Fri 14 Mar 2008
I just finished listening to The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. It was a fascinating book. Parts were tragic, of course, and hard to hear. The actual events of 9/11 make up just a small portion of the end of the book, though, and most of it takes place long beforehand. It start in post-WWII Egypt and follows the history of Islamic militants. The author does a great job of mixing history with psychological portraits of the people involved and unlike many non-fiction books this one never feels dry.
In no particular order, here’s a list of other books I’ve read or listened to lately, all of which I enjoyed and recommend:
- Killing Pablo by Mark Bowden.
- The Eyre Affair and Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde.
- In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan.
- Lucky You by Carl Hiaasen.
- The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson.
- The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick.
- The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith.