On My Radar (Penguin Edition)

  Penguin has a few books this week that look interesting:

First up is a book that you maybe surprised to find that I have an interest in reviewing: My Father at 100 by Ron Reagan.   Ronald Reagan is the president that made me a liberal Democrat.  While his demeanor may have been grandfatherly, his policies were as mean as Fitzgerald's Tom Buchanan.  There is no limit to the amount to the disgust I have for Ronald Reagan's politics.

However, this book is right in my strike zone because of the father-son connection.  Reagan's namesake, his son Ron, has written this as a 100th birthday gift to his dad.  Ron, who was usually at odds with his father on politics (sounds familiar), apparently doesn't shy from the negative as he tries to deliver a well-rounded story for the reader.

This book is getting a lot of press due to the author's assertion that his father had begun to show signs of Alzheimer's Disease when he was in office.  This assertion is not hard to believe for those of us who saw his performance that last couple of years.

Publisher Website 


Also out this week is Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World by Jane McGonigal.  Ms. McGonigal believes that games can "solve real-world problems and boost global happiness."

The theme of her book seems to be that gamers are problem solvers who work together to solve virtual problems and that these skills can be used in the real world also.  The author also helped develop a genre of games which social problems can be solved by playing them.

From the author's website:

McGonigal persuasively argues that those who continue to dismiss games will be at a major disadvantage in the coming years. Gamers, on the other hand, will be able to leverage the collaborative and motivational power of games in their own lives, communities, and businesses. Written for gamers and nongamers alike, Reality Is Brokenshows us that the future will belong to those who can understand, design, and play games.

And finally, new in paperback this week is Winter of Our Disconnect: How Three Totally Wired Teenagers (And a Mother Who Slept with her iPhone) Pulled the Plug on Their Technology and Lived to Tell the Tale by Susan Maushart.

Some would argue the subtitle above constitutes child abuse, but I can see it as a great plot device for what is, according to the author, a tribute to Thoreau's Walden.  Any book which uses Henry David's masterpiece as its inspiration gets a look from me.  And since I love. love, love tongue-in-cheek memoirs, I'm betting this one will be one I'd like.

Book Website