Years of Words

Below are books completed from the June solstice, 2008 to October, 2011 (click the entry for a review)
* = recommended
** = highly recommended

Plato in 90 minutes by Paul Strathern
Violent Globalisms by Cornelia Beyer
Musicophilia by Oliver Sachs
When You Are Engulfed In Flames by David Sedaris
Brain Droppings and When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops by George Carlin
*Armageddon in Retrospect by Kurt Vonnegut
It's Not News, It's Fark by Drew Curtis
*Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris
**An Imperfect Offering by James Orbinski & Triage
Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory by Edward J. Larson

*The Singularity is Near by Ray Kurzweil
The Daily Show and Philosophy by Jason Holt (Ed.)
Aristotle and an Aardvark Go To Washington by Thomas Cathcart & Daniel Klein
Wittgenstein in 90 Minutes by Paul Strathern
Nietzsche in 90 Minutes by Paul Strathern
A Short History of Progress by Ronald Wright
**Consciousness Explained by Daniel C. Dennett
**Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman
**Risk: The Science and Politics of Fear by Dan Gardner
Primates and Philosophers by de Waal et al.

**The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt
**Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins
**Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media by Herman & Chomsky
Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
*Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner
Aristotle in 90 Minutes by Paul Strathern
Asylum by Andre Alexis
*Humanitarianism in Question by Michael Barnett and Thomas G. Weiss (Eds)
*Chomsky- Foucault Debate
The Elephant and the Dragon: The Rise of India and China and What It Means for All of Us by Robyn Meredith 

Civilization and its Discontents by Sigmund Freud
*Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Five Minds for the Future by Howard Gardner
*Wampeteres, Foma & Granfalloons by Kurt Vonnegut
Meditations on First Philosophy by Rene Descartes
Descartes in 90 Minutes by Paul Strathern
Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria
**Elbow Room by Daniel C. Dennett
*Death by Black Hole by Neil deGrasse Tyson
**Climate Wars by Gwynne Dyer

Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
Payback by Margaret Atwood
*The Varieties of Scientific Experience by Carl Sagan
**From Poverty to Power by Oxfam (Duncan Green)
The Autograph Man by Zadie Smith
Common Sense by Thomas Paine
*Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin
Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters by Alan S. Miller and Satoshi Kanazawa
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
(50)
*Gödel’s Proof by Ernest Nagel & James Newman
Flatland by A Square (Edwin Abbot)
**Genome by Matt Ridley
*Daniel Dennett by Matthew Elton
Entanglement by Amir Aczel
*Neuromancer by William Gibson
Darwin’s Origin of Species: A Biography by Janet Browne
*On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
*Kinds of Minds by Daniel C. Dennett
A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines by Janna Levin

*Wall and Piece by Banksy
*Watchmen by Alan Moore (writer), Dave Gibbons (artist), and John Higgins (colourist)
**The Life You Can Save by Peter Singer
**Wired for War by P.W. Singer
*The Weather Makers by Tim Flannery
Lush Life by Richard Price
Islam: A Short History by Karen Armstrong
**The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan
The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
*Feeling Pain and Being in Pain by Nikola Grahek

Issac Newton by James Gleick
Outcast by José Latour
**Critical Thinking by William Hughes
*Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
*Saviors and Survivors by Mahmood Mamdani
*The Lesser Evil by Michael Ignatieff
WWW: Wake by Robert Sawyer
Truth: A Guide by Simon Blackburn
*The End of Overeating by David Kessler
**Bonk by Mary Roach

Intimacy by Jean-Paul Sartre
*Stiff by Mary Roach
Carpe Diem by Harry Mount
The Origin of Species by Nino Ricci
The Great Crash of 1929 by John Kenneth Galbraith
The Mind of the Market by Michael Shermer
*American Raj by Eric Margolis
*Afghanistan and Canada by Lucia Kowaluk and Stephen Staples (Eds.)
Mindscan by Robert J. Sawyer
*The Greatest Show On Earth by Richard Dawkins

