Review: Quantum: Computing Nouveau: The Technological Step Change That Could Foster Scientific Discovery, Break Blockchains, and Trigger a Global Cybersecurity Arms Race

Quantum: Computing Nouveau: The Technological Step Change That Could Foster Scientific Discovery, Break Blockchains, and Trigger a Global Cybersecurity Arms Race by Jason Schenker
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Quantum: Computing Nouveau: The Technological Step Change That Could Foster Scientific Discovery, Break Blockchains, and Trigger a Global Cybersecurity Arms Race... Mylanta, that's a mouthful of title! I mean I'm a wordie but dang. And by wordie, I mean I'm into books not tech. I leave that to my cyber security expert husband and he is the one I turned to to tell me 1, what is right here and 2, what is wrong?

This is his conclusion; Technically speaking (no pun intended) the information is correct and explained to you mere mortals pretty succinctly. That's not easy with this kind of specialized subject matter, it's complex to the Nth degree, and this guy nailed it. What's wrong isn't something he really got wrong per se, I just think that the predictions are much too concrete. The way technology evolves isn't always predictable and this aspect especially shouldn't be underestimated. Still, this book is full of good information and all tech appreciate a well informed public.

So there you have it, from my very own personal expert, this is a good tech book on this subject.

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Review: Master Your Business Cash Flow: Grow the Company You Love, Live the Life You Want Now

Master Your Business Cash Flow: Grow the Company You Love, Live the Life You Want Now by Albert J. Zdenek
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Thinking of starting your own business? Master Your Business Cash Flow: Grow the Company You Love, Live the Life You Want Now wouldn't be a waste of your time to take a look at. Albert J. Zdenek has written a mostly helpful book for the aspiring business owner to learn from. In my opinion it came off a tad... arrogant might be too strong a word but lofty, perhaps. While he does talk about losing everything at one point in a humble tone, I thought it was glossed over with his earlier and later success in a way that subdued the devastation to him and more importantly to those employees affected.

Master Your Business Cash Flow is well written, using plain language and laid out in an easy to follow format. There weren't a lot of typos and overall comes off as professional. I just felt it lacked a real human emotion throughout.

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Review: Take My Heart

Take My Heart by J.J. Sorel
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

If you're in the mood for suspended reality and dumbstruck love, Take My Heart is not likely to disappoint you. As is the norm, we have the usual cast of characters; our angelic heroine (Ava), Mr Wrong for Her (Justin) and the misunderstood bad boy who can only be saved by the beguiling damsel (Bronson). This one though, has a hidden gem in the eccentric Aggie, the elderly employer of Ava. I couldn't get enough of Aggie! She is as sophisticated as she is raunchy and as cunning as she is righteous. I think I may beg the author for an Aggie book because that woman is a leading lady if I ever read one.

J.J. Sorel has whipped up an interesting, if somewhat convoluted plot line for this particular romance to spring up from. Any one of the sub plots could have carried Ava and Bronson's story pretty easily. The considerable twists varied from boringly predicable to wildly unrealistic but then again isn't all romance that way?

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Review: Silent Spring - Deadly Autumn of the Vietnam War

Silent Spring - Deadly Autumn of the Vietnam War by Patrick Hogan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Silent Spring: Deadly Autumn of the Vietnam War is not a beach read. Patrick Hogan lays out in cold, harsh detail the reckless actions of our government using chemicals during the Vietnam War and the devastating effects that millions of people - soldiers and civilians alike - have suffered because of it. That this information comes from a man who was right there, boots-on-the-ground as they say, brings a bitter anger to the pages. And rightfully so! I am humbled by those who feel that duty to sacrifice for their country and I am enraged that that country decided the risk of using such chemicals to those soldiers 'acceptable', if they even thought of them at all.

On the far side of the emotions, this book is also intensely technical. The chemicals referenced are vast and the research into how the pesticides, herbicides and the rest were designed is clearly nothing short of comprehensive. That can make for some rather droll reading but I didn't feel that any of it should have been cut. Knowledge is power, right?

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Review: Hollywood via Orchard Street

Hollywood via Orchard Street by Wayne Clark
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hollywood Via Orchard Street in a Depression Era novel that follows Charles Czerny from boyhood. We watch Charles, an aspiring writer, reinvent himself rather dramatically in his quest for a different life for himself. All does not go smoothly though as he finds himself intertwined with mob bosses and gangsters along the way. Wayne Clark masterfully creates the scenes in a way that pulls the reader in with realistic dialogue littered with appropriate lingo and artfully describing each setting. The characters, especially Charley Czerny, are impossible to forget and give us all someone to root for.

I found Hollywood Via Orchard Street listed under several genres; Historical Fiction, Organized Crime, Coming of Age, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, and Literature. I would not recommend this to someone looking for Mystery, Thriller, or Suspense because while those things might be happening in the background by way of connection to Organized Crime, the main vein of the novel is not a mystery, a thriller, nor suspenseful.

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