Oh man that was awesome.
Anyhow, here’s what I’ve read in the last 6 months or so:
Man’s Search for Meaning - Viktor Frankl: Nonfiction. Psychiatrist that got thrown in a Nazi camp recounts his experience in the first half. Second half gives an overview of the psychoanalysis theory he came up while he was learning to and watching others deal with the camp, which is Logotherapy. (The third school of Viennese psychoanalysis or some such shit, along with Freud and, ah, whats his name, Adler.)
Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand: Fiction. Effing loooong. One of those books that will affect the way you see life and the world. It’s set in a fictional Socialist America and tells the story of its demise. It can be summarized by the line: “I swear by my life, and my love of it, that I will never work for the benefit of another man nor will I ever ask another man to work for my benefit.” Possibly my favorite book ever.
The Road: Gay. It sucked. A man and his son wandering through a post-apolyptic America, but it’s not nearly as cool as it sounds.
A Long Way Gone Memoirs of a Boy Soldier - Ishmael Beah: Really interesting. It’s the autobiography of a boy from (IIRC) Sierra Leone that got kidnapped into the Republican Army and was forced to fight the rebel army. He was brainwashed, drugged, high on brown brown (coke & gunpowder) all the time. Ultimately got rescued by UNICEF and struggled to adapt to society. He lives in the states now and actually spoke at UB a month ago.
Hannibal Rising: Hannibal Lecter’s childhood. Tells the story of what turned him. Good read.
Hot Zone - Richard Preston: Nonfiction, although the author takes a bit of poetic license (?) when telling the story. It’s about Ebola/Marburg. How it came into existence 30 years ago and about 15 years ago there was an outbreak at a Monkey lab in Virginia and threatened to burn through the USA. Also talks about virus theory, and how at some point there’s destined to be another plague that reduces the world population by some percentage. Good read.
The World is Flat: Non fiction. A journalist researches and comments on how within the last 10 years the world has become a level playing field for everyone, thanks especially to the internet. How China and India are bursting onto the scene, globalization, etc. Interesting subject, good knowledge to have, a bit dry though. Still entertaining.
I think that’s about it. If you’ve got the time I’d recommend Atlas Shrugged. If not then Hot Zone was really interesting and a quick read. A Long Way Gone is quick and interesting too. The World is Flat if you want to read someone’s take on the global marketplace.