February 2014.
Yoni, Noam and Mark: Gary Shteyngart
Little Failure: A memoir.
I loved his previous two books. We were driving down to NOLA to visit Noam and Catie when we were listening to his interview on Fresh Air (well worth finding the podcast BTW). This is very slightly embellished autobiography. It is,of course, his personal story but so much of it will resonate with us that you should find it immediately appealing.
Immigrants and the children of immigrants: MOT : middle school crisis : fears and therapy : Parents demanding educational excellence, I think you both get the point by now.
If you want to read the novels let me know, I enjoyed them both.
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
January 2014
Noam: What a plant knows.
This is an introduction to the increasingly popular and interesting science of plant senses, the book explains how plants react to stimuli and whether they are really "feeling" which is as much a philosophical question as a biological one. They tried to call this field plant neurobiology, but as plants lack an organized Neurological system, the real neurobiologist got upset. A remarkable introduction and so much of this has been found out in the past 20 years. If you want more of this you need to get into some real cutting edge science, but I was stunned to find out that there are 16 different photoreceptors in Arabadopsis, and that plants do have memory. In addition the BRAC gene found in breast cancer is also present in plants and a mutation in the gene that in humans causes deafness but stopping teh growth of sensory hairs in the ear canal, in plants stops root hair growthYonatan: Dark Star Alan Furst
I know you loved the first one in the series. You know I love reading books in a series so here is number 2. Let me know how long we should go between installments.
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
December 2013
Yoni and Noam,
Forgive me for sending you both the same book but I just finished it and I could not put it down. It has had incredible reviews, and it is a remarkable view of a remarkable country.
This is Israel, written by a liberal Israeli who has access to both the rich and famous and the poor and dispossessed. It is a nuanced story, way beyond the crap put out by the Jewish establishment and the crap put out by the Arab fellow-travellers.
This includes both the critical history and the author's view of the future. This is subtle, sometimes contradictory but wonderful complex stuff and yet very readable.
By the time you finish this book you will have a much greater understanding of the situation in Israel than you could get from anywhere else.
My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel
by Avi Shavit.
This is Israel, written by a liberal Israeli who has access to both the rich and famous and the poor and dispossessed. It is a nuanced story, way beyond the crap put out by the Jewish establishment and the crap put out by the Arab fellow-travellers.
This includes both the critical history and the author's view of the future. This is subtle, sometimes contradictory but wonderful complex stuff and yet very readable.
By the time you finish this book you will have a much greater understanding of the situation in Israel than you could get from anywhere else.
Thursday, November 7, 2013
November 2013
It is Two for one Month (books with appeal to boys and girls)
For Yoni, The Goldfinch: Donna Tart. I have yet to read this..But, I am listening to the serialization on the BBC, I will read it, honest.
Anyway it is an exciting fast paced but literary novel and I think it will appeal to both of you, so it is a toofer.
Noam:
The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans : Lawrence N Powell. No, of course I haven't read it but it has very high reviews and is an accesible , yet scholarly work on the founding and growth of your new home town.
For Yoni, The Goldfinch: Donna Tart. I have yet to read this..But, I am listening to the serialization on the BBC, I will read it, honest.
Anyway it is an exciting fast paced but literary novel and I think it will appeal to both of you, so it is a toofer.
Noam:
The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans : Lawrence N Powell. No, of course I haven't read it but it has very high reviews and is an accesible , yet scholarly work on the founding and growth of your new home town.
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
October 2013
Yoni: Alan Furst: Night Soldiers.
This guy is very popular now, and rightly so. I just finished a book of his set in Paris immediately prior to the second world war. This is the first in the series. Set mostly in Paris and roaming through Middle Europe. People work for both sides, they try and do the right thing which may mean they end up working with the bad guys every now and then, I think that you really will enjoy this.
p.s. I also sent you the new Jhumpa Lahiri book, that is for Daci.
Noam: Jarrod Diamond: Guns Germs and Steel. I have read this and you will enjoy this very much. How geography and inventions and of course microbiology have changed the course of human events. That's not to say that great leaders have no role but apparently geography and a number of critical quantum leaps in technology perform the real historical movements.
This guy is very popular now, and rightly so. I just finished a book of his set in Paris immediately prior to the second world war. This is the first in the series. Set mostly in Paris and roaming through Middle Europe. People work for both sides, they try and do the right thing which may mean they end up working with the bad guys every now and then, I think that you really will enjoy this.
p.s. I also sent you the new Jhumpa Lahiri book, that is for Daci.
Noam: Jarrod Diamond: Guns Germs and Steel. I have read this and you will enjoy this very much. How geography and inventions and of course microbiology have changed the course of human events. That's not to say that great leaders have no role but apparently geography and a number of critical quantum leaps in technology perform the real historical movements.
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
September 2013
Yonatan: Alexander Fleming, The man and the myth.
Yoni, first an apology. I had to buy this second hand from the UK it might take a week to arrive.
This will make you the king of ID for a while. This well thought out book describes the "accident" that led to the discovery of penicillin and takes an approach which proves that it cannot of been an accident but a well thought out set of experiments. It goes on to describe the great showman that Fleming was taking the Nobel prize and all...
Noam: Shaman: At his request
Friday, August 2, 2013
August 2013
Two science books this month, fiction for Yonatan, History for Noam
Yonatan: Berlin Wild. I read this about 15 years ago. I see now that it is out of print so I have sent you a "very good" second-hand copy.
There can't be many novels connecting scientific research and the Holocaust but there is at least one.
Boy survives in Berlin, through his association with a research lab. A little far fetched perhaps?
I loved this, I was amazed to see it out of print.
Noam: Deadly Companions: How Microbes Shaped Our History.
It is hard to find you a book on the history of Microbiology that I have read. Most of those are either too technical or so out of date as to be useless. This seems a lot better though. There are a number of books explaining the historical effect of microbiology (think the black death, and Jared Diamonds Guns, germs and History) It is from 2007 and does go into SARS etc. I think that you will find it just technical enough and not written for idiots but easy enough to read so that it is not written for academics.
Yonatan: Berlin Wild. I read this about 15 years ago. I see now that it is out of print so I have sent you a "very good" second-hand copy.
There can't be many novels connecting scientific research and the Holocaust but there is at least one.
Boy survives in Berlin, through his association with a research lab. A little far fetched perhaps?
I loved this, I was amazed to see it out of print.
Noam: Deadly Companions: How Microbes Shaped Our History.
It is hard to find you a book on the history of Microbiology that I have read. Most of those are either too technical or so out of date as to be useless. This seems a lot better though. There are a number of books explaining the historical effect of microbiology (think the black death, and Jared Diamonds Guns, germs and History) It is from 2007 and does go into SARS etc. I think that you will find it just technical enough and not written for idiots but easy enough to read so that it is not written for academics.
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