Helen Rappaport notes in the initial Author's Note of The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra that choosing the end point of the book was difficult. She she also wrote The Last Days of the Romanovs: Tragedy at Ekaterinburg, a "close-up examination of the last fourteen days in the lives of the family . . . [detailing] the horrific circumstances of their murder and the disposal of their bodies," she obviously did not want to reiterate those final days. Instead this is a lengthy examination of the Romanov children (it includes a lot of discussion of their brother Alexey, though, as the title suggests, it is the sisters that are the focus) throughout their childhood. And, like sitting in a friend's house and being forced to look through endless pictures of their children or shaky home movies, it is filled with too much detail and not enough drama.
Rappaport is an exhaustive researcher and she places the Romanov family in historical, social, political, and familial contexts. But it is this extensive research that is perhaps where the books goes awry - it is filled with so much detail and endless tangents, that it never feels like there is a cohesive story being told. Instead its a plodding movement through time with various things happening, often illnesses, minor political turmoils, or royal gossip, that I found difficult to persevere with. Perhaps its also the knowledge that the most dramatic event is purposefully left out - somewhat like watching the second movie in a trilogy - that the book just did not satisfy.
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
Oh Moon of Alabama We now must say goodbye We've lost our good old mama And must have whiskeyI received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
Oh Moon of Alabama We now must say goodbye We've lost our good old mama And must have whiskey Oh you know why
These lyrics are from the "Alabama Song," one of the well-known songs from the collaboration of poet Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill. Pamela Katz provides an in-depth look at the complicated relationship between these two great artists and the three women in their lives - Helene Weigl, Brecht's wife and a powerful actress; Elisabeth Hauptmann, one of Brecht's many lovers and an important collaborator on his work; and Lotta Lenya, Weill's wife and another important actress. Together, with many other writers, composers, directors, and other contemporary figures, the book tells the story of the fertile partnership between Brecht and Weill in Germany between two world wars.
The Partnership: Brecht, Weill, Three Women, and Germany on the Brink is a bit like a river - there are several streams that come together to form one larger run, which then splits again into individual courses. Katz tells Brecht's and Weill's early biographies in an almost mirror-like way at the beginning - highlighting and contrasting their experiences, their health, their early influences. Then the stories combine when the two men meet and there is this strongly pulsating creativity between them that results in their largest success, The Threepenny Opera. And, like so many creative relationships, the success of this work ultimately leads to the demise of their relationship and bitter feelings between the two men. Katz expertly details this falling-apart and how their lives diverge and occasionally meet up again.
This is a wonderfully detailed book. I think if you don't have an interest in Brecht/Weill's works, it might come across as too tedious in all the small back-and-forth revisions of works or adjustments to productions. But if you have just a passing interest, or would like to know more about Germany between the wars, or are interested in how two intensely creative people work together, or want to read interesting biographies, then this is a wonderful book. Katz has a very fluid writing style and is able to illuminate dry facts to feel more like current events - she especially has a flair for describing the performances she describes, so that you feel like an actor and patron at the same time. ...more
Tyrannicide: Forging an American Law of Slavery in Revolutionary South Carolina and Massachusetts examines the legal decisions related to slaves and slave ownership in pre- and post-Revolution America by focusing on a specific event: the escape of 34 slaves on the ship Tyrannicide from South Carolina to Massachusetts. Author Emily Blanck deftly weaves portions of the slaves' narratives with historical facts and general trends in the colonies and creates an exhaustive work on North/South relations before the Civil War.
Blanck notes that the Tyrannicide affair forced colonial America to consider three questions about slavery, race, and the relationship of the colonies:
What role would slavery play in a society built on the Declaration of Independence?
How would white revolutionaries respond to the black freedom struggle during this period?
How could America secure its national unity when the states differed so deeply in their responses to the first two questions?
And Blanck provides the reader with a comprehensive examination of these questions, reviewing the historical, political, social, and even religious aspects of each and how different groups chose to answer. The easiest answer is that Massachusetts (aka, the North) supported the end of slavery and black freedom and that South Carolina (aka, the South) supported the concept of slaves as property with limited rights. But Blanck makes it clear that things were not so black-and-white and that there were many variations in how communities, versus states as a group, answered these questions. For example, in Massachusetts there was an early effort to end slavery, but because the businesses there did not benefit from the use of slaves as did the South and that most of the population did not want freed blacks in their communities.
