Handmaid's Tale ***** Dystopian feminist novel in which fertile women become the property of the state. Dark premise that is brilliantly executed with clean, elegant prose.

Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food *** : These are essentially the same theme, so I'm rating them together. A compelling history and exploration of the food industry that should convince most readers to change the way they eat. Unfortunately, it's preachy at times and maligns science unjustly, so I deducted one star from the rating.

Ecotopia **** : Thought-provoking "politics fiction". In the author's words, the book tries to convey "that there are real alternatives to our present corporatist, militarist, ultracompetitive, oil-obsessed course." One reviewer wrote, "it looks obvious--like the wheel", a prescient remark given that the book was written 35 years ago yet confronts issues that we still face today. It does have many flaws, but the story stays with you and is worthwhile reading for everybody!

Breaking Dawn *** : The last and best of the Twilight series.

Borders of Infinity **** : Continuation of story line from Vor Game.

Watchmen **** : Great graphic novel, beautiful illustrations and color, engaging plot. Definitely one of the stranger super hero stories out there. Much better than the movie!

Eclipse ** : Third Twilight book. The weakest and most poorly written of the series. But if you're reading the series, what choice do you have but to read this one as well?

New Moon *** : Book 2 of Twilight Series. Enter the werewolf.

Love in the Time of Cholera **** : Probably the ultimate story of love in all its forms. A difficult read at times, but ultimately very rewarding.

Anathem ***** : Science "monks" sequester themselves from the rest of the world for 1, 10, 100, or 1000 years at a time so that they can solve interesting problems in peace. Takes place on another planet with a whole new vocabulary to learn and enjoy. Based loosely on the Clock of the Long Now.

Sourcery *** : Another Discworld novel. 'Nuff said.

Gai-jin *** : Part of James Clavell's "Asian Saga". Unfortunately, not nearly as good as his epic novel "Shogun". But still worthwhile if you've read the rest of the series or like historical fiction about Japan in the 19th century.

Mort *** : Personification of Death in Discworld.

Cod ***** : The cod is responsible for everything! I'm a sucker for fish and economics books like this.

Equal Rites **** : Making my way through the Discworld novels. You gotta love Granny Weatherwax!

Light Fantastic **** : More Discworld goodness (second book in the series). Long live The Luggage!

Twilight *** : In the world of books-for-teenagers-that-adults-read-too, first there was Harry Potter, then the Golden Compass, now there's Twilight. To be sure, Twilight is not forged from the same rich lode as its predecessors, but it's a decent enough modern vampire novel.

Pnin ***** : Wonderfully rich, sensuous, and complicated prose. Not the kind of book that can be read quickly, but the enjoyment is as much in the journey through the words as it is in unraveling the plot. My first Nabokov and definitely not my last.

4-Hour Work Week *** : I have a fundamental issue with this book's premise that you can simply farm out all of your labor, sit back, and profit. If everybody in the world had this approach, there wouldn't be anybody producing real work! Nevertheless, there are numerous productivity-enhancing recommendations offered that make this a worthwhile speed-read.

Warlock in Spite of Himself *** : More of the same from Escape Velocity author. Part of the Warlock series.

Earth Abides ***** : Another classic sci-fi novel that I somehow never read until now. A disease kills almost everybody on Earth and the survivors live off the remains of civilization. Epic and thought-provoking!

Amber Spyglass ***** : Outstanding conclusion to the Golden Compass series.

Escape Velocity *** : Political sci-fi set in a medieval context. A little trite in spots, but better than I expected!

Vor Game **** : Obviously part of a much larger series (which I haven't read), but good by itself. Socio-political emphasis.

The "Read Everything on My Bookshelf" Project: I had a voracious appetite for science fiction and fantasy novels when I was a teenager. I would head to the bookstore and buy books all the time, most of which ended up on my bookshelf, unread. As I have moved throughout the years, I've dutifully packed up and transported all of these books with me.

Now, decades later, as I seek to de-clutter my life and get rid of unnecessary possessions, I feel obligated to read them before getting rid of them. For years, these books sat in silence. Now their stories will be heard...

Three Cups of Tea ***** Very important book that everybody needs to read. Guy gets lost after climbing K2. Pakistani village nurses him to health. He pledges to build them a school, starting life-long mission to build schools for girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan. By the end of the book, I was convinced that this is the only long-term solution to stopping terrorism.

Subtle Knife **** Sequel to the Golden Compass. Quantum mechanics (many-worlds theory) in a children's novel!

Color of Magic **** Quirky fun. First Discworld book. There are over 30 books in this series... eep!

Good Earth **** Simple yet enticing story of rural life in pre-revolutionary China.

