Given my situation I wind up listening to many books on tape, and though I know it’s not as good as actually sitting down reading a book - if you’re always on the move they are much better than nothing. And the good stuff can always be listened to more than once for better absorption.
The past few weeks there was Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” an awfully contrived fairy tale.
Fortunately, that was offset by evening reading of “Macho!” by Victor Villasenor - excellent book - especially for someone interested in actual “Objectivism.” Villasenor is a first class story teller doing a wonderful job portraying the intricacies of the human spirit and struggle to get ahead, or just get by. (This is one of his first novels - also highly recommended is [dancing the] “Wild Steps of Heaven” an epic historic novel of Mexico and the women who held society together, while the men were off doing their chest thumping stuff.)
For a light hearted interlude “The Danger” by Dick Francis. A dime crimi, but I really like the way the guy tells a story and his character dialogue seems more realistic than most. My big challenge with him is trying to figure out exactly why I find him so much ‘nicer’ to listen to than other dime crimi’s.
Now I’m back to relistening to the “Cadillac Desert” by Marc Reisner. Serious chewing as it’s a history of western water development. Here is another book for anyone interested in real “Objectivism” and examining human greed and dynamics in action in the real world as opposed to Rand’s fantasies.
I must mention my steady companion worth many more rereads “Ancient Landscapes - of the Colorado Plateau” By Ron Blakey and Wayne Ranney. Awesome explanation and description of the geological development of the southwest. These folks have developed a new method for mapping geologic data that’s more informative and way more beautiful and realistic than anything ever done before. A true quantum leap in visually presenting Earth’s evolution. The author has kidded it’s sort of like Playboy in that too many just look at the pictures and overlook the articles. But, only by reading the words can the full story be appreciated.
On tap: “Balkan Ghosts” by Robert Kaplan given to me by my Mom - a little history of my ancestral digs (I’m a quarter Hungarian).
But I think it’s a very interesting interpretation of the tale.