What was most eye opening to me throughout the book - in addition to the lives of slaves, which Blanck does an excellent job of illuminating - is how tenuous and loose the early colonies were as a unified country. It becomes clear how any number of issues, including the slavery question, could have easily torn the early country apart and only through tireless work and compromise did the union come to exist. But those early tensions remained and you can see the kernels of the Civil War throughout this book. I would highly recommend it for anyone interested in learning about colonial America, slavery, early race relations, or American history....more
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
caka parigraha 605 pankami roc ... The caka era has reached 605 on the fifth day of the wanI received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
caka parigraha 605 pankami roc ... The caka era has reached 605 on the fifth day of the waning moon ...
This somewhat bland inscription on a Cambodian stele is, according to Amir Aczel, one of the most important in the world because it is the first use of the zero. Aczel weaves a wonderful story in Finding Zero: A Mathematician's Odyssey to Uncover the Origins of Numbers about his own obsession with numbers and an equal obsession to understand how our current digits originated. I found this enlightening because its not something I'd thought about - I assumed the numbers we used were arabic in some way and that there was nothing really special about them. But Aczel makes it clear that, though our numbers do travel through the Middle East, they don't originate there. In fact, they come from India and further east. More than this, though, he shows how the zero, the lack of number, the space between a positive and negative, was not conceived of in the west. Instead, it comes from the east, where philosophies that embrace the uncertain and the inconsistent could conceive of nothingness.
This is a great read mainly for the interesting topic. Aczel isn't the best at nonfiction storytelling - the narrative sometimes comes across stilted and the verbal interactions sound staged and a bit robotic - but he is excellent at communicating his excitement for the search. The sense of adventure and discovery comes across clearly in the book. Highly recommended for those people interested in numbers, history, or eastern religions....more
The Court-Martial of Paul Revere: A Son of Liberty and America's Forgotten Military Disaster provides a different view of Paul Revere than most of us imagine - that of the revolutionary riding across the countryside to warn about the arrival of British forces - and shows a complicated, at times unsavory, character that shows the human side of this historical hero. Michael M. Greenburg provides an interesting, well-researched story outlining Revere's early contributions to the American Revolution, his military service, and his personal shortcomings.
Greenburg does not treat Revere as a hero, but rather as a man with his own personality and flaws. He provides us with an early look at one of these flaws, noting that Revere's famous engraving of the "Bloody Massacre," which shows British troops firing on colonial protesters, was both inaccurate in its depiction (likely to stoke anger) and the depiction may have been stolen from another artist. Revere comes off as an aggressive, egotistical, ladder-climbing individual, though one incredibly concerned with the liberation of the colonies and willing to do anything to see a free America. Greenburg provides a complex picture of the man.
The court martial of the title, which takes up most of the second-half of the book, is related to Revere's actions during the Maine battle at Majabigwaduce on the Penobscot River. Revere's actions come off very poorly in Greenburg's telling and he seems to have contributed to the American loss during the battle. Afterwards he was charged with "unsoldierlike behavior during the whole expedition to Penobscot, which tends to cowardice." Revere, however, could not accept this charge to his character and worked tirelessly to clear his name.
Don't read this book if you only want the image of Revere riding through the Massachusetts countryside to warn about the British, because you'll have a much more complex picture of the man afterwards. However, do read the book if you are interested in colonial history, the American Revolution, or in having a better understanding of a revered hero....more
Leonardo's Brain: Understanding da Vinci's Creative Genius opens in perhaps the saddest way. In the "Note to Reader," the author's children inform us how Leonard Shlain, while in the middle of writing this book, was diagnosed with cancer. He finished the book on on May 3rd and died eight days later. It makes you appreciate the creative drive and passion Shlain had that, even faced with a terminal disease, he was determined to finish this work.
After this opening, I was excited to read the book. Both Shlain's approach - a view of Leonardo da Vinci's creative output through the lens of modern brain science - and his obvious enthusiasm for da Vinci piqued my interest. I have to admit, though, that I found the book underwhelming and lacking in focus and coherence. Reading it felt like there were two books unhappily merged together - one is a book about Leonardo da Vinci's creativity, the other is a book about brain science. Neither handles their topic in-depth and the times the two crossover feels either forced or inadequate. Sometimes the main focus, da Vinci himself, gets lost in tangential explanation. For example, da Vinci is not mentioned once in Chapter 13 (Emotions/Memory) and is more of a footnote in Chapter 14 (Space and Time/Space-Time).
