CIELITO HABITO

Former economic-planning secretary; Op-Ed columnist (“No Free Lunch”)

These are the books currently at my bedside for leisurely reading:

1. On top of my pile is a small book I picked up at an airport somewhere, by Gerald R. McDermott, titled “The Baker Pocket Guide to World Religions (What Every Christian Should Know),” as I’ve been keen to understand the other major faiths and how they all relate to one another, especially what we all have in common.

2. I’ve recently returned to reading Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner’s “Freakonomics,” which I never got to finish the first time around, for its out-of-the-box perspective on everyday economics.

3. I’m also reading “The Best of Chico and Delamar’s The Morning Rush Top 10,” which my daughter gave me for my birthday, as the duo’s radio program has been part of my morning ride to work for many years; it gives me the chance to exercise my laughter muscles once in a while.

RAMON FAROLAN

Retired major general of the Philippine Air Force; Op-Ed columnist (“Reveille”)

I am reading “A Bright Shining Lie” by Neil Sheeha and “Fiasco” by Thomas E. Ricks.

We learn more from blunders than from victories. Vietnam and Iraq represent two of the greatest examples of hubris and incompetence. Both were disasters for America.