Books

29. Love my Rifle More than You: Young and Female in the US Army by Kayla Williams
I first read about this book here. The link goes to an excellent blog, BTW, so check it out.

Like the subtitle says, this book is by a female soldier in the army, who serves in the most recent Iraq war. More than anything I have read, this book really made me understand why a young, educated woman might join the army, and how screwed up the military is. It seems obvious now, but before reading this book I really didn't think about how the army was organization like any other, and there would obviously be bad bosses in it, just like anywhere else. One of the anecdotes in the book really brought to me that while my bad boss in my job might piss me off, or cause something small to not happen, a bad boss in the army could cost you your life. Anyway, I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. I felt like Williams's writing style really made me feel like she was just talking to friends about her experience, and really let me feel it with her. It was also very thought-provoking.

30. Hybrids by Robert J. Sawyer
The third book of the Neanderthal parallax. I really liked some of the ways in which the characters developed in this one, and liked that the author put in a less-than rosy response to the finding of the Neanderthal world. Like the other books, this explores lots of interesting ideas about what it is to be human and I was sad it is the end of the series. I would like him to write more.