Reading List

I'm going to set myself up a book list of things I plan on reading, both for enjoyment and for educational interest.

I'd like to sort these by various topic:

Politics:

The Audacity of Hope, by Barack Obama

• From one who would like to support Obama, this book is about the difficulties of modern politics and the lack of cooperation between the polarized sides.
  

Social Issues

Medicare Meets Mistopheles, by David Hyman

• Satirical take on how Medicare has failed (as this book is published by the Cato Institute).
  
• I saw this book hyped on a cable show, can't forget which one now, but I found out he's actually one of the law professors here at U of I, and mentioned I'd been wanting to read the book for a while. Lo and behold, he loans me a copy as I'm finishing up some IT work for his computer!

The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan

• This book details the process of our food and where our food innately comes from.
  
• First found out about this book through the library webcomic, Unshelved, and due to my recent environmental tendencies, became intrigued. It's on my to-do.

Literature

The Poems of Sappho

• Sappho, an ancient Greek poet from the island of Lesbos, wrote highly emotional poetry, dealing with her relationships and sexuality.
  
• I first encountered Sappho during my Classical Civilization course that emphasized Greek culture. One of her poems, fragment 52, enraptured me through her use of language to so effortlessly and succinctly capture the feelings of loneliness:

• The moon is set. And the Pleiades.

  It’s the middle of the night.

  Time passes.

  I sleep alone.

General Fiction

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow

• Cyberpunk