Judy
Enjoyed reading this book because of the new information and tree research explained, but it lacked a cohesive structure to follow. More like a collection of magazine articles instead of a narrative line of exploration and explanation. I would have appreciated more of the author's presence in the work, showing how he does his research and anecdotes of what it is like to manage a forest, etc. I'm glad I read the book but felt less than satisfied when I was finished.
This novel just wasn't for me as a reader who needs a plot to follow, or at least a character narrative that progresses from a beginning to end. While there were passages that were beautifully written, I felt like the time I spent reading wasn't satisfying. It might have worked better as a collection of poems for a reader to dip into, rather than expecting a story and not finding it.
One of those rare books that I wanted to start reading again as soon as I turned the last page.
Such wonderfully drawn characters and surprising turns of phrase give the book a warm, unique voice that had me gasping out loud. Used up a whole stack of post-it flags marking the bits I want to remember. The author used an interesting frame for telling the story, using taped interviews and lists as a way to tell backstory in alternating chapters, yet keeping you moving through the story's plot and connected to the characters.
A book that makes you feel good after reading it and start noticing the people around you who are lonely or struggling or just human, and recognizing they have more to them than you know.
I need historical fiction to weave facts and fiction together in a believable, interesting and compelling way. This book failed to do that for me. Historical places and events were shoehorned in randomly–e.g. a visit to King Ludwig's castle at Neuschwanstein by a German peasant family so the son can read a school report to the gathered visitors on the history of the castle? Too contrived for my tastes.
The author's notes at the end of various chapters also left me feeling like this was a second-rate project. He cites Wikipedia as the source for most of his historical sources. Fine to use that as a jumping-off place for further research, but not your main source.
The author did a little better using primary sources of LDS missionary letters and writings for the pre-WW1 events, but this part of the story involved minor characters. Not enough to bring the whole story to a believable, reasonable level of good historical fiction writing.
I know this author has written a lot of popular historical fiction around LDS themes, but I don't think this book or the series is up to that level.
A sad, haunting little novel tracing the relationship of a young Japanese man with his reluctant mentor, Sensei, as they both deal with the cultural changes in Japan as the Meiji Restoration comes to a close.
The interior worlds of these characters are the most compelling feature of this book. Spare and realistic inner conversation drives the self-delusion and conflict avoidance that leaves these two men full of guilt and despair. There is no “happy” resolution at the end of this story. We are left to consider whether the same stories we tell ourselves about other people and their intentions might not be just the same kind of delusions these characters lived under.
A somewhat repetitive collection of case studies and essays on how past engineering failures become a driving force for innovation and invention, not events to avoid or hide.
I appreciated the emphasis on failure as a fact of life and that creativity is an iterative process driven by failures. “An engineer will always know more what not to do than what to do.” pg.105
The case studies give interesting tidbits about engineering concepts and terminology, but it isn't a book about engineering as a profession or what an engineer does on a day-to-day basis. It was more focused on bringing out the nuances and complexities a designer might face when trying out new ideas or visions.
A final chapter warns of the loss of experiential wisdom by rapid technological change. Relying on computer models that perform all the right calculations and spit out the perfect blueprint is no substitute for an experienced designer who can bring real-world knowledge to the design problem.
In general, a nice little book to learn about the history of some noteworthy engineering design failures and see the connections between failures and progress in engineering designs.
An in-depth exploration of the seven specific virtues advocated by Ayn Rand's egoism philosophy and the value basis of rational self-interest.
I thought the book was extremely well-written and organized. The author took care to bring up counter-arguments and ways Rand's philosophy is misunderstood in relation to these virtues, then proceeds to logically defend Rand's ideas with clear references to what Rand actually wrote or said.
Reading the book has made me much more aware of how I define ethics and values for myself. I'm encouraged to become less reliant on “pithy” generalizations and oversimplification that seem to be prevalent these days in the media. I made lots of notes while reading this book because I was surprised at how little I had really thought about just what a value or a virtue is, or what justice means, for example.
The book is an example to me of good writing in philosophy. I plan on reading more of this author's books and looking up the sources she used.
I'm attached to this story of Elena and Lila just as if I were watching it unfold on an HBO series. As soon as I finished this second installment, I picked up the next to keep the story going. Deep and powerfully-drawn characters that move through the setting of Naples and other cities of Italy in the middle to late 1960s, with a strong theme of poverty and social justice as a backdrop, have made this unfamiliar place and time real to me.
