Book Meme

You’re stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?
Origin of Species by Charles Darwin. I figure I fought and debated for the ideas of this book so much already in my lifetime, what the hell.

Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?

Not really. Not a character from a book anyways. To let my inner-junior high-nerd self out for a minute, I'd say I had a thing for every female X-Men character back in the day.

What are you currently reading?

I'm currently jumping between two books at the moment.

The Working Poor by David Shipler - A book that essentially has stories about the poor working class in America, who he basically defines as people make just enough money to get by but cannot save or move up the social ladder. Shipler tries to show how people in this situation can often be destroyed by even small happenstance in their lives, or lifted out of poverty with a small helping hand from people in the middle and upper classes.

Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory by Edward Larson- A solid book on the history of Evolution. A bit dry but extremely thorough and informative.


The last book you bought is:
Problem Book in Relativity and Gravitation - haven't received it yet, but I'm sure it will be as exciting as it sounds.

The last book you read:
Coercion: Why we listen to what "they" say by Douglas Rushkoff - Probably one of the better books I've read in a while. This book describes techniques used by advertisers, police, CIA, internet advertisers, car salesmen, and others to manipulate people. When I got called to jury duty, I actually watched the defense attorney use some of the techniques in the book to convince people of his point of view. Very entertaining.

Five books you would take to a deserted island:
1. Feymann Lectures on Physics - I could finally have time to read all of them.
2. Some sort of giant book on zoology and botany. That should be handy on a tropical island.
3. 1984 by George Orwell. Probably my all time favorite book.
4. How to book on Charcoal drawings. I'd finally have time to learn how to draw, and charcoal would be the only drawing material likely available.
5. Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstadter - I got this book for christmas, and I have a feeling I'll spend years trying to really understand it.