The Most Human Human (Brian Christian)

This is the story of the Loebner Prize, a real-life Turing test competition in which various computer systems compete against actual humans to prove they can converse just like a person. A team of judges have 7-minute instant-message type conversations with others and have to vote for which ones they think are humans and which ones are computer programs. Each year the program that gets the most human votes wins the prize for Most Human Computer - and the human who gets the most human votes wins Most Human Human. The author of the book, who has degrees in both computer science and poetry (!), competed in 2009 and was determined to be voted the Most Human Human. In this book he wanders through a delightful landscape of concepts related to what makes someone human, and how you can tell. He talks about computer chess (of course), pick-up lines, information theory, Zen, compression, and inattentional blindness, among many other topics. I was constantly sharing nuggets of fascination with others. Very much recommended, especially for the nerdy among us.

Boneshaker (Cherie Priest)

I couldn't really get into this book. I gave it over 100 pages, but I never really connected with the main character. The setting was interesting, but not really compelling for me. I'm not a big fan of steampunk, so that's probably part of the reason. Mostly, though, it was just a lack of emotional connection. It might work for other people, but apparently not for me.

Among Others (Jo Walton)

This is a lovely and touching story about a troubled teen girl finding her way in an uncomfortable world. She has escaped from her mad, magical mother in Wales to live with a father she never met in England and is sent to a posh boarding school, where she has trouble fitting in. Her lifeline is books, particularly SF and fantasy books, and they help her keep herself grounded and find others she can belong with. The magic and the fairies in the story are unusual and entirely convincing, as is her struggles with friendships, boys, teachers, and the health issues she's been left with due to her battle with her mother. I especially enjoyed it because I've read most, though not nearly all, of the books she refers to on practically every page, and could compare my opinions with hers. Recommended.

All Clear (Connie Willis)

This is the second half of a single novel, published in two parts (the first part was Blackout). It belongs to Willis's time travel universe, which I enjoy a lot. Aside from being much too long, this is another good story in this setting. Three historians go back in time to the London Blitz and become trapped, unable to get back to their present (our future - 2060). The story describes their attempts to find each other, then to figure out what is wrong and how to get out. The backdrop of WWII London is compelling, making "England's finest hour" vivid and underlining the strength and courage of the people who lived through it. There is too much redundancy (too many newspaper clues, too many near misses, too many exploits of the Hodbins), and then the very end is not given quite enough (who exactly is he?), but it is still very much enjoyable.

Fracture (Megan Miranda)

This story is written for young adults, but it deals with challenging situations, including sex and death. The young heroine falls through the ice on a pond and is revived after too long in the water. Her brain scans show extensive damage, but she seems unimpaired, a real medical miracle. However, she find herself with disturbing behaviors she didn't have before, which cause her family strains with her family and her friends, including a fragile teenage romance. The story is dark, but ultimately she is able to find the light and bring herself back to the side of life.

Brain Bugs (Dean Buonomano)

An interesting look at some of the consistent biases and mistakes we make because of how our brains work. The author looks at familiar things like change blindness, framing, and the influence of advertising, as well as some not pointed out as often, such s religion. I study this area, so I can't say I learned anything new. I also had problems with a few of the author's beliefs. For example, his theory as to why humans evolved religion is interesting, but flawed. He claims that one factor distinguishing humans from other animals is our tendency to ask questions, so we can try to make things better. True enough. But, he says, for early humans there was a need to distinguish things we could actually influence (such as how to hunt more effectively) from those we couldn't (such as the weather). Religion evolved, he says, to keep us from wasting too much time and energy on things out of our control. They became the purview of the gods. I disagree with this analysis. It seems that religion exists because we wanted to understand and explain everything. The gods are the explanation we came up with for the things we couldn't otherwise explain. So the book was all right, but didn't increase my understanding or change my thinking.

Blackout (Connie Willis)

This is half a story, set in the same universe as Willis's Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog (the second half is in the volume called All Clear, which I'll be reading soon). It is a time-travel novel, but it's really more about WWII, the time period visited by the historians from Oxford in 2060. These intrepid explorers get to their various assignments (observing children evacuated to the countryside, ordinary heroes of Dunkirk, and Londoners during the Blitz) and settle in, before things start to go wrong. The book is much too long - there is no need for devoting quite so much time to the paperwork snafus and scheduling headaches at Oxford, or the logistical problems with trying to take a train in wartime England. Willis makes the places and the people seem real, though, so I never quite lost patience with the Keystone Cops feel of things. I look forward to reading the rest of the story soon.