The Moviegoer by Walker Percy

A very good, very thought-provoking book about reality and the self and how one lives life or lets life pass by and how modern life can be lived in a way that time and place are irrelevant. A point the internet and cell phones etc. make even more striking now. The self can anchor itself to time and space by interacting with people in the present place and creating connections of time, place, and self.

Would-be Worlds by John L. Casti

Very thorough book of simulation and virtual reality and modeling. Lots of depth and sources and whole fields of mathematics. Too much for me to take in.

The Story of the Reformation by William Stevenson, John Knox Press

An older but short, very readable account. Good on Knox, fair with anabaptists. Poem by Burns - "The Cotter's Saturday Night."

Back Spin by Harlan Coben

Pulp mystery, but better than I expected. Protagonist is remarkably ordinary and clueless, or at least not sure of what is going on. gives it a different flavor. Myron Bolitar a sports agent. I'm not a fan but was pleasantly surprised.

The Language of the Genes by Steve Jones

Could have been interesting, but loaded with cant. Poisoned by politics. And he thinks he is the first to know how foolish everyone in the past was and how smart we are now because we know enough to not be bigoted. A jaundiced book with tons of interesting facts.

Euclid's Window by Leonard Mlodinow

This is a really good book, well written, easy to read. It starts with Euclid and moves through non-euclidian systems to Newton, Einstein - via relativity to string theory. The explanation is done very well. He has some interesting explanations of relativity. The string part is understandably vague but interesting. His math history is interesting and focuses on personalities.

A Long Way from Euclid by Constance Reid

Excellent discussion of Euclid. Concept of number, multidimension discussion is excellent. Discusses calculus. Good non-euclidian presentation. Valuable logic introduction. A lot of accessible math in a readable book.