The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science by Natalie Angier -- Angier's "whirligig tour of the beautiful basics of science" is slim, but jam-packed with a high density of interesting information. Beginning with a discussion of just what science is and a review of basic statistis and probability, it outlines the various scales at play in the universe, and then goes through them one field at a time -- from physics to chemistry, biology, geology, and finally astronomy (and back to physics, to an extent). Unfortunately (and somewhat oddly, considering Angier is a science journalist), The Canon lacks the sub-chapter organization that would have helped make its density more manageable. It is also jam-packed with as many puns, bad jokes, plays on words, and silly stories as Angier can fit, which before long become more distracting and irritating than amusing and engaging. But overall, I was considerably more impressed with The Canon than I was with Bryson's Short History of Nearly Everything, the most similar work I've read.

The Second Creation: Makers of the Revolution in Twentieth-Century Physics by Robert P. Crease and Charles C. Mann -- Crease and Mann's history of the development of relativity, quantum physics, quantum field theory and the Standard Model admirably combines engrossing prose with discussion of the physics that, while non-technical, is still thorough. They are helped by dozens of interviews with leading physicists, and include impressive notes with many references to original papers. There were some problems: the Higgs boson, perhaps the central issue of the Standard Model for the last couple of decades, is mentioned only in passing; the ten-year update from 1985 to 1995 seems haphazard in spots; and the optimistic discussion of string theory (while prescient in some ways) now seems hopelessly dated. But in the scale of the work as a whole, I found these relatively minor issues.

Who Hates Whom by Bob Harris -- Harris's "Woefully Incomplete Guide" to "Well-Armed Fanatics, Intractable Conflicts, and Various Things Blowing Up" attempts a humorous romp through dozens of depressing wars, massacres and assorted atrocities. He doesn't do too badly, tempering most jokes with sensitivity and offering decent thumbnail sketches of the history, current status, and future prospects of the conflicts he considers. Some cracks fell flat, some choices of conflict seemed odd, some histories were too compressed, and of course my favorite intractable conflict (Abkhazia) didn't make the final cut.

The Iron Heel by Jack London -- Review

The Star Fraction by Ken MacLeod -- So a Trotskyist mercenary, a molecular biologist, and a libertarian teenager walk into a bar, forming a partnership that has the possibility to shake to the core the balkanized world of the 2040s and its hegemonic Yank overlords. But what if the worlds we dream are impossible, the worlds we get are unstable, and what we think is the revolution is only another moment in the fall? An impressive first novel by MacLeod, which spawned a four-book Fall Revolution sequence. While not without its flaws, it impressed me enough to put the next book in the sequence on my list.

The Theory of Almost Everything: The Standard Model, the Unsung Triumph of Modern Physics by Robert Oerter -- A slim and somewhat sketchy popular introduction to the Standard Model of elementary particle physics. While Oerter emphasizes that this is not a history, logical development often leads him to follow a roughly historical route, making the book suffer in comparison to Crease and Mann's excellent history, The Second Creation. This work also seems to be pitched at a somewhat lower level than Crease and Mann, though it does address some issues they gloss over (and vice versa). The strangest omission I noticed was the lack of mention of the electroweak hierarchy problem (the cosmological hierarchy problem is brought up briefly). While primarily an aesthetic 'problem', this is one of the main motivations for developing theories beyond the Standard Model. This leads to supersymmetry being introduced just "because-it's-there" (260), then justified through the possibility of coupling constant unification in supersymmetric grand unified theories.

Ten Days That Shook the World by John Reed -- This engagingly-written memoir of the October Revolution provides an interesting look into the attitudes and mindset of Bolshevik supporters in the first heady days of the new order. Written before the disastrous Civil War that followed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Reed's account may feel incomplete to those who know how all the talk of "workers' control" and local self-government turned out, and are curious to understand how and why.

War for the Oaks by Emma Bull -- Bull's first novel follows struggling rocker Eddi McCandry as she is forcibly drafted into a deadly war between the two Faerie Courts. The opening and characters are promising, but the heavy reliance on '80s music to drive the plot and resolution made some things difficult for me to visualize.

The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon -- A rather bleak tale of murder, destruction, addiction, despair, chess, fanaticism, etc. Not really to my taste, and it was only Chabon's undeniable skill as a writer that let me enjoy it, for the most part.

The Conscience of a Liberal by Paul Krugman -- Krugman's manifesto in favor of the New Deal and its completion through universal health insurance is well-organized and very readable, but there were a number of relatively small issues that irritated me. It's relatively brief (with the page count pumped up by large text spacing), and based on relatively few choice statistics, making it unlikely to convince anyone who does not want to be convinced. McCarthy is mentioned only in relation to the Cold War, which leaves a gaping hole in Krugman's argument that the postwar era was a golden age of harmonious bipartisanship. Although Krugman points out that single-payer health insurance is the best solution by every measure, he cheerfully discards it to argue for more complicated, more expensive, and less effective systems he considers more politically feasible, apparently not recognizing that pre-emptively watering down your position only means you end up with even less, if anything at all. Krugman's argument that liberals are really small-c-conservatives and his treatment of "radical" like a dirty word did little to win over this radical. Finally, I had already encountered many of Krugman's arguments on his blog of the same name, though this may not be an issue for others. On the whole, glad I got it from the library.

An Introduction to Quantum Field Theory by Michael Peskin and Daniel Schroeder -- The big book of introductory quantum field theory. The great white whale. Peskin and Schroeder is a challenging book that took me a full year and three courses to get through, but it's just a start in the wonderful world of particle physics.

Manifesto of the Fast Food Worker by Tony Silsdon and Brent Gaspaire -- A brief and relatively rough pamphlet discussing militant union organizing in low-wage service industries, focusing around a failed organizing campaign among pizza store workers in the Seattle/Tacoma area.

Not Even Wrong by Peter Woit -- Woit's criticism of string theory and its predominance in theoretical particle physics seems a bit dated (perhaps because it took four years to be published), and too quick to dismiss some promising new avenues such as AdS/CFT and Randall-Sundrum models. But its main points are worthwhile, and I was pleasantly surprised by an unexpected chapter on "New Insights in Quantum Field Theory and Mathematics", which addressed a number of interesting topics most popular physics books don't touch with a ten-foot pole.

SS-GB by Len Deighton -- The murder of a nuclear physicist in Nazi-occupied 1941 London sets off even deadlier power struggles both between and within the Wehrmacht and the SS, which the British Resistance tries to exploit to rescue the imprisoned King George. Caught in the middle is skilled Scotland Yard detective Douglas Archer, who needs to convince all sides to keep him alive while he investigates the murder. The plot is engagingly intricate and complicated, and much of the imagery of occupied Britain is captivating. The characters, however, seemed sketched out around stock mystery novel figures, which kept me reading from a distance.

The Centurion's Empire by Sean McMullen -- In the first century CE, Roman Centurion Vitellan finds a way to freeze himself and sleep through the years without aging, travelling through time the slow way. After brief encounters with Vikings and the Hundred Years' War, the bulk of the plot is set in the 21st century, as Vitellan and other travellers like him become objects of adoration for cults. Although the book can drift a bit, its focus on the central character of Vitellan helps keep it from sprawling as badly as Souls in the Great Machine, the only other book by McMullen I've read.

The Dance of Time by Eric Flint and David Drake -- The final volume of the Belisarius series apparently took longer to write than the other five books combined. It is able to bring the sprawling plots to satisfactory conclusions, and reflects some of Flint's growth as a writer, particularly in the greater emphasis placed on social history. This involves some discontinuity with the earlier writing, but wasn't fatal.

Destiny's Shield by Eric Flint and David Drake -- The third volume in the Belisarius series focuses on the Indian invasion of Persia, with other plotlines in Alexandria and India itself advancing as well. Still entertaining, though the characters (never all that fleshed-out to begin with) have started to wear a bit thin, and the jokes become stale and repetitive. This is a good series to read through quickly, for fluff diversion.