I've enjoyed diving deep into Elena's character and her striving with academic and intellectual goals, while struggling against “imposter syndrome”. She is succeeding in this strange academic world, but her inner critic constantly shoots her down with harsh judgments. I'm inspired by her devotion to learning, but I also recognize the real risk she faces as she tries to step out of her family's known world. I love the way this author can make that conflict so concrete in this book.
Looking forward to continuing the story in the third book, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay.
After finishing the author's Raj Quartet series, I decided to read this epilogue/continuation to the story, although it isn't necessary, and doesn't really tie up any loose ends or answer any lingering questions left at the end of the Quartet. “Tusker” and Lucy Smalley, who are minor characters in the Quartet, are basically the last of the old British Raj, staying on after everyone else has gone. The novel begins with Tusker's sudden death, but then circles back around to how the Smalleys found themselves in this predicament of hanging on to a tradition and lifestyle that was finished years ago.
Paul Scott writes his characters so well, and this book is another experience of his mastery of developing characters and observing small details that speak volumes. There is more humor in this book as compared to the Quartet series, and I suppose that comes because the characters are performing roles that became useless or irrelevant long ago. I often think that reading characters like this is more helpful to someone studying human psychology than any textbook, and this book reinforced that view.
The book does a remarkable job of portraying an aging couple with all their quirks and accommodations made over a lifetime, and the people who they have come to rely on to keep their story intact, even after that story no longer makes sense.
I can't imagine trying to understand the Japanese earthquake/tsunami disaster of 3/11/11 without reading this book. The short, episodic chapters recount the author's visit to the area after the disaster and her encounters with survivors and their stories. She narrates her growing understanding of how the larger picture of radiation contamination and the ecological disaster continues to affect the people, the land and the future. It was a very sobering, personal look at an event I can't even begin to imagine facing.
The theme of fear, and facing fear, is a strong line of thought throughout the book. I was struck by her emphasis on talking to the fishermen who survived the tsunami wave by running to their boats as soon as the earthquake happened, getting into their boats and rushing into the oncoming wave. By facing that wave, that fearsome wall of deadly water, their boats were carried over the crest and behind the wall of water that slammed into the coast, destroying everything familiar about their lives on land. I found it an apt metaphor on facing fear in life and how meeting fear head on is almost always the way through it.
I was easily fascinated by many of the Japanese art, history and cultural references that the author included. Buddhist tradition and Shinto religious practice were incorporated into the narrative of disaster recovery and radiation exposure, and 17th-century haiku and other Japanese poetry became relevant to the present day survivors and historians. It is a rich source of further reading and research about Japan.
The second book in this series has proven to be just as layered as the first book, [bc:The Raj Quartet (1): The Jewel in the Crown 711772 The Raj Quartet (1) The Jewel in the Crown, The Day of the Scorpion Paul Scott https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320423071s/711772.jpg 698034] The Jewel in the Crown. The characters are so well developed and involving and I found myself “living” the novel in my head throughout reading it, a sure sign (to me) of a great book. About a quarter of this book is told through the interrogation of Hari Kumar, a character from the first book, and I thought it was a masterful example of using the perspectives of at least 3 different characters to play out the unknowns we were left with at the end of the first book. Much of the book feels like you're following a mystery, but you get to follow the lines of logic and conclusions from various characters' understandings, not from just one point of view. I'm so glad I was introduced to this series through the History Book Club on Goodreads. The author has created a portrait of India as it struggles to become independent; a fictional picture but so authentic and personal that I feel engaged in knowing and caring about India as a culture and a country today.
The book tells the story of three young Israeli girls who have graduated from high school and are preparing to enter their two-year military service in the Israel Defense Force. The remote Israel-Palestine border town where they live hasn't prepared them for the surreal and often bizarre experience of modern military life, especially when men and women train and serve together. The book switches between all three girls as narrators of their experience, making the book into a character study of each girl and their individual struggle to understand and assimilate their experiences.
The switching points-of-view and disjointed timeline of the plot, switching between past and present, makes the story difficult to follow at times and takes some effort to get into. But, life in the military with a multilayered bureaucracy and gender issues weighing in, is difficult to understand and often makes no sense or is simply ridiculous. Maybe this is why the 25-year-old author, who served in the IDF, knows what she is writing about and is adept at making that surreal quality a theme that drives the story.
