Asmithar

24. Brunelleschi’s Dome (Ross King)
A great book. I’ve been meaning to read this since I went to Florence over Easter two years ago (so long ago already!). It tells an amazing story and though it is non-fiction (which I tend to find dull), I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found it to be very entertaining.

25. Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman (Richard Feynman)
I agreed to read this book if a friend read Hamlet (very different books, of course, but Hamlet is one of my favorites and Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman is one of her favorites). It turned out to be a very enjoyable read. It was easy to read (I read 250 pages of the 350 page book over a period of a day and a half in airports and on planes) and the stories were all interesting/enlightening/entertaining. I highly suggest this book!

And now I reached my goal! Time to get a head start on book no.1 for next year (Silent Spring, I think…). Yay!

23. Mexico: A History (by Robert Ryal Miller)
This book is written to be informative, not entertaining. That having been said, I found this book very interesting if somewhat dry. I probably wouldn’t suggest getting this book outside of an academic setting, although it is pretty self-contained so if you did decide to read it on your own, you would still learn something from it.

Two books away from my goal! And I know which two!

21. Engines of Creation (by K. Eric Drexler)
I read this book for one of my classes. I didn’t specifically enjoy Drexler’s writing style, but I found his arguments interesting. I’m still not entirely convinced that nanotechnology will be the Deus Ex Machina (or destruction) of humanity, but I guess to each their own. I would suggest reading this book if you are interested in nanotech, but otherwise skip it.

22. Nano (by John Marlow)
Wow. This book was comically overdone. I have never really read any science fiction before, or even any “save the world” type fiction, so it may just be me. This book had every cliche (both in terms of plot elements and also writing quirks). That having been said, the pure “one-step-too-far”-ness of this book made it hilarious. I would suggest reading this book if you have nothing else to do and are looking for a bit of a laugh. It may be hard to find, though-after 3 years it went out of print!