Book Buzz

• Rick Shenkman appeared on The Daily Show and The Diane Rehm Show this week promoting his book Just How Stupid Are We? Americans are stupid? Just take a look at the man we have kept in office for the last eight years, and you’ll have your answer.

• Actually, we can’t be that stupid because Leonard Mlodinow’s The Drunkard’s Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives is currently #18 on Amazon’s bestsellers list. The New York Times Sunday Book Review describes the book as “a readable crash course in randomness and statistics.” Who knew math could be so fun? Or maybe it’s just the kind of book kids buy for Father’s Day.

• The cover of Stephenie Meyer’s Breaking Dawn has finally been revealed. Phew. I’m just thanking my lucky stars the book comes out before I move to Turkey.

• Speaking of fantasy, check out Booklist’s “Top 10 SF/Fantasy for Youth: 2008.” I’ve only read one book, but I’ve thought about reading two others (that counts, right?). If reading is too difficult, Booklist also features the “Top 10 SF/Fantasy Audiobooks: 2008.”

• I browsed the book section at Costco yesterday. It was like entering a reader’s crack den. I wanted to buy every book—and at such reasonable prices. I was particularly interested in Douglas Preston’s The Monster of Florence about an Italian serial killer. My instincts must be good because Amazon has the book listed as one of this month’s best. Actually, my instincts are terrible. I instead bought Confessions of a Jane Austin Addict. Fifty pages in, I already know I made the wrong decision.