Microsoft's Claws, Jigsaws, and Santa Claus
Recent non-fiction our reviewers have been fond of includes:
Tony Bove’s Just Say No to Microsoft. Tips, tricks, and plenty of facts about the Beast from Redmond. A short history of the company is included, from their DOS days to the recent growth of the Evil Empire in the 90’s. Of course, there are plenty of reasons to use Microsoft products, but what are the alternatives? Bove gives a great list of software you can install and use, some of it open source, some if simply from other vendors that can reduce your reliance on software from the richest man in the world. Linux, Mac, and Mozilla are touched on of course, but so are OpenOffice, CD making software, and discussions of PowerPoint alternatives. This book probably isn’t for everyone (it requires some technical savvy), but for those tired of dealing with viruses, spyware, or just sick of the MS monopoly, this book is for you.
On a lighter note, no technical knowledge is required to love jigsaw puzzles. Where did they come from? What are some of the hardest? Has there ever been a dress made entirely from jigsaw puzzle pieces? These questions (and many more, of course) can be answered in The Jigsaw Puzzle: Piecing Together a History by Anne D. Williams. Discussions of manufacturing, design, even Playboy puzzles are more interesting than you might think- the puzzle craze in 1908 that made J.P. Morgan and Theodore Roosevelt into avid puzzlers was neat to read about. It’s a narrowly focused book, but if you have even a passing interest about jigsaw competitions (yes, really) or special types of puzzles, this book will satisfy.
A biography of Santa Claus? Brilliant! Gerry Bowler’s Santa Claus is fun, well-researched history of the man in red, and Christmas in general. It’s aimed squarely at adults, and describes the history of St. Nicholas in poetry, song, verse, pictures, advertising, and letters. It’s a bit long, and has a few too many poems and songs and verses, but the chapter on “Santa the Warrior” is pretty neat, as is the section titled “Does Santa Have a Future?” (short answer: yes indeed).
