rushthatspeaks: (Default)
[personal profile] rushthatspeaks
Oh, hey, I've been doing this for a month now, so I only have three hundred and thirty-five books left to read. I probably won't go into spasms of self-analysis about it every month, but I thought I'd take a look at some stats, and how doing this has changed my reading habits.


Several useless statistics:

Number of books read/reviewed so far: thirty-one in thirty days, due to my miscounting somewhere.

Books by women: sixteen; books by men: thirteen; plus one anthology edited by a woman and containing entirely male contributors and one anthology edited by two men and containing a split. This is a higher percentage of books by men than I usually read.

Books I know to be by people of color: five, plus portions of one anthology. About seventeen, eighteen percent. I should work on that.

Books published more than fifty years ago: nine. Books published this year: seven. Respectively less and more than I thought.

As to how this has changed my life: not much, really. I am reading in some ways faster than previously, but in some ways slower. I find myself reluctant to start a second new book in a day because it means I won't be able to review it except as a bonus review, whereas previously I went through spurts of reading like seven books in a day and then rereading for a while.

I am still not reading all of the books I bring home from the library, which rather surprises me, as I had thought, given that I am counting and bringing home the correct number of books each week, that I would probably wind up reading everything I get. No. I have always had the ability to bring something home and then, for reasons unknown to myself, turn up my nose.

I am reading I think about the same kinds of books I usually read, and I'm not planning ahead or anything like that. I pick up things people recommend or that I find interesting, as usual. Are there any genres I'm conspicuously missing? Could people please recommend me some science books? I have, however, finished a couple of books I might not otherwise have finished in one day, when it is late and I am tired; I would have gone back to them the next day, usually.

The number of books people have given me, offered to give me, etc. since I started doing this is now over thirty, which I am rather amazed by-- I mean, it's been a month, and I had not, actually, been expecting people to send me books at all, because why would one expect that sort of thing. And they've been well-chosen and well-thought-out and I feel really loved, and it has been very pleasant.

In conclusion: if I could catch up on the posting and keep up on the reading through the nasty week of a close relative's funeral, I can almost certainly finish this, and I'm enjoying it so far, and (mostly) happy about the quality of my writing. And I've read some very good books. One month down, eleven to go.

Date: 2010-09-29 02:31 am (UTC)
kate_nepveu: sleeping cat carved in brown wood (Default)
From: [personal profile] kate_nepveu
Well. We could send you Chad's science book. http://dogphysics.com/

Other science books:
_Death By Black Hole: and Other Cosmic Quandaries_: http://www.steelypips.org/weblog/2009/05/tyson_blackhole.php
_Apollo 13_: http://www.steelypips.org/weblog/2002/01/lovell_jim_and.php
_The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language_: http://www.steelypips.org/weblog/2008/06/mcwhorter_babel.php

Date: 2010-09-30 11:25 am (UTC)
kate_nepveu: sleeping cat carved in brown wood (Default)
From: [personal profile] kate_nepveu
Your call--you know the state of your finances and such. Or we could send you a copy and if you liked it you could buy one for your library or someone else.

Also the pb will be out in December, IIRC.

Date: 2010-09-30 05:44 pm (UTC)
kate_nepveu: sleeping cat carved in brown wood (Default)
From: [personal profile] kate_nepveu
No problem.

Some stores still have it--Chad saw one last week--but it did come out last December, so it's unlikely.

Date: 2010-09-29 01:47 pm (UTC)
loligo: Scully with blue glasses (Default)
From: [personal profile] loligo
I was very intrigued (and convinced) by the central thesis of Connie Barlow's Ghosts of Evolution. I didn't notice if the book had any particular literary merit, though.

Thank you for writing

Date: 2010-09-29 02:15 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] 7scimitarroll.livejournal.com
I just wanted to say that.

Re: Thank you for writing

Date: 2010-09-30 05:32 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com
You are very welcome. I'm glad you like it.

Date: 2010-09-29 03:27 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rachelmanija.livejournal.com
Have you read Atul Gawande, the science and medicine writer? I recommend Complications and Better.

How about Sharman apt Russell (botany, biology, popular and poetic?) I recommend Anatomy of a Rose, about flowers.

ETA... I just looked her up, and she has an essay referencing Yuletide! Worlds collide! http://loveofplace.blogspot.com/2010/07/radical-renaissance.html

Also V. S. Ramachandran, Phantoms in the Brain. Neurology. He goes over some of the same territory as Oliver Sacks, but more in-depth and with his own take on things and sense of quirky humor. He invented a number of extremely simple experiments, involving equipment like cardboard boxes and pencils, which had mind-blowing results. Make sure you read the end notes.

Oh! Laurence Gonzales's Deep Survival. Excellent book pulling together many disciplines to explain how and why people make stupid decisions, good decisions, survive horrendous perils, and don't.

There, four science recs, three by people of color. (Well, I think apt Russell is white and Gonzales isn't, but I'm not 100 percent positive.)
Edited Date: 2010-09-29 03:45 am (UTC)

Date: 2010-09-30 05:34 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com
I've read and love the Gawande and the Ramachandran. I haven't read the apt Russell, though it's been recced to me before, as so far no public library system I have lived near has had it, but I haven't checked the university yet, so I have hope. Also, maybe, Bookmooch.

That essay is interesting!

And I shall look for the Gonzales. Thank you!

