Fables Vol1-11 - Bill Willingham

I just finished a marathon session of reading Fables Vol1-11. One of the thing that strikes me is that unlike other Vertigo series, this is pretty much a straight story - It doesn't have the layers or complexity of a Lucifer or Sandman - i.e. a second reading doesn't add much to the storyline. The story is of course a solid entertainer but there isn't much else to it.
Another thing that detracts from my reading experience is the subsequent knowledge that I have of Bill Willingham - He is a conservative. Not in itself a problem - But when Bigby wolf states how he doesn't like the French because they have no gratitude - Is that really Bigby's voice or the conservative's ? For some reason conservatives equate lack of gratitude (for saving the French in WW-II) with criticism(of American war policies). And when the criticism is from an American it is of course unpatriotic except when a Democrat is in charge. See distracts from the story. Similarly Bigby's actions in his mission - Operation Israel , provides such a warped perspective of the Israel - Palestinian conflict. Further the glorification of Guns in the final war with the adversary - A standard conservative shock and awe tactic. Go in bomb everything , problem solved - Except we know it doesnt always work. Vietnam , Iraq, Afghanistan - you name it.
Anyway , the story is still good enough that I can ignore the above, Willingham mostly manages to keep his characters honest. It's also interesting to see how he manages to find his voice after a few issues. The first volume with Bigby as detective is cute but has a sort of amateurish feel to it. It takes about the third volume before Willingham gets into his groove - or perhaps thats the amount of time it takes the reader to realise this story is more than just a gimmick.

50 voices of disbelief - Russel Blackford , Udo Schuklenk

This is a very interesting book and as far as I know the first one of its kind. 50 essays about religion / disbelief / atheism without any of the four horsemen. Some of the essays are personal journeys into disbelief, some are arguments against religion and some are observations. Most are well written, I think only two of essays did not hold my interest and I skipped over them because they were too densely argued. I believe a book like this was important because it demonstrates the variety of views that atheists have, that not all (and not most in my opinion) are angry, hateful people and that most of the arguments are sound. This is not particularly news, but its curious just how many religious people (even the liberal ones) believe the above or dismiss arguments by stating "too strident", "too arrogant", "not my religion".

I also came across some new arguments (or atleast one's I haven't heard before). For example there is one essay that deals with the excuses people give to continue believing in a personal, omnipotent, omni-benevolent God given the current state of the world. Excuses being "Free Will", "Greater Good", "God works in mysterious ways". The author neatly turns the tables by hypothesizing a personal, omnipotent, evil God and shows that all the above excuses work equally well. The personal journeys are also really interesting because I could contrast them with my own.
One problem is that some of the ideas seem repetitive as the essays are all independently written. A good number mention the problem of evil and its implications. A large number of them deal with the Christian God and there is some lack of diversity. There were two essays by Indians which mostly dealt with humanism and superstitions (which reflect the problems in India) and only one by an ex-muslim Maryam Namazie which drew a line between Islam and political Islam, which also reflects a reality in the Islamic world. It is here where I feel the book lacks a little bit, because I would have loved to see some more Asian representation (Chinese, Japanese etc.) and more African representation. Most of the authors are also reasonably well known and I'd like to see a few more common people since I believe that is an important message to get across, that disbelievers are not the intellectual elite, they are you and me.
All in all , this is a book that is well worth the read, though I suspect it will not be famous as any controversial polemic work, nor will it be picked up by the religious who would benefit the most from it.

Looking for Calvin and Hobbes - Nevin Martell

Why evolution is true - Jerry Coyne

Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism - Susan Jacoby

Superfreakonomics

Like most sequels this book is not as good as the first. There are various reasons why this is so, the chief among them is that the original read as a solidly researched, backed by data, interesting book with interesting theories. The new book reads as a set of anecdotes picked solely to be contrary. It's still a readable book with some interesting tidbits, but it wont stun you like Freakonomics did.

