1. Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids, by economist and blogger Bryan Caplan. Deserving its own blog post, which it may eventually get. I’m not convinced by the twins research, but Caplan has made me think very seriously about three instead of two. Buy and read it and you will know what I mean.
2. The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. The tribulations of black maids in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960s. Despite an Oprah book club feel, and the happy ending that can be seen about 15 chapters ahead, fun to read and recommended. To some a reminder we have come far; to me a reminder that we’re not so far ahead.
3. Bourgeois Dignity: Why Economics Can’t Explain the Modern World, by Deirdre N. McCloskey. Europe’s economic revolution is explained by a change in values, not institutions or geography or plagues or the other usual suspects. McColskey is one of the more interesting and original economists on the planet, and I usually enjoy her work, but it was very hard to get to the meat here. Too much repetition, baroque language, and distraction for my taste. So I’m sad to say I put it down a third of the way. Plus, her argument is process of elimination–it’s “bourgeois values” because none of the other explanations work well. Personally I like an error term in my explanations, and it’s entirely reasonable to me that there isn’t much of an answer to be had–why one region took off a couple of hundred years before another, in the span of human history, must have an erratic element.)
4. Game of Thrones, by George R. R. Martin. The Sopranos meets Middle Earth. With all the HBO hubbub, I finally read it. Or half. While I’m usually inclined to indulge my inner nerd and enjoy long epic fantasy, I found this a bit stale and stereotypical. A good New Yorker piece on the author and saga (in the pages and off) is here.
5. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. While I’m indulging my inner nerd. Think Running Man with teenagers. Yes, as bad a premise as it sounds but enjoyable in the same way as a Coke and Mac n Cheese. If you liked Ender’s Game you will probably enjoy this, but it was miss-able.
4 Responses
If you have an inner nerd of the LOR variety, and if you think that ‘there is no good or evil in politics’, then you’d really enjoy The Last Ringbearer.
if it would fit, i would tattoo ender’s game on my neck
You have to finish GoT, it’s anything but stereotypical once you get past the beginning.
Far from being “inner” your nerdiness is on the surface for all to see; don’t worry, it is the reason your blog has a legion of followers.