What We're Reading

Mike Boyer

• How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read. Pierre Bayard has the courage to admit what the rest of us are afraid to: That there's little time in modern life to read all the great books out there. So why not pretend you have? Think of it as a survival manual for Washington cocktail parties.

Blake Hounshell

• "On Saad Eddin Ibrahim and Reda Hilal." My former boss and Egypt's most famous democracy activist accuses President Hosni Mubarak of operating a death squad.
• The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge. Step one of my master plan: Read this book. Step two: Jeopardy!

Prerna Mankad

• "The General Speaks" at Informed Comment: Global Affairs. Manan Ahmed translates the full text of Pervez Musharraf's state of emergency speech. The quick summary: Musharraf plays the terrorism/extremism card, makes quite a few jibes at the Supreme Court, and appeals to the West for understanding—and time.

Carolyn O'Hara

• Inside the Red Mansion: On the Trail of China's Most Wanted Man. Oliver August explores modern China's seedy underbelly and stumbles upon Lai Changxing, an illiterate billionaire wanted on corruption charges, in the process.

Kate Palmer

• "Who Needs the World Bank?" By Jonathan Gregson, Global Finance, October 2007. A good primer on the bank's diminished role in the global economy.