The Right Attitude to Rain by Alexander McCall Smith

This is a pleasant love story set in Scotland, told with warmth and color. Of course, one character stands out, Isabel Dalhousie. She is an independently wealthy but unostentatious editor of an obscure journal of philosophical ethics. Not theoretical ethics but applied ethics, mind you.

The author, against all odds, is to my mind completely successful in presenting a woman who is both thoughtful and full of thought. She takes self-awareness to a very high level without self-absorption. She is constantly ruminating but not to the point of serious self-doubt. It is analysis without paralysis.

I enjoyed her and laughed at her moral hesitations. But as with most ethical dramas, I remain unsatisfied. Ethical satisfaction requires a foundation. Scotland, home, friends, social convention can inform and delight but fail to answer the deepest questions of love.

The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow

An interesting, easily-read discussion of probability. He talks quite a bit about psychology of risk and misuse of probability. His critique of determinism is clear and concise and convincing. It is a practical criticism that makes sense. Of many books I have read on probability, it is second only to The Lady Tasting Tea.

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

Winner of the Man Booker prize in 2008, this racy, readable story of class struggle in India almost succeeds in explaining the inexplicable. However, India and its people remain a mystery.

The Chip by T. R. Reid

About the integrated circuit, an invention that now seems obvious but at the time opened the door to modern devices. The transistor changed everything, but many things that needed many transistors could not be made or not be made reliably or affordably or small enough to be usable.

The integrated circuit was discovered independently by two different men. There was a legal battle by their respective companies but the men were gracious to each other as individuals. Noyce died before the Nobel prize was given to Kilby, who recognized Noyce at the ceremony.

Written in 1985 but updated in 2001, the book is already very out of date but since it deals with the past and past events and people it is still an enjoyable book. In 1985, even in 2001, it fails to foresee what effects were in store for this 'obvious' invention.

The Prodigal God by Tim Keller

A simply wonderful exposition of the parable which presents the gospel in a clear and radically disturbing manner. A small book, a large gem.

The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Tim Keller

I started this book as a skeptic. Not of Christianity, but I didn't like the title, and in some circles I had run into, Keller held almost guru status.

The book won me over. The writing is strikingly clear, the arguments sound, and the tone peaceful and full of confident calm.

Keller has been listening to people. He has listened long enough and closely enough to see the positions behind the questions. And those deeper questions fall into a few categories. He has conversed with people over these hard questions, serious questions by serious people.

He has also noted and presents persuasively that people believe out of a social context and experiential context as well as an intellectual context.

He quotes C. S. Lewis frequently as do many authors, but I sense that he is a gifted, clear thinker himself and may indeed be worthy to stand in the apologetic lineage of Lewis. I was gripped and encouraged by this book from the first page to the last.

Free by Chris Anderson [read on iPhone]

This book was, of course, free. It is all about marketing and selling and giving things and services away. From Gilette razors to mp3s, the history of free is discussed. I expected a couple pages of interesting ideas, then a lot of padding and repetition. I was pleasantly surprised to find the entire book full of interesting and fresh insights. I had no idea there are right and wrong ways to give things away and if you do it right you can make a lot of money selling things for free!

Uncommon Dissent edited by William Dembski

This is a good collection of essays by Darwin skeptics. It is a good resource. The most surprising essay is by Michael Denton, who perhaps started a wing of Darwin Doubting with "Evolution: A Theory in Crisis" but now has changed his view into an interest in self-organization as an inherent property of matter, which is perhaps just another form of materialism which most of the other authors reject. The interview of Schutzenberger is very interesting. Budziszewski is brilliant and gives real philosophical weight to the discussion. Tipler is interesting on peer review holding back scientific progress. Some of the writers seem to anticipate more recent findings of lateral gene transfer and regulatory parts of the genome, which create great problems for the "tree of life." Soon another collection of these and other authors will be needed.

Probability's Nature and Nature's Probability by Donald E. Johnson

This is a probabilistic refutation of Neo-Darwinism on informational and mathematical grounds. It is full of interesting quotes. The format is barely readable and the quotes, though carefully referenced, could be closely edited for effect. However, I myself think they are representative. An evolutionist can say "appearance of design" dismissively only so often without having to try to quantify "possible" and "given enough time" etc. An evolutionist can invoke comets, panspermia, anything but intelligence, and not be ostracized. Yet intelligence is our only empirically tested source of true (as opposed to Shannon) information. Useful also for bibliography.

A Corpse in the Koryo by James Church

(read aloud over dishes) Seems to be a murder mystery with a dead body and an inspector, but turns out to be about survival in North Korea, where behind each intrigue is more intrigue and one branch of government is watching another. The two main characters are portrayed so well that the reader becomes very attached. This leads to humor and fear and some sadness. The ending is predictable and seems right but is a little disappointing. Closing the book one feels real regret not having more time with "Inspector O."

The Associate by John Grisham

Read during dishes, fun to read, good plot, but ending a little unfulfilling. The usual bad lawyers and good lawyers in a shadowy world.

