Buy Some Of The Best Skeptic Books Of 2009!

As featured on the Skeptic Zone podcast – this year has been an excellent one for new books – some of my favorites published this year include:

SuperSense: Why We Believe in the Unbelievable by Bruce M Hood. The Skeptic Zone interview is on episode thirty and you can also read the interview in the next UK Skeptic magazine!
Beyond Belief: Skepticism, Science and the Paranormal by Dr Martin Bridgstock, launched at the recent Australian Skeptics National Conference to great acclaim!
59 Seconds: Think a Little, Change a Lot by Richard Wiseman, who is about to tour the USA… so keep an eye out for him state-side!
There’s the very thought provoking and debate-inspiring Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens our Future by Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum.
Dr Karl’s Get Fact is a definite for young and the young at heart – an excellent discussion of a range of scientific questions.
Of course, no one would have missed The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution – by Richard Dawkins.

Ones that you may have missed – Pseudoscience: A Critical Encyclopedia by Brian Regal. It spans the full spectrum of scientific and nonscientific pursuits, from chemistry, biology, psychology, and medicine to eugenics, religion, cryptozoology, the occult, and paranormal activities.

Don’t Be Such a Scientist: Talking Substance in an Age of Style- by Randy Olson PhD, whose documentary ‘A Flock of Dodos’ was screened at the Australian Skeptic’s national Convention in Adelaide.

Denying AIDS: Conspiracy Theories, Pseudoscience, and Human Tragedy is by Seth C. Kalichman and you should also check out Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives by Michael Specter.

Voodoo Histories: The Role of the Conspiracy Theory in Shaping Modern History by David Aaronovitch is a great overview of many popular conspiracy claims – and don’t forget to subscribe to skeptical magazines such as Skeptical Inquirer, the UK Skeptic, The US Skeptic at skeptic.com and Australian Skeptic’s Skeptic Magazine – found at www.skeptics.com.au.

Finally, the popular science and skepticism poetry blog called The Digital Cuttlefish - they also have a Volume Two out – and they’re giving away both volumes for free as a pdf. They can be downloaded thanks to www.digitalcuttlefish.blogspot.com.

On the blog Podblack Cat you can find a post called – Skeptic’s Guide To Getting Good Stuff This Holiday Season – there you should check out the efforts to get Tim Minchin’s single for ‘White Wine in the Sun into the top forty. There’s also the Here Comes Science album by They Might Be Giants, which I got as a present for a friend’s new baby this year. There’s the Macbeth: The DVD Edition (Folger Shakespeare Library) of Penn and Teller fame… and much more!

Here’s to a well-read holiday and keep checking out my library at Skeptic Reading, Resources and More.