Shrink Rap by Robert B. Parker
The Best American Science Writing 2000 Edited by James Gleick
Miss Gloucester City by Johannah Spero
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
***All Your Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan by Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi
The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Washing by Judith L. Rapoport
Female Chauvinist Pigs by Ariel Levy (This book is terrible)
What Is Your Dangerous Idea? Edited by John Brockman
Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture by Ariel Levy
Robert Ludlum's The Paris Option by Robert Ludlum and Gayle Lynds
Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert
Pillars of the Earth*** by Ken Follett
Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan
Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes by Stephen J. Gould
Blood Work*** by Michael Connelly
Metamagical Themas by Douglas Hofstadter
The Body Artist by Don DiLillo
The House of God by Samuel Shem, MD
I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe
The Onion's Finest News Reporting, Vol. 1
Golden Buddha by Clive Cussler and Craig Dirgo
How To Be A Great and Successful Scientist by Jim Davies
Mercy Among the Children by David Adams Richards
Blindness by Jose Saramago
The Best American Science Writing 2002, edited by Matt Ridley
The Best American Science Writing 2003, edited by Oliver Sacks. ***
The Summons by John Grisham
The Skills To Pay The Bills: The Story of the Beastie Boys by Alan Light
Memoirs of An Invisible Man *** by H. F. Saint (re-read)
The Game by Neill Strauss
Sciences of the Artificial by Herbert Simon
What is my dog thinking? by Gwen Baily
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Suzanna Clarke
My Brain is Open: The Mathematical Journeys of Paul Erdos by Bruce Schechter
Life of Pi**** by Yann Martel
I know, everyone loves this book. You know why? Because it's great.
Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire
On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins with Sandra Blakeslee
The philosophy is sloppy, but the theory interesting. What I like most is that he's at least trying to understand the mind as a whole, which is more than I can say for most cognitive scientists.
Dragonseye by Anne McCaffrey
Not good.
The Society of Mind**** by Marvin Minsky
Brilliant.
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville
This is probably the most creative novel I've ever read, though it's not the fastest read in the world.
It's interesting to think about how things like brainstorming and prototyping can be applied to scientific practice.
A Day Late and a Dollar Short By Terry McMillan
It was just okay.
Shadow of the Giant by Orson Scott Card
Collapse By Jared Diamond
The Genome War by James Shreeve
The Dark Tower by Stephen King
The Laws of Our Fathers by Scott Turow
The Rules by Ellen Fein, Sherrie Schneider
Although I think most of the Rules are a good idea, this book is written for people with a ninth grade literary sensibility, with lots of exclamation points and absurd promises like a marriage you get out of using the rules won't have abuse, because he loves you so much. Utterly unscientific and written by two people whose biographies include their cities and the fact that they are married. It's no "Genome."
Genome by Matt Ridley ***
Nickel And Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
The most important point of this book is that you can have a full-time job making $7 per hour and still not get by.
Advice to a Young Scientist by Peter B. Medawar
Not much advice here that can't be found in other books, but this is well-written and worth reading for every scientist.
Knightfall by Dennis O'Neil
An entertaining Batman novel. I read this while walking to and from work. I don't read while I'm crossing streets, no matter how safe it looks.