Lost World *** : Jurassic Park Part 2. Standard Chrichton, well written, nothing extraordinary, good read.

Golden Compass ***** : Well written, inventive, engaging, and bound to annoy a lot of people!

Sushi Economy ***** : Fascinating tale of Japan, sushi, economics, global trade, and one of the world's most expensive and shortest-shelf-lived commodities, bluefin tuna.

A Thousand Splendid Suns ***** : Important book about the plight of women in Afghanistan before, during, and after the Taliban. Same excellent writing and style as the Kite Runner, but while that book had hope to balance its sadness, this book has much less and is thus that much grimmer.

The Chamber ** : Reads fine, Grisham is a competent writer, but no fireworks. Flawed by too many 180 degree shifts in character personality throughout the story.

Better ***** : From one of my favorite New Yorker authors, Atul Gawande. Excellent essays on health care, including malpractice, cystic fibrosis, obstetrics, third world health care, and more.

Stardust ***** : I loved the movie, and the book is even better! Beautiful, mellifluous writing and gorgeous accompanying illustrations. One of Neal Gaiman's best works.

Venus Prime 1 *** : Better than I expected and an enjoyable end to my sci-fi reading blitzkrieg while on vacation in Costa Rica.

To Sail Beyond the Sunset ** : Heinlein is either a genius provocateur or just a dirty old man. Either way, this book didn't take for me.

Revolt in 2100 *** : Classic Heinlein space opera pulp fiction. Overly simplistic and unrealistic solutions to social problems, but it's fun reading.

Flowers for Algernon ***** : Another oldie-but-a-goodie that I had never read until now. Great soft scifi.

Harry Potter Book 7 *** : If you've made it this far in the series, then this is a must-read regardless of what any review says. But the joy was gone for me in this overly dark final installment. As one reviewer aptly put it, can you say "deus ex machina?"

A Random Walk Down Wall Street ***** : Let's face it, investing books are not exactly page turners and you definitely don't want to read one when you're sleepy. Nevertheless, this is a must-read for anybody interested in maximizing their investments over the long haul (20+ years). Which should be everybody!

The book pretty much fortifies the investing axioms that I have been following for the past several years, but presents a ton of data to back up the claims, which are:

• The ability to consistently beat the market average is rare.
• The only way to get higher returns is to take higher risks.
• Diversification smooths out the volatility inherent in risky investments.
• The semi-strong efficient market hypothesis is the most credible of all the market theories.
• Your life stage defines your risk tolerance (with younger people able to handle more risk).

For persons under 40, the book recommends the following portfolio:

• 5% cash. Or cash equivalent, interest bearing (of course).
• 20% bonds. Three-quarters comprised of zero coupon treasury or no-load bond funds. The rest inflation-protected (TIPS). Put in tax exempt account if possible, otherwise try and use tax-exempt funds.
• 65% stocks. Two-thirds comprised of total stock market (Wilshire 5000), the rest international and emerging markets.
• 10% real estate. No-load REIT fund.

For persons between 40 and 50, it's basically the same as above, but move 10 percent from stocks to bonds.

Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time **** Innovative first-person novel about an autistic 15-year-old who attempts to solve the mystery of the neighbor's dog's death. Provides great insight into the curse and the blessing that is autism.

Clowngirl **** : Very nicely written novel by a Portland author, although it tries too hard at developing some sort of philosophical undertone (existentialism? condemnation of religion?) which never quite gelled for me.

On Dragonwings **** : This is actually three books bound into one: Dragonsdawn, Dragonseye, and Moreta. All part of the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey. An interesting blend of scifi and fantasy crossing nearly 2000 years.

While visiting with my relatives in Canada last month, my aunt turned me onto a book from her investing club entitled Get Rich With Options. Despite the unfortunate used-car-salesman-esque title, it was a surprisingly good read.

Here are the book's take-aways so you can get rich and profit. Of course, the usual investing disclaimers apply. If you go broke following this advice, don't blame me. If, on the other hand, you get rich... you can buy me lunch.

Sell slightly out-of-the-money covered calls on your long stock positions. This is the one that most people already know about. The vast majority of calls expire without being assigned, so most likely you will get to pocket the premium. If your stock does get called away, then you at least got to sell your stock for a decent price.

Buy deep-in-the-money calls instead of buying a long position in a stock. The call will track the stock's market value, which translates into a higher ROI if the stock rises and less risk if the stock drops.

Sell slightly out-of-the-money naked puts on a stock that you want to own. You don't care if the put gets executed (you were going to buy the stock anyway). And you get to pocket the premium and get the stock at a slightly lower price. Probably the only time it's safe to sell a naked put. Unfortunately, many brokers (including mine) do not allow selling of puts.

