More new books

If you read this blog with any frequency (doubtful) you might have noticed that I haven’t posted much in the past few months. There are a variety of reasons for this which I won’t go into here, but I have still been partaking of one of my primary passions (or vices, perhaps): reading honest-to-goodness dead-tree books. Six of the titles below have arrived (very quickly, I might add) from Amazon in the past two days, the rest I’ve bought in good old bricks-and-mortar bookshops (as well as a bunch of other titles I’ve excluded here) from either Waterstones (I have a staff discount) or my favourite second-hand bookshop Elvis Shakespeare.

This is a selection (at least as far as this blog’s focus is concerned) of some of the books that I’ve bought and/or read in recent months.

Currently reading

Don’t Sleep, There Are Snakes by Daniel Everett

I read about this in The Independent and The Guardian. I have a keen interest in languages and when this has a religious angle (Everett went to the Amazon as a christian missionary to try to convert the Pirahãs) it really piqued my curiosity. Well written with plenty of humour. If you have an interest in languages, I can recommend it.

Conversations On Consciousness by Susan Blackmore

A collection of conversations that Susan Blackmore has had with a variety of philosophers and scientists about consciousness presented in a question/answer format. Quite heavy going, but interesting nevertheless.

50 Philosophy Ideas You Really Need To Know by Ben Dupré

This presents some of key philosophical questions in a very readable form, without too much jargon (but explaining it where it’s used). The book presents the history of related ideas on a time-line. Very readable, although the pullouts are occasionally a little distracting.

100 Essential Things You Didn’t Know You Didn’t Know by John D Barrow

I’m quite confused by this book. It seems to be primarily a mathematical primer for aspects of the everyday world around that, I suppose, most people either aren’t aware of or ignore (or don’t care about) but it reads like it’s trying to tell you something earth-shattering and, just as the explanation comes to a climax, it ends. Frankly, the writing feels rushed and incomplete, and I’m feeling quite unsatisfied by it. I’ll carry on with it though.

Read

Bad Science by Ben Goldacre

Ben Goldacre, the guy behind the Bad Science blog, evidence based medicine advocate and nemesis of woo in the UK, has written Bad Science to show how the media and purveyors of snake oil get their claws into the UK health market. He pulls no punches, and sprinkles his writing with an abundance of humour.

Highly recommended, if just for the chapter on that awful poo lady (don’t you just love Google bombs?).

What is Your Dangerous Idea? edited by John Brockman

A collection of short (some are really short) essays about what a variety of thinkers consider as “dangerous ideas”. What is Your Dangerous Idea? was the question posed by Edge in 2006 as suggested by Steven Pinker.

Elephants On Acid and Other Bizarre Experiments by Alex Boese

Another well written popular science title that demonstrates, if nothing else, that scientists are weirdos. ;-)

Yet to read

The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the nonbeliever selected by Christopher Hitchens

I bought this thinking that it would be a collection of quotes or short essays, but this tome seems to be anything but portable. Still, it looks interesting.

A Rulebook for Arguments by Anthony Weston

I’ve an interest in how good arguments are constructed, and this looks like a good companion volume to How to Win Every Argument. Purchased on a whim, but it had good Amazon reviews.

50 reasons people give for believing in a god by Guy P Harrison

One of the reasons that I think about religion (apart from a very strong anti-theocratic bent) is that, though never having had any kind of religious upbringing, I’m fascinated by the things people believe. I really have no idea why this is. After hearing a couple of interviews with the author, I thought that this would at least give me a little more insight into why people believe in gods.

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

I enjoyed Blink and The Tipping Point and this is Gladwell’s newest book. I think I’m expecting something akin to The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, but a reading will tell.

God: The Failed Hypothesis by Victor J Stenger

I heard about this from The Atheist Experience podcast and Stenger seemed to have some interesting ideas. I’ve not really heard too much else about it though.

I don’t think I’m going to be short of things to read over the holiday season…