Catch up from darkscience.eu — a blog about Sweden, books, and whatever
Hi.
The last newsletter from darkscience.eu was sent in October 2020. My excuse for forgetting about it up until now is having a kid (yay!). There were a few posts in the meantime, I grouped them somewhat in case you want to catch up:
Swedish stuff
Maps with Swedish delivery wards (i.e. hospitals where you can have a baby). Or rather with travel times to the delivery wards. Or rather, where in Sweden you should live so that you don't have to drive more than 30, 60 or 120 minutes to the closest delivery ward.
Pregnancy in Sweden: links to other posts by trimester, namely:
Check-ups and check-ins: all about mödravårdscentral
Shopping/packing lists: for the day of the birth, for the first time with the baby
Money and bureaucracy: budgeting for the parental leave, knowing your rights as an employee, naming and registering a newborn
Food: stuffing the freezer before the baby comes (not really baby-specific, just a use case for mealprep).
Books on software
Software Design X-Rays: Fix Technical Debt with Behavioral Code Analysis by Adam Tornhill — ★★☆☆☆ — loved the premise, hated the book. Would not recommend
Data and Reality by William Kent — ★★★★★ — one of a kind. Would recommend
Books on whatever I don't know much about
Good Economics for Hard Times: Better Answers to Our Biggest Problems by Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo — ★★☆☆☆ — learned some anecdotes, had a lot of questions left. Would not recommend
Blockhain Chicken Farm And Other Stories of Tech in China's Countryside by Xiaowei Wang — ★★★☆☆ — rare approach to a rare topic. Would recommend to those interested in the world beyond US/EU
How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking — for Students, Academics and Nonfiction Book Writers by Sönke Ahrens — ★★★☆☆ — an introduction to a way of thinking and connecting what you read about. Would recommend to anyone reading non-fiction, but this is more about the Luhmann's method, not this book in particular
Concepts of Modern Mathematics by Ian Stewart — ★★★★☆ — very lovely. Would recommend.
The New Rules of Posture: How to Sit, Stand, and Move in the Modern World by Mary Bond — ★★★☆☆ — would recommend to those interested in the topic and not too sensitive to the writing style
The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs — ★★★★★ — loved it! Would recommend
But you did not come back by Marceline Loridan-Ivens — ★★★☆☆ — would not actively recommend.
Books on Sweden
Sveriges mäktigaste familjer: företagen, människorna, pengarna by Anders Ström — ★★☆☆☆ — would recommend only if you're really interested in this particular topic, and even then you can skip parts of the book
Kallocain by Karin Boye — ★★★☆☆ — it's fiction, but a classic, so good to read to recognize the references and such. Would recommend
Orden som formade Sverige by Elisabeth Åsbrink — ★★★★☆ — would recommend, especially to immigrants, but the language is not easy.
Fiction books, suddenly
The Plague by Albert Camus — ★★★★☆