Option credit spreads. This one is not as straight forward as the other three. It requires a lot more research. With a bull put spread, you are assuming the stock will trend up, so you sell one put with a high strike price and buy another put with a lower strike price. With a bear call spread, you are assuming the stock will trend down, so you sell a call with a low strike price and buy another call with a higher strike price. In either case, the strategy is to limit your profit or loss and take advantage of the decay of time value. Investopedia elaborates.

The Hiding Place ***** : Inspirational autobiography of faith and forgiveness in Nazi-occupied Holland.

Man Behind the Microchip **** : Known as the "Father of the Silicon Valley", I always knew Robert Noyce commanded respect, but I never knew why. This excellent biography lists the many accomplishments of this amazing man. Required reading for anybody in the high-tech industry.

The Number *** : How much money do you need before you can retire? According to this book, $2-20 million. Book starts out great, but gets tiresome about halfway through. Mandatory reading if you've never considered this subject before, otherwise there are probably better books out there.

Eon **** : Hard SF novel written during and heavily influenced by the Cold War. The politics seem dated now, and the writing is sometimes a little awkward, but overall thoroughly enjoyable.

Bridges at Toko-Ri **** : Short Michener novella about the Korean War. Doesn't delve into politics, but instead reads more like a "day in the life" of a naval aviator on a bombing run. Almost a little too short to be satisfying, but it's hard to complain given the minimal time investment to read it.

Elfstones of Shannara ** : Marginally better than "Sword of Shannara". Still mostly a LOTR clone. I suffered through this thing all the way to the end, hoping that it would magically redeem itself in the final pages, but it didn't. Maybe I'm just burned out on fantasy novels. If you really like fantasy and don't mind some storyline recycling, add another star.

Sword of Shannara * : Abandoned after 160 pages. I wanted to like this book, but couldn't get past the blatant Lord of the Rings rip-off. The bad writing also made it easy for my mind to wander. Read the reviews on Amazon, the one from Avant-Captain_Nemo pretty much sums it up!

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man *** : I don't know what to think of this book. At times is reads like conspiracy theory fiction. Other times, it certainly does seem like it explains much about the current geopolitical state of the world. Fact or fiction, a thought provoking read.

Space **** : Another worthy tome from Michener. Unlike his typical novels (which often span millennia), Space covers "only" 50 years :) I was impressed with the prescience displayed by the last 50 pages, in which Michener predicted almost 25 years ago the entire "intelligent design" morass our society faces today.

American Gods *** : Inventive and provoking... one of the more original books I've read recently, but not really a page-turner.

Triad *** : Finally read this book after 15+ years on my bookshelf. First contact sci-fi novel with a linguistic twist. Not bad, but disappointing ending.

Lance Armstrong's War *****: Extremely well written novel about Lance and the Tour de France. A must-read for anybody into cycling, otherwise maybe knock a star or two off.

Left Hand of Darkness *****: Outstanding novel full of rich social commentary and complex character development. I can't believe I waited so long before reading it!

Ugly Americans ***: From the author of Bringing Down the House, another fast-paced page-turner, this time about hedge fund traders in Tokyo. The story is entertaining but seems largely fictionalized, and after a while, the lack of fact-checking undermines the book's credibility: For example, the book incorrectly states that the Tokyo Tower is smaller than the Eiffel Tower, when in fact it is larger--the Amazon.com reviews cite many more examples.

China Study *** by Colin Campbell: Recommended by my friends Bruce and Karen, a thought provoking read that, in the end, fails to hold up to scientific scrutiny. I am giving it a three star rating because, despite its flawed conclusion, it is worth reading, if for no other reason than to fortify your knowledge of disease and nutrition.

The book's central premise is that diets with a large percentage of animal-based protein are conducive to cancer, heart disease, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and many other diseases. The solution to avoid cancer and disease? Go vegan.

The author reaches this conclusion by using data from the China Study to compare the "affluent" diets of western countries (US and Europe) with those of poorer countries (China), which are primarily plant-based. The China Study was a large research effort conducted over twenty years in which the author was principally involved.

This is all well and good, but unfortunately, the book fails to establish causality between disease and diet. Epidemiology is a complex and difficult discipline, and if preventing disease were as easy as simply not eating animal protein, it stands to reason that medical science would have figured this out by now. Indeed, by his own admission, the author is an outcast from the conventional medical establishment, a fact that should raise alarms in the reader's head. Additionally, at times the book's tone takes on an almost religious fanaticism as the author rails against animal-based protein. By the final pages, it seems that Campbell's faith in the vegan lifestyle has tainted his view of the China Study data.

