The Geekiest Geek to Ever Geek Down the Pike, and Other Tales

I have been a fan of John le Carré since I read The Spy Who Came in From the Cold for a college history class.  His George Smiley books appeal to me at the deepest part of my soul.  My family teases me because they say the movies based on le Carré's books are all dialogue - usually incomprehensible British dialogue, at that - and no action.  Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy consists almost entirely of old British guys talking in circles, which is, in my estimable opinion, what makes it so good.  The George Smiley books are gritty and twisty and show the blurred lines between good guys and bad guys in the Cold War.  Le Carré's non-Cold War books however, while engrossing, unfortunately tend to be a teeny bit preachy and usually have a conveniently, even unrealistically happy-ish ending.  This includes books like Little Drummer Girl , The Night Manager , and The Constant Gardener , all with varying levels of polemics on issues ranging from Big Pharma to arms t...

In 2007, when I was deciding which grad school to attend, I was contacted by a professor at the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs explaining why that school was the best fit for me.  That professor was Dr. Charli Carpenter, and obviously her appeal worked as I currently live in Pittsburgh.  I ended up taking a class on international humanitarian law with Dr. Carpenter, which I absolutely loved.   Upon my decision to attend Pitt, my dad immediately went online and ordered Dr. Carpenter's book, "Innocent Women and Children": Gender, Norms, and the Protection of Civilians .  Welp, it is now 2019.  So it took me 12 years to actually get around to reading it.  Unless you are super into international humanitarian law, and have a scholarly bent, I would not recommend this book.  It is an academic work, and is written as such.  It me a while to get back my grad school brain. "Innocent Women and Childr...