The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less by Barry Schwartz
Godel, Esher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Dougas R. Hofstadter
Star Wars, Episode III - Revenge of the Sith by Matthew W. Stover
The Simple Living Guide by Janet Luhrs
I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life (Science Masters Series) by Richard Dawkins
Radiant Cool : A Novel Theory of Consciousness by Dan Lloyd
The Age of Spiritual Machines: When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence by Ray Kurzweil
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Shadow Puppets (Ender, Book 7) by Orson Scott Card
The Best American Science Writing 2002 (Best American Science Writing by Matt Ridley, Alan Lightman
What Emotions Really Are : The Problem of Psychological Categories by Paul E. Griffiths
Eye in the Sky by PHILIP K. DICK
The Complete Concrete by Paul Chadwick
Monkey Sonatas by Orson Scott Card
Shadow of the Hegemon (Ender Wiggin Saga) by Orson Scott Card ****
Exploring the Matrix : Visions of the Cyber Present by Karen Haber (Editor)
Alternative Scriptwriting: Successfully Breaking the Rules by Ken Dancyger, Jeff Rush
Wizardborn (The Runelords, Book 3) by David Farland
The Mummy or Ramses the Damned by Anne Rice
Impro for Storytellers by Keith Johnstone
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
Brief Interviews With Hideous Men : Stories by David Foster Wallace
Dune Messiah (Dune Chronicles, Book 2) by Frank Herbert
How to Be Happy, Dammit: A Cynic's Guide to Spiritual Happiness by Karen Salmansohn, Don Zinzell
Distant Mirrors: America as a Foreign Culture by Philip R. DeVita, James D. Armstrong
This Can't Be Happening at Macdonald Hall by Gordon Korman
Spoken Soul : The Story of Black English by John Russell Rickford, Russell John Rickford
A Natural History of Love by DIANE ACKERMAN
Living With a Pug by Alison Mount
Introduction to writing screenplays. Decent book. I was hoping for more conventions of the actual screenplay. This focuses on story structure, etc.
No Coins, Please! by Gordon Korman
A delightful piece of young fiction. I love Gordon Korman. About a kid who can't stop making money, driving his tour guides crazy.
I want to go home! by Gordon Korman
Great book. Young fiction.
Ultimate Punishment : A Lawyer's Reflections on Dealing with the Death Penalty by Scott Turow
Great book about the death penalty. I learned a lot.
Understanding Zen by Benjamin and Amy Radcliff
Far from Soothing, this rather disturbing book describes, in a western philosophy style, the philosophy of Zen, and briefly traces it's roots. The basic idea is that experiencing of reality means acknowledging that the concepts we use to understand the world are a fiction and not a part of the world at all, which is kind of a non-understandable plenum. I am left with many questions, but in the end I feel I've learned a lot about Zen.
A science and political thriller. Starts slow, but pays off well.
Sequel to "The Great and Secret Show." Full of imagination and some sicko characters. I like Clive Barker's style. He's like a weirder Stephen King, but I'll take a break for a while, I think.
Story of a recovering alcoholic. Starts funny, but the second half gets sad and boring.
Song of Susannah by Stephen King
Good. Sequel to "Wolves of the Calla."
New Spring: The Novel by Robert Jordan
Prequel to the Wheel of Time Series. Decent. I think only fans of the series should read it.
Origins of the Modern Mind by Merlin Donald
Cognitive science book, using evolutionary, genetic, brain, and anthropological data to make a theory of the three stages of the evolution of mind, the last of which is, basically, books. Well-researched and interesting. For cognitive scientists only--it's a pretty technical book.
The Dramatist's Toolkit by Jeffrey Sweet
Best book on writing plays I've read. Highly recommended.
Opening Skinner's Box by Lauren Slater
Wonderful! An introduction to some of the great psychology experiments of the 20th century for the layperson and psychologist alike. The author is a real firecracker, too--fun to read about.
One of the best novels I've read. In our world, ethics is dominated by a Christian tradition, which frames goodness on not doing badness. This book pushes the limits in the other direction. How actively should one go out and try to make the world better? In this book a woman's husband suddenly changes his life to maximize his goodness. It's funny, touching, and profound. It doesn't provide ultimate answers, but is great food for thought.
Death by Hollywood by Steven Bocho
Entertaining and very readable thriller about Hollywood. You get a feel for life out there. What a bunch of weirdos.
Fun supernatural thriller about Repairman Jack, a soft-hearted gun for hire. Very readable.
The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell
A great book. Classic. Required for general cultural literacy.
Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King
Good book, part of the Dark Tower series.
The second Repairman Jack novel. Good, fast read. A thriller.
Re-read this for the first time since I was 15, I think. Much deeper now. What a brilliant book. Creates a fascinating world.
Good book targeted for young adults.
The Great and Secret Show by Clive Barker
Fascinating book of mythic proportions. Creates a detailed otherworldly earth. Recommended for fans of horror and fantasy. "Everville" is next in the series.
