books updates

Well I haven't nearly gotten through all 12.

I finished:

Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies
Though I didn't read all the appendices. I'll probably go back and read them at some point, since I can't get enough Chomsky.

1984 (Signet Classics)
Can't believe I hadn't read this sooner, though it probably wouldn't have meant as much to me.

God Is Not Great
Pretty good, and an enjoyable read.

What We Say Goes: Conversations on U.S. Power in a Changing World
This is a collection of interviews from the last couple years, so it hits a variety of topics but not in great depth. His writing style can take getting used to, but the conversational nature makes this one of the more accessible Chomsky books I've read. Or maybe I'm just more open to his ideas now so they are easier to process.

In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto
Very good stuff here, though I'd recommend Pollan's last book, The Omnivore's Dilemma, more highly. I enjoyed especially a discussion of the cultural evolution aspect of traditional cuisine.

Hope for the Flowers
Also wasn't on the original list, but it only takes 30 minutes to read. Kind of a children's picture book for adults, or something like that. My sister loved it, and gave Kira a copy. Good for inspiration when you need that.


Still haven't finished:

Teaching As a Subversive Activity
Just not moves to read this. Maybe when I start teaching?

Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq
Hard for me to fret about the tactical blunders of an invasion that was so wrong to begin with. Might never finish this.

The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution
I was way off in my initial assessment that I was halfway through this. I was no more than a quarter of the way in. Now I'm probably 2/3 finished. Reading this is kind of like watching a good nature documentary on PBS. I learned that axolotls are awesome.

Unexceptional: America's Empire in the Persian Gulf, 1941-2007
Similar probably as Fiasco. I have a general familiarity with the material and I'm not sure that digging into these details this way is important to me right now.

The Moral Animal: Why We Are, the Way We Are: The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology
This wasn't on the original list, but I decided to reread this book before my grad school interviews. It has been about 3 years since I read it first, and I've had some pretty significant intellectual growth since then, so I wanted to reprocess the information from my new perspective. I'm most of the way through it now, and I think I am indeed seeing it in a new way. I'll leave it at that for now, except to say that this is a great book that was crucial to the development of my thinking.


Still haven't started:

In Our Image: America's Empire in the Philippines

Les Misérables (Signet Classics)

A Power Governments Cannot Suppress


Considering in the near future:

Interventions (City Lights Open Media)
More Chomsky.

Catch-22
Another classic I've never read that seems appropriate for me.

The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature
I plan to reread this, like The Moral Animal.

Plus I picked up these last four at a discount book store in Columbus. I don't know how good they're supposed to be, but they were like $5 each and cover subjects of interest to me.

Nature Via Nurture: Genes, Experience, and What Makes Us Human

The Survival Game : How Game Theory Explains the Biology of Cooperation and Competition

Margaret Mead and the Heretic: The Making and Unmaking of an Anthropological Myth

The Octopus and the Orangutan: More True Tales of Animal Intrigue, Intelligence, and Ingenuity