Fortune's Stroke by Eric Flint and David Drake -- In the fourth volume of the Belisarius series, the Indian invasion of Persia is defeated, while the other plotlines in India and Axum advance, and the shape of the final denouement begins to be forshadowed as well. More characters start to be introduced, but the fun fluff keeps from spiralling out of control.

In the Heart of Darkness by Eric Flint and David Drake -- Well, I guess I will end up reading the six-book Belisarius series again after all. This second volume splits its time between the main character of the Byzantine general as he scopes out his ultimate enemy in India, and plotting in Constantinople as that enemy attempts to order a coup.

Mother of Demons by Eric Flint -- Flint's first book imagines the first human interstellar colonization ship crashing as soon as it reaches its destination. The survivors, disoriented and in desperate straits, eventually discover that their new planet is the home to intelligent life, in the process of forming civilizations, the course of which they may be able to influence, for good or ill. All the intricate world-building and philosophical considerations could have been slow, but was done well enough that it didn't feel like a slog at all.

An Oblique Approach by David Drake and Eric Flint -- This fun book, outlined by Drake and then fleshed out by Flint, starts off a six-volume series in which future civilizations attempt to impose their respective marks on the sixth century world. Having read the series before, it gets somewhat tiresome and repetitive after a while, but rereading the first book was a fun enough diversion.

Ring of Fire II by Eric Flint -- Another anthology of short stories and one novella set in Flint's universe where a West Virginian town finds itself in the seventeenth century and starts to raise hell. After half a dozen novels and perhaps a dozen short story collections, the cast of characters and various plotlines have begun to get so extensive and convoluted that it is often frustrating to try to keep track, though the quality of writing remains decent for the most part.

The Resurrections by Simon Louvish -- This slim novel of rebellion and reaction is set in a world where Luxemburg and Liebknecht lead a successful German revolution, Trotsky takes power in Moscow, and Goebbels flees to America to weave his webs of conspiracy. Unfortunately, I found the backstory more interesting than the plot, probably because the story itself was told in disjointed spatters of stream-of-consciousness from a dozen different figures, each chapter generally only a couple of pages long.

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson -- A typically entertaining Stephenson work, though considerably more fast-paced than his more recent tomes. As an ambitious monopolist in a post-state world attempts to use Sumerian bullshit, computer viruses, evangelical Christianity, and drug experimentation to hack the human mind, it is up to the last great freelance hacker, Hiro Protagonist, and his far-flung band of allies and backers to save the day.

The Tide of Victory by Eric Flint and David Drake -- In the fifth volume of the Belisarius series, the campaign is taken to India, as allied forces invade from the sea and a refonuded Kushan empire threatens from the Hindu Kush. Still fun fluff, although the pace of technological development becomes even more unbelievable, and the cast of characters has swelled to the point a dramatis personae is needed.

Imagine There's No Heaven by Matt Cherry -- A slim collection of eight interviews and three essays from Free Inquiry magazine, which I received for subscribing. The interviews and essays generally weren't bad, but the whole thing felt somewhat dated, with most of the material coming from 1993-1996.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman -- A cute story, though there didn't seem to be enough space for development of characters, story or setting (though this did alow me to read it in only a few hours). Perhaps because I saw the film first, and it got into my head, this is one of the few books I enjoyed less than the film based on it. I may also not have caught all the allusions in the book, which might have made it more interesting.

There's No José Here by Gabriel Thompson -- An engaging narrative of some of Thompson's interactions with Mexican immigrants in Brooklyn, particularly the gregarious cabbie Enrique. After getting to know these immigrants and their families as a community organizer, Thompson explores their histories and visits their home towns in southern Mexico. Although somewhat narrowly focused, the book does a good job of putting a "human face" on Mexican immigrants and immigration.

A Betrayal in Winter by Daniel Abraham -- The second book in Abraham's "Long Price Quartet", following A Shadow in Summer. Fifteen years after the fall of Saraykeht recounted there, Maati and Otah, the failed "poet" and his renegade former mentor, are drawn to the winter city of Machi. There, Otah's father, ruler of the city, slowly dies, and Otah's brothers are being killed off -- by Ohat himself, almost everybody assumes. The plot was more solid than that of A Shadow in Summer, though I missed some of the pathos of that first volume.

A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham -- Review

Rag-Tags, Scum, Riff-Raff and Commies: The U.S. Intervention in the Dominican Republic, 1965-1966 by Eric Thomas Chester -- An exhaustively detailed and documented history of a popular uprising in the Dominican Republic and its suppression by the United States. Focuses on military and diplomatic history, and will probably remain the definitive account until remaining classified documents are released. My main criticism is that I might have liked more social history of the revolt and conditions in the Dominican Republic than was included.

Little, Big by John Crowley -- Lots of people rave about this understated fantasy, often comparing it to One Hundred Years of Solitude. Some superficial similarities are obvious, but although I loved One Hundred Years of Solitude, Little, Big eventually become a chore to slog through. I never got much of the sense of the fantastical that I got reading Marquez, though there were some memorable vignettes. Some of Crowley's writing is pretty, but sometimes he tries too hard and things backfire. (The broader setting of generalized political and technological collapse in the near future or recent past is distracting as well, and made it harder for me to suspend disbelief.)

Build It Now: Socialism for the Twenty-First Century by Michael A. Lebowitz -- Review.

Declare by Tim Powers -- Another of Powers's engrossing "secret history" novels, this one mixing battles over supernatural powers into the espionage games of the Cold War (viewed as a continuation of the "Great Game" between imperial Britain and Russia). Spy novels aren't a genre I generally enjoy, but while I wasn't absorbed by this book the way I was by The Anubis Gates (it may have been too long and involved too many extended flash-backs), I enjoyed it nonetheless.

The Drawing of the Dark by Tim Powers -- One of Powers's first books is a fun, somewhat-less-than-serious romp mixing together the 1529 Siege of Vienna with Arthurian (and a bit of Norse) mythology. The real battle in Vienna is over the magical Herzwesten Dark beer, brewed in an ancient cellar beneath the city, which will restore the Fisher King if it can be protected until ready to be drawn.

Calling All Radicals: How Grassroots Organizers Can Help Save Our Democracy by Gabriel Thompson -- A handbook and call to arms of sorts, with lots of anecdotes about Thompson's time as a community organizer in Brooklyn mixed in. Not a full-time organizer myself, I still found lots of good ideas and interesting issues relevant to the organizing I try to do. Thompson's writing is straightforward and honest, and an extensive annotated bibliography and directory of organizations provides resources for further investigation and inspiration.

Ha'penny by Jo Walton -- A sequel of sorts to Walton's Farthing is another gripping look at an England sliding into fascism. Many more scenes and characters this time, some of which weren't developed all that well. Like Farthing, told in alternating chapters of first- and third-person narrative, though now the first-person account is more polished and grammatical.

1634: The Bavarian Crisis by Eric Flint and Virginia DeMarce -- Though tedious at first and burdened by what seemed like six times the plot and characters necessary, it managed to get entertaining after a while. Left me inclined to be more generous than perhaps I should be.

God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens -- The first actual book I read by Hitchens, though I was more familiar with some of his essays, articles, and polemics. I found it to be an enjoyable and reasonably thought-provoking work. Hitchens doesn't bother to pull punches, but the book is not as aggressive or strident as I may have expected.

The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman -- The final volume in Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy. This portion, the longest, has the most amusing anti-religious imagery. Its main weakness may be the drawn-out resolution, which drags a bit (and also gets a bit too maudlin) as it winds down the three-volume tale as a whole.

