I generally loathe the winter holidays; winter in general, in fact. I prefer with no exceptions 105-degree weather over any day with a temperature below 60. And winter in Reno is bizarrely unpredictable. We can have more than a foot of snow one day and be wearing shorts in 60-degree sun the next. In the middle of January.

I once drove through a blizzard on the I-80 pass from California to Reno in early June. The variation, and the climate’s associated winter sports, are not for me. One day, retirement pending, Deb and I (and the animals) will have a winter home further south. Hopefully that day will be tomorrow, or the next.

In the meantime, after a couple months of ultimately mind-numbing research journal reading – I just turned in my doctoral comp exam, part of my dissertation – I’m back on a reading kick.

Here’s my list that I hope will make it through January, when I have to pick up the journals full steam again.

• Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer. I recently completed Krakauer’s lesser known Under the Banner of Heaven, about the Mormon faith, its history and its offshoots. Krakauer, in typical journalistic fashion, takes – and creates – trails that perhaps wouldn’t be explored elsewhere with the result being both an emphasis on things otherwise ignored in the mainstream media, and the potential for misappropriating facts. Krakauer regularly enjoys controversy as a result of his books, and I fully expect this to be the case with Where Men Win Glory. I’m also partially intrigued by the notion that the government parades Tillman’s death as a PR stunt despite Tillman’s ominous forecast of exactly that being the case, should he die in combat.
• How to Relax Without Getting the Axe: A Survival Guide to the New Workplace by Stanley Bing. I read the previous iteration of this book just over a year ago and giggled myself silly at Bing’s wit and wisdom. Unlike Ferriss’ Four-Hour Workweek, Bing has practical – if not a little dangerous – advice on how to work as if you are retired. Plus he’s funny. Really funny. Supposedly this new version is rewritten with a recession economy in mind.
• What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell. I’m not sure what else can be said about Gladwell; he’s a non-fiction genius and possesses a rare trait among journalists – taking complex science and turning it into an exciting tale that forces you to rethink your very existence. I got this on audio for the commute, and I can’t wait.
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. There are some days when I have to just kill people. That’s what the Xbox is for. Call of Duty 4 was stellar, but I haven’t touched my Xbox in months. Today that changes.

Enjoy your winter. I’ll be inside.

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