Books Read in 2002

I retired at the end of 2001 and so I had a lot of time to read in 2002.
Many of these books were listened to as audiobooks.

• Biological science
  • A natural history of the senses by Diane Ackerman -- she manages
    to talk about almost everything because what don't we apprehend with our
    senses? Interesting.
    
  • The Beauty of the Beastly : New Views on the Nature of Life by
    Natalie Angier -- I like Angier's writing. Clear, interesting descriptions
    of biology.
  • Why elephants have big ears : understanding patterns of life on earth
    by Chris Lavers -- about why some animals are warm-blooded and some are
    cold-blooded. Interesting.
• Computers, complexity and mathematics
  • How Nature Works Per Bak -- this guy did the studies of avalanches
    in sand piles. Interesting work in complexity and what he calls self-organized
    complexity.
  • Linked : the new science of networks by Albert-László
    Barabási -- a fascinating look at the properties of large networks
    like the Internet, power grids, friendships, cells, etc.
  • Ubiquity: the science of history ... or why the world is simpler
    than we think by Mark Buchanan -- another book on self-organized complexity
    and how it applies to many areas. This is better and more interesting
    than Per Bak's book I though.
  • The Computational Beauty of Nature: computer explorations of fractals,
    chaos, complex systems, and adaptation by Gary William Flake -- good
    introduction to these topics. Very interesting.
  • Fire in the Mind: Science, Faith, and the Search for Order by
    George Johnson -- about the development of complexity. A lot about the
    Santa Fe Institute and New Mexico history.
  • Emergence: the connected lives of ants, brains, cities, and software
    by Steven Johnson -- a good explanation of emergent properties in things
    like ant colonies. An aspect of complexity.
  • Interface Culture:how new technology transforms the way we create
    and
    
    communicate by Steven Johnson -- okay but not as good as I had hoped
    it would be. About computer technology.
  • The polar bear strategy : reflections on risk in modern life
    by John F. Ross -- about the mathematical theory of risk and how people
    do not understand it.
  • A New Kind of Science Steven Wolfram -- Wolfram has no lack of
    self-confidence. I only read half of it (it is over a thousand pages)
    but it is an impressive work. It may be revolutionary. Only time will
    tell.
• Physics
  • E=mc2: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation by David
    Bodanis -- interesting book on how Einstein developed the equation, his
    life afterwards, and the development of the atomic bomb.
  • Lucifer's Legacy: the meaning of asymmetry by Frank Close --
    not as good as I hoped. Mostly about symmetry in physics.
  • The Illustrated A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking --
    Hawking writes popular science very clearly. Here he explains modern ideas
    of the Universe.
  • Six Roads From Newton: Great Discoveries in Physics by Edward
    Speyer -- good popular physics.
• Social commentary, social science and politics
  • Iron John by Robert Bly -- an book about boys and men, from 1990.
    Forget your prejudices about the "men's movement", there is
    no drumming in the woods here. Bly is literate and wise.
  • High and Mighty: SUVs: the world's most dangerous vehicles and how
    they got that way by Keith Bradsher -- how car manufacturers used
    influence in Washington to allow them to sell vehicles not that consumers
    really wanted but that would make them large profits.
  • Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By In America by Barbara Ehrenreich
    -- about how hard it is to live on a minimum-wage job.
  • Cod: a biography of the fish that changed the world by Mark Kurlansky
    -- who would have thought a book about a fish could be fascinating but
    it was. Cod really did change the world.
  • Stupid White Men by Michael Moore -- full of things about Bush
    and his buddies that will make you angry. The rabid style put me off a
    bit but it is good to hear this stuff.
  • Generation X goes to college: an eye-opening account of teaching
    on postmodern America by Peter Sacks -- not that good. A rant about
    how the younger generation is going to the dogs.
  • The War Against Boys: How Misguided Feminism is Harming Our Young
    Men by Christina Hoff Sommers -- a rehash of her book bashing feminism.
    I followed up on one of her statistics and found them to be misleading
    and misused to form false conclusions. She is either ill-informed or dishonest.
• Other science
  • Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini --
    a review of psychology experiments showing how marketers influence you.
    Includes tips on how to see through and defeat their tricks.
  • Wind: how the flow of air has shaped life, myth, and the land
    by Jan DeBlieu -- covers every topic related to weather, storms and wind
    that you can imagine. Interesting.
  • The substance of civilization : materials and human history from
    the stone age to the age of silicon by Stephen Sass -- about materials
    science. Somewhat interesting but how interesting can materials science
    be?
  • The Beak of the Finch by Jonathan Weiner -- explains evolution
    clearly and in detail and how it occurs in the scale of a few years.
    
