ojai news at The Ojai Post :: blog, newspaper, events in Ojai, California

I'm reading...

Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb - an exploration of the impact of the highly improbable

Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough - non-fiction history on the formative years of Teddy Roosevelt.

That, and trying to catch up on Wired and Fortune...

Accelerando by Charles Stross

Astonishing science fiction. Stross is a Hugo award winner. His writing is compelling and illustrates the possibilities of mankind. Charles Stross is a master visionary.

For first hand accounts of life in countries that we rarely get a glimpse into (Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and China):

Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia by Jean Sasson. An almost unbearably sad story about the treatment of women in Saudi Arabia. I have had it on my shelves for many years, and just could never psyche myself into reading it, due to the mental, physical and social brutality depicted. Once I picked it up, however, I couldn’t put it down and I came away with feelings of hope for the region.
The Places in Between by Rory Stewart. A fascinating and beautifully written book by a Scotsman who walked across Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban. This was part of a much larger walk from Turkey to Nepal.
Riding the Iron Rooster a travel classic by Paul Theroux about the Trans-Siberian and Trans-Mongolian railways (and other train travel through China) at a time when the country was just beginning to “rise” again economically.

Also:

Unlikely Destinations: The Lonely Planet Story by Tony Wheeler. Ironically, even though this was written by the guy who helped spawn independent and adventurous travel, this was one of the most tediously and uninspired travelogues I have read in a long time. But an interesting glimpse into the Lonely Planet story as well as his memories of the glory days of the overland “hippy routes” through Asia.

Half way through The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follette. I thought it was going to be a wonderful rich historical drama about the Middle Ages, but am very disappointed. It is, however, an easy read and page-turner. But something I will soon forget about as soon it’s finished.

Leaving on vacation and am taking Death in Venice and Siddhartha.

I'm reading The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently...and Why by Richard Nisbett (2003).

This is a book on cultural psychology based on research and a series of comparative studies. It addresses such questions as:

* Why did the ancient Chinese excel at algebra and arithmetic, but not geometry, the brilliant achievement of such Greeks as Euclid?

* Why do East Asians find it so difficult to disentangle an object from its surroundings?

* Why do Western infants learn nouns more rapidly than verbs, when it is th other way around in East Asia?

* What are the implications of these cognitive differences for the future of international politics? Do they support a Fukuyamaesque "end of history" scenorio or a Huntingtonian "clash of civilizations"?

Nice list folks. Thanks for the recommendations.
Just finished The Memory of Running, Ron McLarty, having read his Traveler last week and enjoyed his voice. I found The Butcher Boy, a twisted Irish tale by Patrick McCabe at Barts and will read it today. Also last week, I read Three Cups of Tea, by C. Mortenson, which I would recommend to all. That was preceded by two very interesting early America novels by Nathaniel Philbrick: Mayflower and The Sea of Glory . “Mayflower” fills in that largely unwritten gap between the landing of the Pilgrims and the first stirrings of the revolution. (I always wondered who King Philip was and why a war was named for him.) “Glory” recounts the treacherous voyage of the whaling ship Essex, upon which Herman Melville based Moby Dick. Both are very readable histories. Otherwise, my son passed me the 2007 Best American Essays, which has some nice pieces, but the introduction by David Foster Wallace is worth the cost of admission.

As a side note, Dennis, a movie was made of "The Butcher Boy" which I enjoyed very much. The kid playing the lead was wonderful. You might want to try to see if you can rent it after you read the book.

Just finished

Ursula LeGuin's Wizard of Earthsea trilogy.

If you read any fantasy, this is a classic on the order of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I loved it.

Greenspan's fraud : how two decades of his policies have undermined the global economy by Ravi Batra

CALIFORNIA: A LITERARY FIELD GUIDE edited by Terry Beers and Emily Elrod

Whiteout: The CIA, Drugs and the Press by Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair

The Confiscation of American Prosperity: From Right-Wing Extremism and Economic Ideology to the Next Great Depression by Michael Perelman

you are what you read?

Thanks LTOR, I will check it out. I forgot…on Sunday/Monday I read The Vicar of Sorrows, by A.N. Wilson, which has been sitting around the house for awhile. It is very funny in its strange British way, for those who may appreciate the subtleties of a priest who no longer believes in God, a charming junkie, an impotent heating contractor, a horney burn victim, and a beautiful hippie girl who happens to be a virtuoso violinist.
And, yes, I am slowly working my way through Plan B 3.0.

I have an excellent book everybody should read, it's called:
"The environmental Case for Nuclear Power" By Robert C. Morris, especially those who consider themselves a true environmentalist.

I don't have a book for you, Brian, but I have a magazine:
http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/

Try it. You might like it.

phalarope,
Very interesting mag actually.

Very interesting mag actually.

I thought so, too. I have a friend who thinks pretty much the way you do. I'm not quite sure why we know each other :), but we've been friends for a long time. (You wouldn't want to be in the same building with us when we debate/argue/spar/duel.) He told me about it.