Stuff I've read lately

"The Reenchantment of Nature" (Alister McGrath) - Reviewed on my faith blog.

Stuff I've read lately

"The Best of the Best" (ed. Gardner Dozois) - A collection of science fiction stories from 1981 to 2002. I was surprised that several of them were not very good. It is unclear whether the selection criteria is "this is representative of the year", rather than "this is a pleasure to read". I was also surprised that two of the stories were very similar (life in a virtual world).

Stuff I've read lately

"Guards! Guards!" (Terry Pratchett)(audio) - I hadn't realized Discworld did not have dragons. A lot of characterization of the night watch, which I don't recall before.

Stuff I've read lately

"J is for Judgment" (Sue Grafton)(audio) - Meh. Kinsey did manage to avoid killing anybody this time. The ex-cop red herring totally fooled me. I figured he had to be the murderer. The jilted girlfriend didn't seem capable of it.

Stuff I've read lately

"Valkyrie" (Philipp Freiherr von Boeselager)(audio) - This is (somewhat) about the attempt to kill Hitler by German army officers. Most of the story is about Boeselager's experience in the war (the book is short, and the war frames the events).

The interesting points:

1. Initial thoughts came from Hitler's mismanagement of the war
2. Discovery of atrocities by the SS added fuel
3. There was no attempt until summer 1943
4. Matters were complicated by the realization that Himmler also needed to be killed, and a total coup arranged to prevent further Nazi dictatorship

There is a nice bit near the end, when the Russians are driving west. While retreating, they meet British troops. After surrendering (gladly), they tell the British about the Russians. The British offer to let them help fight the Russians. Boeselager says, (something to the effect of) "I prefer not to".

Stuff I've read lately

"Black Bodies and Quantum Cats" (Jennifer Ouellette) - I was disappointed by this book. Popularizing advanced physics is hard, and Ouellette does a good job of making it accessible to the layman. That said, I was looking for more technical details, at least some of the problems driving solutions. The metaphors were well chosen (I think I learned more about modern culture than physics), but metaphors can only go so far.