Very entertaining.
Breathe! You Are Alive: Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing by Thich Nhat Hanh
Thich Nhat Hanh's books are always so calming for me. This is a Buddhist book about breathing during meditation.
Understanding Movies by Louis Giannetti
Great introduction to film appreciation. It uses many examples from popular movies to talk about an enormous number of aspects of the decisions that go into film creation. I very much enjoyed it. ****
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Very readable classic.
The Dark Elf Trilogy by R. A. Salvatore
Actually three novels set in the Forgotten Realms Dungeons and Dragons world. Entertaining, recommended for fantasy fans still in high school.
Weird but entertaining book about a group of people who make up a ghost and it becomes real. It gets weirder from there.
Needful Things by Stephen King
Good book. I think Stephen King's very talented.
Adventure story, Crichton-style, which ends with an interesting theory that mammals traded off, evolutionarily, the ability to regenerate limbs for having a reduced risk of cancer.
The Silent Strength of Stone by Nina K. Hoffman
Great book! Modern fantasy, related to animism. Fascinating. Highly recommended.****
The Comedy Writer by Peter Farrelly
Laugh out out funny. You'll love it. Recommended by my friend Alison Way.****
Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King
Page by page, it's well written, but it doesn't hold together very well for me. Not particularly memorable.
A Leg to Stand On by Oliver Sacks
Read this in a book club. I liked it. Sacks is a great writer. People found the book a little self-indulgent, but that never bothers me.
The Three Steps of Modern Calligraphy by Gu Gan
I love this book. It helped me invent the kind of calligraphy I do. See Thunderwords.****
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
Always be suspicious of non-fiction, persuasive books by great writers. They can write complete garbage so sweetly you'll think it can't be wrong. Case in point. This book tries to solve very hard sociology problems using--guess what? Poor, anecdotal evidence and great writing! Though the book is not garbage, its central claim is not justified by the evidence presented. I hate it when writers try to do scientist's work.
Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan
The worst in a fabulous series so far. But if you're reading the series, you have to read it.
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
First half is great, about the author's experiences in a concentration camp, and who made it and why. Second half is about his theory of therapy, logotherapy, which is skippable.
The Art of Happiness by Dalai Lama, Howard C. Cutler
Much more from Cutler's POV than one might expect. Still, it's a relaxing, interesting read.
The Third Chimpanzee by Jared Diamond
Absolutely brilliant. I love this man. It's about human evolution.****
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire
The Runaway Jury by John Grisham
A Painted House by John Grisham
2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan
House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III ****
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World: A Novel by Haruki Murakami ****
Giddy-Up Startup by Johannah Davies
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card ****
Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card ****
The Sicilian by Mario Puzo****
True and False : Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor by David Mamet
I disagree with a lot in this book.
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
Sense of Direction: Some Observations on the Art of Directing by William Ball
Excellent directing book about dealing with actors.
The Empty Space by Peter Brook
Brotherhood of the Wolf (The Runelords, Book Two) by David Farland****
The Artful Universe by John D. Barrow ****
Straight Man by Richard Russo ****
Bird By Bird by Anne Lamott ****
Inspiring book on writing.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
Homo Centaurus by Anthony Francis
Teachings on Love by Thich Nhat Hanh ****
The best book on Buddhism I've read.
Trans-Sister Radio by Chris Bohjalian
Beamtimes and Lifetimes: The World of High Energy Physicists by Sharon Traweek
The Runelords: The Sum of All Men (The Runelords, Book One) by David Farland ****
The Tommyknockers by Stephen King
The Terminal Man by Michael Crichton
Pawn of Prophecy (The Belgariad, Book 1) by David Eddings
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Winter's Heart by Robert Jordan
Temple of the Winds (Sword of Truth, Book 4) by Terry Goodkind
Nosferatu: Clan Novel (Vampire: The Masquerade) by Gherbod Fleming
These vampire books were my guilty pleasure for a while.
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
The Godfather by Mario Puzo ****
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
Entertaining, but not the best book on how to write.
