The must read- have a cookie- August list

I am enjoying non-fiction. Seems much of the best writing by Americans is in the nonfiction genre - so please look at "1491; North and South America before Columbus". For people who like intellectual history and math for nonprofessionals you will enjoy a book by Charles Seife;"Decoding the Universe". I urge all to look into Argentina's great writer, Jorge Luis Borges, especially his short essays. "Other Inquisitions 1937-1952" has lots of good ones. He is clever, original and erudite. He is somewhat ignored now, but he is such an exceptional thinker, that soon his name will again be on all tongues. I urge all to read one hour or more a day. You can get books from me for good prices.

august neglect

Dear fans and fellow escapists,I spent august cleaning the store.I am planning a trip, Spain? elephants and verdant gardens in Thailand, maybe bank busting Paris- a must see? Christmas in Quebec city. Well I have yet to decide. I pray the people of U.S. learn the real value of money, by experiencing an inevitable capitalist meltdown(let down). Deluded lottery hopefuls(seems like most Americans)will only learn the truth, that their leaders lie, if they get hurt. sad. Wealth is not a portfolio. Stop those trips to the casino,and the bank of equity loans, and paint your house,educate yourself and others, than learn to enjoy living in 2500 or less square feet. Stop using gasoline, plant a garden and boycott fast food and large waste basket stores. We all know that only the rich get home made cookies.

current recommended novelist

Knut Hamson-- oh what power and from simple direct prose. One of his lasts works, about being old and looking at dying leaves, is one of the finest statements ever about aging and artistic,creative, efforts. I like "growth of the soil" as well. Also; Ha Jin chinese american super prose master of the reverberating power of the simple- direct style

all tangled in the wire of wireless phones

ouch oh wait what how much gee no i can't well maybe roaming -- on and on please has any one the answer or is too much choice breaking the average consumer?

top reads of july

omnivore's dilemma
michael pollan

may this book mark the beginning of the end of high fructose corn syrup. i note that one of the great american writers of the last 20 years, barbara kingsolver, has decided to return to the great rural tradition of america and grow her and her family's own food. my congratulations to her. may we all be as enlightened.

related reading here: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/06/opinion/06mcwilliams.html

oil on the brain
lisa margonelli

i was particularly taken by the revisit to the facts of the late 70s and how well the average american, with help from the government, cut oil consumption by up to 30%. wow, what's happened to us? anyway, this is a very thoughtful, interesting account of how oil has invaded the veins of modern life to such a degree that it's now poisoning us.