When I was a teenager I’d get in the car to go out with my friends and immediately the thrill of possibility would course through my bloodstream. Someone would begin the mantra and we’d all join in – “The night is young and so are we!” I didn’t know what we’d be doing and I didn’t care because everything was fresh and exciting.
That’s how I still feel about books. Each one represents a different adventure, and just looking at them gets my blood pumping. If the one I’m reading happens to fall short, I just pick up another.
I got to spend some time tonight at the free bookstore, by which I mean the library. I’ve decided to make one of the main characters in my novel a physicist, and I’m modeling him after Richard Feynman.
Here’s my (ridiculously ambitious) take-home reading stack:
Research:
The Pleasure of Finding Things Out—R. Feynman
QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter—R. Feynman
“What Do You Care What Other People Think?”—R. Feynman
The Universe in a Nutshell—Stephen Hawking
Introducing the Universe—F. Pirani and C. Roche
Breaking the Time Barrier—J. Randles
Research for an aforementioned problem (both recommended by friends):
The Engine 2 Diet—R. Esselstyn
The Abs Diet for Women—D. Zinczenko
Book Club:
Missing Mom—Joyce Carol Oates
Fun:
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance—R. Pirsig
The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook—J. Piven
Time and Reality in the Thought of the Maya—M. Leon-Portilla
Notes from a Small Island—B. Bryson
I’m a little giddy. The night is young.
