For those who are new ... we discuss books. I list what I'm reading, and people comment with what they're reading. Sometimes, on Sundays, I post a special edition on a particular genre or topic.
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Readers and Book lovers schedule
Readers & Book Lovers Series Schedule
Just finished
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Thinking, fast and slow by Daniel Kahneman. Kahneman, most famous for his work with the late Amos Tversky, is one of the leading psychologists of the times. Here, he posits that our brains have two systems: A fast one and a slow one. Neither is better, but they are good at different things. This is a brilliant book: Full of insight and very well written, as well.
On politics: A history of political thought from Herodotus to the present by Alan Ryan. What the subtitle says - a history of political thought. But he should add the adjective "Western" or something as he doesn't discuss other traditions or writings.
The Year's Best Science Fiction edited by Gardner Dozois. My favorite of the annual collections of SF.
The Swerve by Stephen Greenblatt. How the discovery of an ancient book helped create the modern world. Fascinating.
Turbulence by Samit Basu. Science fiction. All the passengers on a flight from England to India have been given super powers. But each super power is tied to what the person dreams of. Interesting.
The Blood of Tyrants: George Washington and the Forging of the Presidency by Logan Beirne. Washington wasn't quite the paragon of virtues we learned about in school; Beirne covers how Washington did things and how that could affect how later presidents did things.
The Great Dissent: How Oliver Wendell Holmes changed his mind and changed the history of free speech in America by Thomas Healy. In 1918, free speech didn't mean what it does today. It meant that government wasn't allowed to prohibit speech before the speech or publication, but was allowed to punish it later. In Abrams vs. United States, Holmes wrote what is probably the most important dissent in the history of SCOTUS. He not only went against precedent, he went against precedent he had helped to establish only a short while before. This is a great book about how that change happened. Highly recommended.
Just started
Maximum Bob by Elmore Leonard - typical Leonard, full of zany characters, most of them low-lifes and a zippy plot. Very well written.