S.A.S. Survival Handbook

Thank you very much, Mark, for this wonderful Christmas present! I had read about this some time ago as being the "definitive guide" to wilderness survival, a topic of great interest to me. This book is fantastic - based on a lifetime serving in the Special Air Service (SAS), an elite British army unit, Wiseman packs this invaluable book full of comprehensive, clear, practical information about building shelter, finding food and water, and staying safe and healthy in all emergency scenarios and situations. The diagrams are very clear, and his writing style is quaint. Very enjoyable to read, and who knows, one day it could save your life!!

On a related note, check out the CDC's fun and educational illustrated narrative on emergency preparedness, zombie style.

Three Californias

Three Californias is a trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson written prior to the Mars cycle. Each of the three novels, The Gold Coast, the Wild Shore, and the Pacific Edge, posits a radically different future taking place in Orange County. I've just finished the Wild Shore, read the Gold Coast over spring break, and will be picking up the final one soon. The Gold Coast takes place in a total-sprawl landscape of designer drugs and party lifestyle, the Wild Shore takes place in a post-nuclear America quarantined by Japanese ships off the coast, and I'm not entirely sure what the other one is about.

While these novels don't quite stand up to the magnum opus that is Red Mars, and are not as dense in ideas and sheer brilliance, they are definitely worth checking out even if only as a prelude to his later work.