I took a detour on the way home from the office tonight and hit the Westwood Borders book store. My half-step-sister-in-law gave me a gift card for Christmas that’s been burning a hole in my wallet, and I’ve got a long weekend of reading ahead of me. Here’s what I grabbed:
- The Drunkard’s Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives – Leonard Mlodinow
I’ve seen this on the shelf in every airport bookstore for a few months and it looks like it might be interesting. - bonk: the curious coupling of science and sex – Mary Roach
I liked (but didn’t love) her previous book, Stiff. This topic looks more interesting than cadavers and morgues. - Why Do Men Have Nipples? Hundreds of Questions You’d Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Martini – Mark Leyner and Billy Goldberg
This is another one I keep seeing while standing in line waiting for coffee in the airport … - The Last Fish Tale – Mark Kurlansky
Kurlansky is — along with Simon Winchester — just about my favorite author right now. I absolutely loved his books Cod, The Big Oyster, and Salt, so this one was a no-brainer. - Ender’s Game – Orson Scott Card
People have been telling me I should read this for years … - Back Story – Robert B. Parker
I love Spenser and have been a huge fan since my first year of college. (One of my favorite Spenser quotes is, “Sometimes I get distracted by food; but mostly all I think about is women and baseball.”) - the latest copy of Wired magazine
- The Elements of Style – Strunk and White
I bought this because I was looking for it a few nights ago and couldn’t find it anywhere. I must have owned a dozen copies of this book over the years; I seem to loan it to everyone I know that’s in the middle of writing a dissertation …
I’m going to have to start doing some serious writing soon. It seems like lately I’ve just been posting list after list!
I’m reading this too – it’s a little dense for my tastes but it’s better than reading a Statistics test book. I just finished the early chapter about the problem of the 3 doors from Let’s Make a Deal and why it makes sense to switch your door selection after the host opens one of the doors. I thought that little section made the dry pages leading up to that point all worthwhile. Does it get better?
The last semi-cerebral book I read (but much simpler in my opinion) was Outliers:
http://expattitude.blogspot.com/search?q=outliers
Check it out if you haven’t.