Valerie:

I think you mean Jablonka and Lamb!

I'm not very far into it...but already they seem to be setting up a lot of straw men, e.g. "The idea that there is a gene for adventurousness, heart disease, obesity, religiosity, homosexuality, shyness, stupidity, or any other aspect of mind or body has no place on the platform of genetic discourse."

Dawkins spends much of chapter 3 in The Selfish Gene addressing this very point: "Expressions like 'gene for long legs' or 'gene for altruistic behavior' are convenient figures of speech, but it is important to understand what they mean.  There is no gene which single-handedly builds a leg, long or short.  Building a leg is a multi-gene cooperative enterprise.  Influences from the external environment too are indispensable: after all, legs are actually made of food!  But there may well be a single gene which, all other things being equal, tends to make legs longer than they would have been under the influence of the gene's allele."

So far it feels a lot like Rose, Lewontin, and Kamin's "Not In Our Genes": an argument against a cartoon version of Dawkins, not against what Dawkins actually says.  But I'll reserve judgment until I've read more.

Jason:

The Selfish Gene and The Extended Phenotype are his most important works.  To me, everything else seemed like either a popularization of more basic Darwinian principles (not that there's anything wrong with that!) or a rehash.

As you read The Selfish Gene, make sure to read the endnotes along with the text.

JS

Margaretrc:

Thanks for the suggestions!  Basically I'm asking if there's anything better, more up-to-date, and easier to read than "The Blind Watchmaker".

JS

Sam:

I love that book too -- but Dennett isn't exactly beginner reading!  Sometimes I wish he was just a touch less smart so he'd be easier to follow.

JS

Daniel Taylor:

Nick Lane's "Power, Sex, Suicide" talks about that, though it's not the focus (the focus is the origin of eukaryotes).

Interestingly, I didn't read Ishmael until after I had written TGC, and others told me there were some similiarities.

E Craig:

Bozo Sapiens is an entertaining and thorough (though breezy and informal) book on the subject of human cognitive error.

Edgar:

It's on my "to read" list.

JS

Elizabeth:

Congratulations on having actually read it! 

I was surprised to realize, once I'd read it myself, that more than one prominent blogger/scientist had built their reputation largely on, um, "appropriating" material from Food and Western Disease.

Yes, it's an excellent reference, though it must still be taken with a grain of salt -- the anti-salt sections, for instance, are being obsoleted by the evidence.  However, you are correct that it's the scientific foundation for "paleo".

I haven't updated this list in far too long, and have several books I need to add to it.  Thanks for the reminder!

JS