Creation as Science by Hugh Ross

This book is good about framing the debate, and I think he does understand science. His biblical interpretation is to me not accurate, attributing far too much precision to texts that are just descriptive. And like many, he misunderstands intelligent design arguments. His testable model to me is arcane.

Flotsametrics and the Floating World: How one man's obsession with runaway sneakers and rubber ducks revolutionized ocean science by Curtis Ebbesmeyer

This is a wonderful book about everything that floats in the ocean and why it goes where it does and how fast. There are circular currents, beaches that collect debris, and large areas of ocean choked with plastic. By tracking ordinary flotsam, Ebbesmeyer has made the ocean currents give up many of their secrets. He weaves history, science, and beachcombing into a fascinating tale. He writes with the confident but understated tone of someone who really knows what he is writing about.

Supercontinent by Ted Nield

The earth's crust is floating on the mantle of the earth and moving to make supercontinents and fracturing to make oceans and colliding to make mountains. The story of proving this is amazing. The reluctance of the scientific community to embrace this idea is alluded to in the book and is a cautionary tale to those who worship science.

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

This small book is a gem and a work of genius. The cold, the hunger, the hopelessness, the injustice are made palpable by the understated mention of a hot stove, a crust of bread, a gift of tobacco, a remembered promise.

This one day in an interminable imprisonment speaks of all the days, all the prisoners, all the lost years. And there is a ray of hope, a breath of warmth, an extra ration, a desire to live that leads to the next day and the next.

Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes

This detailed review of the origins of the current consensus on a healthy diet and the cause of obesity is troubling on several levels. Either Taubes is mistaken and biased, or everything I have been taught about diet, exercise, lipid treatment, and obesity has been wrong. His review also indicts science as it is currently practiced, with consensus breeding more consensus even when the evidence is very weak.

His basic message is that carbohydrates cause obesity mediated by insulin. And that thermodynamics ("a calorie is a calorie is a calorie") has misled us by mistaking correlation (increased calorie intake with increased weight) with cause (eating fat causes obesity). Read this book if you dare.

Scarpetta by Patricia Cornwell

A big book and a big disappointment. Poorly written, poorly edited. Preoccupied with wealth and lesbian relationships which she sometimes does well but in this book fails miserably. Scarpetta is now an icon instead of a person.

The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly

A fun read. The narrator is a bottom-feeding scum-sucking trial lawyer with a glowing ember of a conscience. Worried that he might have missed the tiny possibility that one of his clients might actually be innocent, he still marches through the court system, making deals and getting thugs off on technicalities. But the story is a surprise and quite a ride.

Banana by Dan Koeppel

A whole book about one fruit packed with things I never knew. Politics, wars, business, all effected by the lowly banana. But the origins, the genetics, the raising, shipping, and study of bananas are the most interesting. Now the spectre of new and old diseases threatens our beloved fruit.

After the Dance by Edwidge Danticat

About Jacmel and Carnival and Haiti from a very positive viewpoint. A lot of culture and language (the title comes from a Haitian proverb: After the dance, the drum is heavy). Captures the openness and resilience of Haitian people. The author tells her own story and the story of Jacmel. She likes the people she meets, they like her. She has hopes for her country and is proud of her family and their values. To write about Haiti without pessimism and despair is itself an achievement.

Regeneration by Pat Barker

I enjoyed this book because it was a view of war from the psychiatrist's office. Some describe this book as anti-war, but I only agree insofar as saying that it shows the horrors of war most vividly. It is deeply troubling and shows the awful choices faced by soldier and doctor. It shows compassion for wounds that are invisible but will never heal. It shows healing of minds that had lost hope. It shows a psychiatrist perhaps taking on himself some of the suffering of his patients. Surely the psychiatrist is heroically withholding his own thoughts and feelings because to share them would only confuse a chaotic situation even more.

This is wonderfully written. The tone, length, and detail are just right.

Devices and Desires by P. D. James

Made doing dishes enjoyable as we read this aloud. It is well-written and very British. We couldn't figure out the villain till the end. Some dead-end story lines that were enjoyable and added to the mystery, I think. Worth the read.

The Demon Under the Microscope by Thomas Hager

The story of the discovery of sulfa, the world's first miracle drug, is very interesting and surprising. It is a story of hard work and luck - a tragic contamination, a delayed Nobel prize, and finally a triumph muted by the discovery of penicillin. The disastrous consequences of wartime wounds in the pre-sulfa era are a sobering look at what might be again if resistance becomes widespread.

Mind from Matter? by Max Delbrück

Though an older book (1986), this is a remarkable summary of evolution, of the world, life, cognition, mathematics, and language. In his summary he states that though mind is clearly an evolutionary adaptation he has no satisfactory explanation for it. Thus the question mark in the title remains. The real value of the book is his summary of the understanding of how life evolved. The fact that remaining questions are clearly shown and left unanswered is a testament to the intellectual honesty of the author.

Most striking to me is the chapter on vision. The intricacy and complexity of the visual apparatus and the brain processing necessary to see is amazing. The author makes no attempt to explain evolutionary mechanism other than describing other animals' eyes. Anatomical differences reflect different needs. The chapter ends.