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman -- I decided to pick up this first book in Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy because of a nice review I read (pointed out by Tal) about its anti-religious themes and strong characters. While I could appreciate those, I was put off a bit by the steady stream of heroic and miraculous last-minute rescues, which I felt was a bit much, even for a childrens' book. Enjoyable overall.

The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman -- Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy is one story told across three books with little in the way of resolution or break in between. This second volume introduces the second main character and reveals more of the extent of the plot. It had much the same strengths and flaws as the previous volume, with good themes and characters but plot and storytelling style I didn't much care for.

Farthing by Jo Walton -- An engrossing and chilling murder mistery set in an England drifting towards fascism. Quick but not light, with alternating chapters of first- and third-person narrative.

When Computers Were Human by David Alan Grier -- A history of computation when it was performed with pen and paper, with perhaps an adding machine or punchcard tabulator as well. Contains some interesting bits, but seems scattered and unfocused until the last chapters, when computing began to emerge into a discipline just in time for it to be taken over by machines. I guess I had been hoping for some discussion of algorithms and such issues, but this is aimed squarely at the popular science audience and contains as few equations as possible.

The Industrial Workers of the World: Its First 100 Years by Fred W. Thompson and Jon Bekken -- A brief but reasonably comprehensive survey of the history of the radical anti-capitalist union. The blurb on the back cover calls this book "unpretentious" and "craftsmanlike", which is a polite way to put it. Much of it reads like outline notes that were never fully expanded into prose; missing words give the text an odd, clipped cadence. The quality improves noticeably when Bekken takes over in the last couple of chapters covering 1955-2005, and I wish he had revised the earlier chapters as well.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling -- So I guess I ended up reading all six previous books to get in a bit of fun before the new semester got started in earnest. Reading this one was a little weird -- although it was the one I had read most recently (in July 2005), it was the one I remembered the least of. I guess the plot was a little forgettable, mainly setting up the final volume.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling -- Another fun read, though the point where Rowling's writing started to get a bit bloated. Nicely managed to be somewhat darker but still fun, relaxing and enjoyable.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling -- This even darker volume has its bright spots but was sort of dragged down by its bloated length, which kept it from being the same quick read as earlier books in the series.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling -- I first read these books a bit after this third volume had come out, and it was the only one that really impressed me. It's a little different reading it now, knowing how the whole series turns out (and being 23 instead of 15), but still a fun break.

The Grantville Gazette II by Eric Flint -- Another collection of short stories and articles related to Flint's series. Some fan fiction as well as stories by professional writers. I found the quality to be more consistent, and generally better, in this volume than the first.

The Grantville Gazette III by Eric Flint -- A third collection of short stories and articles related to Flint's series. Some fan fiction as well as stories by professional writers. Quality was mixed as usual, but seems to be keeping up well enough so far.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling -- Another quick, easy, and enjoyable read. A sort of guilty pleasure, I suppose, but one I don't regret, particularly since I haven't actually read the books in such a long time.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling -- Reading the seventh book in the series (and wanting a break before the semester starts) led me to re-read some of the earlier ones, which I hadn't looked at (in English, at least) for many years. This first book was entertaining, a very quick, easy and harmless read.

Settling Accounts: In at the Death by Harry Turtledove -- The final (it had better be) installment in Turtledove's alternate history series that supposed the South won the Civil War. Same as the others, little plot to speak of and repetitive, formulaic writing to plump the book out to the contracted size.

1634: The Baltic War by Eric Flint and David Weber -- What was to be two (or more) books got mashed together into one oversized offering. Plot lines (probably over-)abound, but the writing kept everything moving and entertaining. This volume makes me hopeful that the series won't end up spiraling out of control as I feel some similar ones have.

The Grantville Gazette by Eric Flint -- A collection of some short stories and articles on some issues that had to be addressed by those developing the series. The short stories included fan fiction as well as offerings by established writers. Quality varies, but since I got it for free I won't complain too much.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling -- The last in the series; like the others, entertaining if not especially original or brilliant. Now to find a Spanish translation.

Revolution in the Air by Max Elbaum -- I enjoyed Elbaum's history of the Third World Marxist "New Communist Movement" from its roots in the late '60s to its collapse in the late '80s and '90s due to my interest in the period and leftist trainspotting in general. I was somewhat put off by his Leninism and promotion of cadre tactics and organization.

Cold War: Warnings for a Unipolar World by Fidel Castro -- A very interesting and readable interview with Cuban leader Fidel Castro about the Cold War -- in particular the Cuban Missile Crisis and Cuban and Soviet support for other revolutions and revolutionaries in the third world. A very short book with no hard questions, and little discussion of Cuba itself, but interesting remarks on Cuban-Soviet relations and cooperation (or lack thereof).

1634: The Ram Rebellion by Eric Flint -- A sort of cross between short story anthology and bona fide novel, set in Flint's popular alternate history universe. Fans of the series will probably enjoy it at some level, but the writing is uneven, and there are some continuity problems, such as names and dates changing from chapter to chapter.

Cowboy in Caracas: A North American's Memoir of Venezuela's Democratic Revolution by Charles Hardy -- An interesting anecdotal memoir, largely consisting of short stories about some of the people former missionary Hardy has met and conversations and experiences he's had during his 20+ years in Venezuela. Probably not of interest to those with extensive knowledge of Venezuela, but since I knew relatively little, I found it worthwhile.

Wars of the 21st Century: New Threats, New Fears by Ignacio Ramonet -- Ramonet reviews the global justice movement of the 1990s and its response to the 11 September terrorist attacks and United States's resulting "infinite war" "on terror". Suffers from being written in 2003, before the U. S. really got bogged down in Iraq, as well as from a number of blatant errors that the editors really should have noticed and corrected.

The Trouble with Physics by Lee Smolin -- A decent book that is actually not the "anti-string" manifesto its subtitle ("The Rise of String Theory, the Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next") makes it out to be. I was not taken with the focus on high energy theory as the essential field of physics, nor much of Smolin's autobiographical navel-gazing. References to Popper, Kuhn and Feyerabend are all quoted too sketchily and too respectfully for me to trust the arguments Smolin bases off of theirs.

Settling Accounts: The Grapple by Harry Turtledove -- Another, hopefully the second-to-last, in a long line of long books by Turtledove. It was a quick read and fun break, despite the tired characters and writing.

Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II by John W. Dower -- An exhaustive history of all aspects of postwar Japan -- political, economic, social, psychological, linguistic, etc. Very interesting, though a bit overwhelming. Assumes at least some familiarity with the subject material.

Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman -- A collection of older short stories and poems by Gaiman. I enjoyed several of them, though that sort of writing doesn't seem to be something I can really get into.

Introduction to Elementary Particles by David Griffiths -- A sketchy introduction to particle physics. I enjoyed it more than perhaps I should because I largely just read it as a semi-popular account, not as a textbook. As a textbook, explanations are derivations are all too often unclear, incomplete, sketchy, or simply absent.

Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change by Steven Kinzer -- This volume, obviously inspired by Kinzer's earlier All the Shah's Men, traces American "regime changes" from 1893 in Hawaii to 2003 in Iraq. Although it included elegant accounts of disgraceful episodes that all Americans should be familiar with, Kinzer's focus solely on US military actions that successfully overthrew foreign governments is rather odd. The Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba and the dirty war against Nicarauga, for instance, do not make the cut, even though they and other such incidents are important example of the imperial aggression that drove other events Kinzer does address.

The Battle of Blair Mountain by Robert Shogun -- As a history of the West Virginia mine wars of 1919-1921, America's largest labor uprising in the midst of the first red scare, this book covers some really interesting ground. Unfortunately, I found a lot of the writing sloppy and tedious, and much of the narrative dominated by recountings of when and how who told what to whom.

