Books Read in 2005

Best Books of the Year

• Reading Lolita in Tehran.

Books I Read

• Biological science, psychology, and philosophy
  • blink: the power of thiking without thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
    -- Not as good as I expected. the idea was that you ...
  • How We Die: reflections on life's final chapter by Sherwin B. Nuland
    -- Quite good although fairly grim. His thesis is that few people die a
    good and dignified death. Disease usually prevents that. He thinks we
    need more family doctors.
• Physics
  • Big Bang: the origin of the universe by Simon Singh --
    I have not read this but am putting it here so I will remember to get back to it.
    The New York Times review of this was title "Real Creation Science". Overall the
    review was pretty good but not great.
• Business
  • American Sucker by David Denby
    -- Very interesting. He was separated from wife Cathleen Schine in 1999. She wanted to be single.
    He reacted by investing heavily in the stock market and lost heavily when the market crashed.
    Some interesting discussions of what people want out of life, the use of greed, etc.
  • The Truth About the Drug companies: how they deceive us and what to do about it by Marcia Angell
    -- Shocking.
  • Irrational Exuberance by Robert J. Shiller
    -- Detailed analysis of why stock prices got so high by a respected academic economist.
    Very interesting.
  • Against the Gods: the remarkable story of risk by Peter L. Bernstein
    -- A history of risk over the ages with emphasis on finance. Good discussion of derivatives.
  • Blood on the Street by Charles Gasparino
    -- About how the analysts on Wall Street fakes their recommendations in order to
    get banking business.
  • Alternatives to Economic Globalization: a better world is possible by many people
    -- Good analysis of globalization and the alternatives.
  • Freakonomics: a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything
    by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner -- Very interesting. He explores the
    "economic" view of things like: sump wresling, teachers cheating, real estate agents,
    naming children, etc. His idea is that economics is a set of tools rather than a
    specific subject area. He concentrates on the role of incentives in humna behavior
    and clever ways to analyze data to get out the information you need. He is clever
    about finding ways to measure things that are hard to measure.
  • Fools Rush In: Steve Case, Jerry Levin, and the Unmaking of AOL Time Warner by Nina Monk
    -- The story of Time, Time Warner, AOL, and AOL Time-Warner. They were all pretty stupid and
    greedy. $200 billion in market capitalization (shareholder value) was lost. Ted Turner alone
    lost $8.5 billion. Most of the principals cashed out before thjings fell apart.
  • Naked Economics: undressing the dismal science by Charles Wheelan --
    Interesting but he has all the biases of economists: that more and more things are
    always good. He assumes that we have a capitalist system and then accuses people of
    trying to prevent poor third-wolders from making money. This after his heros have
    been stealing from them for hundreds of years. Dishonest or misguided.
  • A mathematician plays the stock market by John Allen Paulos --
    Very interesting, fascinating in fact. Very honest. He tells his personal story and
    also analyzes stock market theories from a mathematical point of view.
    Interesting view that inside trading does not have to affect you since you
    might be on either side of it.
• Social commentary, social science and politics
  • Fashionable Nonsense: postmodern intellectuals' abuse of science
    by Alan Sokal and Jean Bricmont -- a great book, very funny, but with some interesting
    comments on the relationship of science and the humanities
• Novels. etc.
  • My Life in Heavy Metal by Steve Almond -- A good collection of short stories.
    Mostly about young people, high school, college, and in their 20s.
• Humor
• candy freak: a journey through the chocolate underbelly of america by Stee Almond
  -- Very amusing and interesting. he talks about candy, mostly candy bars. He visits
  cnady factories and talks about old time candy like: Goo Goo Clusters, Peanut Chews,
  Twin Bing, Valomilk, Idaho Spud, Big Hunk. and Abba-Zaba. And about a car called the
  Five Star Bar, extrmemly good. www.candydirect.com, www.stevealmondd.com,
  www.sweetnostagia.com, www.idahospud.com, Lake Camplaine Chocolates,
  www.googoo.com, www.palmercandy.com
• History
  • 1968: the Year That Rocked the World by Mark Kurlansky
    -- A review of everything that happened in 1968 which was
    a pivotal year where lots of things changed.
• Essays, memoirs and biography
  • Reading Lolita in Tehran: a memoir in books by Azar Nafisi --
    A wonderful book. A damning picture of life in Iren, the Islamic Republic.
    She uses four authors and major works as themes: Vladimir Nabakov and Lolita,
    F. Scott Fitzgerald and the Great Gatsby, Henry James and Daily Miller, and
    Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice.
  • Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi --
    A graphic novel about growing up in the Islamic Republic of Iran. A good companion
    to Reading Lolita in Tehran because it gives the perspective of younger people
    whereas Reading Lotlita was an older person's perspective. Very moving.
  • Persepolis 2: the story of a return by Marjane Satrapi --
    Sequel. The story of her time in Vienna and return to Iran
  • On Bullshit by Harry G. Frankfort --
    Not bad, but a little pretentious.
• Mysteries
  • Skeleton Man by Tony Hillerman -- A Jim Chee/Joe Leaphorn mystery.
    Not one of his better ones but pretty good.
  • The Wailing Wind/i> by Tony Hillerman -- A Jim Chee/Joe Leaphorn mystery.
    I liked this one a lot. Very nice ending.