Date: 2010-09-29 11:35 am (UTC)
navrins: (Default)
From: [personal profile] navrins
My science books recs:

Godel, Escher, Bach, by Douglas Hofstadter. (Don't plan on finishing this one in a day, though; it's worth savoring and thinking about.) Arguably it's more math and philosophy than science, but they're all connected.

Darwin's Dangerous Idea, or Freedom Evolves, by Daniel Dennett. (They cover much the same territory; I read DDI first and think it's better, but the latter could be because of the former.) Also arguably more philosophy than science.

Social Intelligence, by Daniel Goleman

(maybe) An Unquiet Mind, by Kay Redfield Jameson, written by a psychiatrist with bipolar disorder and really giving a good sense of what that's like.

I feel like I'm missing something I should obviously be recommending in this vein, but I can't think of what it is.

Date: 2010-09-30 05:35 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com
I've read An Unquiet Mind. I have not read the others, and shall check them out. Thank you!

Date: 2010-09-30 11:03 am (UTC)
navrins: (Default)
From: [personal profile] navrins
I rather expected you had read An Unquiet Mind, but figured I'd mention it anyway.

Date: 2010-10-01 10:46 pm (UTC)
weirdquark: Stack of books (Default)
From: [personal profile] weirdquark
We own Godel, Escher, Bach, and it's even not in a box.

Date: 2010-09-29 12:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] papersky.livejournal.com
The book I bought you and [livejournal.com profile] rysmiel sent you, we'd have bought for you anyway.

Date: 2010-09-30 05:36 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com
Thank you. I know, and it was exactly the right book at exactly the right time, and thank you for knowing. It means a great deal.

Date: 2010-09-29 06:25 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jinian.livejournal.com
First, I definitely agree with Rachel's Gawande and Ramachandran recs. Gawande especially is very readable and doesn't hesitate to extend his implications where relevant. For Ramachandran, Phantoms in the Brain is more interesting than Brief Tour. I also approve of Apt Russell.

Mary Roach writes fluffy, fun pop-science; I think the death one is best, though sex is always appealing.

John McWhorter writes some good linguistics books, though that may not be sciencey enough.

Carl Zimmer's Evolution: the Triumph of an Idea is an excellent overview of evolution's evidence and history.

I've really enjoyed everything Natalie Angier has ever written. The Canon is lots of sciences and might point you at other things to read. If you somehow haven't read Woman, please do so immediately.

Do you know about the Best American Science and Nature Writing series? That could be another good way to find authors.

It has become unpopular among biologists to love Steven Jay Gould as I do. As far as I know, the more literary and less controversial David Quammen is still an approved naturalist.

Animal Architects, by James R. Gould and Carol Grant Gould, was fun too.

Date: 2010-09-30 05:39 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com
I've read the Gawande and Ramachandran, and feel great love for both of them.

I think I read the Mary Roach sex one, but possibly not the death one. I should check that.

And I have not read the others, and thank you for reminding me of the Angier as I have been meaning to read Woman for years and I keep forgetting.

Thank you!

Date: 2010-10-08 06:15 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] enleve.livejournal.com
How technical do you want to get with the science books?

If you are up for reading a book with a lot of engineering jargon and equations, you could check out

Shape And Structure, From Engineering To Nature (http://www.amazon.com/Shape-Structure-Engineering-Nature-Adrian/dp/0521793882/) by Adrian Bejan, PhD.

This is Bejan's book about constructal theory. A simple statement of that theory might be "For a finite-size open system to persist in time (to survive) it must evolve in such a way that it provides easier and easier access to the currents that flow through it." (That's a quote from the book.)

Bejan applies this principle to many things, explaining, among other things, why the heart beat frequency decreases as the body size of mammals gets bigger, why trees don't continue to have many iterations of a fractal branching structure but stop at a finite size after a few iterations, how to efficiently put things on a chip so that you minimize the amount of heat, why logs travel sideways in a river, and more.

If nothing else, there are pretty pictures. I don't think there's a popular science book on the subject. It's too new.

Also, if you're up for technical stuff, there is the textbook written by Steven Strogatz called "Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos." (http://www.amazon.com/Nonlinear-Dynamics-Chaos-Applications-Nonlinearity/dp/0738204536/) It is one of the few textbooks I've come across that is a pleasure to read (for me at least.)

Steven Strogatz has written a popular science book about the topic. It is called Sync (http://www.amazon.com/Sync-Order-Emerges-Universe-Nature/dp/0786887214/), and it is excellent.

I also recommend the books by and about Luca Turin.
There's The Emperor of Scent (http://www.amazon.com/Emperor-Scent-Story-Perfume-Obsession/dp/0375759816/) by Chandler Burr and The Secret of Scent (http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Scent-Adventures-Perfume-Science/dp/0061133841/) by Luca Turin himself. I first came across them when I read a newspaper article about a "quantum theory of smell". So I wanted to know more about it.
There isn't actually much quantum stuff, except that Luca Turin believes that the nose does something equivalent to an electron tunneling spectrometer. He shows some pretty convincing evidence and experiments that indicate it acts and fails in the same ways. The exact mechanisms are unknown, but he things it has something to do with proteins that conduct electricity. Anyhow, he's a fascinating personality and an excellent writer.

Date: 2010-10-08 03:09 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com
Ooh, shiny! I haven't heard of any of these, and I am not afraid of technical stuff, and all of these are on subjects that sound really, really interesting.

Thank you!

Date: 2010-10-08 07:30 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] enleve.livejournal.com
You're welcome. ^_^

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