Moral Minority: Our Skeptical Founding Fathers by Brooke Allen -- A relatively short and quote-heavy discussion of the religious beliefs of six of the "founding fathers" of the US, written in rebuttal to modern-day religious fanatics who claim the United States was founded as a "Christian nation". I didn't find it particularly engaging, not least because Allen doesn't really address the question of why we should care so much what these individuals thought, nor does she make that much connection with the modern day.

Final Impact by John Birmingham -- A satisfying conclusion to Birmingham's near-future/alternate history military trilogy premised on a mid-21st century fleet being sent back to 1942 by a physics experiment gone wrong. Birmingham keeps everything moving at an admirable clip, and (unlike, say, Harry Turtledove or Robert Jordan), actually manages to end his story.

The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins -- A book I wasn't expecting to enjoy that much, because I suspected I was already familiar with many of its arguments. Still, I found it interesting and well-written in many places.

1824: The Arkansas War by Eric Flint -- In this sequel to Flint's The Rivers of War, the events of the previous book have resulted in the creation of a nation of Native Americans, escaped slaves and radical abolitionists on the American frontier, leading to a breakdown of the United States' attempts to ignore the problem of slavery. Originally to be the last book in a short two-part sequence, there now seem to be at least two more planned, possibly more. If they're all as enjoyable as this one, I don't have a problem with that.

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman -- A fun fantasy set in a netherworld below London. Apparently it was originally a TV series that was adapted into a novel. Considering this, it's surprisingly good.

Voodoo Science by Robert Park -- A brief survey of various bits of pseudoscience, junk science, fraudulent science and pathological science. Park emphasizes the need for public understanding of scientific worldviews, and explores the process by which people who may have initially believed their foolish claims end up as downright frauds.

Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions by Lisa Randall -- A decent book on some extra-dimensional speculations for physics beyond the Standard Model. Earlier parts of the book were not so good as others I've read, and many of Randall's metaphors and stories crossed the line from cute to cutesy. However, the second half was more interesting, and Randall at least made attempts to clarify how speculative all the extra-dimensional scenarios are.

Helen Keller by John Davis -- Review

Sacco and Vanzetti by John Davis -- Review

1635: The Cannon Law by Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis -- The sequel to Flint and Dennis's The Galileo Affair sees plots that threaten the pope and the Church itself in Flint's rapidly expanding alternate history universe.

Albert Einstein by Jim Green -- Review

Haydee Santamaria by Betsy Maclean -- Review

Louise Michel by Nic Maclellan -- A collection of documents relating to a radical leader of the Paris Commune of 1871, and about the commune itself. Not someone I was familiar with, so a valuabe introduction, but not one I found as interesting as some other titles in Ocean Press's Rebel Lives series.

Amerika Psycho: Behind Uncle Sam's Mask of Sanity by Richard Neville -- Billed as a satirical mocking of the excesses of modern American culture, this is actually a collection of a few rather sober thoughts on the United States from a noted countercultural figure (along with a bit of the hate mail and other correspondence he received in response). Not particularly interesting, amusing, or rewarding for me.

The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers -- A complex and entrancing book that mixes an incredible number of genres, plots and characters into an absorbing romp that is both fantastical and realistic. I wish I could say more, but it's really impossible to describe succinctly, except to say that I enjoyed it thoroughly, and will look for more works by Powers.

Bioterror: Manufacturing Wars the American Way by Ellen Ray and William H. Schaap -- A collection of relatively old articles on chemical and biological warfare from Covert Action magazine, dating between 1982 and 1993, along with a current introduction by the editors. Quality varied, and most articles didn't go beyond speculation. The best were the ones on the Zimbabwe anthrax epizootic of 1978-1980 and the Cuban dengue fever epidemic of 1981.

One Hundred Red Hot Years by Deborah Shnookal -- A timeline of the twentieth century, with an introduction by Eduardo Galeano and a couple of contributions by Luis Suarez and William Blum. Might make for fun browsing, but most of the events mentioned I knew about already, and most of the others didn't include enough information to serve as a worthwhile source or interest me enough to find one.

After Math by Miriam Webster -- A rather fun, though somewhat overly-fantastical murder story. Webster's first book, decently written but not all that much to my taste.

The Enemy of Nature by Joel Kovel -- Review

Bread and Roses by Bruce Watson -- Review

The Conservative Nanny State by Dean Baker -- Though at first I was skeptical of the sort of liberal Libertarianism Baker seemed to be proposing, he does make some sound suggestions, such as reworking patents and copyrights, moving toward a full-employment monetary policy, leaning toward universal health insurance, and ending many benefits given to most well-off at the expense of the least.

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman -- A kind of spin-off of Gaiman's American Gods, this book was shorter, tighter and for the most part a bit more slapstick, though not completely. A short and fun read.

10 Steps to Repair American Democracy by Steven Hill -- Review

The World Turned Upside Down by Christopher Hill -- An interesting account of left-wing radicalism during the English revolution of the seventeenth century, covering groups such as the Diggers, Quakers, Seekers and Ranters. My only problem with it was the relatively detailed knowledge it assumes of the English revolution.

Settling Accounts: Drive to the East by Harry Turtledove -- I like each book in this interminable series less and less. Hopefully this is the second-to-last. That way I can finish it off and be done with it, and with this author, too.

Designated Targets by John Birmingham -- The sequel to Weapons of Choice sees the course of the Second World War profoundly altered by accidental time travelers. The Axis powers launch desperate offensives to stall for time in which to construct an atomic deterrent to invasion.

Weapons of Choice by John Birmingham -- A 21st-century physics experiment gone wrong sends a modern fleet back in time to the middle of WWII. Birmingham does a nice job highlighting the challenges that modern ideas on race and gender present to those held in the 1940s, even by the relatively progressive. Quibbles: he takes the "War on Terror" a bit too seriously and introduces too many bit characters for the sole purpose of killing them off.

The Coming Plague by Laurie Garrett -- Although I was initially put off by the apparently alarmist title, this book had a lot of very interesting information. While it is well-written, it's heavy on the narrative, and probably could have been improved by severe size reductions.

Souls in the Great Machine by McMullen's epic of a postapocalyptic world in which librarians rule with an iron fist and telepathic sea monsters prey on the remnants of humanity is promising, but suffers from an overabundance of concepts. The mix of steampunk and science fiction provides a good setting, but characters and narrative alike lurch about unpredictably in a desperate attempt to get through the long, winding plot. The first book in a trilogy, but I have no plans to read its sequels. -- 3

The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman -- A good popular account of the opening weeks of the First World War. It doesn't focus too much on the causes of the War and cuts off somewhat awkwardly when the Battle of the Marne begins, but is good nonetheless.

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond -- A book about environmental problems and how they contributed to problems of societies in both the past and present. Several intriguing case studies and probably good for environmental consciousness-raising.

The Soviet Century by Moshe Lewin -- Review

Paris 1919: Six Months that Changed the World by Margaret MacMillan -- A comprehensive history of the important months of talks that shaped the peace treaties that ended the First World War. May try to address too many topics and end up devoting too little time to each.

Settling Accounts: Return Engagement by Harry Turtledove -- A typical installment in Turtledove's never-ending series that supposes the South won the Civil War and is now up to the Second World War. Hopefully it won't go any farther, because I'll probably feel compelled to read them even though they've long since lost whatever appeal they may have had.

The Ph.D. Process by Dale F. Bloom, Jonathan D. Karp and Nicholan Cohen -- Sober advice for graduate students in the sciences. Includes lots of lengthy quotes from students and professors, which makes it especially helpful.

True Mission: Socialists and the Labor Party Question in the US by Eric Chester -- Review

Japan at War: An Oral History by Haruko Taya Cook and Theodore F. Cook -- A large collection of oral histories from Japanese and assimilated Koreans who lived through the Second World War. Those interviewed include soldiiers, civilians, war criminals, even some who were to go on suicide missions as the War ended -- a wide range that attempts to cover as many facets of the War as possible.

