a simulation tool.

Also, it has me thinking about the relationship between Systems Thinking and Goldratt's Theory of Constraints. How do they interact? Under which circumstances is each the more appropriate tool? Etc etc. Maybe there's some hobby maths to be done here...!

I know next to nothing about the British Raj in Calcutta after WWI, so I found this tale both enjoyable and highly informative. The main characters are likeable, the story is told at a good pace, and the plotting is accomplished. Shame the identity of the murderer was telegraphed so clearly that guessed it after reading only 20% of the book...

In M W Craven's The Botanist, DS Washington Poe references John Dickson Carr a couple of times, so I also read The Hollow Man.

This is less a novel, more a pair of related logic puzzles. The style isn't really to my taste, but the resolutions are very satisfying. 4 stars (but only because I didn't get on with the prose style).

I've read far fewer books in 2022 than in previous years, but easily the best was The Botanist by M W Craven.

It's the 5th and latest Washington Poe, and is a gripping chase rather than a classic #whodunit . The main characters, Poe and Bradshaw, are very likeable, Craven's sense of humour is right up my street, and the plotting and puzzle set-pieces are highly satisfying. 5 stars.