In January, we were on home leave and I read a lot of books not related to the Middle East, history or diplomacy.\u00a0 Then in late February I returned to work and started my Hebrew language training, and almost all “free” reading came to a screeching halt.\u00a0 Here’s a list in reading order with mini-reviews of what I enjoyed during home leave.<\/p>\n
The Grand Complication<\/a>, by Allen Kurzweil.\u00a0 Not as good as I remember his A Case of Curiosities<\/a> being (years ago), but still a fun puzzle with mildly appealing characters.\u00a0 Great for book lovers.<\/p>\n Ultimatum<\/a>, by Matthew Glass.\u00a0 Great page-turner political thriller, with an over-arching message related to global warming and US-China relations.<\/p>\n The Ghosts of Belfast<\/a>, by Stuart Neville.\u00a0 Fascinating crime thriller set in Ireland.\u00a0 This is one of several titles I tried to read which I found on a list of literary thrillers <\/a>recommended over the new Dan Brown novel.\u00a0 The recommendation was a good one.\u00a0 This will probably end up as a movie one day, very action-packed, very violent and you ended up caring a lot about the main character.<\/p>\n 36 Arguments for the Existence of God: a Work of Fiction<\/a>, by Rebecca Goldstein. Very clever novel about a young man’s search for love, which along the way covers the main theological arguments for the existence of god and points out the flaws in all of them.\u00a0 Also, an interesting look into the world of Ultra-Orthodox Judaism.\u00a0 Goldstein, FYI, is married to Steven Pinker.<\/a><\/p>\n The Book Thief<\/a>, by Markus Zusak.\u00a0 A sad, touching story about the Holocaust, written for young adults.\u00a0 Particularly moving at the end.<\/p>\n In Defense of Food:\u00a0 An Eater’s Manifesto<\/a>, by Michael Pollan.\u00a0 Very interesting analysis of the best way to eat.\u00a0 I enjoyed Pollan’s An Omnivore’s Dilemma<\/a> a few years ago, but this title seemed to put me in motion to actually change what I was eating.\u00a0 Pollan is a journalist, not a nutritionist, and it turns out that’s a good thing.<\/p>\n Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health<\/a>, by Gary Taubes.\u00a0 Pollan recommended this book, with a minor reservation.\u00a0 I thoroughly enjoyed it.\u00a0 Again, Taubes is a science writer, not a nutritionist.\u00a0 Again, that’s a good thing.\u00a0 If you’re susceptible to moving to a restricted-carbohydrates diet, this book will probably push you over the edge.<\/p>\n Fermat’s Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World’s Greatest Mathematical Problem<\/a>,\u00a0 by Simon Singh.\u00a0 I think I wanted to read this because a.) I like Simon Singh<\/a> and b.) I was intrigued to learn more about Fermat’s Theorem by the fictional Lisbeth Salander.\u00a0 The book did a very good job of explaining the problem, the history of mathematics behind the problem and the drama related to the solution of the problem.\u00a0 Singh wrote the screenplay for a documentary<\/a>, and then expanded that into this book.\u00a0\u00a0 Singh is a great science writer and I now almost understand how Andrew Wiles eventually proved the theorem.<\/p>\n Food Rules:\u00a0 An Eater’s Manual<\/a>, by Michael Pollan.\u00a0 Very small book, mostly a condensed version of In Defense of Food<\/span>.\u00a0 But still handy as a reference and for motivation.<\/p>\n Fermat’s Last Theorem:\u00a0 Unlocking the Secret of an Ancient Mathematical Problem<\/a>, by Amir D. Azcel.\u00a0 Shorter book with less drama, but a good explanation and a good reinforcement of Singh’s book.<\/p>\n The Manual of Detection<\/a>, by Jedediah Berry.\u00a0 Wow, this book was terrible.\u00a0 I wish I could remember where I read about it, so I could forever not count on that source.\u00a0 The idea for the novel was clever, but the whole thing appeared to me to be written by a college kid who had just read a bunch of Kafka and The Man Who Was Thursday<\/a> by G.K. Chesterton.\u00a0 Skip this one completely and just read Kafka and Chesterton (although, not too much Chesterton…..).<\/p>\n The Singer<\/a>, by Cathi Unsworth.