Shlain's main argument, that we can discern the type of brain Leonardo da Vinci possessed based on certain characteristics, is tenuous at best and facetious at worst. He uses da Vinci's left-handedness, his interest in art and science, and his homosexuality to make decisions about how active Leonardo's brain was. But it never feels convincing; rather it sounds like two sets of discrete facts that are held up and some arbitrary connection is created. I appreciate that Shlain was a very well-respected brain scientist and could authoritatively comment on these matters, I'm just not sure the book conveys that authority. Sometimes very odd things are stated as established fact. For example, in Chapter 16 (Leonardo's Brain), where Shlain is explaining the evolutionary advantage of certain characteristics, he says that bald hunters in primitive times would be better able to stalk and confuse game. Why? There's no explanation for this and it feels like an odd attempt to justify his "Theory of Eights" (that 8% oh males have certain traits like homosexuality, left-handedness, and baldness). Even this Theory of Eights comes off as a plug for his other books rather than explaining an aspect of da Vinci's creativity.
This disjunction and oddness may be a function of Shlain's illness and having others complete the book for him, resulting in a different text than he would have crafted, but this is the book that exists and that I have to review. I would not recommend this book to others....more
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
I know very little about the Vietnam War era and most of what I do know are pop-culture clI received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
I know very little about the Vietnam War era and most of what I do know are pop-culture cliches: hippies in bell bottoms and flower prints, helicopters hovering in war zones, protests, and a general sense that America was pulling apart internally. So the opportunity to read American Reckoning: The Vietnam War and Our National Identity gave me new understanding of this time and its significance.
I'll admit that when I saw the book I sort of groaned and left it on the counter for several days - its not the type of book I would normally read nor is it a topic I would seek out. But having finished the The Deluge: The Great War, America and the Remaking of the Global Order, 1916-1931 (also a First Reads win), where the author left off with America as this emerging superpower, uneasily taking on the mantle of world leader, it seemed like Christian G. Appy's book would be a logical next step. I think the book provides a clear distinction between WWI/WWII America, with the sense of "rightness" we had in fighting those battles, and Vietnam, where we start to see leaders say one thing ("we want to help the Vietnamese people") while in reality doing the opposite.
Appy's book sets up a distinction between the idea of American power and identity - which he calls "American exceptionalism," that the U.S. is the unrivalled promised land of goodness, opportunity, and freedom - and the reality of what the Vietnam war showed a vast number of Americans. "Never before had such a wide range of Americans come to doubt their nation's superiority; never before had so many questioned its use of military force; never before had so many challenged the assumption that their country had higher moral standards." Appy explores this break in confidence by reviewing war and its impact in three parts: Why Are We in Vietnam?, America at War, and What Have We Become? Overall, it is a thorough, damning review of the war and the broader cultural changes in America.
The work is often gut-wrenching. The introduction opens with the terrible scene of an air force medic, cleaning the bodies of two small Vietnamese boys when their mother rushes in and wails in grief. Appy informs us that these boys were "hit by an American military truck driver who may have been competing with other drivers over 'who could hit a kid. They had some disgusting name for it, something like gook hockey.'" There's a terribleness that comes through strongly in the book - a bleak realization of the horrors we humans inflict on another for no other reason than being slightly different. It is a sad book, one that makes you question your own beliefs and the stock phrases and images used by politicians.
Appy is best when talking about the war and politics. I think he is less convincing in his cultural critiques of both Vietnam-era and later music and tv. Whereas his close and deep analysis of the language of war is enlightening, that same analysis of Bruce Springsteen or Cheech & Chong songs feels like a stretch. I understand why he added these elements to the book - they help to craft the "National Identity" of the subtitle - but his argument is strong enough that he didn't need to find cultural punctuation points.
I recommend American Reckoning: The Vietnam War and Our National Identity, especially for those people with only a passing understanding of the Vietnam time period. I do think it is helpful to have some background in the WWI/WWII era as a counterpoint to the topic, but the book can stand by itself. However, be prepared to feel disgusted with humanity when reading this book. It may not be a pleasant feeling, but it is a real one....more
Mentor Me: GA=T+E—A Formula to Fulfill Your Greatest Achievement by Ken Poirot is (based on its back cover) about "real-world strategies, techniques, and information that produce proven results" related to happiness, success, motivation, influence, and inspiration. And there are elements of this in the book, loosely organized in this quasi-mathematical equation GA = T+E (Greatest Achievement = Time + Energy). There are definitely the self-help standards of overly excited language and encouragement, worksheets for you to reflect on topics, and lots of personal stories. And that's all fine, I'm just not sure any of it is all that helpful or unique. Poirot himself notes where he borrows some of the ideas from other self-help authors and there are definitely no new breakthroughs in the book.