As some critical web sites detail, the China Study makes no statistically significant correlation whatsoever between diet and disease. (See Blog of Brad from an organic farmer, and Beyond Vegetarianism, a pro-vegetarian web site that disagrees with Campbell).

Clearly the author has found religion, but until his theories are tested through double blind clinical trials, the establishment is wise to remain skeptical of the claims in this book.

Hawaii *****: Epic novel. When you finish a Michener novel, you feel like you've really accomplished something. A tremendous read for anyone interested in the Hawaiian islands. (Fittingly enough, I read this while on vacation in Maui.)

Marching Powder ****: True life story of an Englishman caught drug trafficking and sent to a Bovilian prison where inmates have to buy their own cells, have cable TV and kitchens, and make cocaine.

Bringing Down the House **** : MIT students take Vegas for millions. Fast-paced with big money, action, adrenaline--just like Sin City. I read this in a single reading on a flight from Boston to Denver.

Freakonomics **** : A University of Chicago economics professor analyzes statistics to challenge popular beliefs. Co-written by a newspaper/magazine author, and thus a bit light on the math and watered down for mainstream acceptance, but a thought stimulating read.

Some of the interesting topics discussed/proven in this book:

• How teachers cheat by altering their students' standardized test scores
• How sumo wrestlers cheat by throwing matches when it doesn't affect their overall ranking and will help their opponent's ranking
• How a children's radio show and free information flow mortally wounded the Ku Klux Klan
• Why real estate agents don't have anything to gain by helping you get a better deal
• How and why people lie about themselves on online dating services
• How little drug dealers really make and why they still live with their moms
• The effect that legalized abortion had on crime rates in the 1990s
• How your child has a greater chance of dying if she plays at a friend's house where there is a swimming pool rather than playing at a friend's house where there is a gun present
• How parents focus their energy on safer cribs and child car seats and how they are, at best, nominally helpful in preventing child deaths, along with child-resistant packaging, flame-retardant pajamas, car airbags, and safety drawstrings no clothes (the cumulative deaths from all of these causes is significantly less than swimming pool drownings for children).
• How "good parenting actions" have very little effect on the educational success of children (the following had no correlation with academic success: having a stay-at-home parent; being read to them every day; going on museum trips or being enrolled in Head Start; not watching TV)
• The socioeconomic effect of a person's name

Once and Future Spy **: Conviluted spy thriller, only read because I was trapped on an airplane.

Hawaii's Humpback Whales **** : Well illustrated overview of humpback anatomy and behavior. Very informative.

Design of Everyday Things ***** : A bit dated, but still an outstanding book on user-oriented design. You will never look at the world the same way again.

Out *** : Four women kill a man and deal with the consequences in this Japanese thriller.

Siddhartha ***** : May we all find the ferryman within to guide us across the river.

Cat Who Placed Post Office *** : Cat with a sixth-sense for mail helps solve an aging missing person case.

Corpse Had a Familiar Face *** : Newspaper reporter with a big head talks about murder in Miami.

Harry Potter 6 ***** : Best Potter in a long time, the joy of the first novel is back!

Why Men Earn More **** : Women are underpaid (for the same work), right? I thought so too until I read this book. Written by a former officer of NOW.

Cat Who Played Brahms ** : Another in the series. Add a star if you liked the first one, otherwise just more of the same. But I'll probably read at least one more.

Cat Who Ate Danish Modern ** : Murder mystery with an interior design twist and a cat.

Balancing Your Family, Faith & Work * : Way too religious for me, although the first chapter is an interesting mini-autobiography of the author's life.

Essential X-Men, Vol. 1 **** : Great background reading on X-Men history (graphic novel).

Blink *** : Interesting collection of psychological studies, but maybe only for Gladwell fans.

Cat Who Could Read Backwards *** : The first in a really long series, already formulaic, but a fun read.

Hungry Ocean ***** : Fascinating glimpse into commercial fishing and the life of a woman swordfish boat captain.

The Truth About the Drug Companies ***** : Drugs are expensive, but drug companies have to spend lots of money to develop them, right? Not true, as this book explains in great detail. New York Review of Books review.

Fencing Master **** : Neat period mystery/thriller based in Madrid in the 18th/19th century.

Imperial Hubris **** : Well written overview of the issues of US involvement in the Middle East.

Kite Runner ***** : A dark coming of age story based in Afghanistan. Exceptional writing. Best book I read in 2004.

Winner, The ** : Good fiction for a trip or day at the beach... page turner, nothing too deep.

Who's Looking Out For You ** : Easy read, but O'Reilly's approach to complex issues is too simple.

Touching the Void **** : Great reading for any mountaineer. Perhaps the most outstanding survival story I have read.

Climbing Free by Lynn Hill **** : Good autobiography of the early days of Yosemite big wall climbing.