#22 - Possible Side Effects

While Running With Scissors got all the press for Augusten Burroughs I found it to be little more than a good backstory to truly appreciating his other books. It laid some foundation. Burroughs really hits his stride when he is writing short, true accounts from his life in books like Dry, Magical Thinking, and Possible Side Effects. Few authors can get me to actually laugh out loud while reading, but Burroughs is one of them and there was no shortage in this one. Neurotic, obsessive, strange, introspective and brutally honest all barely begin to describe the contents of any Augusten Burroughs tale and they really must be read to be appreciated. The only downfall is his "need" to end each story with some quip or pun that almost always falls flat. It might be intentionally groan-inducing but often it simply succeeds in wiping the smile off my face that I had the entire time through the tale. It's a minor quibble, but noteworthy. Highly Recommended.

#21 - Cisco IOS in a Nutshell

I've been mainly working with Alcatel-Lucent switching gear for work but don't want to let my Cisco knowledge fade away from memory so I did some brushing up. To a non-techie that made no sense but a proper explanation would take too long. Basically, Cisco is the dominant maker of network gear and the operating system it uses is very complex and a bit archaic and if you are not working with it daily it can be hard to jump back into easily. Certainly not like riding a bike. IOS in a Nutshell is a great tour-de-force of the operating system and commands and easily catches me back up. This book should be part of any network admin/tech's library and re-read often. Highly Recommended.

#20 - The World Treasury of Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics

Yes, I am probably the only person who considers a fairly large collection of math, physics, and astronomy writings to be a "beach read" but I do. The World Treasury of Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics is a great collection because it straddles the line between being too simple and too complex and mostly succeeds. It is understandable to the layman and can be used as a reference or "dictionary" of concepts or read through as a book that properly flows from one concept to the next like building blocks. Einstein, Hawking, Assimov, and on and on are captured from lectures and talks to dissertations and it is all accessible. Highly Recommended.

#19 - Lost on Planet China

I needed a good plane/beach read so I went with Maarten Troost's newest even though his second book was pretty much a failure for me. Lost on Planet China has brief glimpses of greatness but unfortunately it ultimately falls flat and fails to even tie up any of the story elements before ending abruptly. Just a meandering mess. It did manage to make me genuinely laugh out loud a few times but beyond that it just bombed. I hate to say it but it looks like his initial brilliance was just a flash in the pan. Not Recommended.