Interesting Books I've Read

Greetings and welcome back to The Un-Zone, the only site on the Information Superhighway (the only one that I know of at this moment) devoted to all things related to Un. It's time for yet another post to this ever-growing site, now approaching 200 posts without any connection.

As you probably guessed from the title of this post, this is about interesting books that I have read, which probably numbers in the hundreds, if not thousands, as I tend to read a lot. Well, thousands as in number of books I have read, not the number of interesting books. That made no sense. OK, I've read a freaking lot of books, much to the detriment of my social life, which, at this moment, is very lacking or nonexistent. Well, here are some books that I've recently read and found interesting...

The first interesting book is called Duelling Idiots and other Probability Puzzlers. The questions the author poses involve various topics like how to ask an embarrassing question, what's the average length of the World Series, and a strange version of a duel that involves playing Russian Roulette. Thoroughly entertaining if you like math. I like math and I found it particularly scary since I read the explanations and understood the math involved (multivariable calculus, probability theory, etc). I'm a math geek. I can't help it. Even if you aren't so inclined, it's still entertaining, in a geeky kind of way. It might help you understand the mindset of math majors.

On a related note, How to Win. This book does involve math, but on a different level. As in a guide on how to do better in playing such fun games as Blackjack, Poker, Horse Racing, Roulette, etc. It was written by a former casino executive and professional gambler. The book isn't recent, but it gives solid advice on how to turn a novice gambler into a smarter gambler. As he states multiple times in the book, there is no surefire system that will automatically make you a 100% winner. There are only basic rules that can help you, in the long run, from being broke. Those deciding to gamble at Vegas or any other casino should read this nifty book.

The final book, one that I just got this afternoon is I Can't Believe You Asked That, a book devoted to questions that people generally don't ask in public. Questions like "Do Caucasians see lawn care as basic home maintenance, or is it more of a hobby" or "Why don't many women have motor skills" or "Why do so many mentally disabled people have such poor-looking haircuts and 'nerdy' clothing?" Some of the questions just seem to be questions based purely upon stereotypes, such as the questions I have quoted above. Well, to be honest, nearly every question in the books seems to be based upon stereotypes that people have. There is a related website online and some of the questions asked are just as stereotypical like "Why do Indians and Pakistanis seem to own so many businesses like hotels and gas stations?" The book also lists unanswered questions and these seem to also point out stereotypes like Chinese restaurants cooking animals other than chicken, beef, pork, or seafood like cats. Even then, it still is an amusing book, especially when the responses are just as strange and bizarre as the question being asked.

Time to go back to studying for my finals. That's all for now.