• Mysteries
  • High Five by Janet Evanovich -- an okay mystery.
  • Kill the Shogun by Dale Furutani -- an average mystery but the
    parts about life in Japan around 1800 are fascinating.
  • The First Eagle by Tony Hillerman -- another good Navajo mystery.
  • The Mamour Zapt and the Night of the Dog by Michael Pearce --
    an average mystery but interesting background about life in Egypt around
    1900 under British rule.
• Plays
  • All's Well That End Well by William Shakespeare -- what can I
    say about Shakespeare?
  • A midsummer night's dream by William Shakespeare -- ditto.
  • Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw -- if you liked My Fair Lady,
    as I did, you will love this because Show's original is even better.
• Novels
  • Emma by Jane Austen -- I read three Austen books this year and
    liked them all.
  • Mansfield Park by Jane Austen -- Nabakov developed some famous
    lectures on this book for a literature course he taught. Thought to be
    one of her best books. I liked it but not as well as I liked Pride
    and Prejudice.
  • Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen -- amazing and delightful
    insights into society and people in general.
  • Year Of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague by Geraldine Brooks --
    novel of a town in England that quarantined itself in the year of the
    plague (about 1640). Based on an historical event but completely made
    up. The main character is too perfect but I still liked the story.
  • The Girl with the Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier -- light but
    interesting throughout. Insights into painting and life in Holland in
    Vermeer's time (the 1600s).
  • Rising Sun by Michael Crichton -- dated but a good story.
  • Heart of Darkness (Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism) by
    Joseph Conrad -- I was very impressed at how good this was. Probably the
    best short novel in English. Then the book used five different critical
    methods on the novel which was also interesting.
  • The Body Artist by Don DeLillo -- a short book and an unusual
    story. Haunting.
  • A Passage to India by E. M. Forster -- a classic and very powerful
    novel.
  • Disobedience by Jane Hamilton -- a story of infidelity from the
    viewpoint of her son who reads her email.
  • Catch-22 by Joseph Heller -- still good and relevant after all
    these years (since 1961).
  • About a Boy by Nick Hornby -- funny and insightful story of a
    guy rejoining the human race.
  • High Fidelity Nick Hornby -- Hornby is always good. More insights
    into the male psyche.
  • How to Be Good by Nick Hornby -- not Hornby's best but still
    has lots of humor and insights.
  • Le Mariage by Diane Johnson -- I like Diane Johnson and she is
    good here. She also wrote Le Divorce but the stories are not related.
  • At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon -- I didn't like this one.
  • Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac -- one of Kerouac's best books. The
    usual frenetic, interesting characters. About his experiences with the
    Zen, beat poet Gary Synder.
  • On the Road by Jack Kerouac -- exhausting but fascinating story.
  • The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver -- my favorite book
    this year. Good writing and a wonderful story.
  • Mr. Phillips by John Lanchester -- I loved his Debt to Pleasure.
    This is good but not nearly as good.
  • Fragrant Harbor by John Lanchester -- a story of an English man's
    life in Hong Kong. Interesting.
  • The Diagnosis by Alan Lightman -- I loved Einsteins's Dreams.
    This is nothing like it but the story is interesting.
  • Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman -- the reviewer's phrase "beautifully
    imagined" is appropriate here. Vignettes of 30 worlds where time
    works differently in each one. Astounding.
  • If you lived here, you'd be home by now by Sandra Tsing Loh --
    a humorous novel.
  • This is not a novel by David Markam -- an "experimental
    novel" which consists of hundreds of interesting facts about history
    and authors that Markam has picked up over the years. Fascinating.
  • Hotel Pastis by Peter Mayle -- novel about a hard-driving insurance
    man who moves to Provence.
  • The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus -- light
    and fluffy and consists of a lot of rich people bashing but it is a lot
    of fun. The nerve of these rich people is astounding.
  • The Center of Things by Jenny McPhee -- a charming novel about
    physics and lots of other thing.
  • The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brian -- short stories about
    the war in Viet Nam actually. I enjoyed them all.
  • The Shipping News by Annie Proux -- one of her best books. The
    story is depressing at the beginning but gets much better when he gets
    to Novia Scotia.
  • Fury by Salmon Rushdie -- lots of cultural and literary references,
    and those were just the one I happened to get.
  • The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve -- light but an interesting
    story.
  • Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson -- all his books are good and this
    one is no exception.
  • The Fellowship of the Ring J. R. R. Tolkien -- a classic that
    is still great.
  • Back When We Were Grownups Anne Tyler -- another good novel.
  • Maus: a survivor's tale by Art Spiegelman -- A graphic novel.
    The author's father's story of surviving the Holocost. Very moving. Excellently
    done.
  • Maus II: a survivor's tale by Art Spiegelman -- Sequel. Also
    very good.
• Humor
