December 31, 2007 -- Monday afternoon

Reading The Little Book of Common Sense Investing, by John Bogle, which he got from his boss at work.

Books he's more excited about--Waiting for the Barbarians, by J.M. Coetzee, which is based on genocide in Rawanda and is a look at trauma; Johnny Got His Gun, by Dalton Trumbo, an anti-war book. Both, he said, are dark and not a lot of fun.

When he was a kid he really liked sci-fi, especially Dune, by Frank Herbert and Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card. Orson Scott Card, he said, claims that his books push Mormonism....though he doesn't quite get it.

He doesn't read sci-fi much anymore. He's trying to be more scholarly, read things he wants to have conversations about.