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Chris Ziesler, here is your new thread for 2012.

Our Format:

JANUARY

1. Winston S. Churchill
Finish date: March 2008
Genre: (whatever genre the book happens to be)
Rating: A
Review or a Few Words about book: You can add text from a review you have written but no links to any review elsewhere even goodreads. And that is about it. Just make sure to number consecutively and just add the months.

Note: I will delete required format post once you get started.

JANUARY
1. Simon Garfield
Finish date: Jan-2012
Genre: Non-fiction
Rating: B+
Review: Garfield's message is that we're all typographers now. We all have an opinion as to whether Courir, Futura, Calibri, Comic Sans, Times New Roman, or Baskerville suits our needs best.

This wonderfully entertaining book takes a whimsical wander through the history and use of typefaces explaining the reasons why fonts came into being and what higher purposes they served. Garfield introduces us to some of the great names of typographical design: Matthew Carter, Eric Gills, Adrian Frutiger, and not forgetting Luc(as) de Groot.

If you want to know which font belongs to which name, you'll have to read the book (set in Sabon MT 11/15pt amongst many others) you won't regret it.

2. Edward R. Tufte
Finish date: Jan-2012
Genre: Non-fiction
Rating: B+
Review: This classic work on graphical design offers inspiration and guidance in equal measure to everyone who aspires to improve their graphical skills. Tufte seeks to educate by example, and the book is full of both gorgeous and dreadful examples of graphical design for which Tufte provides an insightful narrative.

My two personal favourites are: Charles Joseph Minard's graphic depicting La Grande Armée's march on, and retreat from, Moscow: and an image from the Astronomical Journal showing the distribution of galaxies - - both in their different ways powerful exemplars of the gospel that Tufte is preaching.

In summary, this is an essential book for anyone who has ever had to prepare a presentation, write a report, or who has ever tried to capture and communicate complexity; which is just about all of us.

3. Nicholas Carr
Genre: Popular Science
Rating: B
Review: Carr does an excellent job of highlighting the dangers and drawbacks of the digital age. His concern is that we are subject to such constant bombardment of information of all types from so many different sources that we are rapidly losing the skills necessary to allow us to appreciate concepts and ideas in a deep way.

As with many polemicists he has a tendency to overstate his case and on occasion fails to acknowledge the full benefit of the comprehensive access to information we enjoy, but this is a small fault in an otherwise passionate plea for greater awareness of the persistent threat to our ability to consider information in a contemplative way which would allow for a greater depth of reflection. His book is well written, entertaining and carefully documented.

Great start on your 2012 reading challenge!!
It is not necessary to put the month in bold except at the start of each month.

Jill wrote: "Great start on your 2012 reading challenge!!
It is not necessary to put the month in bold except at the start of each month."

Easily sorted, thanks.

Good start Chris but what have your finished recently. It is never too late to keep your list going.

Thank you for following the format.