Xmas vacation reading

Reading list from this trip:

The Ghost Map - Steven Johnson This was really good. No, I wouldn’t have expected an account of the 1854 London Cholera outbreak to be so engaging. It’s good journalism - he finds both the human stories and the grander themes. Intrepid detective work mixes with sweeping views of the world of microbes and the rise of urban civilization.

The Eyre Affair - Jasper Fforde This was better than I expected it to be. I was figuring on a mildly entertaining, tongue-in-cheek literary fanboy romp. It breaks out of that mold by being really pretty hard-boiled. There’s a lot of whimsy in the set up, but it plays out in a fairly gritty way.

The Undercover Economist - Tim Harford A well-written intro to economics in theory and practice. Mostly stuff I knew, but probably great for someone who doesn’t want to plow through The Wealth of Nations.

Longitude - Dava Sobel Good, quick read on the development of the clocks that allowed longitude to be measured accurately. Does a good job of explaining what a huge deal that was. It was extra cool for me, because I got to go to Greenwich a couple days later to see the orginal clocks.

The Apothecary’s House - Adrian Mathews I really enjoyed this. Modern day mystery set in Amsterdam. Long and richly detailed, but a fast read.

Silence of the Grave - Arnaldur Indridason A murder mystery set in Iceland. Basically well done, but it certainly didn’t leave me wanting more. Read Smila’s Sense of Snow instead.