Roy Tang

Programmer, engineer, scientist, critic, gamer, dreamer, and kid-at-heart.

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Aug 2016

  • Book Review: Equal Rites by Pratchett, Terry
    Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett My rating: 4 of 5 stars I bought a used copy of this book a while back and finally decided to read it, it wasn’t particularly long. I’d found however, that I’d already read it before lol. Anyway, I still managed to read through it a second time, it was pretty good. I like the Discworld books, they’re ridiculous, popcorn fantasy reads, and this one was no exception.

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  • Book Review: The Trading Code by Cam, Jason
    The Trading Code by Jason Cam My rating: 4 of 5 stars Pretty informative and helpful stuff for beginners to stock trading, although I reckon it will still take time and experience to get the hang of stock trading. I was interested in the math so I’m happy that the book discussed the formulas for most of the indicators used (with the exception of the ADX) View all my reviews
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Jun 2016

May 2016

  • Book Review: The Making of Karateka by Mechner, Jordan
    The Making of Karateka by Jordan Mechner My rating: 4 of 5 stars The book is literally a collection of journal entries detailing young Jordan Mechner’s days as a university student at Yale at the same time working on what would be his first published game. I found it both inspiring (though some might consider me the wrong age to be inspired by it) and amusing as a look into the life of a young man in the early 80s.

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  • Book Review: Mindfire: Big Ideas for Curious Minds by Berkun, Scott
    Mindfire: Big Ideas for Curious Minds by Scott Berkun My rating: 4 of 5 stars I’ve been following and reading Scott Berkun’s blog on and off for the past 5 years or so, so I already have a passing familiarity with this work. Mindfire collects some of the best essays from his blog into an easy-to-read format that you can digest in one-to-two sittings. Berkun writes about a number of diverse topics such as how to think critically and how to interact with other people and how to spend your attention.

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  • Book Review: Cat's Cradle by Vonnegut, Kurt
    Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut My rating: 5 of 5 stars Cat’s Cradle is only the second Vonnegut book I’ve read, after Slaughterhouse Five. I find myself fascinated with how he unveils his narrative in short, seemingly disconnected bursts, something much more obvious in this book. Like S5, CC’s plot starts close to normal ordinary fiction and ends in a completely different place that’s strictly in the realm of sci-fi. A great read, and very easy too given the structure of ridiculously short chapters View all my reviews
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Apr 2016

  • Book Review: The Catcher in the Rye by Salinger, J.D.
    The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger My rating: 2 of 5 stars This book was painful to read really. I might have received it better had I read it when I was younger, but reading it now, Holden just feels like this whiny entitled angry kid that has no idea what he’s doing or how the world works. The story doesn’t really go anywhere interesting; I understand that it’s not that kind of book, but what it is doesn’t really appeal to me too much.

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  • Book Review: Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character by Feynman, Richard
    Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character by Richard P. Feynman My rating: 5 of 5 stars After reading this book, I’m quite envious of Feynman’s life haha. He’s lived a very interesting life and the stories are told with a general down-to-earth tone despite the fact that he often has to explain the math and theoretical physics which may be less accessible for laymen. For science-oriented people, this may be one of the best biographies to read View all my reviews
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  • Book Review: A Briefer History of Time by Hawking, Stephen
    A Briefer History of Time by Stephen Hawking My rating: 5 of 5 stars I’ve restarted reading this book (and the original) a few times since I was still in school. In fact, when I opened my iBooks copy that I’ve left alone over the past few years, it was at around halfway through. I started over again and managed to finish it this time. Not sure why I had trouble finishing it before, it’s a fairly short book and the subject matter is interesting to anyone who has even a passing interest in science.

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Mar 2016

  • Book Review: Perdido Street Station by Miéville, China
    Perdido Street Station by China Miéville My rating: 3 of 5 stars Perdido Street Station is a difficult book to read, which is why it took me a lot of time to get through it (and this was my second attempt too! I had to restart because I did not even get very far the last time and did not retain anything). Not because the plot is convoluted or anything like that.

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  • Book Review: John Dies at the End by Wong, David
    John Dies at the End by David Wong My rating: 3 of 5 stars 2016 book #12: John Dies at the End by David Wong. This book is all kinds of weird. It’s a bit like the author tried to think of as many weird things as he possible could then ties them together with an impossible plot that he doesn’t even fully resolved. It’s like the author was on crack while he was writing most of this (apt, since he’s apparently and editor at cracked.

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  • Book Review: The 4-Hour Workweek by Ferriss, Timothy
    The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss My rating: 3 of 5 stars 2016 Book #11: The Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris. Pros: - useful tips on reducing unnecessary work, remote working, automation, travel tips, etc Cons: - not for anyone who dislikes lying to people or some other form of “salesmanship" - not for anyone who doesn’t have an idea for something to sell that can be easily mass-manufactured and distributed to the potential buyers

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Feb 2016

Jan 2016

Nov 2015

  • Book Review: Steelheart by Sanderson, Brandon
    Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is my second Sanderson book after The Way of Kings, which made me a fan of his world-building. Given that this book is set in a dystopian near-future, the scale of the world-building here isn’t as large as that fantasy epic, but still gives Sanderson enough room to carve out a unique setting in the city of Newcago. Newcago, yes, that name is ridiculous.

