Awhile back I blogged about starting “The Checklist Manifesto.” I finished it last week. It didn’t move me.
I followed that up with “The Graveyard Book” by Neil Gaiman. I picked that because I read Neil’s “American Gods” last month and though it was very creative… although not a really compelling book.
I *loved* “The Graveyard Book.” It was one of the more enjoyable stories I’ve read in awhile. My daughter, Holly, is reading it now.
Great storytelling and cleverly creative. Highly recommended.
Now I’m moving on to “Roots” by Alex Haley. I’m about 20 chapters in and enjoying it immensely.
Roots is one of the very first TV shows I remember from growing up. Not so much the actual show (I’m not even sure I watched it)… but I remember it was an event. These days the mini-series format isn’t nearly as popular, but the “Roots” mini-series was a big deal.
I’m strangely reading “Roots” at the same time as “SuperFreakonomics.” I like reading wildly different books in an overlapped manner because I think it gives me a unique insight and often triggers very cool “aha” moments. Then again, I’m a geek.
And, if you’re wondering, I don’t think SuperFreakonomics is as good as the original Freakonomics. I can’t really put my finger on why not, though. The first book was so unexpected. The second one is probably every bit as unexpected… but now it’s not so jarring.
I had hoped it would be like “The World is Flat” and its sequel “Hot, Flat, and Crowded” by Thomas Friedman… where both books were excellent and insightful without feeling like the sequel was just a continuation of the first. No dice.
It’s going to take me awhile to get through Roots. But I’ll be finishing up SuperFreakonomics in the next few days.
Next up will be either “Sonic Boom” by Gregg Easterbrook, “What Americans Really Want… Really” by Frank Lutz (Recommended by my good friend Susanne), or “Rising Tide” by Jeff Shaara (if you haven’t read any of Jeff’s historical novels then you’re truly missing out).
Anyway… this is what you get when I don’t have anything else to post about. Matt, the human library showing off his immense geekiness. Yeah, baby.
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