  • Lost Continent by Bill Bryson -- one of his funniest books. The
    fake place names he comes up with are hilarious.
  • Neither here nor there by Bill Bryson -- Bryson's travels in
    Europe. Very funny.
  • A Walk in the Woods Bill Bryson -- about the Appalachian Trail.
    Not as funny as his other books but not meant to be. Still a good story.
• Tales From Rhapsody Home Or, What they don't tell you about senior
  living by John Gould -- mildly amusing rants of a cantankerous old guy
  complaining about living in a retirement home.
• French Lessons: adventures with knife, fork and corkscrew by Peter
  Mayle -- short pieces about food festivals around France. Pretty funny.
• Driving Mr. Albert : a trip across America with Einstein's brain
  by Michael Paternit -- a funny story of a road trip with Einstein's brain
  and the pathologist who happened to have it. A very good road-trip story.
• A Year In Van Nuys by Sandra Tsing Loh -- very funny book about
  living in Van Nuys.
• History
  • The Crusades by Anthony Bridge -- the story of the hundred years
    of Crusades. Interesting.
  • Days of Infamy: Military Blunders of the 20th Century by Michael
    Coffey -- interesting stories of military blunders. It gets tedious about
    two thirds of the way through but I still liked it overall.
  • Populuxe by Thomas Hine -- A book of 1950's style. Very interesting.
  • The Renaissance: a short history by Paul Johnson -- okay but
    a little too much recitation of facts.
  • Brunelleschi's Dome: how a renaissance genius reinvented architecture
    by Ross King -- about the dome and life in Florence at the time (around
    1400).
  • The Year 1000: What life was like at the turn of the first millennium
    by Robert Lacey and Danny Danziger -- the subtitle tells it all, except
    that it only talks about life in England. Interesting.
  • What Went Wrong? by Bernard Lewis -- an excellent history and
    analysis of Islam.
  • Anatomy of a miracle : the end of apartheid and the birth of the
    new South Africa by Patti Waldmeir -- more than I wanted to know about
    the subject.
  • A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn -- a good
    source for alternative viewpoints on history than what you probably got
    in high school.
• Memoirs and biography
  • Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom -- overly sentimental but
    still a moving story about a man dying of ALS. The philosophy of life
    presented is not profound but useful to remember anyway.
• Nietzsche in Turin: an intimate biography by Lesley Chamberlain
  -- an interesting biography of Nietzsche.
• The Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B. Du Bois -- a seminal book that
  influenced many but I did not find it that interesting today.
• Why Sinatra Matters by Pete Hamill -- about Sinatra and his music.
• 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff -- Larry McMurtry hated
  it and it is a bit sentimental but I liked this story of her long relationship,
  starting around 1950, with the people at an English bookseller's.
• Gilbert & Sullivan and their Victorian world by Christopher
  Hibbert -- a biography of the two men and their collaboration and invention
  of musical comedy.
• Seldom Disappointed: a memoir by Tony Hillerman -- Hillerman is
  modest and straightforward and has interesting things to say. A lot about
  his experiences in World War II.
• Cherry: A Memoir by Mary Karr -- a very good coming-of-age story
  of a girl growing up in the 60s and 70s.
• Lake Webegon Summer 1956 by Garrison Keillor -- fiction/memoir
  of growing up in America in the 1950s. His insights and memories are right
  on.
• The Street Where I Live by Alan Jay Learner -- about the making
  of My Fair Lady, Gigi, and Camelot. A must if you love musical comedies.
• Under the Tuscan Sun: at home in Italy by Frances Mayes -- story
  of a couple living in Italy. Full of descriptions of the pleasures of Italian
  life.
• A Year In Provence by Peter Mayle -- fascinating and interesting
  story of a couple moving to Provence.
• Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen by Larry McMurtry -- McMurtry's
  memoirs of growing up in Texas and becoming a writer and books collector.
• Other
  • God's Debris by Scott Adams -- yes, this is the Scott Adams who
    writes "Dilbert" but this is a serious book explaining his philosophy.
    It is quite interesting and very close to what I believe.
  • Sonic Boom: Napster, MP3, and the new pioneers of music by John
    Alderman -- history of Napster and mp3s. Okay but not that insightful.
    Nothing too surprising.
  • The Koran: a very short introduction by Michael Cook -- an excellent
    introduction to the Koran.
  • What Do You Care What Other People Think? by Richard P. Feynman
    -- Feynman is always delightful. This includes his account of his tenure
    on the space shuttle inquiry committee which is a fascinating story and
    makes you wonder about the integrity of any commission of this sort.
  • The elements of effort: reflections on the art and science of running
    by John Jerome -- interesting insights into exercise.
  • Chant by Katherine Le Mee -- I have always liked Gregorian chant
    and this book tells you a lot about it. I liked it.
  • Beyond Good and Evil : prelude to a philosophy of the future
    by Frederick Nietzche -- I found this hard to read but it has its good
    points and inspired me to read other people's descriptions of Nietzsche
    which I found much more interesting.
  • The 100 Greatest American Essays of the 20th Century Joyce Carol
    Oates (ed.) -- I read some parts of this. A great collection of essays