On the back deck of our house in California, we have a hot tub. When it is cold, raining or sleeting, I call that deck “my own private Iceland,” because it reminds me of the hot baths I took when I was in Iceland on a Fulbright scholarship in the winter of 1977. Maybe reading Eliza Reid’s book, “Secrets of the Sprakkar,” in the hot tub is part of why I enjoyed it so much, but it’s also true that Reid’s style is amusing, her thoughts are honest, and the issues she discusses are becoming more important by the day.