Justice as Fairness: A Restatement by John Rawls
Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? by Michael Sandel
I Drink for a Reason by David Cross
SuperFreakonomics by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner
The Rights Revolution by Michael Ignatieff
*The Universe in a Single Atom by the Dalai Lama
*The Man Who Loved China by Simon Winchester
Like Shaking Hands With God (with Kurt Vonnegut and Lee Stringer)
Look at the Birdie by Kurt Vonnegut
Alexander the Great and his Time by Agnes Savill
(100)
*Evolution: How We and All Living Things Came to Be by Daniel Loxton
The Value of Nothing by Raj Patel
Flashforward by Robert J. Sawyer
**Shakespeare: The World as Stage by Bill Bryson
Freedom: Short Stories Celebrating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Amnesty International)
*Why Sh*t Happens: The Science of a Really Bad Day by Peter J. Bentley
The Wayfinders by Wade Davis
Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman
*Why Your World is About to get a Whole Lot Smaller by Jeff Rubins
TimeQuake by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

*Physics of the Impossible by Michio Kaku
*CBC 1967 Massey Lectures by Martin Luther King, Jr.
*Breaking the Spell by Daniel C. Dennett (again)
*Chickenhawk by Robert Mason (part of my Independent study of Vietnam. Try ctrl+f and search the title)
**The Vietnam Wars by Marilyn Young (part of my Independent study of Vietnam. Try ctrl+f and search the title)
**The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
Absolutely Small by Michael Fayer
**Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto by Stewart Brand
*Packing for Mars by Mary Roach
*Atheism: A Very Short Introduction by Julian Baggini

What Intelligence Tests Miss by Keith E. Stanovich
The Meaning of Life: A Very Short Introduction by Terry Eagleton
*The Public Domain by James Boyle
*How to Watch TV News by Neil Postman & Steven Powers
**The Inimitable Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse
The Moral Landscape by Sam Harris
Carry On, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse 
* Choke by Chuck Palahniuk
The Trial by Franz Kafka
Very Good, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse

A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby
The Bro Code by Barney Stinson and Matt Khun
Player One: What Is To Become of Us by Douglas Coupland (2010 Massey Lectures)
Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary by David Sedaris 
** Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut 
* Propaganda and Control of the Public Mind by Noam Chomsky 
* What We Say Goes by Noam Chomsky
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

** War by Sebastian Junger 
* One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Thank You, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse 
** Earth (the book) by The Daily Show Writers 
* xkcd: volume 0 by Randall Munroe 
** LOGICOMIX by Doxiadis et al.
Island of the Sequined Love Nun by Christopher Moore 
* The Black Book of Canadian Foreign Policy by Yves Engler
Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit by P.G. Wodehouse 
** Future Babble by Dan Gardner
(150)
** Filthy Lucre by Joseph Heath
Moral Minds by Marc Hauser 
* Palm Sunday by Kurt Vonnegut
Our Inner Ape by Frans De Waal 
* Marx for Beginners by Rius
Half-empty by David Raikoff 
** Socialism: A Very Brieft Introduction by Michael Newman 
* Peter Singer Under Fire - Edited by Jeffrey A. Schaler
The Koran: A Very Short Introduction by Michael Cook
Anarchism and Other Essays by Emma Goldman

*Solar by Ian McEwan 
** Beloved by Toni Morrison 
* Marx’s Das Kapital – A Biography by Francis Wheen
African History: A Very Short Introduction by John Parker and Richard Rathbone
Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk 
** Wittgenstein: A Very Short Introduction by A.C. Grayling
Love and Sex with Robots by David Levy 
* Hopes and Prospects by Noam Chomsky
Bright-Sided: How Positive Thinking is Undermining America by Barbara Ehrenreich 
** The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt

Humanism: A Very Short Introduction by Stephen Law
Jeeves and the Mating Season by P.G. Wodehouse
Treat Your Own Back by Robin McKenzie 
** Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Ancient Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction by Julia Annas
Explain Pain by Butler, Moseley and Sunyata
Human Rights: A Very Short Introduction by Andrew Clapham 
** More Than Good Intentions by Dean Karlan and Jacob Appel
** The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee 
* And Another Thing by Eoin Cofler

It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken by Seth 
** Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty by Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo 
* Bossypants by Tina Fey
* Democracy Matters: Winning the Fight Against Imperialism by Cornel West
The Company of Strangers by Paul Seabright
Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse 
** The Ego Tunnel: The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self by Thomas Metzinger
Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science from Bunk by Massimo Pigliucci
* Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You by Marcus Chown 
** Quantum: Einstein, Bohr and the Great Debate About the Nature of Reality by Manjit Kumar

