Mao: The Unknown Story, by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday. What a murderous individual he was --more than 17 million dead -- more so than many of the other villains of our time like Adolph Hitler and Josef Stalin.

Recommendation: Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky. Usually I take salt for granted. You can buy it for pennies at the supermarket. You don't realize it has actually been the foundation of wealth and empire. There are salt mines in the world that have been in operation for centuries, in Europe especially. Even our area here on Cape Cod had saltworks in the old days.

I have watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire a whole bunch of times. It is the best in the series of movies so far. I find it an excellent escape from the miseries of the world.

Recommendation: I only go to the movie theatre once a year and that's to see the new Harry Potter release. That's it.

My hobby is old-time five-string banjo playing. I have been playing for over 40 years. So instead of meditating to relax when I get home, I play music for an hour or an hour-and-a-half.

Recommendation: You can't listen to any of my recordings because I haven't made any! I do have the three-disc set that was just released of Charlie Poole recordings from the 1920s and 1930s. He was one of the early bluegrass guys and a fine musician.

I read a lot of old mysteries that I find at the Kingstown Transfer Station Lending Library. There's a little house there where everyone brings their books. Right now I am reading a Martha Grimes book The Blue Last, which is good. The Ice House by Minette Walters was also a find.Any time I find a James Herriot book in recycling I bring it home - I never get tired of reading his wonderful stories about the animals (and people) he treated.

Recommendation: I'm kind of a horse person. Two books I really enjoyed were Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand and Horse Heaven by Jane Smiley. I was able to read them one after the other because I was at sea.

I wish my eyesight were improving as I get older, I'd do more birdwatching. I love The West Wing. I like ER.

Recommendation: M*A*S*H the sit-com

I listen to music mostly and the NPR station in the morning and classical music on the radio. At home we listen to classical, and to Celtic music, and a lot of old folk music. My latest purchase was another Eagles album, The Very Best of the Eagles. The Moody Blues -- Days of Future Past is another one that sticks in my mind because we used to play it weekends at the lab when we were in working on the first (!!!) aquarium-based haddock spawning/rearing events.  I went to see them in concert about three years ago and they were still wonderful.

Recommendation: Anything by Phil Ochs (particularly There But For Fortune) or Bob Dylan (especially The Times They are a Changin'). There's one other real favorite of mine: John Stewart (originally with the Kingston Trio), and his record California Bloodlines.