The HCIC Book Group met at Fandango restaurant on June 27, 2012. Alas, I wasn't there--but Judy Olson graciously took notes for us.
Contributors: Cliff Lampe, Gary Olson, Judy Olson, Mark Newman, John Thomas, Wendy Kellogg, Jack Carroll, Ed Chi, Jim Herbsleb.
(Judy) The Night Circus, Erin Mortenson. Magical mystery without murder. Beautiful descriptions.
(Gary) Alan Turing: The enigma, Andrew Hodges (1983) Based on the mother’s notes. Preface by Doug Hofsteder (see summary in the journal Science) Codebreaker. Andrew Hodges's remarkable insight weaves Turing's mathematical and computer work with his personal life to produce one of the best biographies of our time, and the basis of the Derek Jacobi movie Breaking the Code.
(Cliff) Game of Thrones by George R. Martin (four book 2500 page series of books) Sci Fi, richly textured. Major characters get killed off periodically, so it's not a simple story.
(Jim) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. by Mark Haddon. The victim is a dog with a barbeque fork stuck in him named Wellington. Boy tries to figure out.
(Mark) The Mansion of Happiness: The history of life and death by Jill Lepore. So much stuff crammed into it. The framing is a board game from the early 1800s, the purpose of life embedded in board games. Into the question,“are there eggs” in humans.
(Jack C) Dog Sense John Bradford. If you’re crazy about dogs and cognitive psychology. We have misunderstood the relationship. 35,000 years of relationships. Wolfomorphic view of dogs.
(John Thomas) (on tape) Predictively Irrational. Dan Ariely. How people make decisions or don’t. Chapter on cheating. How he became a scientist.
(Wendy) Younger Next Year. Chris Crowley and Henry Lodge. Evolutionary argument for why we have to exercise hard 6 days a week. Consistency trumps intensity.
(Ed Chi) Eats Shoots and Leaves. Lynn Truss. Beyond Strunk and White. Makes it alive.
(Judy) Sister: A Novel. Rosamund Lupton. The most surprising ending I’ve ever read. Mystery of the “Fugitive” sort.
(Gary) Van Gogh: A Life. Steven Naifeh & Gregory White Smith. Letters show how the life unfolds.
(Cliff) At Home. Bill Bryson. Architecture history and materials.
(Jim H) A Wild Sheep Chase. Hiroki Mirokami. Novel. Surreal.
(Mark) The Power Of Habit: Why we do what we do in Life and Business. Charles Duhigg. Pop science. How to change your habits; business. Covers psychology of habit. Difference between conscious choice and habit.
(John Thomas) Social Intelligence. Daniel Goldman. Pop psychology, but new work on physiological basis for social reactions.
(Wendy) Merles Door. Dog lovers book. “A free-thinking dog.”
(Ed) Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. “Whale wars” the TV Series. Wikipedia entry. Ethical dilemma. Watch with an open mind.
(Ed) The Happiest Baby on the Block How the first trimester works.
(Jim H) Thinking fast and slow. Daniel Kahneman.
(Cliff) Networked: The new social operating system. Lee Rainie, Barry Wellman
(Ed) Evidence Based Design of Online Communities. Bob Kraut. Disappointed that Bob wasn’t here to have him sign it.
(Gary) Ways of Knowing in HCI (forthcoming) Olson and Kellogg
(Wendy) The Mortal Instruments. Young adults, but good.
(Wendy)
Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain. John J. Ratey and Eric Hagerman. A middle school where the kids had to run before school. Exercise effects on brain function.
(John) Movie: Incredibly Loud and Extremely Close. And The Finnish version of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.