Private wars - Greg Rucka

A gentlemans game - Greg Rucka

The life you can save - Peter Singer

The Greatest show on earth - Richard Dawkins

In a way I'm glad Prof. Richard Dawkins wrote this book. So far I had a fairly rudimentary knowledge of evolution, and this helped me understand a bit more about it. But in a way I'm sad that books like these have to be written , not to inform or educate, but to refute the ignorant, the stupid or the dishonest(Like someone has said after reading this book they can no longer call themselves ignorant).
Prof. Dawkins has a lucid writing style, and when it comes to explaining science , I feel that he is only second to Carl Sagan. There is also the sense of sincerity and wonder about science that comes through in the writing, that makes anyone who has even a little of bit of curiosity, join Prof Dawkins on his journeys and explanations. Prof Dawkins manages to keep your interest even when he is discussing elaborate and intricate material like Richard Lenski's grand experiment. I read this section of the book on the train on the way home and I couldn't stop reading inspite of Prof Dawkins' warning to not read this at the end of a busy day.
The book itself covers a wide range of the evidence of evolution and discusses the various Creationist/Intelligent Design ploys and their fallacies, and Prof Dawkins deals with these issues appropriately(Warning if you are a creationist , it isn't pretty) . The book is full of witty anecdotes and I couldn't stop laughing at J.B.S. Haldane's 'You did it yourself and it only took you 9 months'. Professor Dawkins makes a comprehensive case for the various independent streams of evidence we have for evolution and the way that each one of them could have been falsified (take that Ann Coulter).
For those who are scared away by Prof Dawkins' atheism, this book does not touch on the subject (except in the preface) and even if you are , there are other books about evolution that you could and should read. If you discount evolution because of your religion, then you should remember Carl Sagan's words
'How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, "This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant. God must be even greater than we dreamed"? Instead they say, "No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.'
After reading through this book I'm curious enough to read other books on evolution, on a couple of that interest me, this book has stoked my curiosity on the subject, and I'm sure that for Prof Dawkins, who is also an educator an who takes his teaching seriously , that is high praise.

Predictably Irrational - Dan Ariely

Carl Sagan: A Life in the Cosmos - William Poundstone

The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman

Sandman Vol1 - Vol10 - Neil Gaiman

I reread all the original Sandman volume's (thanks to Fremont library) and I am still struck by how well these volumes have stood the test of time. I originally read a few stories haphazardly and at that time my taste ran more towards say A Death in the Family or the Reign of the Supermen. But even when I didn't understand what the story of the Sandman was about, there was still a haunting lyrical quality to Gaiman's writing. As the years went by, I read more of Sandman, the turning point being the Season of Mists , where I thought I mostly got what Gaiman was trying to say ( I was wrong) but at that time I did realize that Sandman was worth reading. And then I read books written about the Sandman where Gaiman is asked to summarize what Sandman is about in a single sentence and he said something like 'In life you have to change or die and the Sandman makes his choice'. It was an epiphany of sorts. The ending which hadn't made any sense to me when I first read it , now had a different meaning. And finally after all these years after having read all the books in one sitting, it's about what Gaiman said and so much more than that too. It's probably futile to say much about the Sandman, you have to read it.
What surprises me still is that everytime I read Sandman I still find that there are nuances I have missed, but it still was amazing reading the books when I didn't know the nuances were there.
There are three books so far which have ended with what I believe are perfect endings. Calvin and Hobbes, Lucifer and Sandman (take that Harry Potter).
Gaiman has never managed to match Sandman in his other writing (Asimov's Nemesis curse) , which isn't to say his writing has been bad, just that it hasn't been epic. But I think it is a matter of scope as well. He had years in which Sandman was written, whereas his other works have been far shorter , and a necessary ingredient of an epic story is time. It's probably unfortunate that Gaiman has succeeded in other mediums (unfortunate for us), because he probably cannot dedicate the amount of time to any Sandman like comic project, but we can always be thankful that the Sandman was written.
And to quote an introduction ' if the Sandman isn't literature I don't know what is.'

Dead men's boots - Mike Carey

Dark Entries - Ian Rankin

Filthy Rich - Brian Azzarello

Too predictable noir. Not at all what I expect from Azzarello

Preludes Nocturnes - Neil Gaiman

I am a dire wolf, prey-stalking, lethal prowler.
I am a hunter, horse-mounted, wolf-stabbing.
I am a horsefly, horse-stinging, hunter throwing.
I am a spider, fly-consuming , eight legged.
I am a snake, spider-devouring, poison-toothed.
I am an ox, snake-crushing heavy footed.
I am an anthrax, butcher bacterium, warm-life destroying.
I am a world, space-floating, life nurturing.
I am a nova, all exploding, planet-cremating.
I am the universe-- all things encompassing, all life embracing.
I am anti-life, the beast of judgment. I am the dark at the end of everything. The end of universes, gods, worlds ... of everything. And what will you be then dreamlord?
I am hope.

The Book of Lies - Brad Meltzer

Interesting for the Superman fan, a bit too pat as a thriller, and yeah I already knew the secret of immortality.

Google this!

Life Science Research
Clinical Diagnostics
Spectroscopy
Process Separations
Food/Animal/Environment Testing
Life Science Education