"a generous and good-spirited book"

This is a time when I think a lot of us are looking for good "summer reading". Maybe you have more free time. Maybe you're spending the little free time that you have sitting outside, where there's no Facebook or silly blogs to distract you. This is also a time when people are graduating from high school and college, and a lot of inspiring speeches are being written and delivered.

I want to reccommend Alan Alda's second memoir, "Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself". Like the actor himself, his writing is approachable, charming, witty, heartfelt and impassioned. This book, in particular, speaks about the different ways in which we search for meaning in our lives. It's about our scientific curiosity (why, for example, he hosted "Scientific American Frontiers" for 11 years). It's about our passion for improving the lives of others. He writes about experiences he has had that helped him define the reasons he had for being alive, and he includes many portions of speeches that he gave at various commencements, rallies and other events.

I realize that "search for meaning in our lives" is as corny as it gets. But what makes me LOVE this book, and what has always made me LOVE Alan Alda and LOVE my field of study, is that there's barely a trace of religious sentimentalism or "higher purpose" blather. This writing is purely humanitarian. Pure humanism.