<p>Letters from Annapolis.</p>
<p>Getting ready to get some (laugh, snort). I’ll cherish the rare ones I do receive.</p>
<p>I read The Big Bang a few years ago and really enjoyed it. Coincidently my younger son had an assignment to do a project on the Big Bang shortly after that and I was able to recommend a good book!</p>
<p>Out of curiosity what general interest non-fiction books have people enjoyed? I don’t read many, but every once in a while there seem to be ones that so many people are talking about or sound intriguing on NPR that I end up reading them. Two others sort of in that vein I enjoyed were *Freakonomics *and Longitude. I read a chapter of Collapse, it was good, but too depressing for me!</p>
<p>A Brief History of Time</p>
<p>“The Book of Flying” by Keith Miller - A great airplane read.</p>
<p>I LOVED “In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash.” That book was sooo funny! I also liked the fact that Jean Shephard played a bit part in the movie (man in Santa line telling kids to go to the beginning of the line). He also narrated? I think.</p>
<p>Neck of the Giraffe is pretty good. The book I have always loved, “A Wrinkle in Time.” Excellent science fiction.</p>
<p>Morality and Contemporary Warfare published by Yale Univ Press.</p>
<p>A Salty Piece of Land, by Jimmy Buffett</p>
<p>The Widow of the South by Robert Hicks</p>
<p>Love Jean Shepherd, too! And yes, that’s him narrating. He was on the radio for years-- great voice, great movie :)</p>
<p>I picked up “The Five People You Meet in Heaven” at the library today. Almost halfway through. No expectations, but underwhelmed so far. Maybe will feel differently by the end-</p>
<p>Just finished Le Carre’s The Mission Song. Big disappointment. I have outrageous expectations when it comes to fiction and that was a film script. Yawn.</p>
<p>In the middle of Thomas Hardy and pleasantly surprised. First, I hadn’t realized Hardy was such a complex character, a rags to riches story, an intellectual gem polishing itself despite all odds. Good reading for parents of college students who may or may not be getting the education of their dreams. Second, the British writer, Claire Tomalin could make an HTML manual sound fascinating. A delight.</p>
<p>Also re-started Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin and landed in a terrific part of Lincoln’s story. He has to be the ultimate come-back guy. In the face of all the knock downs, he becomes god-like in his ability to see and address the core of his epoch. This was my family’s fave book of 2006.</p>
<p>I am making myself finish the two non-ficitons before I treat myself to Evidence of Things Unseen.</p>
<p>I’m reading Dispatches from the Edge by Anderson Cooper.</p>
<p>Just finished reading You’re not you: A Novel by Michelle Wildgen. This was a lovely first book about a student at the University of Wisconsin who takes a part time job caring for a lady that has Lou Gehrig’s disease. A really good but easy read. I’m recommending it to anyone that likes Jodi Picoult.</p>
<p>History that reads like fiction - “Rising Tide” by John Barry. Story of the great Mississippi River flood of 1927, when they actually DID blow up the levees south of New Orleans to save the city.</p>
<p>Another vote for “Paris to the Moon” - great for anyone who loves the city and the French (or if not loves the French, at least appreciates the humor of their eccentricities).</p>
<p>I just though of a book I finished a few months ago that was really interesting. The Cyanide Canary. True story about a sleazeball business owner who was dumping toxic chemicals around southeast Idaho. He made a 20-year-old employee go into a tank to clean out some toxic sludge and the kid nearly died. The book is mostly about the prosecution for the environmental crimes.</p>
<p>“Quicksilver” by Neal Stephenson</p>
<p>He’s one of my favorite authors!</p>
<p>“Wider Than the Sky” by Gerald M. Edelman.</p>
<p>“Andrew Carnegie” by David Nasaw.</p>
<p>Drdrewm- thanks for that suggestion. My avocation which I am partly turning into a vocation is studying and teaching environmental justice, and also where it intersects with literature. That sounds like a pretty important book.</p>
<p>I’m now finishing “The Philosopher and the Druid”.</p>
<p>garland: I heard about the story because the president of Boise State was interviewing the author Joseph Hilldorfer for his weekly show.
The story sort of reminded me of Erin Brockovich (sp?) but there was more focus on the trial. It was so interesting to learn that environmental crimes are really hard to prosecute and all the roadblocks the people on the legal team had before them. I think it sounds exactly like what you’re looking for!</p>
<p>“Talk Talk” by TC Boyle.</p>