The 4-Hour Body

How's this for a new year's book, resolution and all! It's no wonder I like this book; the author thinks like I think and writes like I'd like to write. I asked Matt why a 600-page book to explain a 4-hour-per-week program... Actually, the author explains this right off the bat - you can read about 150-page sets (he has four such sets depending on what you want to accomplish) and get everything you need. The rest is the science, the anecdotes, the background for those who care. Learn about predisposed versus predestined, minimum effect dose, why a calorie isn't a calorie, the B.S. in marketers' speak about diet programs, and taking pictures of what you eat (with your cell phone) rather than keeping a food journal. Learn about Slow Carbs. You'll really like binge day, and you'll be surprised how often it comes around. And don't forget the 10-20 minutes twice a week with a kettlebell - it's practically a miracle exercise.

Free Play

Subtitled: Improvisation in Life and Art. An engaging book about collaborative improvisation. Collaborating with others, with Nature, with your unconscious. A gifted teacher improvises within a framework that involves herself, the students, and their environment - to great effect! Musicians will delight in his descriptions of creating wondrous music; the author is a violinist and makes many a point with his stringed journeys.If only simplicity weren't the most difficult thing in the world...

Empires of Trust

I thought I knew something about the Roman Empire and how the United States is following the same path. I didn't. And before you think you've got it all down, too, I'd suggest reading this book. There have not been many "empires of trust," find out the stuff they're made of and the good they do for the world.

Jamie

The Elegant Universe

This book is so well written that I actually began to understand some of the more complex topics of cosmology: superstrings, hidden dimensions, etc. It's about String Theory, and while maybe a little outdated at this point (10 years old), it's so clearly written as to remain extremely valuable. I've read many books on cosmology; this is the best so far.

Jamie

Broke

An excellent summary of what our forefathers tried to do, how we've let the government take us astray, and how to get freedom and prosperity (they go together) back. An open-minded American of any party persuasion can benefit from this read.

Jamie

Lone Survivor

An amazing story of how a Navy Seal trained and went into battle outnumbered hundreds to four - and became the one of the four to survive. It's the survivor's story told in his own words. It was hard to put down...

Jamie

The Man Who Found Time

Having an affinity for geology, this one readily caught my attention. James Hutton never really received the well-known-ness that Galileo, Copernicus, and Darwin did; but he should have. Hutton discovered that time went back much farther than was held in that day, and found the geological proof for that. An image of the unconformity at Siccar Point is often my computer's wallpaper. Great, quick read.

Jamie