** Getting Even by Woody Allen
** Without Feathers by Woody Allen
Memory: A Very Short Introduction by Jonathan K. Foster 
* Kant: A Very Short Introduction by Roger Scruton
The Code of the Woosters, Jeeves to the Rescue by P.G. Wodehouse (read by J. Cecil)
Seven Years of Highly Defective People - Scott Adams' Guided Tour of the Evolution of Dilbert
* Side Effects by Woody Allen
* Mere Anarchy by Woody Allen
** Everything is Obvious by Duncan Watts
* Inside Jokes by Hurley, Dennett and Adams, Jr.
(200)

Not worth finishing
Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll
Djibouti by Elmore Leonard
Cyborgs and Barbie Dolls: Feminism, Popular Culture and the Posthuman Body by Kim Toffoletti

Thank You, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse

Wodehouse delights once again in another excellent book about English gentleman Bertrand Wooster and his gentleman’s gentlemen, Jeeves. This is the fourth Jeeves & Wooster book I’ve finished, but the first full length novel as the other three were collections of short stories. I had wondered if Wodehouse would be able to carry off a novel length tale, but my concerns were unfounded. Not only does it fulfill in the way the short stories do, but it flows quite nicely. Once again, the reader is provided with amusing situations, quirky but endearing characters, and charming yet witty dialogue. 

The superb vocal delivery by J. Cecil must be acknowledged and praised. One could say, “J. Cecil, you stand alone.”

(minor spoiler alert)

A modern reader, though likely to enjoy this work, probably won’t be able to be unsurprised when part of the story involved black musicians and some white characters end up in black face. Such a thing generally wouldn’t fly nowadays so it was an educational experience to imaging this being simply amusing and not offensive to previous audiences. I believe these “signs of the times” are very useful to understanding how various societies have changed over time (thankfully often for the better).

Finally, I’ll mention that I happily have Cecil’s accents and Wodehouse’s dialogue pattern rolling around in my head. Carry on!

Highly recommended.

Jeeves and the Mating Season by P.G. Wodehouse

Another delightful adventure of English gentlemen Bertie Wooster brought to you by Wodehouse and master audio-presenter J. Cecil. This is the 6th Wodehouse for me and it was an enjoyable listen, as I had missed the style and Cecil’s voices. It wasn’t as good as The Inimitable Jeeves or some of the others, but it was worthwhile all the same. The problem with this particular work was the sheer number of relationship dynamics, both overlapping and duplicative, as some characters were pretending to be others. Intermittent confusion aside, there were several good laughs, and I found the latter half to be the more enjoyable chunk.

Recommended for Wodehouse/(Cecil) fans.

Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse

Wodehouse and Cecil delight once again! Yet another in the Jeeves and Wooster series that I enjoy and I was not disappointed. The audio presenter J. Cecil is spot on and I had missed Wodehouse’s words in Bertie’s mouth, as well as the situations he ends up in. Jeeves, as usual, is smart from all the fish, helps Bertie out of the soup and, as such, stands alone. :)

I think I liked this one more than the last because the story was more straightforward (fewer characters) and it had been a longer duration between Wodehouse works.

Highly recommended.

Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit by P.G. Wodehouse

This is yet another entertaning story about English gentleman Bertrand Wooster and his gentleman’s gentlemen, Jeeves by Wodehouse (see past reviews for other Wodehouse works). Feudal Spirit is similar to Thank You, Jeeves in that it is full novel, and similar to all the others in that J. Cecil performs the audio presentation wonderfully and Bertie gets into hijinks of which Jeeves is eventually able to bail him out.

Although enjoyable and worthwhile, I don't think it was as good as some of the four works I've read (but that could have been to being less in the mood for it at the early stages of the work).

Carry On, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse

An amusing and worthwhile collection of Jeeves stories but not nearly as good as The Inimitable Jeeves which I finished just a week ago. As I experienced both books in audio form, I think the primary factor for Carry On being less enjoyable was that the reader was different and not as good. Carry On, Jeeves was read by Martin Jarvis while Inimitable was read by Jonathan Cecil. Jarvis does a good job in his own right, but Cecil is more diverse, elaborate, and, perhaps most of all, I became accustomed to his presentation of the characters. When I first started the book I kept thinking “But He doesn’t sound like that!” A fiction of course, but such is how the audiobook crumbles. Consequently, my enthusiasm for Wodehouse has slightly waned, but I think the test will be to see if I enjoy another Wodehouse read by Cecil.
Although following a similar pattern, the stories were still a welcome experience.

