|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Saturday, May 19, 2007 1:17 AM CDT
Column: Try these 10 books for the bored reader
By RICK DAWSON, Sports Writer
rdawson@jg-tc.com
I haven’t got the faintest idea what other people read, other than I do know that I would rather consult the New York Review of Books than Oprah Winfrey for selections.
I’m notorious for taking books to spring sporting events just in case of rain delays — I am a sports writer after all — or piling the floorboard of the back seat of my car with them when I go on road trips. You never know when traffic might stall.
Here are 10 I’d take with me:
David Bodanis (E=mc2)
The title alone would cause most people to slink away. Little do they know.
Bodanis’s prized trait is bringing characters to life while placing them within rich historical contexts. And not only is the history enthralling — the book luridly details the nuclear arms race — you’ll come out feeling like you’ve understood Einstein like never before.
His follow-up, “Electric Universe,” is every bit as good.
Bob Berman (Secrets of the Night Sky)
The book is subtitled “The Most Amazing Things in the Universe You Can See with the Naked Eye.”
At the current rate of astronomical discovery, much escapes the amateur. Nothing in this book does.
Dashiell Hammett (Red Harvest)
Joel and Ethan Coen, makers of films like “The Big Lebowski” and “Fargo,” have acknowledged their indebtedness to Hammett. I don’t read much fiction, but I got hooked on his dark humor when I was younger. “Red Harvest” was his first novel.
Harriet Beecher Stowe (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
Out of all the novels that should never disappear from history, this is the one.
Jamie Whyte (Crimes Against Logic)
Here’s a change of pace: a philosopher who can write for the general public and make one laugh at the same time. There’s so much common sense in this book that it’s no wonder it’s not on everyone’s book shelf.
Oliver Sacks (The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat)
Sacks may be best known for writing “Awakenings,” a book that inspired a movie by Penny Marshall that starred Robert De Niro and Robin Williams. Clinical neurology, believe it or not, can be entertaining, maddening and life-affirming all at the same time.
Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma)
There are many books that make points such as these gracefully. Although it’s weaker than Peter Singer’s “The Way We Eat,” it has the potential to make anyone with a pulse rethink their next trip to the store.
Mary Roach (Stiff)
Call it morbid, but any book that tells you what happens to bodies donated to science — ever heard of human crash test dummies? — has to score something for creativity.
Khaled Hosseini (The Kite Runner)
Foreign books aren’t often popular with Americans, although this one has been. Perhaps its themes about separated childhood friends growing up in Afghanistan hit too close to home.
John Brockman, ed. (The Next Fifty Years)
The neat thing about the 25 essays in this collection is that they’re taken from individuals who’ve made a living answering annual questions posed by the Edge Foundation, a nonprofit organization that likes posing fascinating questions about our future.
Rick Dawson is a sports writer for the Journal Gazette/Times-Courier. Contact Dawson at rdawson@jg-tc.com or 238-6855.
Add your comments
Not already registered?
Then click Here.
Comment policy:
JG-TC.com encourages readers to engage in civil conversation with their neighbors. Comments that are submitted are not posted to the site immediately. They go into a queue to be moderated and may take several hours to be reviewed. Comments posted on Saturday may not be reviewed until Sunday afternoon.
In order to keep the page a set width, long lines (mostly long links) will be chopped. Try putting spaces in your links or consider using tinyurl.com to make a smaller link that you can include.
We will never edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to remove comments that violate our code of conduct.
No comment may contain:
* Potentially libelous statements; such as accusing somebody of a crime, defamation of character, or statements that can harm somebody's reputation.
* Obscene, explicit, or racist language.
* Personal attacks, insults, threats, harassment or inciting violence.
* Commercial product promotions.
If you have any questions, please contact our moderator.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
