This Question of the Week was written two weeks in advance. By now I should be camped out somewhere in Oregon, perhaps by a river under a tree, reading a book or whatever is on my Kindle. Two nonfiction classics I downloaded include Richard Dawkins’ “The Selfish Gene” and Michael Pollan’s “Omnivore’s Dilemma.” A hard copy choice is Ron Chernow’s “Alexander Hamilton,” which has been lying around unread in my stack for two years.

For fiction, there is John Kennedy Toole’s “Confederacy of Dunces,” which I purchased with good intent some time ago but abandoned only after a few pages. Maybe I will give it a second chance.

I won’t claim to actually read all these books, but one of them is bound to totally engage me, challenge my thinking, and immeasurably richen my inner experience. Notice, there are no mental health or brain science books on my list. I am on vacation, you know.

I see a question in this: Summer reading - go for it.

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