Another Good Book - Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

Touching, funny, romantic, great writing, and with a happy ending, I thoroughly recommend it.

Here's the synopsis:

When retired Major Pettigrew strikes up an unlikely friendship with Mrs. Ali, the Pakistani village shopkeeper, he is drawn out of his regimented world and forced to confront the realities of life in the twenty-first century. Brought together by a shared love of literature and the loss of their respective spouses, the Major and Mrs. Ali soon find their friendship on the cusp of blossoming into something more. But although the Major was actually born in Lahore, and Mrs. Ali was born in Cambridge, village society insists on embracing him as the quintessential local and her as a permanent foreigner. The Major has always taken special pride in the village, but will he be forced to choose between the place he calls home and a future with Mrs. Ali?

A book I like: How Risky is it Really

I read this book last year, after a strong  recommendation from Bruce Schneier.  It's a very digestible examination of how humans perceive risk: how we get it right, how our feelings of risk originate, and when they are likely to be inaccurate.  Best of all, it isn't preachy or judgemental, it's an impartial examination that has informed my thinking ever since.

Here' s a link to some excerpts from the author's website.

Specific examples that stood out for me are:

An additional 3000 people died on US roads after 9/11 because more people drove themselves rather than fly in airplanes.

We spend a great deal more on curing cancer than we do on curing heart disease, even though heart disease kills many more people than cancer.

The book provides a framework for understanding why we have made these types of choices, but leaves it up to us to decide if our reasons are nonetheless valid.  In summary: I recommend it!