Bolt by Dick Francis

In which jockey Kit Fielding deals with international intrigue and family feuds while racing horses and fighting to keep the woman he loves.



Bolt is a mystery/thriller story set in the context of English horse racing. The main character, Kit Fielding, is a professional jockey whose boss's husband is being hounded by a shady character who wants him to compromise his integrity for profit. The boss and her husband, being somewhat less than worldly, ask Kit to help them deal with the intrigue. Kit is revealed to be adept at dealing with intrigue from a lifetime of practice dealing with a Capulet and Montague type ancient family feud. This book follows the maneuvering between Kit and his friends and the shady businessman and his pawns.

Bonk by Mary Roach

The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex.

In which we learn about the science of sex, the history of sex research and cutting edge sex scientists.


Mary Roach tackles sex in Bonk with her usual sincerity, humor and rigor. It really is a winning combination. The book is consistently edifying and entertaining as we learn about sex research pioneers figuring out the basics of intercourse right up to current research on the physiology of orgasms!

Virus on Orbis by P.J. Haarsma

In which an orphaned boy, sold into slavery on an alien world, learns about his abilities and the intrigues in his new home.


I randomly picked up this book at the Phoenix comicon when a guy manning the booth accosted me! It was cheap and sounded entertaining, and I can't say no to enthusiastic sales people when it's something I'm inclined to do anyway. The author, PJ Haarsma, was there too and he signed my book. I think he wrote "Fear Nothing" but I'm not sure.

Rock, Paper, Scissors by Len Fisher

In which we are introduced to everyday examples and applications of game theory.


Rock, Paper Scissors is an interesting introduction to game theory for newbies, and a fascinating look at examples and applications for those familiar with the elements of game theory. Congratulations, Len Fisher, you are now on my list of authors whose every word I want to read! I really, really enjoyed this book. So much so that I finished it within two days which, for those of you keeping score at home, is pretty unusual for me! This book made me pine for college where my "job" was to go to class and learn this stuff.

A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin

A Feast for Crows is book 4 in George R.R. Martin's Epic fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire. It's unlike its predecessors in that it focuses on a subset of characters and has no chapters at all related to several others. I forgive it, it's still awesome.


The rest of this review will contain minor spoilers in that I will mention characters who are still alive to have a point-of-view (POV) (at least in the beginning) in book 4.

The Myth of American Religious Freedom by David Sehat

I am pretty much dancing with joy right now for having finally finished this book. It took me forever to get through! While it was interesting and very relevant, it was slow, slow going for me.


The Myth of American Religious Freedom is an incredibly thorough look at religion's intersection with politics since America was formed. It is sort of a history of the "war" in American between the non-religious left and the religious right. At least, that's how most of it was framed. The book has long sections regarding slavery, abolition, equal rights and women's liberation and how those debates and political changes were affected by religion. Court cases and supreme court decisions were an important part of the book as well. While the book goes right up to 2010, everything since Roe v. Wade seems pretty rushed and cursory.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

I read Brave New World back in high school and I remember really liking it. I wanted to read it again to see if I still liked it or if it was as Important as my 17 year old brain had decided.


From the class I mostly remember we had to give little skits introducing the rest of the class to the book. We were going to act out the tour scene from the beginning of the book. A really hot boy was the tour guide and he put on a stupid mustache and talked in a funny accent. That and my nervousness made me unable to stop giggling and do my parts. Pretty typical!

Brave New World is set in a future earth where a religion has been made out of Ford's assembly line insight and productivity, babies are massed produced and people spend their time drugged, enjoying pornographic or trivial hobbies. That's a huge oversimplification. The setting is actually the best part of this book. It centers around workers at one baby producing center. The previously mentioned tour scene introduces the reader to the way babies are grown in jars, poisoned to reduce the intelligence of future members of lower casts, conditioned to be happy, content, materialistic and free-loving.

A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin

A Storm of Swords is the third book in George R.R. Martin's epic fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire. (Book 1: A Game of Thrones; Book 2: A Clash of Kings)


A Song of Ice and Fire is an amazing work of epic fantasy. I feel like it's the kind of fantasy that people who don't think they'd like fantasy would like. It's super political and character driven. It's not about elves fighting ogres or quests for magic artifacts or other fantasy cliches. It was once described as the Sopranos with swords, and that sounds about right!

Seeing Further, edited by Bill Bryson

Seeing Further is a collection of essays on the Royal Society, science, and scientists. Each chapter is a little essay by a different author. These include Margret Atwood, Richard Dawkins, David Attenborough, and Martin Rees. Topics range from mad scientists in literature to global warming to early hot-air balloon attempts. It's all over the place, with a loose focus on the history and scientists of the Royal Society.

From a purely visual standpoint, this was the most beautiful book I've ever read. It is not a normal book for adults. Almost every page has full color images of historical documents, paintings, drawings, collages... It is so pretty! Looking at the pictures was my favorite part of the book, I think. Each chapter had a neat digital collage starting it off. These were stunning! I would scan and post a page from it to show you, but I imaging that's frowned upon.

A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

This is the second book in George R.R. Martin's fantasy series called a Song of Ice and Fire, the sequel to A Game of Thrones. I think that anything I say about this book would be best summarized as:


If you liked Game of Thrones, you will like Clash of Kings. If you couldn't get excited about Game of Thrones, you will find Clash of Kings to be more of the same!