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Clan Novel: Tremere by Eric Griffin
Stone of Tears (Sword of Truth, Book 2) by Terry Goodkind
Aaron's Code: Meta-Art, Artificial Intelligence and the Work of Harold Cohen by Pamela McCorduck
Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind
The Hacker Crackdown by Bruce Sterling ****
Brujah (Vampire: The Masquerade Clanbooks) by Gerbod Fleming ****
The Street Lawyer by John Grisham
Clan Novel: Giovanni by Justin Achilli ****
Laurie Anderson by Roselee Goldberg
Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom
Clan Novel: Malkavian by Steward Wieck
Terrible.
Disclosure by Michael Crichton ****
Bloodwar: Masquerade of the Red Death (World of Darkness) by Robert Weinberg
Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
Raptor Red by Robert T. Bakker ****
Looks silly, but is really great.
Clan Novel: Ravnos by Kathleen Ryan
Assamite: Clan Novel (Vampire: The Masquerade) by Gherbod Fleming
Clan Novel: Lasombra by Richard E. Dansky
entrue: Clan Novel (Vampire: The Masquerade) by Gherbod Fleming
Clan Novel: Setite by Kathleen Ryan
Clan Novel: Gangrel by Gherbod Fleming
Clan Novel: Tzimisce by Eric Griffin
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Book 2) by J. K. Rowling
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond
My second favorite book of all time. Everyone on earth should read this book. ****
Toreador (The Clan Novel Series, no. 1) by Stewart Wieck
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Book 1) by J. K. Rowling
Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower, Book 4) by
His Master's voice by Stanislaw Lem
The Shining by Stephen King ****
Consilience : The Unity of Knowledge by Edward O. Wilson ****
Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz by L. Frank Baum
The Wastelands by Stephen King
The Marvellous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum
A Case of Need by Michael Crichton
October Sky by Homer Hickam ****
The Perfect Storm : A True Story of Men Against the Sea by Sebastian Junger
Greatness: Who Makes History and Why by Dean Keith Simonton ****
The Client by John Grisham ****
The Little Shop of Horrors Book by by John McCarty, Mark Thomas McGee
A Man in Full by Tom Wolfe ****
Who Censored Roger Rabbit by by Gary K. Wolf
This is the original book the movie script was based on.
The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower, Book 2) by Stephen King ****
The Cobra Event by Richard Preston ****
The Path of Daggers (The Wheel of Time, Book 8) by Robert Jordan ****
The Stand by Stephen King ****
The link is for the expanded edition, but I actually read the cut version. It was plenty long.
Moths to the Flame : The Seductions of Computer Technology by by Gregory J. E. Rawlins
Being Digital by Nicholas Negroponte
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer ****
Airframe by Michael Crichton ****
Barbarians Led by Bill Gates: Microsoft from the Inside by by Jennifer Edstrom, Marlin Eller
A Ph.D. Is Not Enough: A Guide to Survival in Science by by Peter J. Feibelman
Must-reading for any Ph.D. Student.
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by by Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan
Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
Fuzzy Thinking : The New Science of Fuzzy Logic by Bart Kosko
First Light : The Search for the Edge of the Universe by Richard Preston ****
Beyond Positivism and Relativism: Theory, Method, and Evidence by Larry Laudan
Dinotopia: The World Beneath by James Gurney
The Hacker and the Ants: Version 2.0 by Rudy Rucker
The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower, Book 1) by Stephen King
The Truth Machine by James Halperin ****
A Crown of Swords (The Wheel of Time, Book 7) by Robert Jordan ****
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire ****
Lives of the Monster Dogs by Kirsten Bakis ****
Children of the Mind (Ender Wiggin Saga) by Orson Scott Card ****
Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore
Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan ****
The Creative Mind: Myths and Mechanisms by Margaret A. Boden
The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton ****
Travels by by Michael Crichton
Foundation's Edge : The Foundation Novels (Foundation Novels (Paperback)) by Isaac Asimov
Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson ****
Hard science fiction about what a Mars Colony might be like.
