Read: Jean M. Auel - The Shelters of Stone

Why did I re-read this book? I got sucked in while visiting my friend Jenn, since it was conveniently located on her iPad that I'd borrowed for the day. But still, this book is really not worth re-reading. I love the concept of a stone age woman growing up adopted by Neanderthals, then going out on her own to fend for herself in the world as a hunter gatherer. And the earlier books in the series actually had exciting inventions and discoveries. But the latest book in the series is just a re-telling of all the events of the previous books as she finally settles down with others of her own species - same stories repeated more than once, and an endless emphasis of all the one-dimensional characters, as if the author believes that all the readers are blithering idiots. It would be laughable if it didn't go on for so long. One can only hope that the upcoming final book in the series will redeem this one, since it only serves as the set-up for the final conflict between humans and Neanderthals.

Want to Read: Doug Saunders - Arrival City, the Final Migration and Our Next World

I knew Doug Saunders (who is, by the way, no relation to me) had a new book out, but I didn't know anything about it. But this morning I read an excerpt, and I'm very excited to read the book now - all about urbanization and how it's changing the world for the better. I should have known it would be great - I've always enjoyed his columns for the Globe.

Want to Read: Jeremy Rifkin - The Empathic Civilization, The Race to Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis

Jeremy Rifkin is giving a talk tomorrow at the Green Building Festival. I don't think I'd heard about his book before, but what I'm reading now is very interesting - a positive view on how our world could be changing for the better.

Want to Read: Oliver Sacks - The Mind's Eye

Oliver Sacks is always great reading. This one is about how our minds cope with the loss of sight. I haven't read anything by him in a while, so I'm looking forward to this book.

Update: I just read another review of this book. It's about Oliver Sacks' own progressive loss of sight, due to cancer. Suddenly it seems so much more poignant. I first read his early autobiography, "Memoirs of a Chemical Boyhood" in the hospital while my father was dying of cancer.

Read: Mary Roach - Packing for Mars

I finished off Mary Roach's "Packing for Mars: the curious science of life in the void" this past weekend while visiting my friend Jenn. As expected it was full of obscure, entertaining facts about space travel, and further funny footnotes. Sometimes her jokes are a little hokey, but I'm willing to overlook it since she puts such an all-out effort into getting to the bottom of stories, asking the tough, sometimes humiliating questions that the rest of us wouldn't dare.

Want to Read: Bill Bryson - At Home, A Short History of Private Life

Sounds like similar subject matter as Witold Rybczynski's "Home, A Short History of an Idea", and yet I'm sure Bill Bryson will have a fresh, funny perspective on it.

Want to Read: Suzanne Collins - Hunger Games trilogy

The latest book in the trilogy just came out, which led to my hearing about it for the first time. In a ruined future North America teenagers are chosen by lottery to compete in televised games akin to that of the ancient gladiators. Could be great - I'm hoping for an Orson Scott Card "Ender" type of story.

Want to Read: Darin Strauss - Chang and Eng

A review of Darin Strauss' recent memoir "Half a Life" mentioned his historical novel of the conjoined twins Chang and Eng - I remember when it came out and wanting to read it. Time to add it to the list. I suspect that after reading it I might want to read the memoir too - the story of how he was in a car accident as a teenager that killed a girl, and how this has affected his life ever since.

Want to Read: J.R. Ackerley - My Dog Tulip

Anthropomorphism in reverse, trying the convey the world that dogs inhabit. If we're going to get a dog, this seems like a good book to read.

Want to Read: Jonathan Lethem - Chronic City

Set in an alternate-reality Manhattan - this could be interesting.

Read: Christopher Alexander - Notes on the Synthesis of Form

Christopher Alexander's books were mentioned by an architect as inspirational, so I put several of them on hold at the library. This is an early one, and more concerned with the general process of coming up with design solutions. It's generally pretty convincing, but I need more time to digest it.

Read: Emily Horner - A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend

A quirky coming-of-age story, with no more angst than is needed (the teenage narrator's best friend does die in an accident, so some angst is required). The dialogue is sometimes improbably insightful for the age group depicted, but it's an endearing story with some surprising plot twists and character development.

Read: Christian Werthmann - Green Roof, A Case Study

A case study of the American Society of Landscape Architects green roof on their headquarters in Washington DC. Great to read about a project in detail, particularly the evolution of the various ideas.

Want to Read: Guy Deutscher - Through the Language Glass - Why the World Looks Different in Other Languages

I read an article about Guy Deutscher's linguistic theories in the New York Times Magazine recently - some pretty fascinating stories.

Want to Read: Patricia T. O'Connor and Stewart Kellerman - Origins of the Specious, Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language

I've got a thing for books about the English language - this looks like another good one.

Want to Read: Hilary Mantel - Wolf Hall

I remember that reviews for this book were good when it first came out, and now it's available in paperback. I think I'm still on a historical novel kick after my Ken Follett binge earlier this summer.

Want to Read: Emma Donoghue - Room

Novel inspired by the true story of Josef Fritzl who imprisoned his daughter in the basement for 24 years and had seven children with her. This would seem too lurid, but the reviews I've read so far are promising - the novel seems focused more on the weird mental semantics of a child growing up having only inhabited a single room, without ever seeing the outside world.

Want to Read: John Vaillant - The Tiger

True story of a tiger and a man in a remote part of Russia. Simon Winchester's review of this book in the Globe and Mail is so enthusiastic that I want to read it. Also, the review gives away little of the details of the plot, so I'll have to read it if I want to know more.

Read: Christian Werthmann - Green Roof: A Case Study

Why didn't I read this book while I was still in Washington? It's a case study of the green roof installed at the American Society of Landscape Architects headquarters in Washington DC several years ago. If I'd known about it, I could have visited it! Ah well. The book gives a good details on how the roof came to be and what all the different considerations were that went into making the final decisions. I went on their website after to look up information on how the roof is doing now, four years after publication of the book - looks like the plants have filled in nicely.

Read: Andrew Singer - The Backyard Poultry Book

After reading Novella Carpenter's inspiring book about backyard farming, I browsed through some other books in the library, looking less for autobiographies and more for instructional manuals. I didn't find a good one until this book by Andrew Singer. It has all sorts of practical information and guidelines on raising chickens, ducks, turkeys, etc. Unfortunately no section on quail, which is where we'd likely start experimenting, since starting small seems easiest.