Reader’s Diary

Timothy Ferris

This book about is nominally about amateur astronomy but it’s really three books in one cover. First, it’s a journalistic and historical account of a wide range of amateur astronomers. Second, it’s a memoir of Ferris’ own experiences as an amateur. Third, it’s popular science book about different aspects of astronomy. It’s a good book, but Ferris seems to switch “books” just when things are getting really interesting. The reader is left wanting to know more about each theme.

The accounts about various amateurs are the most interesting parts of the book. They come from various backgrounds and bring varying degrees of money, education, and sophistication to their avocation. Reading about people who do something for the love of it (the origin of the word “amateur”) is inspiring. The memoir is scattered throughout the book and, while it gives the book a personal voice, would be better as a stand-alone work. The popular science content is sufficient to provide background information, but I wish some of the space given to astronomical facts had been given to astronomical people.

Lawrence Donegan

What’s a Scottish writer doing in a California used car lot? In Lawrence Donegan’s case, he’s gathering material for a very funny book. This is a slice-of-life look at the lives of several used car salesman and a humorous account of Donegan’s transformation from clueless immigrant to clueless salesman. But it’s not all laughs as there’s a certain amount of everyday pathos in the lives of his customers and co-workers, and Donegan isn’t entirely comfortable with his own transformation.

William C. Deitz

Aliens invading the Earth isn’t exactly an original plot line. William C. Deitz doesn’t let that get in the way of a action-packed tale of defeat and resistance. But Dietz cheats the reader, who has to await the sequel to discover the plot’s resolution. Despite some pretentious attempts at “relevancy” (a race subplot that contributes nothing to the book), “Deathday” is good pulp science fiction.

David Weinberger

This collection of philosophical essays on the Web might have been interesting 5 years ago. Now, however, the reader of these obvious observations cloaked in heavy-handed prose is left wondering if Weinberger has been in asleep for the last several years and just woke up to discover the Internet.

Julian Stockwin

This is the second of Stockwin’s novels about British sailor Thomas Kydd. “Artemis”, Kydd’s new ship, is a frigate with an aggressive captain. After a battle early in the book Kydd goes home to help his family but discovers that he is no longer the wigmaker who was pressed into service; he has become a sailor and he misses the sea. He returns to “Artemis” as it’s leaving on a journey to India and China, a journey that will ultimately lead to the South Pacific and Cape Horn.

In some ways this is a typical novel about the 19th century Royal Navy, but Stockwin’s focus on a somewhat naive sailor rather than on an officer distinguishes it from the pack.

Jim Wright

Jim Wright is a sociologist who set out to study NASCAR fans. This might have resulted in a dry and condescending book but for the fact that Wright is a fan himself. As a result, this is as much an entertaining memoir as it is an academic study. NASCAR fans probably won’t find much new here, but it’s interesting and entertaining for the rest of us. More interesting and entertaining than NASCAR itself, I have to say, but I’m a Formula 1 snob at heart.