Recently Read (December 2005 - January 2006)

Here's a list of the books I've read in the last two months, (that haven't already been reviewed by me), with an Amazon-style star rating and a few comments. Similar posts: [1] [2] [3]

• The Engines of God - Jack McDevitt
  Solid readable science fiction. I believe there are other books written by McDevitt using the same universe and characters.
• Lost in Translation - Nicole Mones
  A co-worker advised me that that this book was depressing and not to read it. I'm glad I ignored her. I really enjoyed it and its atypical ending.
• The Fermi Solution - Hans Christian von Baeyer
  Good popular science essays, some a lot better than others.
• Did Adam and Eve Have Navels - Martin Gardner
  The first of Gardner's books that I've read, that helps to unmask Pseudoscience. I'll be looking for the others now.
• Redemption Ark - Alistair Reynolds
  Excellent read. The final volume in the trilogy is now near the top of my list of books to read (hopefully soon, otherwise I'll forget the plot and all the players).
• Strange Itineraries - Tim Powers
  Power's is one of my favorite authors. This was a short collection of his less-than-novel-length fiction, some of which I'd previous read from SF/Fantasy magazines.
• Turn Left at Thursday - Frederik Pohl
• The Talented Mr. Ripley - Patricia Highsmith
  Nice to see the protaganist getting away with murder. I'm not really giving anything away here (there's a whole series of these Ripley books). The downer was my copy was published after the film of the book has been made and had Matt Damon on the front. I kept think of him as Mr. Ripley.
• Means of Evil - Ruth Rendell
  When I read Douglas Adam's Salmon of Doubt, he referred to Ruth Rendell as one of his favorite authors as she has the ability to perfectly describe all aspects of the human character. This spurred me to look for one of her books. Having read this book of short stories of Chief inspector Wexford, I have to agree, and will be looking out for more of the same.
• The Day The Universe Changed - James Burke
  I'm a big James Burke fan from when I used to watch him on British TV in the 80's. This book has helped give me good background as I slog through System of the World (yes, Dutch royality really did ride sand yachts jachts along the beachs of Holland in the sixteenth century). If Burke ever did a new edition of this book, he'd have to include a new chapter on the Internet and the World Wide Web.
• Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman
  Gaiman is another of my current favorite modern fantasy writers. He writes prose that's so easy to read and asborb (slight dig at C. S. Lewis who doesn't). Wonderful book.
• Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - John Berendt
  My first "non-fiction novel". Great characters. Makes me want to see the Eastwood directed film (although I see that a lot of the reviews aren't great). I've now started In Cold Blood, another (and perhaps the quintessential) non-fiction novel.
• May Contain Nuts - John O'Farrell
  And finally one of the funniest books I've read in a long time. It really is "laugh out loud". That's when I wasn't wincing from the cutting satire which is, as the quote on the cover says, "a near flawless caricature of twenty-first-century upper-middle-class parenthood".

  We know people like those portrayed in this book. In fact, when we lived in Redwood City and discovered that the closest public school (the one that Duncan would be attending), was reported as one of the worst schools in San Mateo county, and we started investigating private schools, we could have been those people for a while (although I don't think I could have impersonated a four year old and taken one of the tests that Duncan sat for). In the end, we decided to just move to a better neighbourhood and send him to a good public school and save a buck-or-two (and probably give him a much better all-round education).

  This book perfectly reflects a mother who goes through this epiphany. I highly recommend it (unless you are one of those upper-middle-class parents who have children in private school, in which case you might find parts of it just a touch too close to reality to be funny).

  And reviewers on Amazon in the UK, reckon that John O'Farrell has written even funnier books. I'll now be looking out for them.

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( Feb 13 2006, 06:48:34 AM PST ) [Listen] Permalink