Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear by Lensey Namioka

[torachan]

Title: Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear
Author: Lensey Namioka
Number of Pages: 134 pages
Book Number/Goal: 47/75 for 2009
My Rating: 3.5/5

Yingtao and his family have just moved to the US from China. It's hard to adjust to a new culture and language, but Yingtao's biggest problem is one he's had all his life: his family is very musical and he's tone-deaf. No matter how much he practices the violin, he never gets any better.

This is aimed at a pretty young audience (Yingtao is 9/10, so I'd guess it's aimed at kids a bit younger than that), so the language is really simple, but the story is cute. This is the first in a series about the Yang family and I'll definitely be checking the rest out.


Mooch from BookMooch.

Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner

[yueni]

Title: Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
Author: Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner
Number of Pages: 284 pages
Genre: Non-fiction; Economics
Book Number/Goal: 6 of 16 for the year
My Rating: 3/5

Review: An interesting look at changes in the world. I primarily consider this book layman economics cum behavioral studies. Really interesting because of how he talks about correlation and causality. Really easy read, and something I found quite interesting.

Wikinomics by Don Tapscott & Anthony D. Williams

[yueni]

Title: Freakonomics: Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything
Author: Don Tapscott & Anthony D. Williams
Number of Pages: 319 pages
Genre: Non-fiction; Economics
Book Number/Goal: 7 of 16 for the year
My Rating: 3/5

Review: I liked the book because it talks about things like Wikipedia/Facebook etc. and how they are affecting corporations. It was interesting to see the changing face of doing business and the different opportunities available to people, as well as the loss of old, tried-and-once-true methods. Another layperson economics book.