'Hatching Twitter' by Nick Bilton

Hatching Twitter, Nick Bilton (4)

If you enjoyed ‘The Social Network’, you’ll love this book. It describes the process and people who founded Twitter. As with Facebook, ‘who’ actually founded ‘what’ is more than a tad controversial. I thought Mr. Bilton did a good job being objective – doling out blame and credit equally. As with most start-ups, the main players’ roles and contributions were very dynamic. He focuses on the four who he credits for founding the company and who then proceeded to play musical chairs with the leadership roles, each time leaving someone out in the cold, chair-less.  It is quite shocking to find out how poorly the company was prepared for the fever it produced, quite literally crashing on a daily basis under the weight of new users. The most interesting discovery for me was that the entire concept of Twitter was basically developed by a small group of people who wanted to feel less lonely, to ‘connect to the world through their computer’. Ironic, for what is considered to be a cog in today’s social media, it began as a group of introverts looking for a way to communicate without actually being social (i.e. talking directly with people). Sadly this book seems to be saying that the success of Twitter is not due to excellence in business or technology, but the luck of a concept that appealed to the loneliness and angst of teenagers and certain celebrities (oddly similar in their lack of confidence). This book is particularly timely given the recent Twitter IPO. I confess, immediately after finishing it, I jumped onto my computer to see who is currently on the Board and Management team. Not surprising, there were already some changes. This book is a cautionary tale of the crazy speed of these businesses, even post-bubble.

'Sisterland' by Curtis Sittenfeld

Sisterland, Curtis Sittenfeld (2)

While I enjoyed the beginning of this book, I was very disappointed at the climax. I felt the author had made the main character do something not credible based on her actions thus far. It was a relatively bad thing and normally I would assume that my affection for the character was driving my feelings of betrayal, but in this case I didn’t particularly like the character. The story is about identical twin sisters who live in St. Louis. They share an ability of ESP or ‘sense’, as they call it. One sister, the free spirit, embraces this and eventually makes it her vocation. The other, the practical voice of the novel, dislikes being different and worked over the years to diminish her capability. I enjoyed the concept of the sisters taking different paths and seeing how their lives were affected by their decisions. The family dynamics described in this book are painful, but rang true. The main plot of the story revolves around a prediction of an earthquake by the bohemian sister and how it affects both women and their families. I think the author tried to save the surprise by not giving hints to the protagonist’s climatic actions, but by not allowing for that possibility, the decision/action was not credible to me as the reader.

'Prodigy' by Marie Lu

Prodigy, Marie Lu (3.5)

‘Prodigy’ is the follow-up book to ‘Legend’ (reviewed June 13, 2013), the YA story that introduced two strong characters, Day and June. In this chapter of their story they join the Patriots and work together to take revenge on the Republic who took both their families from them. I liked this book as much as the first, though it had some of the same problems. The moony romance of the two main characters had the completely predictable third parties thrown in to highlight their insecurities. Luckily, what we learn about the rest of the world is more interesting and complicated. We find out how the Republic came to be and what drove the trials, the tests taken by youth to determine who is fit for military duty. Somewhat predictably nothing is as they assumed outside of the Republic, but I think the story was stronger for the good and bad that they find. The book has an ending, but sets up nicely for the just released third book.