Two good books this week, both written by guys named Steve!.
Roving Mars: Steven Squyres tells the story of the two Mars Excursion Rovers -- Spirit and Opportunity -- how they got designed and got to Mars, and their first year there. Surprisingly, I enjoyed the first half of the book more -- stories of the beuraucracy and politics that is involved in getting a planetary mission going, and the decisions about what to put on the robots. A very good book, well writtten with few stumbles.
A Year in the Merde is a novel about an Englishman hired by a French company to open a chain of tea shops around the country. Stephen Clarke paints a funny picture of French society and business, seemingly capturing the French well -- it was first self-published in France where it became a hit. The book is maybe not quite as funny as the author thinks it is, but there are lots of funny scenes and it makes for some good if gentle satire.
11:01:53 AM 
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