A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson – Another great book by Bill Bryson. The author really does touch on just about everything in nature in some way or another including the creation of the Universe, the solar system, life on Earth and the all that these things are made of. Although the reading could be slow and boring, it’s quite entertaining. If you’re feeling a little let down by life or bored, this makes a great read because I was left with the impression that I (and everything and everyone around me) am quite lucky to be a conscious being on this little rocky planet.
Ringworld by Larry Niven – I was kind of surprised that this book was considered to be a classic of science fiction because after reading a few things by Arthur C. Clarke, I was expecting more like the serious tone of Clarke’s style but Niven’s approach was quite different and rather humorous at times. Certainly, the star of this story is the Ringworld itself which is so enormous in size that the reader can’t really comprehend – at least I couldn’t. Anyway, the story was interesting but there were plenty of ups and downs where my interest waned. I don’t think I enjoyed it enough to continue with the sequels.
The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin – I never thought that I would be intrigued by a history and biography about the recent Justices and pivotal cases of the Supreme Court but this caught my eye at the library and it was great. I did a lot of additional research to fill in gaps in my knowledge during and after reading this book so that’s always a good thing.
In addition, I’ve been reading lots of training-related material; going back to some books that I’ve had for a long time but haven’t picked up in a while.