I'd suggest this book to readers interested in a behind-the-scenes look at the IDF during the 2006 Lebanon war and how Israeli individuals might have experienced the conflicts. But, the book is more about the human consequences of war and prolonged conflict, rather than an accurate study of the event.
Azar Nafisi has put together an unusual narrative weaving personal memoir, literary criticism and social history into a strong commentary about living during the Iranian Revolution. Although a familiarity with the novels she examines would help readers connect with the book more, I came away wanting to add them all to my reading list. She has a flair for uncovering the similarities and themes in each novel that speak to the real problems and issue these women are facing in their everyday lives—lives being torn apart and destroyed by Islamic fundamentalist uprisings.
I was often amazed at her creative use of the novels to teach or explore life issues, and appreciated her ability to explain her inner thoughts as she discussed the book with the women. I would love to be able to read literature as close as she does and this book is like a case study of the way that kind of fluency might develop.
A book that makes me want to visit Istanbul just to walk around and see the sights that Pamuk describes and develops in this book. Reading his prose is an experience of “painterly” writing, where you cannot help but have a vivid image in your head of the surroundings and atmosphere conjured up with the words. But it is also a portrait of a sensitive young boy coming of age in a place and time where the borders between worlds are unpredictable. Not only are the Western and Eastern worlds in conflict, but also the world of family secrets and respectability.
This was my introduction to the author's writing and he's jumped onto my favorite author list as a result. I'm anticipating reading his other books, especially his fiction.
Timothy Pychyl of the awesome productivity podcast, “iProcrastinate,” often cites William Knaus' research and conclusions, so I was motivated to check this book out and see if Dr. Knaus had anything new to offer. He structures his prescription for overcoming procrastination into a three-pronged program, using cognitive, emotive, and behavioral approaches. There are lots of charts and journaling exercises to complete as you work your way through the process, so a physical book is probably the most effective form for getting the most out of this program. He stresses evidence-based methods with lots of examples and annotations that make the program very self-help friendly and doable.
Enjoyed reading this well-written biography of the 28th president of the United States, especially with the History Book Club moderators guiding the discussion. Wilson became a real human being to me, with nuances of personality and attitudes brought in, making me want to examine his actions and speeches in a more thoughtful light than the one-dimensional portrait most people get from today's “sound bite” commentators. This book always comes to my mind now when I try to understand other presidents and leaders in history, and a biography that can do that deserves a recommendation.
A short little compilation of essays by creative entrepreneurs writing about what works for them in doing their creative work. I'm a junkie for all things productivity and “life-hacking,” so I can't say I read anything really new or unusual. A good motivational read for times when you're lacking the drive to create or make a contribution towards your work. “Key Takeaways” at the end of each section was a nice touch to make the book more useful.
Great little book that would make a fine addition to the syllabus of a high school or undergraduate science survey course. The author teaches this course, “Ignorance” at Columbia University and the book is an outline of the major topics students in the course examine in seminars and lectures from working scientists. (Do you want an “A” in a class called Ignorance or an “F”?)
Refreshing interviews and insights into the idea that science is doing its best work when it doesn't know the answers. Science is not a search and destroy mission of finding facts and ending uncertainty. The art of science is being humble about approaching the scientific process and allowing ignorance to become a creative spark and motivational force.
Fascinating memoir/ethnography of an American journalist who takes on the task of becoming managing editor for the Yemen Observer, an English language newspaper headquartered in Sana'a, the capital of Yemen.
Because the author is already a talented journalist, the writing is clear, engaging, and pulls the reader in with just the right amount of description and observation. Not only is this book a great example of honest travel/culture writing, but also it's a great read for anyone interested in how to write as a journalist no matter where you are. In explaining, editing and teaching the basics of reporting, fact-gathering, interviewing and ethics to her Yemeni reporters, Jennifer Steil (the author) treats the reader to a “mini-workshop” in journalism.
The cultural aspect of the book was also enlightening. Since Yemen is a Muslim country, the second-class status of women created many obstacles and trials for Jennifer as she struggled to teach and train the few female reporters on her staff. However, male attitudes of entitlement and their dependence on qat was often even more frustrating. Most distressing to me was the “learned aversion to education and absence of a culture of reading” the author found among the Yemeni people. As the author observes, this puts the Yemeni people at a huge disadvantage in understanding the world and other people's experiences.
