[slugslugslug]

Just wondering what people are reading/planning to read lately, both out of curiosity and in hopes of getting recommendations.

I'm reading Carl Zimmer's Soul Made Flesh, about how people figured out that the brain was "where it all happened". I just picked it up on a whim, since I'd like to do neuroscience someday, so a historical background seemed appropriate. It's a decent read.

Other than that, all I have planned are:

• Daniel Dennett's Breaking The Spell, which seems to be pretty much a drawn out position paper on why we should try to objectively study why religion is so popular.
• Far From the Madding Gerund and Other Dispatches from Language Log. Normally I wouldn't consider buying a book compiled from blog posts, but Language Log isn't just any blog. It's a group blog by professional linguists that relates linguistics to everyday life, current events, news reporting, and pop culture, with occasional reports on academe. Always informative and often bitingly funny (Tooki, you probably ought to check it out if you're not already a regular reader). Plus one of the primary contributors is, indirectly, my boss, so if I ever get over being intimidated by him, I might try to get a signed copy.

Anyway, it's a long summer and I'm only taking one class ending in mid-June and working part time. So I need to think of lots of books to read, lest I burn my eyeballs out in these forums. I really ought to expand beyond my typical topics of biology, cognitive science, and history of science. I can never decide for myself on history/anthropology books to read. And I really ought to try some fiction again soon.

So, what are y'all's lists?

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Excellent thread! Good good stuff...I'm supposed to be doing my LSAT at the end of September, so that's gonna start taking up more and more of my free time, but my plan was to read 3 books a month over my 4-month summer break. Here's the list so far:

I had to get my fantasy series' out of the way. Sigh. I get frustrated because I started them so young, when I didn't know better! Now I have to keep reading! Arrrgh! I'm trapped!

Anyways, this is what I've read this month so far:

Malazan Book of the Fallen 6: The Bone Hunters - Steven Erikson, which is probably one of the better fantasy series out there, along with George Martin's stuff.

Wheel of Time 11(?): Knife of Dreams - Robert Jordan, which makes me cry but is almost over.

Anil's Ghost - Michael Ondaatje, which is one of my favourite books of all time. I found a used copy so I had to give it a second read, and again it didn't disappoint.

Vimy - Pierre Berton, which is a very readable personalized account of the Canadians' importance to one of the major turning points in the Great War.

Cancer Ward - Alexander Solzhenitsyn, which I also found at a charity book sale for a dollar. I'm halfway through, and it's good so far. Solzhenitsyn has a really cool sense of prose, although it all depends on the translation I guess.

The rest are what's coming up on my list:

The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath, which is the only novel the effed-up poet wrote before ending her own life.

The Conquerors: Roosevelt, Truman and the Destruction of Hitler's Germany 1941-1945 - Michael Beschloss, which is pretty much self-explanatory.

Vengeance - George Jonas, the infamous/controversial account of the Munich retributions by the Israelis.

Stolen Continents: Conquest and Resistance in the Americas - Ronald Wright, which outlines a indigenous-based perspective on the conquest of the New World by Europe.

Stalingrad - Antony Beevor, which is one of the best accounts of the WWII seige by Germany.

Why Terrorism Works - Alan Dershowitz, which is supposed to be a pretty in-your-face account of how to suppress terrorism while maintaining "legal, moral and humanitarian values."

Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck, which I've never had the chance to read.


Hmmm, I think that's all I've got lined up for myself so far. Like I said, I'm sure they'll take me most of the summer to read, especially because a few of them are pretty heavy going. Anyways, yeah. Good stuff.

greg

[harrisjamieh]

Originally Posted by ShortcutToMoncton

Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck, which I've never had the chance to read.

I'll vote for that - we had to study it for English at school, and I was surprised when I actually enjoyed it, unlike all the other texts we had to study!!! Unfortunatly, when it came to the exam, we wern't allowed to answer questions on it