Book Roundup 1

I thought I'd take a moment to share some of the books we've been reading for the last month:

Jared Diamond, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

We really loved this one. The project of this book is to identify major factors that can contribute to the collapse of successful societies by studying past examples including the Maya, the Easter Islanders and the Greenland Norse. Since we haven't really been in analytic-problem-solving-mode recently, we mostly enjoyed it for its great storytelling. I didn't really know anything about the Norse before, and it was packed with interesting details about their culture and lives. Anyway, there's a lot here to appeal to all kinds of readers and we definitely recommend it.

Howard Marks, Mr. Nice: An Autobiography

This is a good airplane sort of book. It's the story of the antics and wild adventures of a lovable rascal of a dope-smuggler from the 70's....you know, if you're into reading about that kind of thing. Good light reading if you're looking for tales of crime, intrigue and adventure.

Stephen Kuusisto, Planet of the Blind

This is one of the best books I've read for a long time. It's the memoirs of Stephen Kuusisto's struggles, both physical and psychological, growing up blind. The detail of his storytelling makes the book good--what makes it exceptional is his poetic and evocative prose. The imagery and immediacy of his language is unlike anything I've read for a long long time. It's a wonderful and unique book and I highly recommend it to everyone.

Ira Glass, The New Kings of Nonfiction

In the past I've had nothing but bad experiences with the "Best of American Nonfiction" types of collection. I noticed that this collection was edited by Ira Glass, however, and since I have a deep faith in his judgment I decided to give it a go. I was not disappointing. Almost every essay told a compelling story that connected to interesting larger themes, in a well-written and easy to read style. Jen and I also highly recommend this one if you're looking for thoughtful snapshots into interesting corners of lives you don't often think (and may not have known about).

Anthony Burgess, The Long Day Wanes: A Malayan Trilogy

We wanted to try and read novels set in the places we've been traveling, so we chose this one because it's set in Malasia, and because we like Anthony Burgess so much. I would rate it "pretty good" to "quite good" if you read it while in Malaysia. It's similar in tone to E.M. Forrester's Passage to India (which I also read just recently), but with a slightly more modern prose-style. It has a large cast of comic characters that do a good job capturing many details and idiosyncrasies of Malaysia (or so it seemed to us). It drags a little bit in places, but definitely has its moments. And since Burgess wrote it, there's a great playfulness and attention to detail in his language use. All that said, it's hard to say how good it would be if we didn't read it while traveling in Malaysia. That said, maybe it's worth it after all since there so few comic literary novels and this is certainly a good one.

Karen Armstrong, A History of God

I'd heard good things about this so I thought I'd check it out. Her project is to explain the different ways people throughout history have conceived of God, and the different roles religious belief and practice have played in their lives (restricting herself to monotheistic traditions, and particularly Christianity). It had a lot of interesting information, but wasn't quite what I wanted. I was looking for one of two things. First, I would have liked a very careful historical account about what we might infer about different people's religious beliefs and experiences at different times with a particular focus on different possible interpretations of the textual accounts we have. Armstrong did some of this, but she wasn't nearly careful enough for my taste. She was telling a story instead of trying to analyze and weigh the merits of alternative interpretations. I also would have liked a "varieties of religious experience"-type approach, focusing on making descriptive sense of the different ways in which people can experience the sacred or the divine. There is some of this as well, but I would have liked a more thorough and descriptive focus on what the experiences feel like and how they shape the rest of someone's understanding. All that said, it was definitely a good first-pass on the topic and I'd recommend it to anyone with an interest in such things.

John McPhee, Coming into the Country

This is one Jen is reading (I haven't yet). It's about Alaska, and we got it because it's written by the author of the excellent book The Control of Nature which we read last year. It's a kind of rambling story about the author's impressions of Alaska and its people; and, according to Jen, does a fine job for what it is (though it seems a little bit dated at times since it was written in the late 70's). I may not read this until we actually go to Alaska, whenever that actually happens.

Dr. Atul Gawande, Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science

This is another book both Jen and I unreservedly recommend to everyone. Atul Gawande has a degree in philosophy, has had a career as a science writer and a public policy advisory, and late in life got a medical degree from Harvard medical school and became a surgeon. This is a wonderfully well-written collection of his reflections about the practice of medicine. He's particularly interested in the nature of expertise and practical judgment and their role in medicine--how do they work, how are they taught and learned, what are their dangers and how might they be avoided, what do they feel like in action. He's also interested in the differences between the public images and myths about medicine and the details and realities of his everyday practice. It's a truly amazing book, and you certainly don't have to have a particular interest in medicine to learn things from his insightful reflections.

Alexander McCall Smith, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

This was another surprisingly excellent read! It's a short, beautifully written book with a simple, direct style, lovable characters, and innumerable small details that paint a portrait of life in Botswana--all told through a series of engaging and heartwarming mysteries confronting Mma. Ramotswe's No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. This is another one we recommend for everyone--even if it doesn't seem like it's your kind of book.

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We hope you all are finding interesting things to read wherever you are as well! =)