10 books recommendation meme
Feb. 14th, 2009 03:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
urbpanSince I'm a posting fool today, I may as well share these book recommendations from a facebook meme. They are more interesting to the people who read this journal than to my facebook friends anyway. I've already written about most of these in this journal, but it might be nice to have them all in one place. The rules of the meme state that your first entry has to be the book you are currently reading.
Most of these are sciencey books but are written for the digestion of laypersons. No degree is needed to appreciate them.
1. The Ghosts of Evolution / I wasn't going to recommend it, but it is what I'm reading now. It's about the very fascinating subject of plants that evolved alongside seed-dispersing animals such as giant sloths and mastodons which are now extinct. It's not very well written, however, I like the subject enough that I'm digging through it. It's by Connie Barlow.
2. I'm also reading The New Kings of Non-Fiction, edited by Ira Glass. I got it when I donated to NPR. It has short pieces by lots of different people, including many of the authors on this list, and famous New Yorker essayists.
3. Song of the Dodo / Rather tomelike but entertaining piece on island biogeography, and how all biology is becoming similar to it, by David Quammen. I would recommend reading anything by Quammen, who recently has been writing stuff about Darwin for National Geographic. Let me take this opportunity to link to his essay Planet of Weeds, again.
4. Beast in the Garden / A natural history book that reads like a pulp crime novel, about the way the world is has changed in such a way as to put mountain lions into dangerous proximity to humans, by David Baron.
5. Dogs: A New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior, and Evolution / A sensible and pragmatic approach to understanding dogs, based on a much more likely alternative to the "cavemen stealing wolf puppies" origin of domestic dogs. By Ray and Lorna Coppinger.
6. Parasite Rex / About the vital role parasites have played in the evolution of other animals, and how parasites can manipulate the behavior of other animals. By Carl Zimmer.
7. The Omnivore's Dilemma / Hard to imagine that anyone who has heard of this book hasn't already committed to reading it or to avoiding it, but I heartily recommend it. Utterly compelling, and very important; by Michael Pollan (I also recommend The Botany of Desire by the same author.)
8. A Short History of Nearly Everything / Best introduction to the natural sciences ever written. Fully integrates Cosmology, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology, with a bit of gossiping about the personalities involved in developing these sciences. By Bill Bryson, who has written a bunch of stuff that people have recommended to me that I haven't read yet.
9. When You are Engulfed in Flames / The latest book by the 21st century Mark Twain, David Sedaris. I've read everything he's written (I prefer the semi-fictionalfamily memoirs to the fully fictional plays and stories with animal characters) and have the laugh lines and split sides to prove it.
10. Dear Mr. Mackin and Thank You for your Continued Interest / Two collections of letters to and responses from corporations, by my former classmate Rich Mackin. These letters highlight the absurdity of modern consumerist culture; he's speaking truth to power, and power's response is pretty hilarious.
Most of these are sciencey books but are written for the digestion of laypersons. No degree is needed to appreciate them.
1. The Ghosts of Evolution / I wasn't going to recommend it, but it is what I'm reading now. It's about the very fascinating subject of plants that evolved alongside seed-dispersing animals such as giant sloths and mastodons which are now extinct. It's not very well written, however, I like the subject enough that I'm digging through it. It's by Connie Barlow.
2. I'm also reading The New Kings of Non-Fiction, edited by Ira Glass. I got it when I donated to NPR. It has short pieces by lots of different people, including many of the authors on this list, and famous New Yorker essayists.
3. Song of the Dodo / Rather tomelike but entertaining piece on island biogeography, and how all biology is becoming similar to it, by David Quammen. I would recommend reading anything by Quammen, who recently has been writing stuff about Darwin for National Geographic. Let me take this opportunity to link to his essay Planet of Weeds, again.
4. Beast in the Garden / A natural history book that reads like a pulp crime novel, about the way the world is has changed in such a way as to put mountain lions into dangerous proximity to humans, by David Baron.
5. Dogs: A New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior, and Evolution / A sensible and pragmatic approach to understanding dogs, based on a much more likely alternative to the "cavemen stealing wolf puppies" origin of domestic dogs. By Ray and Lorna Coppinger.
6. Parasite Rex / About the vital role parasites have played in the evolution of other animals, and how parasites can manipulate the behavior of other animals. By Carl Zimmer.
7. The Omnivore's Dilemma / Hard to imagine that anyone who has heard of this book hasn't already committed to reading it or to avoiding it, but I heartily recommend it. Utterly compelling, and very important; by Michael Pollan (I also recommend The Botany of Desire by the same author.)
8. A Short History of Nearly Everything / Best introduction to the natural sciences ever written. Fully integrates Cosmology, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology, with a bit of gossiping about the personalities involved in developing these sciences. By Bill Bryson, who has written a bunch of stuff that people have recommended to me that I haven't read yet.
9. When You are Engulfed in Flames / The latest book by the 21st century Mark Twain, David Sedaris. I've read everything he's written (I prefer the semi-fictionalfamily memoirs to the fully fictional plays and stories with animal characters) and have the laugh lines and split sides to prove it.
10. Dear Mr. Mackin and Thank You for your Continued Interest / Two collections of letters to and responses from corporations, by my former classmate Rich Mackin. These letters highlight the absurdity of modern consumerist culture; he's speaking truth to power, and power's response is pretty hilarious.
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Date: 2009-02-14 09:38 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2009-02-14 10:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-15 12:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-15 03:45 am (UTC)It's now on the iPod for my airline ride tomorrow.
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Date: 2009-02-15 02:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-15 03:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-15 11:48 pm (UTC)Re: Tiny Strangers
Date: 2009-02-15 11:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-20 02:06 am (UTC)However, if you're digging the subject of island biogeography in general, I have to recommend the book I'm currently reading: Singing the Turtles to Sea: The Comcáac (Seri) Art and Science of Reptiles