Lautner by Barbara-Ann Campbell-Lange

A book on the architect John Lautner published by Taschen. The owner of Taschen actually owns Lautner's most famous building the Chemosphere, which has featured in the film Charlie's Angels. As an architect Lautner specialised in private homes, so most of his designs are inaccessible to the general public. They have however featured prolifically in films and popular culture. The Elrod Residence for example featured in Diamonds are Forever.

This is a decent and very reasonably priced book. Reading about architecture is rather like dancing about philosoply. The text is a a little sketchy, I would have liked to read more about his early life. The photos do suffer a seventies aesthetic. The recent documentary by Murray Grigor makes these building seem far more alluring.

However, for the money, this is a decent introduction to one of my favourite architects. Also nice to see Frances Anderton of the Design and Architecture podcast mentioned in the credits.

If nothing else, I would recommend checking out the trailer to the Murray Grigor documentary.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lautner-Taschen-Basic-Barbara-Ann-Campbell-Lange/dp/3822839620/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269790488&sr=8-2

Dreams of my father by Barack Obama

I picked this up at the railway station and have been reading it for some time. At Christmas I had four books on the go, and I have been steadily trying to rationalise down from that.

Anyway this is an outstandingly well written and thoughtfull book. It is not really an autobiography, he writes perceptively about others, but tells us little about himself or his opinions. It is not a book about what he believes or what he did, it is about him figuring out what it is to be black.

The book could quite easily be edited down, and although it is very well written it is probably a bit too confusing for the average reader to really keep up with all the different characters.

However this is all rather irrelevant now, it is a book written by the first black president of the USA. What does it tell us about him? He is a decent and thoughtful person, someone who cares, too educated to fit in easily with people in the slums, too concerned to fit in with the well to do, his family are a consistent, welcoming and positive influence on his life. On the basis of this book, Obama is a truly exceptional candidate for president of the USA. History will come to its own judgement on his merits as president, but it is to America's credit that they could put aside racism and elect him.

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

I remember reading this when I was at school, and it was one of my favourite science fictions books. One of my daughters was reading some Bradbury short stories at school and I mentioned what a good book the Martian Chronicles was. So, next time I saw it in a book shop, I bought her a copy.

Anyway my daughter read it quickly (always a good sign) and liked it. I've just finished re-reading it myself, and I still think it is wonderful. The descriptive passages are beautifully written, it is a book to leave you with a head full of images. It is essentially a collection of short stories, often with a wry twist at the end. This is not a malign universe, but one that is largely indifferent to our fate. Bradbury comes across as someone who cares deeply, with profound sympathies and an abiding wish that we could just be better people.

Highly recommended.

Justice

You wake up in a strange room, you remember that you are a serial killer, you have killed countless people. Indeed you are surrounded by the paraphanalia of a serial killer, bloody knifes, photos of corpses, the whole room is splattered with blood.

Do you

(a) continue your life as a serial killer

(b) stop killing people

(c) immediately go to the police and confess to your crimes.

You wake up in a strange room, you remember that you are not a serial killer, you see a jury of your peers before you. You chose option (c), they congratulate you on your high moral standards and release you back into the community where you will live for another hundred years.

:59 Seconds by Professor Richard Wiseman

A thoroughly entertaining book about self help with a scientific perspective that attempts to answer the challenge of providing you with real techniques that you can understand in less than a minute to make yourself happier.

Not only that, reading the book manages to make you feel happier, it is light and positive with just the right element of challenge. Like having some helpful older relative offering you some decent advice.

There is an exercise towards the start that takes a while to complete, but it is definitely worth working through, and does not require a major investment of time and energy.

innuendo

isn't it apt that the word innuendo, is actually, a bit, like, well, you know,

a bit of an innuendo itself,

BLDG BLOG by Geoff Manaugh

I have just finished reading the BLDG BLOG by Geoff Manaugh, named after the selfsame blog at

http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/

I was really excited to get it as a Christmas present, and it was perfect reading fodder for a lazy and largely sofa bound Christmas break. It is brim full of architectural conjecture, full as only something drawn from a blog can be. The author shoots off on a myriad of conjectures, moving cities, floating cities, weather as a weapons. These are conjectures, sketching out possible futures, possible fictions.

Manaugh seems to care more for buildings than for people, but he is a warm and witty writer. This book is good company.

All in all the book is an attractive and enticing package, well illustrated throughout, episodice and endearing. Even if you are familiar with the blog, the book is a much better book than you might imagine, being much more than just a collation of blog postings. It hangs together well and reads smoothly.

Altogether recommended.