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Jun 2015

  • Due to an inordinate amount of time spent in a waiting room, i managed to finish Sanderson’s Way of Kings today. Great book that I really enjoyed despite taking three months to finish it. The author shows off some great world building and gives us great protagonists to follow. Hopefully I can find a hardcopy of the second book somewhere

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Sep 2014

  • Books: (tagged by Lizbeth Jane Garcia)

    1. Shogun by James Clavell
    2. The Calculus with Analytic Geometry by Leithold
    3. The Gunslinger by Stephen King
    4. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
    5. The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
    6. The Secret of the Old Mill by Franklin W Dixon
    7. The Hitchhiker’S Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
    8. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
    9. A Storm of Swords by George RR Martin
    10. God’s Debris by Scott Adams

    I was not given any rules so I won’t tag people lol

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May 2014

Apr 2014

  • This week’s book was Mort (from the Discworld series). I’ve read the first few Discworld books, and some of the random later ones, but I figured I should start reading them in order and maybe I’ll be finished sometime before I die if Pratchett slows down a bit. I also have a couple of unread physical books in the series, but they’re a bit ahead of the sequence. The Discworld books are quick reads anyway (I finished Mort in around three hours while doing other stuff), so it shouldn’t take too long, hopefully…

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Mar 2014

Jan 2014

  • Reply to 'Question about the 'true' chronology of Orson Scott Card's 'Ender's Game' series.' on /r/books:

    The biggest jump is between Ender’s Game and Speaker of the Dead, not only in terms of time (since Speaker takes place way in the future where only Ender and Val are carried over from Ender’s Game’s cast), but also in terms of story style.

    I would recommend reading first Ender’s Game, then Ender’s Shadow. After that, decide whether you want to follow Ender branch (this is far future space exploration, dealing with aliens stuff) or Bean branch (this is more of post-Ender’s Game earth politics/warfare)… I would guess that if you liked the battle school aspect of Ender’s Game with the kids being all smart and tactical, you would prefer Bean branch first. if you prefer the sci-fi aspect of it all, then you would probably prefer the Ender branch.

    Ender branch is (in order of the story timeline): Ender’s Game -> Ender in Exile -> Speaker for the Dead -> Xenocide -> Children of the Mind

    Bean branch is Ender’s Shadow -> Shadow of the Hegemon -> Shadow Puppets -> Shadow of the Giant -> Shadows in Flight

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Dec 2013

Jan 2013

Mar 2012

Sep 2011

Aug 2011

Nov 2010

Aug 2010

Jan 2010

Aug 2008

Sep 2007

  • Ender's Game Series
    My reading lately has comprised of Orson Scott Card’s excellent Ender’s Game series. I got a copy of six of the books from an officemate a couple of months back, and I’ve just finished the seventh book today. I don’t usually go through books that quickly, so it’s a sign that I’ve really enjoyed this series. (If I don’t enjoy a series, I typically lose interest before even finishing the book – I have a copy of Sword of Shannara around here to prove that.

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Jul 2007

Dec 2006

  • The Rock Says
    I was going through the bookstores at yesterday’s sale day at SM North, hoping to find some bargains. I found a copy of The Rock’s book, The Rock Says going for the bargain basement price of 50 pesos (roughly 1 US dollar). What a steal! In case you’ve been living under, well, a rock, you’re probably aware that The Rock was one of the most popular, most electrifying men in professional wrestling, lovingly termed “sports entertainment.

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Nov 2006

  • Dark Tower VII
    What a long, arduous journey it has been for Roland of Gilead, last gunslinger, in his inexorable quest for the Dark Tower. And now that I’ve read the final volume of Stephen King’s magnum opus, I find out that it is an even crueler fate that awaits him at the end of the seven books. I dare not spoil it, though Wikipedia has a nice summary, say thankya. Save to say that Stephen King seems to be correct – the ending of the Dark Tower series does seem to be the “correct” one, despite some disappointments in writing.

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Oct 2006

  • Dark Tower VI -- Song of Susannah
    I was holding off on buying the sixth installment of the Dark Tower until I could find a printing which matched the previous five books, but as I was browsing through the new Fully Booked at SM North I felt a compulsive urge to buy *something*, and lo and behold, Stephen King was on the shelf right beside me! As usual, the tale of Roland and his party on their quest for the Dark Tower is quite the page-turner, especially since this particular piece of fiction intersects with the real world in an intruiging way… the author himself, Stephen King, appears in this book as the would-be creator of Roland’s world!

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May 2006

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