The Periodic Table

By Primo Levi

He is one of my favorite writers. Though I'm amazed at the diversity of writing quality I find in his books. I don't remember seeing that when I was reading him in Hebrew, so it leads me to assume that the English translations vary in quality. That is not to say that they are by any means bad, it's just that they don't always flow as well sometimes.
In this case, it definitely took me longer to read this book in English than it did in Hebrew, and it's not only because English is not my mother tongue. However, I still liked most of the stories, and the last one - the story of the a carbon atom - will possibly play some role in the Biology class I will be teaching next semester. We shall see. [240 pp.]


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Scroogenomics

By Joel Waldfogel

I know it sounds like "screw genomics", but it's actually an economics book that describes how gift giving, especially to people that are not close to you, can destroy a lot of value. The solution - improved retailer gift cards and charity gift cards. Read it if you are worried about what gifts to buy to all those people you have to buy gifts on Christmas! [173 pp.]

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