Turning Pages

Books I'd like to read in the upcoming months (in addition to my Statistics book- sigh):

Le Petit Prince (en francais) by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
The Witch of Portobello by Paulo Coelho
The Alchemist (this time in English) by Paulo Coelho

Books I've read in the last year (with my accompanying rating), in no particular order (yes, it has taken me a year to get through all of these; but remember my leisure reading runs simultaneously with browsing The Economist and The Ensign ):
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte ****
The Supreme Court: The Personalities and Rivalries that Defined America by Jeffrey Rosen ***
The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride *** 1/2
Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas ****
Freedomnomics: Why the Free Market Works and Other Half-Baked Theories Don't by John R. Lott Jr. **
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriett Beecher Stowe ****
The Known World by Edward P. Jones ***
French Women for All Seasons by Mireille Guiliano ***
The Chosen by Chaim Potok ****
Wicked by Gregory Maguire **
The Trouble with Africa: Why Foreign Aid Isn't Working by Robert Calderisi ****

Despite what all the links may lead you to believe, I only own one of these books (L'Alchemist). The rest I get from a lovely little place called a ~*library*~. One of the happiest places on earth. Marc and I began frequenting the New Haven Public Library not only for books but also for free movies, back in our poorest days of my grad school years. Today, we frequent the Free Library of Philadelphia. I think the name is redundant: aren't all libraries free? But, if they are going for emphasis, great... many a person in Philadelphia should be attracted to such a term and make a visit. If I were ever unemployed and not in school (oh, wait! I've done that... right after I graduated from grad school!), I would definitely spend hours and hours in the air conditioned (or heated- depending on the season) library of whatever city in which I reside. It makes perfect sense. Safety, internet, tables and couches, good lighting, a place to get out of the cold (or heat), and knowledge... lots and lots of free knowledge.

Of course, this reminds me of the conversation in Good Will Hunting:

Clark: No, no, no, no! There's no problem here. I was just hoping you might give me some insight into the evolution of the market economy in the southern colonies. My contention is that prior to the Revolutionary War, the economic modalities, especially in the southern colonies, could be most aptly described as agrarian precapitalist.

Chuckie: Let me tell you something -

Will: Of course that's your contention. You're a first-year grad student; you just got finished reading some Marxian historian, Pete Garrison probably. You're gonna be convinced of that 'till next month when you get to James Lemon. Then you're going to be talking about how the economies of Virginia and Pennsylvania were entrepreneurial and capitalist way back in 1740. That's gonna last until next year; you're gonna be in here regurgitating Gordon Wood, talkin' about, you know, the pre-revolutionary utopia and the capital-forming effects of military mobilization.

Clark: Well, as a matter of fact, I won't, because Wood drastically underestimates the impact of social -

Will: "Wood drastically underestimates the impact of social distinctions predicated upon wealth, especially inherited wealth"? You got that from Vickers' "Work in Essex County," page 98, right? Yeah, I read that too. Were you gonna plagiarize the whole thing for us? Do you have any thoughts of your own on this matter? Or do you, is that your thing, you come into a bar, read some obscure passage and then pretend - you pawn it off as your own, as your own idea just to impress some girls, embarrass my friend?

Clark: [looks down in shame]

Will: See, the sad thing about a guy like you is, in 50 years you're gonna start doin' some thinkin' on your own and you're going to come up with the fact that there are two certainties in life: one, don't do that, and two, you dropped 150 grand on a f***in' education you could have got for a dollar fifty in late charges at the public library!

Of course, I've participated in both parts of that conversation. I've dropped nearly 150 grand and I've also had my share of late charges at the public library. All in the name of knowledge and experience. I regret neither of those expenditures. Read on!