I enjoyed reading this, but was also disappointed by what I saw as its anti-science, pro-mysticism message, which I felt does discredit to the magical possibilities (especially narrative) of science.

Great book about translation, and how the problems inherent in translation shed light on so many aspects of intelligence. Hofstadter chooses one small poem, written in French, and discusses all the ways it could be translated, with 100 (I think it's 100) examples provided. As with most of his work, it's about far more than its ostensible subject, however. Hofstadter is the consummate generalist, finding interesting and unique connections everywhere he goes.

Quite possibly the most life changing book I ever read. Witty, enlightening, challenging, mind-stretching. It's about the nature of intelligence, and, almost as a side project, the prospects for artificial intelligence.

One of my favorite things is how Hofstadter has managed to find a balance between the technical aspects of AI and placing information into an accessible, layperson's framework.

Tip-top on the list of books with self-describing titles. Eggers takes the funny, self-referential spirit of the McSweeney's world and manages to give it some some serious meat for an extended run. This would fall flat were it merely a postmodernist exercise, but it turns out be very substantial, which gives the self referential humor some room to operate.