Mind and life by Pier Luigi Luisi

Discussions between leading scientists with the Dalai Lama and a retinue of monks have been going on since 1989 at Dharmasala, India. This one featured the current cabinet secretary, Steven Chu, and several physicists, geneticists, philosophers, and Buddhist academics. The subject was the origins of reality and attempted to bridge a very fundamental difference of viewpoints. Scientists believe that matter began with the "big bang" coalesced over billions of years, and randomly by evolutionary processes acquired organic properties. Buddhists believe that there was no beginning and have no need for creation or a creator.

The process both agree on is "emergence" which suggests that as anything becomes more complex, certain properties begin to emerge that had no basis in the original "material", and that these properties self organize, and become increasingly complex. Scientists believe that matter led to atoms then molecules than living structures. Buddhists believe that consciousness preceded everything else.

The idea of an epiphenomenon is employed by both. It is an emergent, game changing property that was neither predictable nor inevitable. Science explains that consciousness arose in this manner from very complex molecular neural systems, and Buddhists believe that matter emerged in the same way from consciousness.

The Dalai Lama is extremely intelligent and conversant in all manner of scientific theory. It is not clear how much this is dependent on the translators. One wonders for example, how the distinction between a nucleotide and a nucleic acid; or a quantum and a quark is maintained in the Tibetan language. Another problem is the profound deference and respect shown by both sides toward the other. This prevents any degree of argument or insistence, but does lead to a great deal of convergence.

The most hopeful element is that such meetings are regularly scheduled, and that as so often happens otherwise, differences of fundamental core beliefs do not lead to argument, schism and armed conflict. If other protagonists approached their differences similarly, the benefit would be profound.

Look again by Lisa Scottoline

Three years ago, journalist Ellen Gleeson met a seriously ill, abandoned infant in a hospital while gathering information for an article she was writing. The young, single woman's heart went out to the baby and she adopted him. Life was great until a post card featuring Timothy Braverman, a missing child arrived in her mail. Ellen looked at the boy’s age-progressed picture and nearly fell over. The face staring back at her looked exactly like her adopted son, Will. Ellen knew her son's adoption was legal, but the face on the postcard dug deep into her thoughts. She became obsessed with the missing child and with looking into Will’s background. She was terrified to think that Will could be the missing child, but she had to know. Looking into Will’s past gets this taut thriller moving like a roller coaster ride. First Ellen discovers that the attorney who handled Will's adoption has suddenly and unexpectedly committed suicide. From then on every lead Ellen follows is driven with shocking revelations, mayhem, murder and the possibility of Ellen losing her son.

Dreaming in French by Megan McAndrew

Charlotte Sanders is a privileged 15 year old American girl living in 1970’s Paris in this coming-of-age story by Megan McAndrew. Charlotte’s expatriate family includes Frank, her lawyer father, Astrid, her bohemian, free spirited mother, and her beautiful but aloof older sister, Lea. The family leads a charmed life of parties, Parisian cafes, private schools and shopping until Astrid has an affair with a Polish dissident involved in the Solidarity Movement. When Astrid makes the mistake of following her lover to Warsaw, she is promptly arrested and the news of her infidelities becomes public to her husband and daughters. Charlotte’s idyllic life comes to an abrupt end when her parents divorce and she moves to Manhattan with her mother. Forced to grow up fast with little guidance from her mother, Charlotte sets out to reinvent herself. This is a wonderfully well-written novel that will make you both laugh and cry.

Studs Terkel's Working adapted by Harvey Pekar

Harvey Pekar, the master of the mundane, the king of the quotidian, is the perfect match for a graphic interpretation of Studs Terkel's famous book. The subjects are all working people; not totally identified by their occupations, but able to make the details of their work relatable. Pekar does this in all of his writing, even those that are about people other than himself.

The jobs are varied, but the sincerity is not. Some are engaged in declining work - farm workers and coal miners. There are a couple of union organizers, very much in keeping with the author and adapters slightly leftist politics. Some are people we encounter daily with little thought, such as a waitress, bar pianist, a garbage collector and mail carrier. Others have jobs we rarely consider at all: stone cutter and greenhouse workers. And finally, a couple have jobs we all know exist, but are likely to be curious about the people that do them: a prostitute and a grave digger. To round out the choices, there is a woman of independent means that discusses idleness.

We discover that not all work brings dignity, and much is despised. There is also pride and emotional reward. It seems apparent that Studs Terkel and Harvey Pekar are people whose work in examining the everyday has elevated it to art.

What I saw and how I lied by Judy Blundell

It is 1947. Fifteen year old Evie Spooner is thrilled to have her step-father Joe return from the war, but there are adjustments to make. Evie’s gorgeous mother Bev is forced to give up her job to be a full-time housewife. The family lives with Joe’s mother, Grandma Glad, a sourpuss old woman who clearly doesn’t approve of Bev. Joe, caught in the middle, is hot for Bev, but overly devoted to his mother. When friction develops between the women, Joe suggests a family vacation to Palm Beach Florida. Grandma Glad stays home. The Spooners arrive after their long, hot drive to find the resort off-season and nearly empty. With only a handful of guests, Evie’s family become fast friends with Arlene and Tom Grayson, a wealthy business couple who encourage Joe to become partners with them in a new hotel business. Peter Coleridge, an ex-GI who served in Joe’s army unit arrives too. Peter is 25 years-old and really good looking. Joe is not the least bit happy to see him, but Evie is convinced Peter will be the love of her life. At this point in the story, with all the characters introduced, the plot twists with secrets, lies, racism, greed, sex, and a suspicious death.

"What I Saw and How I Lied" won the National Book Award for 2008.

Introducing Foucault by Chris Horrocks

This one is really a graphic non-novel. Because of it reliance on images, text is presented as mostly captions and speech bubbles. The images are generally that of Foucault's contemporaries, or because of his primary interest in history - that of figures representative of the appropriate time period.

Unlike the Fillingham book about Foucault reviewed elsewhere, this one approaches themes as aphoristic bullet points. Accordingly, also unlike the other book, there is more emphasis on the dramatic event, disagreement, and even news story. Foucault's homosexuality is less integrated than in the other book. Here it is used to explain images of him in leather or with lovers rather than as one of many possible means of exploring his thought.

Because of the images of Foucault with the famous and infamous, his cultural importance is emphasized often at the cost of illustrating his academic importance. Therefore, the two books compliment each other and both have worthwhile and suggestive bibliographies.

Push : a novel by Sapphire

Push seemed so real I forgot it was fiction. Precious is a 16 year old girl with a life so hard your heart breaks. She's been abused and molested since she was very young. She's pregnant for the second time with her father's baby. Her first baby was born when she was twelve. Precious hates herself. She doesn't know why her life is the way it is, but she thinks she must be bad or her life would be different. She acts like a tough girl to protect herself from people who make fun of her and mistreat her. But inside she hurts. She wants things "normal" girls have, like a boyfriend and friends. She wants to be a good mother. She wants to be independent. She can't read, and up until now, teachers have ignored her rather than try to help her. Then a school counselor enrolls Precious in an alternative school program. There Precious has a teacher who is welcoming, encouraging and determined to "push" Precious to read, write and turn her life around. Precious tells her story in her own words and in journal entries. Her language is raw. Her spelling is crude but improves as Precious learns to read and write. Push is intense. Simple yet deep, disturbing but fascinating. The book has been made into a film called Precious.