Julia's Reading List

Some Favorite Books
nonfiction:

• Dolphin Dreamtime, by Jim Nollman.
  I first found a copy of this book in a wonderful used bookstore in New Orleans, under its original title of Animal Dreaming. It is a thoughtful and wonderfully written account of Jim Nollman's travels around the world as he plays music with animals (from turkeys to wolves to, of course dolphins and whales). It is also much more, as Jim writes of his thoughts about nature, ecology, philosophy, art and science... It is deep and inspiring, and enjoyable on many levels. I still like to pick it up and read a paragraph at random every now and then. The author is the founder of Interspecies Communication, Inc.
• Hackers - heroes of the computer revolution, by Steven Levy.
  This classic book gives an account of hackerish computer culture through its first three generations; the 60s MIT hackers, the 70s Cali hardware hackers and the 80s software hackers. It's well-written, thurough and entertaining, and has a special little spot on my bookcase. Levy, by the way, is the same Steven Levy that writes tech articles for Newsweek sometimes. Those are always refreshing to read, since I know he knows what he's talking about, and he's pretty good at giving both sides of various issues a fair chance.
• Education and Ecstasy, by George B. Leonard.
  One of my favorite books, about problems with the schooling system and proposed solutions. Some people would probably consider this one a bit extremist, and even I think it's emotional and idealistic - the two chapters describing a utopian-school system were delightful, but painfully unrealistic. Still, it's an interesting, inspired sort of book. Plenty of food for thought.
• Next of Kin, by Roger Fouts.
  This is one of the best, most touching books that I have read in a long time. In a very personal fashion, it details the story of the lives of both Washoe, the first chimpanzee to be taught (parts of) a human language, and Dr Roger Fouts, her human companion, care-taker, "brother" and advocate--as well as the latter's painful progression from scientist to activist. While I have a particular interest in animal language & cognition research, I would recommend this book to anyone. (My mother heard Dr. Fouts talking on the radio, rushed out, bought it, read it and then told me I had to read it)
• Dove, by Robin Lee Graham. The true story of Robin's four year, solo journy around the world in a 24-foot sloop, beginning in 1965, at the age of 16. He was in National Geographic once, and there was a movie made off of the book, but I haven't seen either of those.. it's a fun read though, of real life young love and adventure at sea, it's got that whole "coming of age" sort of thing going.
• The Continuum Concept, by Jean Leidloff.
  This book has quite a following, and it's inclusion here will doubtless generate an "ah.." of recognition among many. It is a philosophic/anthropologic work on child care. The author discusses her time spent with a particular native tribe in south america.. She thinks that babies should be held by their parents (or occasionally other adults) at all times, sleep with them, breastfeed them, etc. The entire philosophy is much more complex, and while I don't agree with all of it (it bothers me that all her conclusions were drawn from this one tribe, and this one aspect of their lives), it's definitely worth reading.
• Sharing a Robin's Life, by Linda Jones.
  Linda Jones's account of the years she spent with County, a Robin that she raised from a baby, who chose to stay with Linda for much of her (County's) adult life. It is a touching and well written story with some great color photographs of County and her friends, I had a lot of fun with it. Linda's later book, In the Company of Birds was a good read too.

fiction:

• Startide Rising, David Brin.
  This is the second book of the Uplift Series, and comes after "Sundiver". "The Uplift War" is the third book in the trilogy, but naturally there are more Uplift books after that.. "Sundiver" is very good, but "Startide Rising" is exceptional (and it has lots of dolphins in it!), very lucidly and lyrically written with a fairly complex storyline and well developed characters.
• Neuromancer, by William Gibson.
  Speaking of classics... if you haven't read this, read it.
  If you have read it, read it again. What else can I say? Even Timothy Leary loved it...
• Raptor Red, by Robert T. Bakker.
  A strangely compelling tale of a Velociraptor, realistically written, taking into account most of the applicable science. Dr. Bakker himself is an interesting character--a bit on the odd side, tends to get the rest of the scientists annoyed at him, and always has a new, rather wild (but rarely unfounded) theory to shake things up. He writes very well though, and does a good job of bringing Raptor Red and her kin to life. Nice little drawings under the chapter headings too.
• Portrait of Jennie, by Robert Nathan.
  While I'd never heard of this book before the owner of one of my favorite new & used bookshops lent it to me (and haven't since), I gather it's something of a classic. It's an artistic, haunting love story (of sorts) that defies description, but, ah, I liked it. It is sad though.
• Fire and Hemlock, by Diana Wynne Jones.
  I discovered Diana a few years ago in the children's section of the library, and she is one of my favorite authors. I've had a lot of trouble finding her books in bookstores though, perhaps because she lives over there in England somewhere? Anyway, she writes delightfully unusual, entertaining fantasy, and has a special talent for pulling a novel together into the sort of ending that leaves you blinking and mouthing, "wow.. how did that happen?". Fire and Hemlock is especially unusual and rather complicated, but very enjoyable if you can follow it. I just lent it to my mother for the trip to Southampton, and she read it on the plane, in the bed & breakfast before she went to sleep, after she got up, and any spare moments we had. I can't do it justice in explanation, but it's the story of a girl named Polly, rediscovering forgotten, illogical, fantastic childhood memories of a man she made friends with at a funeral she accidentally attended, a musician, and the fantasy world that the two of them created.

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