The Hot Zone : A Terrifying True Story by Richard Preston ****
The Fires of Heaven (The Wheel of Time, Book 5) by by Robert Jordan ****
The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time by by JONATHAN WEINER ****
My fourth favorite book of all time (after The Selfish Gene, Guns, Germs and Steel, and The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat.)
"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character by Richard P. Feynman ****
The Shadow Rising (The Wheel of Time, Book 4) by Robert Jordan ****
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Relic by Lincoln Child, Douglas J. Preston
The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan ****
Categories and Concepts (Cognitive science series) by Edward E. Smith, Douglas Medin
The Lost World by Michael Crichton
Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science by Carl Sagan
The Great Hunt (The Wheel of Time, Book 2) by Robert Jordan
How to Think Straight About Psychology by by Keith E. Stanovich ****
The Ascent of Man by Jacob Bronowski
Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life by Daniel C. Dennett ****
Magic: A Novel by William Goldman
1,001 Ways to Save the Planet by Bernadette Vallely
The Language Instinct : How the Mind Creates Language by Steven Pinker
Rendezvous With Rama by Arthur C. Clarke
The Mismeasure of Man by Stephen Jay Gould
Sphere by Michael Crichton ****
The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence by Carl Sagan
Quiddities by W. V. O. Quine
QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter by Richard P. Feynman
The Intentional Stance by Daniel Dennett
One Human Minute by Stanislaw Lem ****
Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg
The Eye of the World (The Wheel of Time, Book 1) by Robert Jordan
Rising Sun by Michael Crichton
The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe ****
The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat : And Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks ****
Third favorite book of all time.
The First Three Minutes: A Modern View of the Origin of the Universe by Steven Weinberg
The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn
dentity, Consciousness, and Value by Peter K. Unger
Seventh Son (Tales of Alvin Maker, Book 1) by Orson Scott Card
The Book of Three (Chronicles of Prydain) by Lloyd Alexander
Art: The Way It Is (author unknown)
Metaphors We Live By by George Lakoff, Mark Johnson
Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time by James Gurney
Speaker for the Dead (Ender Wiggen Saga) by Orson Scott Card
The Sailor on the Seas of Fate (Elric Saga) by Michael Moorcock
Speed Reading by Robert L. Zorn ****
I was reading faster by time I was halfway through it.
Elric of Melnibone by Michael Moorcock
Ender's Game (Ender Wiggin Saga) by Orson Scott Card ****
Stories from the Nerve Bible: A Twenty-Year Retrospective by Laurie Anderson
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins
Dragon Wing (The Death Gate Cycle, Book 1) by Margaret Weiss
The Web of Belief by W. V. Quine, J. S. Ullian
Unified Theories of Cognition by Allen Newell
Computation and Cognition: Toward a Foundation for Cognitive Science by Zenon W. Pylyshyn
The Witching Hour (Lives of the Mayfair Witches) by Anne Rice
The Girl in a Swing by Richard Adams
Neuromancer (Remembering Tomorrow) by William Gibson
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins ****
My favorite book in the whole wide wonderful world.
Thinking (An Invitation to Cognitive Science, Vol 3) by Daniel N. Osherson, Edward E. Smith (Editor)
A New Guide to Artificial Intelligence by Derek Partridge
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant : A Novel by Anne Tyler
The Pelican Brief by John Grisham
Black Hands of Beijing: Lives of Defiance in China's Democracy Movement by George Black, Robin Munro
Thinking Machines by Igor Alexander and Riere Burnett
The Damnation Game by Clive Barker
Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow
Microcognition: Philosophy, Cognitive Science, and Parallel Distributed Processing by Andy Clark
Consciousness Explained by Daniel C. Dennett
Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
Wild Swans : Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang ****
The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin
Laurie Anderson (American Originals) by John Howell
L.Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman by Bent Corydon
Cracking the System: The GRE by The Princeton Review
Strange Tales From Make-do Studio by Pu Songling,
Letter to a Child Never Born by Oriana Fallaci
This was the first book I entered in my book diary. I was Living in China in 1993 at the time.