What I’ve been reading, not reading, or is in my pile
1. Eyes of God, a novel by Philip Babcock, economist at UC Santa Barbara. It is about intrigue and Indonesia.
2. By page 200 I got bored of the new Eugenides novel. The Barbarian Nurseries reaps high praise and is well-written but it feels too ordinary for me.
3. Ladies of Liberty: Women Who Made a Difference in American History, by John Blundell. Biographical sketches of libertarian and libertarian-themed women in U.S. history. Includes Rose Wilder Lane, Isabel Patterson, Rose Friedman, Jane Jacobs, others.
4. Michael Nielsen, Reinventing Discovery: The New Era of Networked Science. The best book on the potential for open, networked science, looking forward. Joshua Gans on the book here and here, the latter having a link to Michael’s TEDx talk.
5. Robert Trivers, The Folly of Fools: The Logic of Self-Deceit and Self-Deception in Human Life. Brilliant, insightful, with occasional lapses of taste, quintessential Trivers, now the go-to book on its topic, recommended.