I thoroughly enjoyed this series. It certainly provided a new perspective on how humanity has impacted the earth and the effort and engineering involved in maintaining that systems the enable our modern standard of living. I learned a lot and enjoyed myself at the same time.

I bought this book after I purchased my first Apple Computer. The authour is very thorough and the book is up-to-date as of this post.

The one important thing to know about this guide (which is made up of 8 'mini-books') is that it is very detailed and thus the first mini book on 'Mac Basics' assumes you are the type of person who inputs instructions to your computer by shouting commands at the mouse. A better title for this mini-book would have been 'Explaining what a Computer is, via using a Mac'. If you have used a computer before you should be able to skim this section very very quickly even if you have never seen a Mac before.

The rest of the mini-books are pretty much exactly as advertised. In all I would say this book is ideal for someone who is buying their first Mac and looking to operate it day to day. If you are looking to do anything moderately advanced you should probably look elsewhere.

DISCLAIMER: You need to have a sense of humour/understand humour and satire to enjoy this book/not suffer unbased horror.

I got this book as a gift and it is absolutely hilarious. In addition to being very funny, this books reminds you that there were at one time (and still are today) people who honestly believe the tings you are laughing at (due to their complete absurdity).

If you are a fan of Monty Python, Lewis Black, The Onion or the Daily Show you will enjoy this read.

SECOND DISCLAIMER: While generally awesome, this book does tend to go too far in re-inforcing negative stereotypes about Merpeople. Seriously...that's just not cool, lines exist for a reason.

Schweitzer and di-Scaria do a wonderful job of laying out the evolution of religious thought and how it has shaped our view of morality. The authors examine a myriad of moral philosophies and outline their strengths and vulnerabilities as they journey towards a natural ethic that does not depend on faith and fear.

This is an excellent work that challenged my thinking. You don't need to agree with the authors to benefit from this book, all you need to do is open your mind to reason.

In Bailout Nation Barry Ritholtz does what to my knowledge no other authour up to this point has been able to do: write a clear, complete, detailed and accurate account of what has happened to the US economy, in particular the causes and consequences of the Credit Crisis.

With no axe to grind, no political slant or intellectual perspective to defend, Ritholtz paints a remarkably clear picture of how we got to this sad and sorry state. Writing in language which is both easy to understand and enjoyable to read this book is very much the "everyman's" guide to the Credit Crisis. You don't need a degree in economics to understand what happens and Ritholtz actually squeezes some humour out of the dismal science.

Probably my favourite feature of this book is that Ritholtz pulls no punches in assigning blame. Unlike the endless stream of books that blame the problem on Classical economists vs. Keynesian economists, Republicans vs. Democrats, conservatives vs. liberals, etc. Ritholtz approaches the crisis utterly uninhibited by any form of political, intellectual or ideological biases. This allows him to take a very broad view of the problem and lay out how complex it is in realty, a failing of many not simply a few. In his indictment of the guilty he is blistering and honest and it will surely make you feel a little angry at the least and may put you on the warpath at the worst.

All in all this is the most accurate, well written account of American economic malaise including the Credit Crisis. I highly recommend it as an informative and enjoyable read.