Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman.
I'm 60% of the way through, and what I've read already qualifies this as the best book of its kind I've ever read. Written for a wide audience, but everything is rigorously and clearly explained. Kahneman does not insult you with silly metaphors or weak attempts to connect the material to current events, but the discussion is lively, and there are many fun and useful examples. The reader gets to answer psychology study questions for himself--Kahneman's subsequent explanations make it easy to quickly understand the issue at hand. If you care about your mind and want to know more about it, read this book.
Mr. Nice, Howard Marks.
I've just begun this true-crime story about the notorious British marijuana smuggler. Entertaining so far, though some of it is very difficult to believe--some of the stories just fit together too nicely. But I'm looking forward to reading the rest of it.
What Is Art?, Leo Tolstoy
I'd only read short excerpts of this before, and the full version is a delight (and available for free--Google Books makes it easy to retrieve). A vigorous, hilarious, and urgent discussion in the Socratic style. I can't wait for the last 2/3.
Genius, Harold Bloom
A fine book to pick through, both to see what he has to say about your favorites and to spur further reading.
