You Can’t Read This Book: Censorship in an Age of Freedom by Nick Cohen, Fourth Estate, 2012, pp. 330, $19.99 in Canada

Britain’s plaintiff-friendly libel laws are so infamous, they’ve even inspired a gag on South Park. In the notorious “Trapped in the closet” episode, young Stan Marsh — thought to be the reincarnation of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard — announces that the “religion” is a giant scam. Scientologist Tom Cruise, furious at this gross insult to his faith, declares, “I’ll sue you — in England!”

Proof that you really can find anything on YouTube: some kind soul has posted Exposing Satan’s Underground, Geraldo Rivera’s infamous 1987 NBC special about the Satanism epidemic we all thought was sweeping America.

Daughter of the Empire State: The Life of Judge Jane Bolin by Jacqueline A. McLeod University of Illinois Press, 2011

We all get nostalgic for the good old days, but every once in a while you learn something that shows you just how far we’ve come. Until reading Daughter of the Empire State: The Life of Judge Jane Bolin, I didn’t know the American Red Cross kept blood donated by white and black donors segregated until the 1940s.

The Church of Scientology: A History of a New Religion by Hugh B. Urban, pp. 268, Princeton University Press, 2011

An academic history of the Church of Scientology might not seem relevant to Canadian Lawyer magazine, unless you’re familiar with the controversial movement’s use of the justice system against its many detractors. Founder L. Ron Hubbard explained his legal philosophy in 1955: “The purpose of the [lawsuit] is to harass and discourage rather than to win. The law can be used very easily to harass, and enough harassment on somebody who is simply on the thin edge anyway . . . will generally be sufficient to cause his professional decease. If possible, of course, ruin him utterly.”

social.lawyers: Transforming Business Development, by Jayne Navarre, West, 2010, pp. 128, US$69

In retrospect, Joseph Rakofsky should have put a little more thought into his social media strategy.

Helpless: Caledonia’s Nightmare of Fear and Anarchy, and How the Law Failed All of Us; By Christie Blatchford, Doubleday Canada, 2010, pp. 258, $32.95

To understand what happened in Caledonia, Ont., in 2006, you have to understand what happened in Ipperwash, Ont., in 1995.

Tip and Trade: How Two Lawyers Made Millions from Insider Trading by Mark Coakley, ECW Press, 2011, 392 pp., $19.95

Until I read Tip and Trade: How Two Lawyers Made Millions from Insider Trading, I had no idea just how easy insider trading could be. All you need is a job in a law firm handling important corporate clients, access to said law firm’s computer system, and an unscrupulous law school buddy who will make the trades on your behalf. Of course, you may end up in prison or worse, but that’s the price of easy money, isn’t it?

Danny Williams: The War With Ottawa by Bill Rowe; Flanker Press, $19.95; 277pp.

Late last year, when Newfoundland and Labrador premier Danny Williams announced his resignation, it was front-page news across the country and one of the most talked-about events of the year. A few months earlier, when British Columbia premier Gordon Campbell resigned, Canadians asked, “Who’s Gordon Campbell again?”

By and large, I’m happy with the career path I’ve chosen, but I can’t say there haven’t been a few occasions when I’ve wondered if I should have gone into a less stressful line of work, like air traffic control.