Joe C
Absolutely captivating from beginning to end. A well-crafted and well-researched story of a murder that simultaneously introduces readers to the history of the troubles and some of its most infamous characters.
Junger brings together an array of interesting ideas here and I'm sympathetic to his central argument - that modern society is missing the kind of strong egalitarian bonds that are key to human flourishing. The subject deserved a more careful argument and a longer treatment (given the range of problems under discussion) than he gives it.
I wish I had a similar book to digest and convey recent decades of research for all the fields that interest me.
Funny, but a bit too on the nose. The social commentary is timely but isn't anything that hasn't been said before (and usually better).
I don't think I've read a book about dinosaurs since I was 11 or 12. So glad I made an exception for this one! Brusatte recounts not only the rise and fall of the dinosaurs but also the exciting world of the paleontologists, geologists, statisticians, and fossil hunters whose work is dramatically expanding our knowledge of these kings of beasts. Brilliantly written, each story and anecdote is filled with the excitement Brusatte so clearly finds in his work. Highly recommend!
I have quibbles with many of the details of this sweeping history (including its near total neglect of the portions of the Islamic world and its interlocutors anywhere east of Bengal or south of Cairo) but Ansary largely succeeds at what he sets out to do: provide a narrative of world history that centers Islam.
Generally interesting, if often irritating, introduction to geographic explanations for divergences in human cultures, technology, etc.
Slow, somewhat difficult exposition but builds to a deeply moving climax. Unlike anything I have read before in the way it works out thorny theological questions through a deeply character-driven science fiction novel. Well worth reading.
Phenomenal, compelling account of some of the women who built the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and established a meaningful place for themselves within a polygamous, patriarchal culture (sometimes by resisting and rejecting it, but just as often by defending it and making it work for them). Ulrich brings her subjects to life, drawing primarily on their own diaries and allowing these too-often-forgotten women to speak for themselves.
Concise but not short; the prose reads a bit like a textbook. A good introductory survey of internal Israeli and Zionist politics especially, but know that it is decidedly pro-Israel and pro-Zionist, frequently giving apologetic defenses of any critiques of the state of Israel and often openly dismissive of “the Arabs.”
A useful book for all Latter-day Saints, both those who find themselves questioning or drifting from the faith and those who love them. I found Mason's chapter on participating in church even when questioning (or after arriving at views some wouldn't consider orthodox) most helpful. Otherwise I was a little disappointed, but only because I so loved Restoration, a book by the same author that moves past the basic framework for faith reconstruction he gives here and imagines what a more expansive and transformative faith (and church) might look like.
A genuine masterpiece of ethnographic non-fiction. Full of devastating details of the injustices of the American housing market and full of heart in telling stories of the real people whose lives are derailed (sometimes permanently) by eviction.
Some of the more shocking things I learned included:
• 1 in 5 renting families pay more than half their income in rent
• 90% of landlords have lawyers in eviction court, though 90% of tenants do not
• It was (at least when the book was published) the policy of the Milwaukee PD to insist that landlords “abate nuisances” caused by 9-1-1 calls about domestic violence (and other crimes) by evicting their tenants. The predictable result is that women under-report abuse because those that do report get evicted, making them even more dependent on violent men as their housing situation becomes desperate.
I came to this book after thoroughly enjoying Newport's Digital Minimalism (and loving the impact it has had on my own productivity and satisfaction). Deep Work was, by comparison, disappointing.
I'm convinced by the broad argument and found some of the advice helpful. Much of the practical tips in this book, though, are done better and with broader applicability in Digital Minimalism.
Where this book really lost me was its casual acceptance of an individualistic, outgrind-the-competition, aren't-successful-people-amazing capitalism. Like, maybe its primary audience is meant to be venture capitalists, executives, and fellow self-help writers?
Tl;dr - don't bother with this book, read Digital Minimalism instead.
Well-written, with interesting characters. An American western epic. But (and I shouldn't have been surprised by a Western, I suppose) ultimately a paean to westward expansion and the rangers whose genocide of indigenous populations made it possible. The novel isn't entirely uncritical or unreflective about some of that ugly history, but I was disappointed by the way that indigenous, Black, and Hispanic characters played only side roles with little depth that primarily served to advance the plot for the white characters at the heart of the novel.
Fascinating story, well worth reading for insight into the experience of North Korean defectors.
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. Very C.S. Lewis, very Christian-influenced allegory. And fun!
An excellent premise and compelling characters kept me reading and admittedly excited about the story. Ultimately, though, the book could have been 200 pages shorter without diminishing it in the slightest and that kept me from really enjoying it, as much as I wanted to.
Compelling argument and fascinating, if often speculative and generalizing, history. Made me want to do more dancing!
Weird and very cool. Possibly my favorite Butler read (having only read Kindred and Parable of the Sower). Reminded me of Asimov's The Gods Themselves.
Began reading this, knowing little about it, to my twin toddlers as bedtime reading. That was a mistake, but I finished it on my own. A fun piece of literary history!
Made me admire Adams much more than I expected to. Expertly written biography, does a nice job identifying and weaving narrative threads of his life into a coherent tale.
I'm a sucker for sweeping histories and this one is generally excellent, avoiding some of the worst pitfalls of the genre. Lots of interesting history presented with only a thin (if adamant) guiding theory of the history of violence (and religion's role in it). She is occasionally guilty of the sin of defining both everything and nothing as “religious” or “quasi-religious” after working hard to establish the difficulty of defining the term (especially transhistorically). The afterword gives a moving polemical summary of the moral upshot of the book.