christianreader | May's reading list...

1. Blaise Pascal: Reasons of the Heart by Marvin R. O'Connell

Not a bad introduction to Pascal's life, but be forewarned: this is not a beginner's book. The author dives deeply into the details of Pascal's and the Jansenists' theology, so if you're just looking for the basic facts you're not going to like this one. Still, there's a good introduction into his thinking and writing here with a lot of historical and theological background included. It's striking how someone can change from being a wholly-naturalistic person surrounded by those who encourage such thinking and can be thrown in the path of the means of grace because of the voice of one person (his sister in this case).

2. Kana Pict-O-Graphix: Mnemonics for Hiragana and Katakana by Michael Rowley

Okay, not much to recommend here specifically for this community, but if you want to learn the Japanese kana, this is a great tool for it. :)

3. How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization by Franklin Foer

Foer does an admirable job using soccer to expand on such topics as the inherent racism of the European game, the effects of globalization that has weakened the Brazilian leagues into a feeder for the "real" clubs in the work, and a primer on the Italian game and why they dive so *(@#;$*(#@ much. The book is a quick read and gives exactly as much information as needed to catch many of the nuances of complex systems. Worth a read even if you're not a footy fan, and especially worth a look for the description of the clashes between the Scottish clubs of Celtic (supported by Catholics) and Rangers (supported by Protestants) and the violence that ensued.

4. Gaming the Vote: Why Elections Aren't Fair (and What We Can Do About It) by William Poundstone

Most books that attempt to propose new ways of carrying out elections are nothing more than sour grapes: "Since *my* guy didn't win the last election, the system is obviously flawed and should be overhauled." Therefore, most of these sort of books are a waste of time. This one, however, is simply brilliant. Instead of approaching the subject through party results, Poundstone instead takes a historical walk through many different voting schemes in terms of the mathematical theory behind them. Don't be scared by the word "mathematical", by the way...Poundstone not only steers clear of intense mathematics but also provides a simple glossary to help you remember something you may have forgotten from earlier pages. While I think I can determine his political leanings from a couple of different allusions, he makes such a good argument and has such an engaging style of writing that it doesn't matter. There were several times when I noticed a flaw in the argumentation and Poundstone responds to the particular question on the VERY NEXT page. Any author that can read the mind of an informed reader is doing a good job indeed. :) In conclusion, anyone who's interested in the process of voting should read this one because it's the best of its kind.

5. The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi

This series (which began with Old Man's War) is certainly worth your time because of the philosophic and metaphysical questions that they force. They aren't "Christian" books by any stretch, but they do make you think about things like the nature of life, the soul, and the finality (or lack thereof) of death. They're also just great sci-fi books even for people (like me) who aren't great fiction readers. Absolutely check this series out.

Books read this year: 15