Here are my best reads in English during 2011. I only read 38 books this year (blame the Internet), which is why the really good ones are fewer than usual.
- Bonk. The curious coupling of sex and science. Mary Roach 2008. A charming look at the history of sex research.
- The Culture of Fear. Why Americans are afraid of the wrong things. Barry Glassner 1999. If you don't already hate the US media, this book will kindle the flame.
- Joy in the Morning. P.G. Wodehouse 1946. Extremely witty and extremely unrealistic.
- History and the Gods. An essay on the idea of historical events as divine manifestations in the ancient Near East and in Israel. Bertil Albrektson 1967. You think Jahwe was the first god who communicated by military victory and drought?
What were your best reads of the year?
Here's my list for 2010.
- Log in to post comments
More like this
Bertil Albrektson is a very cool Bible scholar. A former professor of Old Testament Exegetics in Turku, Finland, he was on the most recent Swedish Bible translation commission despite being an atheist. His ground-breaking little 1967 book History and the Gods. An essay on the idea of historical…
Here are my best reads in English during 2013. It was a really good year for quality, though I didn't read very much: 41 books, twelve of which were e-books. The latter number was boosted by the Humble E-Book Bundle that I bought at Junior's recommendation (sadly no longer up for sale). Find me at…
Here are my best reads in English during 2012. I read 50 books this year, six of which were e-books. I flirted with LibraryThing for a while, but lately I've found that Goodreads is more the kind of leisure reading database/community that I enjoy. Find me there.
Packing for Mars. Mary Roach 2011.…
Review by Scicurious, from Neurotopia
Originally posted on: January 19, 2009 1:27 AM
It is rare that a non-fiction book, let alone a non-fiction book about science, makes me laugh so hard I have to put the book down until I can get off the floor. In fact, I would say it's only happened once. That…
I second "Bonk".
Not yet read, but intending to in the near future:
"Sex And War: How Biology Explains Warfare and Terrorism And Offers a Path to a Safer World" http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sex-War-Biology-Explains-Terrorism/dp/193377157…
"Evolution is not destiny, however" ...so we can change. After all, most of us no longer do cannibalism.
I see cannibalism as ethically indeterminate. We quit eating people meat, but we still torture and kill people. And just let the meat spoil. /-: