For those who are new … we discuss books. I list what I’m reading, and people comment with what they’re reading. Sometimes, on Sundays, I post a special edition on a particular genre or topic.
If you like to trade books, try bookmooch
I’ve written some book reviews on Yahoo Voices:
Book reviews on Yahoo
Just finished
(started and finished) The Bridge Bum by Alan Sontag. Sontag is a professional bridge player. This book tells what it’s like to play bridge at the top level.
Now reading
Thinking, fast and slow by Daniel Kahneman. Kahneman, most famous for his work with the late Amos Tversky, is one of the leading psychologists of the times. Here, he posits that our brains have two systems: A fast one and a slow one. Neither is better, but they are good at different things. This is a brilliant book: Full of insight and very well written, as well.
On politics: A history of political thought from Herodotus to the present by Alan Ryan. What the subtitle says – a history of political thought.
Woodrow Wilson by John Cooper, Jr. A fairly admiring look at Wilson.
Algorithms Unlocked by Thomas Corman A gentle introduction to computer algorithms
Robert Oppenheimer: A life in the center by Ray Monk Oppenheimer was one of the most interesting people of the 20th century. In this biography Monk (a wonderful writer) attempts to cover both his physics and his many other interests.
Eminence: Cardinal Richelieu and the Rise of France by Jean-Vincent Blanchard. Richelieu, best known to many from The Three Musketeers was a master of the dark arts of politics. And 16th and 17th century politics was no place for wusses.
Just started
Island of the Sequestered Love Nun by Christopher Moore. Moore is one of the funniest writers alive, but I don’t think this is his best work. I think his humor is so bizarre that it works better with a simpler plot (like, e.g. that of Lamb: The Story of Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal
3 comments