War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War by John Dower -- Review

In the Realm of a Dying Emperor: Japan at Century's End by Norma Field -- Three stories of unlikely dissenters in late-1980s Japan. Potentially interesting material, rather horribly presented. A mixture of history, travelogue, politics, culture studies and navel-gazing.

A History of Japan by Conrad Totman -- Review

Darwin's Dangerous Idea by Daniel C. Dennett -- A very long and somewhat dense mixture of popular science and philosophy. There was a lot I found interesting, and a lot more I didn't care for that much.

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery -- A classic children's book that was an enjoyable read. A little interesting historically as well.

Kokoro by Natsume Soseki -- A memorable psychological novel about Sensei, who lives in loneliness caused by his shame of his past and disgust for humanity.

A Discourse by Three Drunkards on Government by Nakae Chomin -- A comically exaggerated yet elegantly written discussion of Japan's attempts to modernize in the latter years of the nineteenth century. Of historical interest and fun to read.

The Ruin of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Priscilla McMillan -- Account of hydrogen bomb development and Oppenheimer's trial. Gregg's and Rhodes's books are better written and structured, in my opinion.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Vol. 4 by Hayao Miyazaki -- Nausicaa leaves Kushana and continues south, where the plots and folly of the Dorok leaders are revealed.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Vol. 5 by Hayao Miyazaki -- The bioengineered weapon of the Doroks threaten to destroy not only their Empire but the remainder of the habitable earth. In response, a tidal wave of insects pours out of the Sea of Corruption and are joined by Nausicaa. The tone becomes darker and more morally ambiguous.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Vol. 6 by Hayao Miyazaki -- As Nausicaa is hailed as a god and sees a vision of the pure lands as the God Warrior awakens and adopts Nausicaa as its mother. All race toward the Dorok capital of Shuwa, where the ancient knowledge that led to the collapse of industrial civilization has been preserved.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Vol. 7 by Hayao Miyazaki -- The secrets of the Sea of Corruption and crypts of Shuwa are revealed. Quoth Nausicaa, "For all I know, I may be going to destroy humanity."

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams -- In a delightful science fiction mystery comedy based on the Doctor Who episode "City of Death", a mysterious death and fanciful string of coincidences almost leads to the destruction of the human race, a sure sign of the interconnectedness of all things.

Prime Obsession: Bernhard Riemann and the Greatest Unsolved Problem in Mathematics by John Derbyshire -- Half history and half math, Derbyshire starts off slow but eventually covers several interesting results reasonably clearly.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman -- A nicely written book that supposes gods actually exist, created by belief in them. The ending was not quite up to the standards of the rest of the book, I felt.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Vol. 1 by Hayao Miyazaki -- A thousand years after the collapse of industrial civilization, the earth is covered by a vast Sea of Corruption emitting poisonous vapors. Insects are the dominant life forms. Humanity lives through its twilight years in scattered refuges and heavily fortified cities. Now as war comes to the land, Nausicaa and her friends race to discover the secrets of the Sea of Corruption, before the human race is swallowed up for good.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Vol. 2 by Hayao Miyazaki -- The second volume of Miyazaki's masterpiece reveals the prophecy of the Blue-Clad One and introduces Emperor Miralupa and his schemes, which threaten to bring the wrath of the Sea of Corruption down on humanity. Nausicaa continues south across the Sea of Corruption into the Dorok Empire and the center of the war.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Vol. 3 by Hayao Miyazaki -- Nausicaa enters the war between the Doroks and Torumekians, a war in which the poisons and insects of the forest are being used as weapons. The Doroks are desperate to kill the Blue-Clad One prophesied to destroy their Empire, and now she has stumbled into the heart of their power.

Fashionable Nonsense: Postmodern Intellectuals' Abuse of Science by Alan Sokal and Jean Bricmont -- Review

Historical Truth and Lies About the Past by Alan Spitzer -- Review and paper.

The Quantum Quark by Andrew Watson -- A great semi-popular book that nevertheless manages to go into great depth about quantum chromodynamics and various related topics including lattice QCD and various accelerators and detectors.

1901 by Robert Conroy -- An alternate history in which Germany attempts to build its empire by attacking the US following the Spanish-American War. Not terrible, but rather badly written. It's Conroy's first book and it shows.

Playing the Game: The Streetsmart Guide to Graduate School by Frederick Frank and Karl Stein -- A very funny grad school guide, aimed mainly at part-time students and those in humanities and social sciences. I wasn't planning on reading the whole thing, but it was so amusing I went through it all anyway.

A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin -- The fourth book in Martin's Song of Ice and Fire fastasy series ended up being too large to publish, so it was transformed into this volume, which focuses only on some of the characters, but is decent nonetheless.

Three Roads to Quantum Gravity by Lee Smolin -- An interesting discussion of modern physics, especially loop quantum gravity, which doesn't get that much publicity in other popular books.| 4

The World Turned Upside Down: Medieval Japanese Society by Pierre Francois Souyri -- A really nice book about Medieval Japan. Souyri is able to explain things fully and clearly. The translator (Kathe Roth) deserves credit as well as Souyri: the prose is clear and flowing.

The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan -- Somewhere between a collection of essays and a book on science and superstition. There were lots of good moments, but the whole thing was a bit repetitive and didn't tie together very well.

The System of the World by Neal Stephenson -- The last volume in Stephenson's monumental Baroque Cycle. Unlike his other books, it doesn't get crazy at the end. The pleasure is in the journey, not the conclusion.

The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell -- Entertaining historical fiction set in the late ninth century Danish (Viking) invasions of England. First thing I've read by this author; I would probably pick up the sequel if I had time.

The Dance of Time by Eric Flint and David Drake -- The sixth and final book of the Belisarius series. Not very hard to guess what happens in this volume. It hasn't actually been published yet, so don't try the link. I was able to read it through Baen's Webscription service. The fact that it didn't take me much more than a week to read this ~3000 page series can serve as an indication both of how fun it was, and of how dense it was.

Destiny's Shield by Eric Flint and David Drake -- The third book in the series moves on to the first year of the Indian invasion of Persia. But this is only one of the many fronts on which the struggle over humanity's future is being waged. Fun reading, if not that high-brow.

Fortune's Stroke by Eric Flint and David Drake -- The fourth book of Flint's Belisarius series. Although the action is spread across three continents, the main action is the final struggle for control of Persia. Hey, I'm on vacation.

In the Heart of Darkness by Eric Flint and David Drake -- The second book in the series finds the heroes intriguing in the heart of the northern Indian Malwa Empire, which is being used by future eugenicists to impose purity on humanity and stamp out diversity. The series definitely isn't serious reading, but I find it fun.

The Rivers of War by Eric Flint -- Review

The Tide of Victory by Eric Flint and David Drake -- In the fifth book of the series, the opponents of the Malwa Empire begin their invasion of its northern Indian homeland. I can't be serious all the time.

It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis -- Written in the early 1930s (and Lewis's only successful novel after the '20s), this book was both overly alarmist and optimistic. It was alarmist about how easily a fascist dictatorship could be established in America, and it was optimistic about how easily such dictatorships fall apart.

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson -- Review

An Oblique Approach by Eric Flint and David Drake -- Fun fluff: beings from the future try to change the past in the sixth century CE.

The Physics of Star Trek by Lawrence Krauss -- Very dated and not really that interesting. Probably only hard-core Star Trek fans (which I am not) would find it enjoyable.

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez -- An incredible book that simply sucked me in. I would write an amazon.com review, but I don't think I could do it justice.

