Book reviews: Notes from Neil

Thursday, Dec. 18 — As promised, the final three genres, with my favorite three titles in each. A friend wrote after last week that my list didn't match hers because we didn't read many of the same books. To which I say "perfect!" Let's help each other discover great things to read. Here's what we're reading:

SCIENCE

THE UNPERSUADABLES - Will Storr
An unexpected delight. What I expected to be a typical skeptic's debunking of unscientific thinking combines the latest ideas in psychology and neurology to become something much richer and thought-provoking.

THE SIXTH EXTINCTION - Elizabeth Kolbert
The first part of this important book is a fascinating history of how modern humans came to understand the concept of extinction in the first place. The rest points to disturbingly compelling evidence that we're currently experiencing one of the greatest extinction events in our planet's history.

THE AGE OF RADIANCE - Craig Nelson
A history of the atom, or at least our discovery of its existence; followed by all of the wonderful and terrible things we've done with them.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: War of the Whales by Joshua Horwitz, The Improbability Principle by David J. Hand.

FOOD & COOKING

SOUS CHEF - Michael Gibney
Maybe I enjoyed this one so much because I spent some of my younger days in the environment the author describes, but I don't think that's it entirely. The story of a 24-hour period in the kitchen of a quality restaurant is an exciting, frustrating and ultimately rewarding one.

THUG KITCHEN - Thug Kitchen, LLC
If you've heard the name, you know the story. Great recipes, bad language. If you (or someone you know) couldn't care less about the latter, you'll be amply rewarded by cooking your way through the former.

STUFFED - Dan Whalen

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Roadfood, 9th Edition by Jane and Michael Stern, Teeny's Tour of Pie by Teeny Lamothe

MISC.

DO NOT SELL AT ANY PRICE - Amanda Petrusich
Near the top of my list for favorite book of any kind in 2014, Ms. Petrusich describes the idiosyncratic, obsessive world of collectors and dealers of rare 78 rpm records. She goes from being a novice to being utterly enthralled over the course of the book and so, by the way, does the reader.

WILL NOT ATTEND - Adam Resnick
A memoir by a misanthrope of the highest (and funniest) order. More laughs per page than the two or three most recent David Sedaris books.

THE SHELF: FROM LEQ TO LES - Phyllis Rose
The idea behind this book hasn't left my head since I discovered it. Pick a fiction shelf, any fiction shelf, in your local library and read everything on it. It's become a bucket list thing for me, although I may not end up writing as eloquently as Ms. Rose about my adventure.

HONORABLE MENTION: The Fifth Beatle by Vivek Tiwary and Andrew C. Robinson.

That's it for my suggested shopping list, fellow readers. What titles are you putting under the tree for friends and family this year?

Until next week,

Neil

NeilNeil Rajala is Currently Director of Community & Business Services for Schuler Books, Neil's decade with the company has included the wearing of many different hats - and lots and lots of reading.