\u00a0 Another entry from the read-instead-of-Dan-Brown list.\u00a0 Catchy and cinematic story about solving a very old murder in the punk music scene in England.\u00a0 I was not really interested in that scene, that music or that period, but the story was good and I’ll read Unsworth again.<\/p>\n The City and the City<\/a>, by China Mieville.\u00a0\u00a0 Very clever story about a world (ours) where two populaces live in the same physical city, but they officially don’t see each other.\u00a0 The story is a murder mystery\/thriller; but the thriller part of it is bogged down just a little by trying to keep track of the two-cities conceit.\u00a0 Past the cleverness and the mystery, the story could be a pretty strong social commentary too.<\/p>\n Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell<\/a>, by Susanna Clark.\u00a0 Listened to the unabridged audio version of this, forever.\u00a0 It’s a huge book and I drove thousands of miles listening to it.\u00a0 Nice historical drama (except this history did not take place) about magicians in England a few hundred years ago.\u00a0 I can’t imagine the work she put into this.<\/p>\n The Mind-Body Problem<\/a>, by Rebecca Goldstein.\u00a0 An earlier work by Goldstein, I was hoping it would have more actual mind-body problem content.\u00a0 It was philosophical, but it was also about the sexual coming-of-age of a young lady in college.\u00a0 I’m getting old, as I was more interested in more consciousness-is-the-hard-problem stuff.\u00a0 Oh well, still a good book.<\/p>\n Rain Gods<\/a>, by James Lee Burke.\u00a0 Page-turner, violent, creepy.<\/p>\n Hannibal Rising<\/a>, by Thomas Harris.\u00a0 Listened to the unabridged audio version.\u00a0 This is the prequel to the other Hannibal Lecter books.\u00a0 Not as good, but still disturbing in that Hannibal way.\u00a0 For what it’s worth, the story did describe fairly well how Hannibal ended up being Hannibal.<\/p>\n I am the Messenger<\/a>, by Markus Zusak.\u00a0 Listened to unabridged audio book on the drive from Hot Springs to DC.\u00a0 Nice story, but lighter and not nearly as good as The Book Thief<\/span>.<\/p>\n NOTE: <\/strong>In the midst of my mostly-fiction glut, I started but did not complete three great science books.\u00a0 I’m including the info here to remind me to return to them one day.<\/p>\n Tour of the Calculus<\/a>, by David Berlinski.\u00a0 Very wordy explanation of the calculus.\u00a0 Once I got into the author’s mood, I really enjoyed this book.\u00a0 Half-way through, I understand about half of the calculus!\u00a0 Will return to it one day.<\/p>\n Big Bang:\u00a0 The Origin of the Universe<\/a>, by Simon Singh.\u00a0 Started reading this before Singh’s work on Fermat.\u00a0 The writing is very clear and\u00a0 I learned a lot about the history of astronomy and the Big Bang theory.\u00a0\u00a0 Singh really is an excellent writer.<\/p>\n From Eternity to Here:\u00a0 The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time<\/a>, by Sean Carroll.\u00a0 I heard Sean Carroll at Shermer’s Origins-Big Questions conference<\/a> in 2008.\u00a0 Fascinating lecturer on the nature of time.\u00a0 At that time, his only book was a text book for graduate physics students.\u00a0 FE2H, though, is written for laymen and very interesting and challenging.\u00a0 I was reading along at a chapter a week in step with a book club Carroll was running on his blog….but I have not finished the book yet.\u00a0 Since then, Carroll has spent some energy arguing publicly with Sam Harris…..so when I return to his book one day it will be with a new perspective.\u00a0\u00a0 All that aside, the book is well-written and takes the reader through the necessary math, physics, astronomy and history to understand how scientists deal with the concept of time today.<\/p>\n Well, home leave turned out to be reading leave for me, and that’s a good thing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In January, we were on home leave and I read a lot of books not related to the Middle East, history or diplomacy. 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