Googled: The End of the World as We Know It by Ken Auletta

Google as verb has come to generically refer to a search for information on the Internet, but with the astonishing growth of the company, the verb has come to refer as much to steamrolling over “old media” businesses from advertising to publishing to news gathering. Veteran reporter Auletta spent two and a half years researching the phenomenon of Google; its intensely private founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin; and the quirky staff of engineers whose obsession with efficiency led to a powerhouse search engine aimed at helping users find the answer to any question. In the process, Google learned that as it found answers, it also found opportunities for expansion, eventually stepping on the toes of its partners and competitors and provoking government investigation of some planned acquisitions. The company has gone from its messianic philosophy of “Don’t be evil” to being viewed by some as evil (equivalent to Microsoft in villainous potential) because of its size and dominance. Auletta explores the clash of cultures as e-commerce has unsettled old assumptions and business models. Though popular among its users, Google’s image has been tarnished by caving to demands for censorship by the Chinese government and by an engineering mind-set that has made it amazingly deaf to issues of privacy and copyright protection. With profitability that rivals that of any media company, purchase of YouTube, and encroachment on mobile phones and other enterprises, the future for Google looks bright. But Auletta raises questions about Google’s ability to maintain focus as it grows, fight off challenges from competitors and government regulators, weigh the appeal of free access to information and entertainment against the need to make money, and balance its reliance on the algorithms with a more refined sense of the needs of its users and partners. This is an engrossing look at Google and the broader trends in information and entertainment in the Internet age.

Booklist starred (September 1, 2009 (Vol. 106, No. 1))

The Week in Rap 5/27/11

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

Eating the cake her mother has prepared for her ninth birthday, Rose Edelstein discovers she has a gift: she can taste her mother’s emotions in the food she prepares. Soon, every bite Rose takes is filled with feelings—not just her mother’s but those of other people as well—and what might have been a gift becomes a burden and then, perhaps, a curse. Because this is a novel rooted in family, Rose will learn that she is not the only Edelstein with a peculiar gift or burden. How she and others learn to cope—or not, as the case may be—is the small, sad story Rose shares. Bender’s earlier work has often been described as surrealistic; however, this novel seems more informed by a kind of magical realism that struggles with transformation and sometimes—fleetingly—succeeds, as in the case of the novel’s vividly realized Los Angeles setting. But the effect soon fades, and the reader is left only with a lingering feeling of emptiness and the realization that sadness tastes a lot like bitterness.

Booklist (May 1, 2010 (Vol. 106, No. 17))

The Week in Rap 5/20/11

The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht

 Natalia, a young doctor in route to an orphanage, learns of her grandfather's sudden death and the mysterious circumstances that led him far from home, and in her efforts to understand why her grandfather, a rational man, would choose to undertake such a journey leads her to uncover a story her grandfather never related to her about his childhood during World War II.

The Week in Rap 5/14/11

The Week in Rap 05/13/11 from Flocabulary on Vimeo.

Kindred by Octavia Butler

A young African-American woman is mysteriously transferred back in time leading to an irresistible curiosity about her family's past.

The Week in Rap 5/6/11

The Week in Rap - May 6th, 2011 from Flocabulary on Vimeo.

Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff

This is on my summer reading list-such an intriguing title, isn't it?


Jane Charlotte, arrested for murder, is referred to a psychiatrist who tries to figure out what is really going on after Jane explains that as a member of a secret group devoted to fighting evil, she is responsible for getting rid of irredeemable persons--otherwise known as "Bad Monkeys."

The Week in Rap 4/29/11

The Week in Rap - April 29th 2011 from Flocabulary on Vimeo.