Review Day

There are no spoilers in these reviews.

Think Python by Allen B. Downey:
This is the book I'm using to learn Python. It's written for a beginning CS major and is well below my level, but is pretty good pedagogically and does as much (if not more) to teach CS fundamentals as it does Python. The part I like, and the reason I picked it, is the inclusion of exercises to try at home. More programming books should include these.

Final Grade: B+

Grow Up and Blow Away by Metric:
This album walks the fine line between weird and catchy, and often pops up on my "Bird and the Bee" Pandora station. I enjoyed about half of the songs, but the whole thing is not even 40 minutes long. The only short thing associated with an album is the Asian listening to it.

Final Grade: B-

Gamers at Work by Morgan Ramsey:
This book is a collection of interviews of prominent people who started their own computer game companies. It has the same problems as Coders at Work: most people aren't really interesting enough to sustain an entire meandering chapter. I would have preferred to see the interviews distilled and compressed to just the interesting parts. The book also focuses more on the entrepreneurial aspect of starting a company rather than the design of games, and I would have enjoyed the latter more.

Final Grade: C-

Cougar Town, Season Three:
This was the final, abbreviated season of the show before ABC cancelled it and TBS picked it up. It's pleasant and has plenty of laughs, often feeling like a version of Scrubs/Friends without any pathos or serious drama. Fun enough as a throwaway show.

Final Grade: B