The Hedge Knight by George R. R. Martin -- A quick and fun short story set in the world Martin created for his "Song of Ice and Fire" fantasy series. I read the text version and not the linked graphic novel, however.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling -- Probaby should have waited to read it first in Spanish, but no matter. At least Rowling has managed an interesting setup for the final volume.

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown -- Review

Discoveries and Opinions of Galileo by Stillman Drake -- A collection of four short works by Galileo, translated and annotated by Drake, along with some introductory historical and biographical essays (also by Drake). Much more interesting and engaging than I originally expected. The only work I didn't enjoy that much was the Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina.

QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter by Richard Feynman -- A short book on quantum electrodynamics (based on a series of four lectures) aimed at a popular audience. It was still fun to read, and worthwhile by virtue of its being so quick.

Chaos: Making a New Science by James Gleick -- Review

Harry Potter et le Prisonnier d'Azkaban by J. K. Rowling -- Fun books and a nice way to pick up a foreign language. The only problem with the scheme is that although I can now read a bit of French, I have no clue how all these words are actually pronounced.

Data Structures and Algorithms in Java by Michael Goodrich and Roberto Tamassia -- Review

Harry Potter y la Orden del Fenix by J. K. Rowling -- Fun books and my favorite way to try to keep my Spanish in shape. If you thought the English version was long, try reading this one.

A Modern Approach to Quantum Mechanics by John Townsend -- A good introduction to quantum mechanics. I liked it, though some of my classmates found it too mathematically abstract.

Soviet Disunion by Bohdan Nahaylo and Victor Swoboda -- Not too bad. It is a bit dense (especially the second half) and unfortunately was written only a couple of years before the USSR broke up.

Dissolution: Sovereignty and the Breakup of the Soviet Union by Edward W. Walker -- Review

Copenhagen by Michael Frayn -- A relatively dark and interesting play. Why did Werner Heisenberg visit Neils Bohr in 1941? Can we ever know? Can we ever really know anything about ourselves, our motivations and our own actions (to say nothing about others')?

Noises Off by Michael Frayn -- An hilarious farce about incompetent and eventually homicidal actors attempting to put on a trashy British farce.

The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene -- Some folks sneer at popular science. I, however, found this book both interesting and entertaining. I just wish there were more math.

Classical Mechanics by John R. Taylor -- Review

My Life as a Quant by Emanuel Derman -- A very dull memoir of a physicist who fled the field for Wall Street. Mostly anecdotes about his coworkers over the years, probably interesting only to his former coworkers.

In Defense of History by Richard J. Evans -- Evans tries to play great moderator in all historical debates. The book can be interesting and it is an easy read. But at the end, I'm still not confident I can tell what postmodernism is, or what makes historical writing postmodernist.

Neuromancer by William Gibson -- The founding book of cyberpunk, and one of the most famous. I enjoyed it, though the ending seemed a bit abrupt.

All the Shah's Men by Stephen Kinzer -- Review

The Golden Ratio by Mario Livio -- A rather tedious history of phi, focusing more on art and architecture than on the mathematics and the number itself.

Barefoot Gen by Keiji Nakazawa -- A cartoon story of Hiroshima, up to the day of the Bomb. It's alright, though not really a style I like.

Barefoot Gen: The Day After by Keiji Nakazawa -- Continuing the cartoon history of Hiroshima in the days following the atomic attack. This volume I liked even less than the first. Fortunately, it was a bit shorter.

Getting What You Came For by Robert Peters -- Advice for grad students and those thinking of grad school. Plenty to think about, but too soon for me to judge how helpful it is.

A Short Course in General Relativity by J. Foster and J. D. Nightingale -- A short, readable and not too challenging introduction to General Relativity.

Century of Revolution, 1603-1714 by Christopher Hill -- An excellent, if dense, history of England in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.

The Russian Revolutions of 1917 by Leonard Schapiro -- A brief history of the Russian Revolution, more or less 1917-1924. Not terrible, but not my favorite (which is probably Figes).

Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began by Art Spiegelman -- Conclusion of good graphic novel about Spiegelman's father surviving the Holocaust and his later relations with his son.

Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams -- A fitting conclusion to the Hitchhiker's Trilogy. Not so cheery, perhaps, but managed to tie everything together amazingly well.

Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams -- Third item in the somewhat-less-than-accurately-named Hitchhiker's Trilogy. Not my favorite of the bunch.

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams -- Fourth installment to the trilogy. I enjoyed it more than the third, though some threads are left hanging.

The Dark Tower by Stephen King -- The conclusion to King's epic series. I thought it completely fell apart at the end, which was disappointing.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams -- Brilliant and absurd romp through space. A quick, hilarious read that everybody should experience at least once.

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams -- Meeting the man who runs the universe and tracing the origins of mankind. What is the product of six and nine?

The Trial of Charles I: A Documentary History by David Lagomarsino and Charles T. Wood (Editors) -- Short collection of primary documents from the trial of Charles I. Some are interesting, though not enough to be worth reading by themselves.

The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels -- A brief statement of the Marxist approach to history. Read for a history class. Marx's most-read work, but not really of much use in understanding Marxism.

From Yalta to Berlin by W. R. Smyser -- A well organized and interesting political history of post-War Germany.

Maus I: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman -- A good graphic novel about the Holocaust and the family relations of a survivor.

Interpreting the Russian Revolution by Orlando Figes and Boris Kolonitskii -- Short but dense account of the language and symbolism of the Russian Revolution.

A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking -- A brief and superficial but interesting look at attempts to unify general relativity and quantum mechanics.

A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr. -- Three connected novellas, posts-Apocalyptic and very Catholic. Good if you ignore the preaching.

Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb by Richard Rhodes -- Sequel to Atomic Bomb book, and just as good. Focuses on espionage instead of basic science, so as to avoid retracing ground already covered.

The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes -- Excellent, if bulky, history of The Bomb and prebomb nuclear physics.

The Tragedie of Macbeth by William Shakespeare -- Lots of murder, betrayal, witches, and very funny spellings. Not my favorite Shakespeare.

Distant Mirror: The Calamitous Fourteenth Century by Barbara Tuchman -- Good history of the late Middle Ages. Interesting comparison of the fourteenth century to the twentieth.

American Empire: The Victorious Opposition by Harry Turtledove -- Continues the neverending alternate history series in which the South won the Civil War. This volume goes up to the start of the Second World War.

Ruled Britannia by Harry Turtledove -- Alternate history of an England conquered by the Spanish Armada. Main character is Shakespeare; many lines are ripped from his plays, usually in amusing ways.

Introduction to Linux by Machtelt Garrels -- Has a lot of useful information, though it's painfully obvious that English is not her best language.

Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb -- A satisfying conclusion to Hobb's Farseer trilogy.

The Song of Susannah by Stephen King -- Sixth and second-to-last book in King's monumental Dark Tower epic. DT is King's best work (not saying much, but still...). This volume, though, ends on the most disgusting cliffhanger I have ever read. Two scenes begin, reach climax, and then... wait until book 7.

Object-Oriented Programming in C++ by Robert Lafore -- The big book of C++. Typos, dated code that no longer compiles and Windows-specific examples and exercises kept it from being great.

To the Finland Station by Edmund Wilson -- A history of Socialism from 1789 to 1917, but also a history of history -- creating it and analyzing it. Recommended.

The Linux System Administrator's Guide by Lars Wirzenius, Joanna Oja, Stephen Stafford and Alex Weeks -- Dated and very short introduction to Linux system administration for novices. I managed to get some useful information out of it.

1634: The Galileo Affair by Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis -- Review

Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb -- Pretty typical fantasy fare, though the writing is excellent. First in a trilogy.

Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb -- Second in the sword & sorcery trilogy. Excellent writing, but the characters are a little too black & white for my tastes.

Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia by Ahmed Rashid -- A decent introduction, I suppose, though I wish I knew of a better one.

