April Books

Two transcontinental trips (assuming you count home and back as two) and a trove of ordered material waiting for me at home, made this a particularly enjoyable month. The Iran book is an early front runner for 2016's Top 5, and Sapiens managed to be educational, provocative, informative and visionary all at once.

Shah of Shahs

by Ryszard Kapuściński, William R. Brand (Translator), Katarzyna Mroczkowska-Brand (Translator)

Paperback. Gift from Pat. Fabulously concise and informative report of the Shah's rise and fall. Combines you-are-there reporting with pictures and stories that are poetic and mythical. Strongly recommended.

Concrete Economics: How Government Reshapes the Economy through Entrepreneurs

by Stephen S. Cohen, J. Bradford DeLong

Pointer from Tyler Cowen. Hardcover from Amazon. Sweeping, though concise look at the arc of nations prospering through protectionism and government support of favored industries. Draws a plausible line from 18th century America through Japan, Korea and China.

Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader

by Anne Fadiman

From Farnam Street. Paper back from Amazon, A little over the top at times, but well written and enjoyable throughout. The essay  on living vicariously through catalogues is a standout.

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

by Yuval Noah Harari

From Farnam Street. Paperback from Amazon. Really fascinating look at the development of humankind from the beginning to the present day and beyond. Really made me think on several occasions

Saint Joan

by George Bernard Shaw,

From UNCSA Library. Read this while the OG was waiting to audition for the North Carolina School for the Arts with the title character's most famous speech ("Bread has no sorrow for me and water no affliction..."). Liked it, but found, as I always seem to when I read plays, that the plot seemed overly condensed and the events did not flow logically.

Bicycle Diaries

by David Byrne

From library. David Byrne brings a folding bike with him wherever he travels (including some decidedly non-bike friendly places), rides it around and makes observations about what he sees. Sounded interesting. Wasn't, particularly.