The Code of the Woosters, Jeeves to the Rescue by P.G. Wodehouse (read by J. Cecil)

Yet again, another delightful adventure of Jeeves and Wooster by Wodehouse and read by the always delightful and talented Jonathan Cecil. It was a decent story, amusing and worthwhile, with some great parts (I shan't say much else to avoid spoilers).

There have been better tales, but it's still good stuff!

Another Year of Words

Books completed from late-October 2009 to late-October 2010.
* = recommended
** = highly recommended

Mindscan by Robert J. Sawyer
*The Greatest Show On Earth by Richard Dawkins
Justice as Fairness: A Restatement by John Rawls
Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? by Michael Sandel
I Drink for a Reason by David Cross

SuperFreakonomics by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner
The Rights Revolution by Michael Ignatieff
*The Universe in a Single Atom by the Dalai Lama
*The Man Who Loved China by Simon Winchester
Like Shaking Hands With God (with Kurt Vonnegut and Lee Stringer)

Look at the Birdie by Kurt Vonnegut
Alexander the Great and his Time by Agnes Savill
*Evolution: How We and All Living Things Came to Be by Daniel Loxton
The Value of Nothing by Raj Patel
Flashforward by Robert J. Sawyer

**Shakespeare: The World as Stage by Bill Bryson
Freedom: Short Stories Celebrating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Amnesty International)
*Why Sh*t Happens: The Science of a Really Bad Day by Peter J. Bentley
The Wayfinders by Wade Davis
Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman

*Why Your World is About to get a Whole Lot Smaller by Jeff Rubins
TimeQuake by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
*Physics of the Impossible by Michio Kaku
*CBC 1967 Massey Lectures by Martin Luther King, Jr.
*Breaking the Spell by Daniel C. Dennett (again)

*Chickenhawk by Robert Mason (part of my Independent study of Vietnam. Try ctrl+f and search the title)
**The Vietnam Wars by Marilyn Young (part of my Independent study of Vietnam. Try ctrl+f and search the title)

**The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
Absolutely Small by Michael Fayer
**Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto by Stewart Brand
*Packing for Mars by Mary Roach
*Atheism: A Very Short Introduction by Julian Baggini

What Intelligence Tests Miss by Keith E. Stanovich
The Meaning of Life: A Very Short Introduction by Terry Eagleton
*The Public Domain by James Boyle
*How to Watch TV News by Neil Postman & Steven Powers
**The Inimitable Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse

The Moral Landscape by Sam Harris
Carry On, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse

The Inimitable Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse

This delightful and amusing semi-novel is a collection of 11 related short stories about the life of English gentlemen Bertie Wooster and his valet Reginald Jeeves. The stories entail Mr. Wooster’s adventures in the city, enduring life’s perceived hardships (especially his Aunt), gambling, his friend Bingo who always falls in love, and, almost inevitable, Jeeves assisting Wooster to get through it alright. I experienced the word audibly, with J. Cecil doing a bang up job with all the voices and narration. It might have made all the difference as I can still hear lovely English expressions rattling around in my brain that still bring a smile to my face (“Good egg; biffed off; rummy; stick it… etc).
The droll sense of English humour shines in these stories and one cannot help but appreciate the way in which things fall apart if only to come together (but often still in pieces).
I had heard good things about Wodehouse for awhile but this was my first. After finishing it, I can definitely say that it will not be my last.
I highly recommend you give a listen (or read).

Very Good, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse

Another delightful collection of amusing and entertaining stories of Bertie Wooster and his gentlemen’s gentlemen, Jeeves. This was the third Jeeves & Wooster work that I’ve finished and I would say it was better than Carry On, Jeeves but not as good as The Inimitable Jeeves. The primary reason it was better than Carry On was that Jonathan Cecil was the voice actor presenting the content (like with Inimitable). Although the stories were comparable to Inimitable (holding more variables constant), they were not quite as good. I felt some of the later stories were better than the earlier ones. Of course, diminished novelty is likely a factor given that one month ago I’d never experienced any Wodehouse and now several weeks later I have finished three similar works.
Regardless, great stuff, recommended and I’d probably read another but I’ll probably wait a bit more.