In the Beginning... Was the Command Line by Neal Stephenson -- Review

Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson -- Review

The Confusion by Neal Stephenson -- Review

Ring of Fire by Eric Flint et al. -- Review

The Physicists by Daniel J. Kevles -- Pretty enjoyable history of American physics. Focuses on tension between elitism and democracy.

Summer for the Gods by Edward Larson -- History of the 'Scopes Monkey Trial' and its mythologization.

The 18th Brumaire of Louis Napoleon by Karl Marx -- Class analysis of the 1848-1851 French revolution. Probably Marx's most accessible and well-written work.

The Island at the Center of the World by Russell Shorto -- History of Dutch Manhattan and its influence on the development of America. A nice read, overall.

Zodiac: The Eco-thriller by Neal Stephenson -- Review

The Double Helix by James Watson -- An informal and autobiographical account of the race to determine the structure of DNA. Initially derogatory of Rosalind Franklin, but apologizes at end.

Brotherhood of the Bomb by Gregg Herken -- Well-written history of construction of atomic bomb and post-War political struggles over atomic policy.

The Stranger Next Door by Arlene Stein -- Interesting sociological analysis of anti-gay ballot measure in small Oregon town.

Not By Politics Alone by Sara Diamond -- Good, serious history of the Christian Right. Diamond tells it as she sees it, which may piss of the Christian Right.

Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America by James Hunter -- Proposes that cultural conflict in America has deepened to the point where the two sides can't even understand each other, and thus could be irreconcilable. Uses 'worldview' approach to culture rather than the 'cultural tool box' approach I prefer.

Sex, Gender and the Politics of ERA by Donald Mathews and Jane De Hart -- History of the struggle to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment in North Carolina.

Christian America? by Christian Smith -- Defends evangelicals from association with the Christian Right. Does not explore why Christian Right is mainly white protestant evangelical.

On to Java2 by Patrick Henry Winston -- Introduction to Java programming. Interesting structure, but too thin to be a useful reference.

Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis -- Novel about science and medicine in early twentieth century America. See critical paper.

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown -- Murder mystery and thriller with a bit of questionable history. Fluff, but a quick read.

Baudolino by Umberto Eco -- Tale of Medieval quests for Prestor John and the Holy Grail. Commence debate over deeper meanings.

Everyday Stalinism by Sheila Fitzpatrick -- Social history of urban life in Stalin's Soviet Union. Pretty thick, but interesting.

Introduction to Electrodynamics by David Griffiths -- Every undergrad's favorite E&M book. Well written, though criticized for skimpy coverage of some topics.

The First World War by John Keegan -- One of the most famous histories of the First World War. Focuses on military history; impressive.

Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King -- Volume 5 in the Dark Tower series seems inspired by Seven Samurai.

Armageddon Averted by Stephen Kotkin -- Slim history of decay and fall of USSR. Not all that much to it.

The Myths We Live By by Mary Midgley -- Collection of disconnected science-related moral philosophical essays. I was not impressed.

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson -- Huge tale of cryptology, treasure hunting and computers. In some forums considered Volume 0 of The Baroque Cycle.

The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson -- Far future tale of cultural conflict, nanoengineering and coming of age.

The Conscience of the Revolution by Robert Daniels -- Review

The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King -- Second volume in Dark Tower series introduces rest of main characters.

The Waste Lands by Stephen King -- Third volume in Dark Tower series explores post-Apocalyptic wasteland.

Wizard and Glass by Stephen King -- Forth volume in Dark Tower series is mostly flashback to youth of main character.

The Awakening of the Soviet Union by Geoffrey Hosking -- Analysis of Gorbachev's reforms and the growth of civil society in 1980s Soviet Union.

The Gunslinger by Stephen King -- New, expanded edition of the slim volume that kicks off the Dark Tower series. Better written, better integrated with the rest of the series, but sort of lacks the atmosphere of the original release.

Dude, Where's My Country? by Michael Moore -- Read because it was lying around. I'm sure there were some funny parts, but none of it was really news to me. Forgettable.

Revolutionary Dreams by Richard Stites -- History of utopian movements in the Soviet Union of the 1920s and 1930s. Stites uses their treatment by the government to argue for fundamental differences between Leninism and Stalinism.

Stalin's Russia by Chris Ward -- History of the Soviet Union under Stalin. Each chapter is split into narrative, interpretation and evaluation sections. Does a good job exploring historical debates (and there are many). Interesting and relatively unorthodox conclusions about dekulakization and purges.

The Gunslinger by Stephen King -- The book that kicked off the Dark Tower series, oh so many years ago. Read so I could compare it to the new edition. They both have their strengths.

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson -- Sumerian mythology, a plot to take over the world and brainwash humanity, far-future Metaverse... all set only a couple of years ago. This book has it all but feels sort of dated after twelve years.

The End of Imperial Russia, 1855-1917 by Peter Waldron -- Very brief history of the last three Tsars. Only for those who don't have the time for anything better.

The Elegant Universe by Briane Greene -- Excellent intro to string theory and related phenomina for all levels of mathematical background.

Main Currents of Marxism, Vol. 1: The Founders by Leszek Kolakowski -- Review

Main Currents of Marxism, Vol. 2: The Golden Age by Leszek Kolakowski -- Review

Main Currents of Marxism, Vol. 3: The Breakdown by Leszek Kolakowski -- Review

Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools by Jonathon Kozol -- Denunciation of inequality in American schools. Largely anecdotal in form.

Russia: Broken Idols, Solemn Dreams by David Shipler -- Journalist's memoirs of 1970s Soviet Union. Interesting for those interested in Soviet Union.

Khrushchev: The Man and his Era by William Taubman -- Probably the best bio of Khrushchev out there. Won both the Pulitzer and National Book Critics Circle Award.

The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham -- Classic science fiction: warning against atomic power and the Cold War, as well as exploration of society after nuclear apocalypse.

Introducing Trotsky and Marxism by Tariq Ali -- Review

How Democratic Is the American Constitution? by Robert Dahl -- Not very, according to Dahl. This book is a quick adaptation of a lecture series which proposes some concrete changes to bring the Constitution into the modern world. For example: criticism of Senate and Electoral College.

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick -- Classic alternate history book in which America loses Second World War and is partitioned between Germany and Japan. Famous, but not my favorite.

Six Easy Pieces by Richard Feynman -- Too easy to be worth purchasing. Some selected chapters from his three-volume set of lectures in physics.

Natasha's Dance by Orlando Figes -- Thick, interesting cultural history of Russia over the past three hundred years.

Anarchism: From Theory to Practice by Daniel Guerin -- A short history of anarchist thinkers and their thought. Best slim introduction to anarchism I read in the summer of 2003.

Anarchism: Arguments For and Against by Albert Meltzer -- Pretty poor account of basic anarchism and some objections to it. Go with Guerin.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix by J. K. Rowling -- Fifth volume in the series. Longer, darker and more impressive than previous stories.

Harry Potter y el Caliz de Fuego by J. K. Rowling -- Fourth volume in the series. Large, but a quick read, if you know the language. Not so quick for me; read in Spanish to keep up a basic reading knowledge of the language.

After the Collapse by Dmitri Simes -- Review

The Palm-Wine Drinkard by Amos Tutuola -- Interesting African tale. Surreal, fantastical, worth checking out.

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess -- The classic tale of coming of age in the future. Real horrorshow; includes ending the movie cut. Go and read it.

History in Three Keys by Paul Cohen -- Review

A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891-1924 by Orlando Figes -- Mammoth and comprehensive history of the Russian Revolution. Well-written and recommended.

The Culture of Fear by Barry Glassner -- Glassner argues that various scare stories have made Americans too afraid of the wrong things. He makes a good point, might have been able to do it better.

War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning by Chris Hedges -- Relatively disjointed musings on war and human nature.

