So many books, so little time

I will never wish for a debilitating disease or injury, but I see small advantages in having one.  Were I confined to a bed, I would have little else to do than read. 

Between the library, used book stores, and Borders going out of business sales, I've come into quite a few books.  Two I've read, err..."thoroughly skimmed through," one I've yet to get to, and one that I've yet to acquire but it looks interesting.

Inside WikiLeaks: My Time With Julian Assange and the World's Most Dangerous Website by Daniel Domscheit-Berg.

Domscheit-Berg was once the right-hand man of Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks.  Assange later branded him a "traitor" and barred him from the organization.  The author paints a portrait of his former friend as an eccentric autocrat with a weakness for women.  Domscheit-Berg eventually became disenchanted with Assange's lack of transparency in the organization (ironic) and his continual practice of iron-handed power.  It's a quick and captivating read that at times comes off like a spy thriller, but one is left wondering how much of it is accurate.  Assange may be a bit off, but the author has an obvious axe to grind.

Wonders in the Sky: Unexplained Aerial Phenomenon From Antiquity to Modern Times by Jacques Vallee and Chris Aubeck.  Vallee is a legend in UFO studies and interestingly enough, he is not a big supporter of the extraterrestrial hypothesis.  These reasons alone were enough to get me to check out the book.  Wonders in the Sky is essentially a compendium of bizarre aerial sightings and encounters with non-humans from the dawn of time.  If nothing else, the research demonstrates one fact and that is people have been seeing UFOs ever since history was first recorded.  While the detailed cases can obviously be explained or written off as many other things, it is not the point of Vallee and his co-author to assert that each of these cases are true or are indications of otherworldly phenomenon.  Instead, the central idea is that these things have been happening not just since 1947, but throughout all time.  Most interesting of all, the descriptions of the craft/beings sighted almost always mirror the cultural memes of the era.

Eclipse: A Song Called Youth by John Shirley.  Found this one at the local used bookstore.  John Shirley is an icon amongst cyberpunk aficionados and this is said to be one of his finest novels.  The bombed out ashes of Europe, a totalitarian dystopia, and rock 'n' roll rebels.  How can you go wrong?  Will post a review once I've read it.

The Orion Protocol by Gary Tigerman.  Saw this in the store but decided to come back for it another time.  It's a novel about what happens when the U.S. government's alien coverup gets blown open and what the true purpose is for a defense shield called Project Orion.  Missing Mars probes, NASA astronauts, and UFO lore together suggest this to be an entertaining read.  And I've got to find out if the writer's name really is "Tigerman."



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