Books on Vacation

I'm under the assumption that recreational reading will be out of the question during the Fall, so I have made an effort to read while on vacation. Here is what I have read so far:

Why Buildings Fall Down: How Structures Fail
by Matthys Levy and Mario Salvadori
This is an book on engineering for anyone with a cursory understanding of physics or structural engineering. It was very interesting and made me realize that anything structure can fail if it has a bad design, bad materials, or bad workmanship. Sometimes, time just takes its toll. This book can make one a little paranoid of buildings. Though fascinating, the book is more a collection of random chapters without much thematic structure... Good subject, good writing, but the book-engineering could be improved.

The Assassins
Bernard Lewis
This book is about part of the Ismaili sect of Islam in particular and the evolution of the different sects of Islam in general. Basically most of the legends of the Assassins (followers of Hasan-i-Sabbah) are exagerations and half-truths unsupported by academic research. An offshoot of Shi'a Islam, they have nothing directly theologically in common with Al Qaeda. However, their methods of infiltration and suicide-attack exhibits similarities. Ultimately, they fell into the dustbin of history.

The Algebraist
Iain M. Banks
From the UK, Mr. Banks is one of my favorite Science Fiction authors. For some reason, he's hard to find in the United States. Gas Giants, interstellar battle fleets, wormholes, etc.... this book is Space Opera at its best.

The True Believer
Eric Hoffer
Philosophical in nature, this is one of the best non-fiction books I've read in awhile. Right now I don't know much about the author or his background, but I would recommend this book to anyone that wants to understand or influence the dynamics of history. It is over fifty years old, yet still relevant to our world today.