The Metamorphosis, The Penal Colony, and Other Stories by Franz Kafka -- Find out why they call it Kafkaesque. Collection of disturbing, confusing, fascinating short stories.

Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell -- Orwell's memoirs of the Spanish Civil War and the conflict between the Stalinists and Trotskyists & anarchists. Often described as his best book.

The Best Democracy Money Can Buy by Greg Palast -- The full story of election fraud and malfeasance in Florida during the 2000 election. A good book, but Palast seems to be stuck in a rut.

The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson -- Review

Beyand Geography: The Western Spirit Against the Wilderness by Frederick Turner -- Spiritual history of the West, going back to ancienct Mesopotamia and early Christiany to try to explain why western cultures are so alienated from nature. Quite dense and difficult reading, at least for me.

Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut -- Collection of Vonnegut's short stories from the 1950s and 1960s. What can I say -- classic Vonnegut, worth checking out.

The War of the Flowers by Tad Williams -- Decent fantasy. Science and technology have been killing off the faerie realm, and now they're out to get even.

"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character by Richard Feynman -- Funny stories from the life of one of the century's most interesting physicists.

Anarchism: Left, Right and Green by Ulrike Heider -- Review

Taliban by Ahmed Rashid -- Good history of Afghanistan, the rise of the Taliban and Islamic fundamentalism in Central Asia.

Conquistador by S. M. Stirling -- Set in the near future, when a cabal has found a gateway to an alternate history in which America was never colonized. Not bad.

Discourse on Inequality by Jean-Jacques Rousseau -- Rousseau makes up natural man and tries to build an argument off of him. I was not impressed.

The Enlightenment by Dorinda Outram -- Brief history of important aspects of the Enlightenment. Organized by topic. A good slim introduction.

Mozart's "The Magic Flute" by Burton Fisher -- Libretto and commentary on the famous opera. Not worth purchasing.

Rameau's Nephew and D'Alembert's Dream by Denis Diderot -- Two dialogues exploring the big questions of the eighteenth century. Caused quite a scandal when first written.

Caleb Williams by William Godwin -- Attack on the law as a basis for society. Written to popularize anarchism. See paper.

Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos -- Epistolary novel set in the last years of the ancien regime. One of my favorite books.

Persian Letters by Montesquieu (Charles-Louis de Secondat) -- Epistolary novel inspecting and critiquing eighteenth century Europe, from the point of view of travelers from Persia.

Micromegas and Other Short Fictions by Voltaire (Francois Marie Arouet) -- Not as famous as Candide, but a good collection of short stories by one of the eighteenth century's most famous figures.

Candide by Voltaire (Francois Marie Arouet) -- Attack on the theory that this is the best of all possible worlds. Voltaire's most famous work.

The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins -- Review

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich -- Ehrenreich goes undercover to investigate low-wage jobs. Interesting, but probably could have been better written.

Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan -- Tenth volume of the depressingly massive Wheel of Time series. The writing is still enjoyable, but the plot is dead in the water and the whole series is falling apart.

Anarcho-syndicalism by Rudolf Rocker -- A short history of anarcho-syndicalism and a summary of its philosophy. A good book, if a bit dated.

The Peshawar Lancers by S. M. Stirling -- Alternate history in which meteorites wipe out European civilization in the eighteenth century. Fluff, but suitable for a train ride.

The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien -- The history of Middle Earth and background for The Lord of the Rings. The history buff in me enjoyed it immensely.

Adaptation and Natural Selection by George C. Williams -- Classic text of natural selection. Attempts to clear up nature of adaptation and defend against teleological thinking.

Blood of Amber by Roger Zelazny -- Second volume in the second cycle of five books.

Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazny -- Second volume in the first cycle of five books. A tale of Corwin's revenge and another attempt to take the throne of Amber.

Knight of Shadows by Roger Zelazny -- Fourth volume in the second cycle of five books. Probably my least favorite of all of them.

Prince of Chaos by Roger Zelazny -- Fifth and final volume in the second cycle of five books. Probably a good thing that this was the last sequel. The whole second cycle was relatively disappointing.

Sign of Chaos by Roger Zelazny -- Third volume in the second cycle of five books.

Sign of the Unicorn by Roger Zelazny -- Third volume in the first cycle of five books. Thickens the plot.

The Courts of Chaos by Roger Zelazny -- Fifth volume in first cycle of five books. Concludes first tale of struggle between order and chaos.

The Hand of Doom by Roger Zelazny -- Fourth volume in the first cycle of five books. Probably the pivotal volume. Fun read.

Trumps of Doom by Roger Zelazny -- First volume in second cycle of five books. Kicks off series focusing on Corwin's son Merlin. The second set of five books is not as good as the first, but I wasn't able to resist continuing after finishing the first five.

1632 by Eric Flint -- Review

1633 by David Weber and Eric Flint -- Review

Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush by Molly Ivins -- A slim volume looking at Bush's record up through his time as governor of Texas. A bit dated at this point.

Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny -- The book that started it all. Relatively self-contained, but still first volume in a five book series. Both book and series are excellent, short, fun reads. Zelazny eventually made a second series with five more books, which is not nearly as good.

Russia in the Age of Reaction and Reform by David Saunders -- Good history of nineteenth century Russia. Focuses on Tsars' attempts to reform country and the reasons they fail or are abandoned.

A Social History of the Russian Empire, 1650-1825 by Janet Hartley -- It is what is claims to be -- a social history of Russia from 1650 to 1825. Not bad, though not my favorite.

Howard Zinn on War by Howard Zinn -- Collection of Zinn's essays on war. Most were written over the past thirty years. Nice writing, but not that much of it.

Kronstadt 1917-1921: The Fate of a Soviet Democracy by Israel Getzler -- Review

Medieval Russia 980-1584 by Janet Martin -- Early Russian history. A decent book, but I feel it focuses to much on the various princes and wars (and there are a lot of them), so it can't see the forest for the trees.

The Rise of Big Business by Glenn Porter -- Very short look at the rise of big business. Not worth too much.

Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy -- An interesting book from the 1880s, which explores an imaginary socialist America in the year 2000.

Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot by Al Franken -- Al Franken takes on Rush Limbaugh. Result is occasionally humorous, but not the best book I've read by a long shot.

Stars and Stripes Forever by Harry Harrison -- Alternate history of the Civil War. I did not like it at all. Dated, juvenile style.

Stars and Stripes in Peril by Harry Harrison -- Alternate history of the Civil War. Second volume even worse than the first.

Discovering America by James Laxer -- A Canadian travels through America and gives his impressions on Americans attitudes about guns, god and corporations.

The Bush Dyslexicon by Mark Crispin Miller -- Lots of stupid things said by Bush, along with discullions of just how he was able to become President.

After Dachau by Daniel Quinn -- Quinn's tale of a future in which the Nazis won the Second World War and reshaped the world in their image.

It's the Stupidity, Stupid by Harry Shearer -- Book about why some people hate Clinton so much. Short and forgettable.

American Empire: The Center Cannot Hold by Harry Turtledove -- Continues neverending alternate history series in which the south wins the Civil War. This volume goes through the 1920s and early depression.

Democratic Equality: What Went Wrong? by Edward Broadbent (Ed.) -- Collection of pretty good essays about equality. Range from argument for communism to flat tax proposal.

If the Gods Had Meant Us To Vote They Would Have Given Us Candidates by Jim Hightower -- A good, fun book by the Texas liberal. Hightower attacks corruption in politics and corporations and does it with style.

A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin -- The third volume of what is currently my favorite fantasy series. More heads role, and the real players get into position in the fight for the future of the Seven Kingdoms.

The Swordsman's Oath by Juliet E. McKenna -- Decent sequel to The Thief's Gamble. A swordsman sold as a slave stumble