Clearing the Backlog

[stoutfellow]

I have a disturbingly long list of books that I'd like to own. This year, I'm working on cutting it down as much as I can, just starting at the top of the list and working my way down. Unfortunately, some of the books have been on the list long enough that they're no longer available; of the ten at the top of the list as of yesterday, five were available only secondhand. (For the moment, I'm transferring such books to a different list, which I'll also start pruning at some point.)

Anyway, I placed an order with Amazon last night for the other five: Roger K. Newman's Hugo Black: A Biography; J. E. Gordon's The New Science of Strong Materials, or Why You Don't Fall through the Floor; Andrew Bacevich's The New American Militarism; Hugh Brogan's The Penguin History of the USA; and Wendy Lesser's The Genius of Language.

That last one looks particularly interesting. It contains the thoughts of fifteen English-language writers whose native tongue was not English, from Joseph Conrad to Amy Tan, on the influence of their mother tongues on their writing. I've been looking forward to reading the Gordon book for a while now too.

Should be fun.

Comments

[sci-o-biscuits.livejournal.com]

Thanks for listing some interesting books. I'm always seeking good new books -

The New Science of Strong Materials - sounds interesting, depending on how technical it is (I can't tell from the amazon listing)

The Genius of Language does indeed sound terrific - I've added this title to my "to read" list

Popping in for the first time, but I'll probably be back,
Sci O'Biscuits

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

I've just started reading the Gordon book - or rather, the introduction, by Philip Ball. The following bit, from that introduction, might help with your question:

The role being performed here is that of the down-to-earth engineer who speaks to you in plain, simple language, neither condescending nor aloof, someone who can convince you that everyday questions like that posed in the book's subtitle have everyday answers that anyone can understand.

Or a quote from the book itself:

I have cut out the whole of the mathematics except for a very little genuinely childish elementary algebra which can be followed by anybody with a negligible effort.

[sci-o-biscuits.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid that, after finishing Poet, I started reading a mystery novel set in Venice - written by Donna Leon. Not at all my usual taste in reading, but I'm enjoying it. Given that I'm back in research mode, my nonfiction consumption has skyrocketed. The Gordon book may be of interest, not now, but soon. I'd really like to return to Bosch and read the series again - it's been a long time, and I remember enjoying all of the books. There are a couple of Agent Pendergast novels that I haven't read, recent ones available (I think) only in hardcover, so I'm waiting.

Has spring break ended there? Things are back to normal here.

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we're back in harness. I gave my Gauss lecture in History of Math today; that's one of my favorites.