The home page of Yevgeniy (Jim) Brikman, co-founder of Gruntwork, author of "Hello, Startup" and "Terraform: Up & Running", and software engineer at LinkedIn, TripAdvisor, Cisco Systems, and Thomson Financial. https://www.ybrikman.com The story of a family living in a small town in France when the Nazis invade. The husband goes off to war, but the real focus of the story is his wife, Vianne, a... Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0800 https://www.ybrikman.com/blog/2026/02/16/the-nightingale/ https://www.ybrikman.com/blog/2026/02/16/the-nightingale/ The story of Uncharles, a robot valet who has left the rich household he serves, and discovers that he lives in a futuristic world where human civilization has c... Sat, 14 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0800 https://www.ybrikman.com/blog/2026/02/14/service-model/ https://www.ybrikman.com/blog/2026/02/14/service-model/ The misfits of MI5 are back. This time, a prominent political forecaster has gone missing, and the trail leads back to Diana Taverner, first desk at MI5. And some... Wed, 11 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0800 https://www.ybrikman.com/blog/2026/02/11/bad-actors/ https://www.ybrikman.com/blog/2026/02/11/bad-actors/ Wow, book 19. Hard to believe I’ve followed Joe and Skippy this far into the series. And all you really need to know is I’m very much ready for book 20! Sat, 07 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0800 https://www.ybrikman.com/blog/2026/02/07/ground-state/ https://www.ybrikman.com/blog/2026/02/07/ground-state/ Almost everyone has experienced data loss. An important file you accidentally deleted. A hard-drive that died. A phone that fell into water. To prevent losing th... Tue, 03 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0800 https://www.ybrikman.com/blog/2026/02/03/computer-backup-options/ https://www.ybrikman.com/blog/2026/02/03/computer-backup-options/ The second entry in this series brings back Veronica Speedwell and Stoker Templeton-Vane as they try to solve the mystery of a brutal murder in 19th century Londo... Tue, 03 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0800 https://www.ybrikman.com/blog/2026/02/03/a-perilous-undertaking/ https://www.ybrikman.com/blog/2026/02/03/a-perilous-undertaking/ A lovely book on flight, with beautiful illustrations on each page by Jana Lenzová, that covers topics such as how animals evolved flight, the costs and benefits... Sat, 31 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0800 https://www.ybrikman.com/blog/2026/01/31/flights-of-fancy/ https://www.ybrikman.com/blog/2026/01/31/flights-of-fancy/ Robert Langdon is back, and this time, he’s in Prague to attend a lecture by Katherine Solomon, who is about to publish a book that will overturn everything we kn... Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0800 https://www.ybrikman.com/blog/2026/01/30/the-secret-of-secrets/ https://www.ybrikman.com/blog/2026/01/30/the-secret-of-secrets/ This book is described as a retelling of a number of children’s fairytales, such as Little Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast, and Puss in Boots, in a manner ... Sat, 24 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0800 https://www.ybrikman.com/blog/2026/01/24/the-bloody-chamber/ https://www.ybrikman.com/blog/2026/01/24/the-bloody-chamber/ A few days ago, I put out my Sci Fi Book Series Tier List, where I arranged the science fiction book series I’ve read from most enjoyable (S tier, A tier) to lea... Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0800 https://www.ybrikman.com/blog/2026/01/23/the-sci-fi-standalone-book-tier-list/ https://www.ybrikman.com/blog/2026/01/23/the-sci-fi-standalone-book-tier-list/