Summer reading list
June 9, 2009
A post over at Reporting on a Revolution earlier today reminded me that there was a summer reading list meme started — maybe last week (?) … I forget where now.
At this point in my life, I know myself pretty well. I know how long it takes me to get through books. So … this list contains both books I have already started and hope to finish as well as ones I’d like to start (and not finish until next year sometime):
- Sand: The Neverending Story — Michael Welland (check out his blog Through the Sandglass)
- Out of Control — Kevin Kelly (have been reading this for a while, it is thick and quite dense)
- Plows, Plagues, and Petroleum: How Humans Took Control of Climate — William Ruddiman
- Thinking in Jazz: The Infinite Art of Improvisation — Paul Berliner (this is also very thick, might be studying it for years to come)
- Stories in Stone — David Williams (check out his blog Stories in Stone)
- The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism — Naomi Klein
- Flowers for Algernon — Daniel Keyes (this in the read-in-high-school-but-need-to-reread category)
- BLDGBLOG — Geoff Manaugh (I haven’t picked this up yet, but I like his blog of the same name a lot)
- Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free — Charles Pierce
Feel free to leave a link to your list in the comment thread below.
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UPDATE (6/10/2009): See a much longer list of popular science books on ScienceFriday’s website here. They asked for suggestions with Twitter and got a lot of great suggestions.
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Clastic Detritus 
Meme-fever! Catch it!
http://dynamic-earth.blogspot.com/2009/06/summer-reading-meme.html
I’ll be interested to hear your review of the Ruddiman book. I’ve heard him speak and it’s compelling, and I’ve been tempted to get the book.
annejefferson … yeah, I have heard that his presentations about this topic are thought-provoking … I haven’t seen him speak, but heard from several friends/colleagues about it.
Flowers for Algernon is a classic, one I re-read every decade or so.
Here’s my reading list: http://highway8a.blogspot.com/2009/06/summer-reading-list-meme.html
I have only read a short bit of Sand but so far it is terrific.
David … your comment reminded me that your book is on my list too! … I’ve updated the post.
Daniel Keyes was teaching at Ohio University in Athens when I was a high-schooler. His daughter, Hillary, was the first girl I ever took out on a date. Imagine the dismay of a geeky, nerdy sci-fi kid going to pick up his first date, and confronting her dad. I hadn’t realized they were the same Keyes. Urp. Gotta say, the Hugo Award is cool, but the Nebula is stunningly beautiful. Just found this meme, and considering playing, but I hardly read books anymore… I’m an internet junkie.