Books I'm Currently Reading (October 2010 Edition)

I actually just finished a couple of books:

The Plot Against America by Philip Roth - The story on how I ended up reading this is nearly as complicated as the book's premise. Our friend Julie was over several weeks ago, admiring Vicki's wall of books in our living room, and randomly picked up The Plot Against America to talk about its cover design. As she skimmed the back of it, she became intrigued by what she saw. She asked Vicki about it only for us to discover that my usually-careful wife had put this one away without actually reading it! So Julie took it home, burned through it in several days, and implored me to give it a go so that she'd have someone to talk to about it. Anyway, author Roth tells an alternate history tale based on the notion of Charles Lindbergh running for president of the U.S. in 1940, winning against FDR, and keeping his country out of World War II. It's a terrific idea for a story, and portions of The Plot Against America are quite wonderfully written. Unfortunately, the ending is uncharacteristically weak, which left a sour taste in my mouth. But overall, it was a very entertaining read.

Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson - Weighing in at 550 pages, this is a heavy read in more ways than one! I discovered, while reading it, just how little I actually knew about Albert Einstein. Having just finished it, though, I now almost feel as if I met the man! (A rather unlikely possibility since he died 8 years before I was born!) It's a well-balanced blend of Einstein the Man and Einstein the Genius, making for a complete view of one of the greatest icons of the 20th century. I definitely loved this book!

I'm also currently working on:

Unscientific America by Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshembaum - If you want to really depress yourself about the current level of scientific literacy within the borders of the U.S., this is the book for you. Mooney and Kirshenbaum cover off the events that led to the dismantling and denigrating of Science that took place under Reagan, Bush and Bush. Whether it's in the service of religious conservatism or corporate malfeasance, the authors highlight the many ways in which Republican politicians have taken advantage of the average layperson's ignorance when it comes to Science. It's a dry read so far, but well worth my time.

Foundation by Isaac Asimov - I've wanted to re-read the Foundation series for awhile now, just to refresh my memory on what the macroeconomic themes of it are. I have to admit that the writing style is much too simplistic for my current tastes, but I'm still interested to see what Asimov came up with to support his "future history" approach to economics. I'm only about 20 pages in thus far.