Zen in the Art of Archery (1953, read 2018) ($4 Kindle, amazon.com link) Herrigel Eugen At sixty pages with simple English, this deserves its status as a classic, where it remains one of the easiest books to learn about philosophy, the subconscious, the self, etc.…. I am so grateful that I did not merely learn […]
Category Archives: Book Reports
Educated: A Memoir (2018)
Educated: A Memoir Tara Westover (amazon.com link) I believe finally, that education must be conceived as a continuing reconstruction of experience; that the process and the goal of education are one and the same thing. —JOHN DEWEY . . . As I walked home carrying the heavy manuscript, I remembered attending one of Dr. Kerry’s […]
Speak: A Simple Guide to Public Speaking
Speak: A Simple Guide to Public Speaking Steve Alexander Jr. (amazon.com link) Notes: SPEAK: Structure, Presence, Engage, Articulate, Knowledge Structure Outline your speech keeping AIDA in mind Attention – story, quote, your own qualifications, statistics, strong emotions (why you care yourself) Interest – keep them interested, review what you’ll cover Desire – connect […]
The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need
The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need Daniel H. Pink, Art by Rob Ten Pas (amazon.com link) Read in 2014 and reviewed/reread 2018. Fun cartoon-animated career and life-lesson guidebook. In the grand scheme of things, a more general life book would be Zen in the Art of Archery or […]
Pachinko, Min Jin Lee, 2018
Pachinko, Min Jin Lee, 2017 (read 2018, amazon.com link) Book club. I do not care for historical fiction. Fun, but between a half and three-fourths way through, my patience started to wane, and I started to look forward to finishing the book. I respect Lee trying to describe the lives and changes over many […]
Anthem, Ayn Rand (1938)
Anthem Ayn Rand, 1938 (amazon.com link) The book opens with each “individual” referring to him/herself as “we,” and the direction of Rand’s use of language becomes clear rather quickly. It makes for a pointed conclusion, highlighted in the third and fourth quotes below: “We love you.” But then they frowned and shook their head and […]
While the World Watched (2011)
While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age during the Civil Rights Movement, Carolyn Maull McKinstry and Denise George (2011)($9, amazon.com link) Young Emmett Till might as well have been a dog struck by a car on the highway, its carcass left on the roadside to rot and decay, then picked up […]
Modern Romance, Aziz Ansari (2015)
Modern Romance, Aziz Ansari (2015) ($15, amazon.com link) “The brain is the best algorithm,” Fisher argues. Having read a number of relationship books before it, Modern Romance wasn’t groundbreaking, and I wasn’t surprised all that much by data or original thoughts. Nonetheless, it was worth my time – especially if I return to the dating world [2015]. The […]
Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, Eric Schlosser ($10, amazon.com link) …”the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) later fined National Beef for its negligence. The fine was $480 for each man’s death.” This book was released in 2001, I read it in 2013, and I’m writing this report in 2015. I […]
The Five Love Languages, Gary Chapman (1995)
The Five Love Languages Gift Edition: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate, Gary D. Chapman, 1995 (Read 2012, reviewed 2015/2017)(amazon.com link) “In the context of marriage, if we do not feel loved, our differences are magnified. We come to view each other as a threat to our happiness. We fight for self-worth and […]