I marked the following quote because I think it is true for any reader and a clear statement of the path to empathy and understanding towards anyone not like ourselves:
“How does one develop compassion for someone with a completely different set of values without reading something from their point of view? Books are one of the few ways in which we can truly get into the heads of people we would never meet in our ordinary lives and travel to countries we would otherwise never visit.”
This book isn't a non-stop rant against Yemen or the Muslim culture or the Middle East, though. The author clearly loves the scenery, and is fascinated by the architecture and history of Yemen. She is curious and engaged in her surroundings and experiences and I finished the book with more than a passing interest in learning more about Yemen.
Very concise biography touching on the highlights of Wilson's life. I was expecting a little more insight or something more moving from the author based on his other books, but I was disappointed. I realize this “Penguin Lives” series is meant to give the reader simply a taste of the subject, possibly encouraging more reading and interest, but the book seemed like a stale rehash of the basic highlights of Pres. Wilson's life.
An adequate attempt at bringing the real-life dressmaker to Mary Todd Lincoln into awareness, while also highlighting the historical events of the Civil War and later years.
After a strong start at introducing the reader to Elizabeth Keckley, the freed slave who is also a talented seamstress, the story seems to lag by the middle of the novel because more emphasis is placed on patching in the historical events, rather than developing Elizabeth's character and voice.
The author's other books in her Elm Creek Quilt series seem to be more successful at balancing the need for historical accuracy with developing the characters, but in this stand-alone novel, I felt rushed past the inner life of Elizabeth while various events took place–Mrs. Lincoln's histrionics about being denied a widow's pension, her schemes to “guilt” people into providing for her, Elizabeth's dealings with her memoir, etc.
This book was okay as a glimpse into Mary Todd Lincoln's personality and her historic presence in the White House, but I was disappointed by the story's turn towards a shallow list of events in the Civil War historical timeline.
Don't let the weighty title of this book scare you away from reading this fascinating, detailed and illuminating discussion of the roots of human emotions. Not only will you be amazed at the insightful writing, but also the compassionate advocacy Dr. Panksepp shares for non-human animals as well. If the thought of tickling rats and making them laugh sounds like your idea of a great research project, then this book will delight you.
The book describes the seven ancient emotional circuits formed below our neocortex (the thinking part of our brain): seeking, rage, fear, lust, care, panic/grief, and play. These emotions form the core of our emotional experience, and are furthered refined and regulated as they rise through the neural circuits of the higher brain. The book is filled with explorations of a range of human emotions and how they might come to be, and with this self-understanding, we may be able improve our own emotional lives and have more empathy and understanding of those around us.
I thoroughly enjoyed the poetic description of Turkey during the last days of the Ottoman Empire (1877), and I found myself entranced by the character of Eleonora, the girl prodigy who has such an affinity for literature. But, by the last third of the book, I was disappointed that the author just frittered away these strengths with a plot that kept meandering and fizzling out, until the book just ended with really no purpose.
Since this was a debut novel, I'm going to keep an eye out for his next book. He obviously has a talent for writing about a place and for creating interesting characters, he just needs to focus on a path and stay with it.
A very intricate plot, dribbling out information in the form of a journal/confession written by a captured British female pilot during WWII. The writer of the journal has been captured by the Nazis in occupied France and she is supposed to be writing down all she knows about the British war effort–codes, bases, etc. In defiance, she keeps writing about her friendship with another female pilot, how they came to be part of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, and just enough possibly relevant information that her SS torturers keep her alive rather than sending her off for “experimental uses” at the concentration camp in Ravensbruck.
Lots of plot twists and “a-ha” moments make you want to go back and read the book a second time as soon as you're finished, but the characters are developed enough that the conclusion still feels emotionally wrenching. I initially was hesitant to read this because it is labeled Young Adult. I'm not sure why this label was used because the themes and characters appeal to adults as well. From what I understand, it is being made into a movie.
The author has done a lot of research on these WAAF pilots and because she is a pilot herself, the flight mechanics and dialogue all ring true. A bibliography at the end gives you plenty of books to add to your TBR pile if you want to know more.