Thomas Friedman's "Hot, Flat, and Crowded"

Thomas Friedman's new book, "Hot, Flat and Crowded" has received a pretty big response from a wide variety of reading groups, but no group has focused on the book more than people interested in exploring the major issues affecting our world and our environment at this point in the twenty-first century: global warming, over-population, disease, famine, the socio-global economy.

TLH has not read the book yet, but it's definitely on the "TO DO LIST." It has been widely discussed on different blogs and in different scientific and literary forums, including RichardDawkins.net.

One blogger and active critic of Friedman's book (and of Friedman himself) is Rolling Stone writer Matt Taibbi, who has a rather scathing critique of Friedman on his blog site. Take a look here:The Smirking Chimp.

1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die

The Internet is filled with book lists and, if you're anything like me, you've seen a bunch of them -- some are good, some are not so good -- and then there are the ones which are truly valuable. The "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die" is definitely a keeper.

The 1001 book List charts the progression of the novel through history, and that is its main concern. Accordingly, you won't find Shakespeare's plays listed, since the focus is on the novel. You will, however, find a long list of very good contemporary fiction; and a compilation of tales which moves the method of story-telling and narrative technique forward (Aesop's Fables), backward (Martin Amis' "Times Arrow"), and -- in some cases -- attempts to do away with it all together (see Samuel Beckett).

Here's the link from "Listology" for your perusal:

1001 Books to Read Before You Die.