After the Deluge by Chris Carlsson

Carlsson’s book is set in the futuristic San Francisco. The “deluge” submerged much of the city below sea level, which reframed the built and wild environment, accordingly. Eventually, a worldwide disease-based “die-off” and revolution followed. What survived of San Francisco was a land and culture of simple prosperity, an eco-city, per se. [...]

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Perdido Street Station by China Miéville

I, along with most of the (heterosexual) fantasy-reading females in the world, have a ginormous crush on China Miéville. He’s hot, has a nice British accent, and writes brilliant fiction. His writing is often embraced by leftist radicals (he’s a Marxist and member of the Socialist Workers Party), and steam punks, because of how he [...]

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Why Gender Matters by Leonard Sax

Wikipedia describes Sax as controversial and is accused of using “pseudo-science.” I kind of wish I had read this before I read the book.  The only thing that saves this book in my eyes from being worthless is the look at brain development, which varies substantially between males and females.  Luckily, this takes place at [...]

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Stranger in a Strange Land

I recently re-read (well, listened to) the 1961 science fiction classic, Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein. I read this while I was a teenager, but yeah, that was 20 years ago.
The main premise of the book is that there is a human man, Valentine Michael Smith (“Mike”), who ends up on Mars [...]

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Into the Minds of Babes by Lisa Guernsey

This is a fabulous book that dissects the use of television and video media by children ages 0-5.  Guernsey holds equally the voice of a diligent researcher, looking at existing scientific evidence, and of a concerned parent. It calls to question assumptions that have been made.
On one side, in 1999 the American Academy of Pediatrics [...]

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Diary of an Exercise Addict by Peach Friedman

A good memoir should do at least one of two simple things: make me laugh or cry.  A really good one may be able to do both.  I would still consider recommending a memoir that does neither of these if it is an interesting story with good analysis.  Unfortunately, Friedman’s book is disappointing on all [...]

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The Time Traveler’s Wife

I bought The Time Traveler’s Wife as a fun, summer read. It’s been wildly popular, on all of the mainstream bestseller lists and is now a Hollywood film.
The book is the story of the intermingled lives of Henry and Clare – Henry involuntarily travels through time, mostly to the past. It is told chronologically according [...]

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Engaging the Muslim World

As I consider Juan Cole’s latest book, Engaging the Muslim World, I cannot help but review it in light of the 2009 Fortune 500 list of top global companies, released this week. My local paper—The Straits Times—sees the Fortune list as a chance to promote two Singaporean companies that made the cut, hail the [...]

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Fledgling by Octavia Butler

It is a bit overwhelming, but unavoidable, to consider that this is Octavia Butler’s final novel. She died the year following the release of Fledgling. She was a one-of-a kind author with a broad and adamant fan base, with good reason. All of her novels, including Fledgling, artfully weave creative plots with [...]

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My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Previews for this movie had me very excited about the premise.  A baby is bred to be a donor for her sister, who is dying of cancer.  When she becomes a teenager, she is tired of it and sues her parents to gain the rights to her own body.  The book caught my eye when [...]

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