Rather, the book is actually better read as a guide for managers on how to handle situations where there is unknown information, stressful issues to deal with, or individuals to motivate. Poirot writes most authoritatively in these sections and it is where his personal experiences really help to illustrate the concepts he is discussing. His story about dealing with an angry, ex-military bank customer is a great training scenario for managers on how to diffuse and control an angry person. So I think the book is good in this way - as a helpful guide for managers - and less useful as a self-help, mentoring book....more
I say intimidating because Tooze takes a deep dive into the history and minute events that make up the entire Great War period. His focus is global, shifting between German offensives in Russia, to Lenin's writing, to Britain's social movements, to the American Congress, to Japan's Diet. The work is dense and I think Tooze recognizes this, so each section is started with a general summary of the chapter, highlighting the important elements he'll discuss.
But even though this book is about WWI, it is really an examination of America's entrance on the world stage. Tooze does an excellent job of tracing the many different ways that virtually every other superpower (or wanna-be superpower) of the time ended up falling apart, leaving the US as the dominant global voice. He also illustrates how this emergence transmits a low, throbbing panic to many leaders and becomes part of the fanatical zeal of WWII tyrants like Hitler and Mussolini. But the author also points out that the US felt a wariness about being a global participant and often operated as a silent or "ghost" leader in various negotiations and international disputes.
This book is definitely academic in nature, but if you are interested in the early history of the modern world, WWI, or global power relations, then The Deluge: The Great War, America and the Remaking of the Global Order, 1916-1931 will be an informative read. It isn't light reading in any sense and you'll need more than a passing knowledge of world leaders and military events, but it is a book that will enlighten you and illustrates an important transition in world power that we tend to overlook....more
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
If someone mentions the Renaissance, what are the first things that come to your mind? ArtI received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
If someone mentions the Renaissance, what are the first things that come to your mind? Art, architecture, the rebirth of classical culture, Michelangelo, beauty, refinement, and likely much more. It is this initial assumption that Alexander Lee attempts to temper in his book The Ugly Renaissance: Sex, Greed, Violence and Depravity in an Age of Beauty. The subtitle pretty much gives away what Lee focuses on: "sex, greed, violence and depravity." Lee explores the underbelly of the Renaissance through three lenses: that of the artist, the patron, and finally the Renaissance and the world. Throughout he points to the artistic efforts - paintings, sculptures, architecture - to illustrate his points. Overall, it is an interesting book that reveals aspects of this period that many people may not be familiar with.
Lee does a great job of presenting his arguments via the experiences of historic figures. For example, his first section (The World of the Renaissance Artist) is all about Michelangelo's experiences. It starts with him as a young artist, getting into a fight and having his nose broken, and ends with an elder Michelangelo pining for his younger lover. Through this perspective Lee paints a portrait of the Renaissance (and mostly by Renaissance, the book is talking about Italy) that includes "the titillating private lives of its artists, the sordid concerns of its patrons, and the superabundance of intolerant hatred in its streets." More than mere juicy gossip, though, he is telling these stories to show the humanness of the period and how the Renaissance was not so different than our modern world.
At times the book can be a bit dry and sound like a dissertation thesis, but those moments are rare. Throughout Lee conveys an excitement for the topic (which is appropriate, since he is a Fellow in the Center for the Study of the Renaissance at the University of Warwick) and historian's knack for finding the most vivid examples. If you have an interest in art, history, or culture I highly recommend this book....more
In some ways I feel like Rory MacLean's Berlin: Portrait of a City Through the Centuries doesn't quite know what it wants to be. It is obviously very focused on the city of Berlin, but I come away from the book with less of an understanding of the city. It seeks to be a "portrait" of Berlin, but so many of the stories MacLean uses are from modern perspectives and gloss over large periods of the city's history. It is a non-fiction work, but most of the chapters are written in a historical-fiction style (which is so off-putting as a non-fiction reader).
I also have to admit that when I picked up this book and read the first chapter (and scanned others), I nearly gave up on it. I just do not like historical fiction and the first chapter, Marienkirche, 1469, a story about Konrad von Colln, embraces that faux you-are-there style of reimagining historic events complete with interior thought dialogues. Ugh!
But (and it took a lot of effort to pick up the book again) I gave Berlin: Portrait of a City Through the Centuries a second chance, and I'm glad I did. Yes, a majority of the book is written with a fictional slant, but MacLean also writes powerful non-fiction chapters, especially in his treatment of WWII Berlin stories. His stories about Marlene Dietrich, Leni Riefenstahl, Albert Speer, and others really made me glad I read the book through.
MacLean's Afterword, which really should be his prologue to help prepare the reader for the work, helps to explain his approach to the idea of Berlin. He says,
Berlin is a city of imagination. A portrait which hopes to capture this aspect of its nature needs to let invention cohabit with reality, to juxtapose fiction with fact, as on its streets and amongst its inhabitants. To tell Berlin's story, to reflect its creativity and reveal both its seen and unseen sides, I have used some of the techniques of the novel.... History, which used to be written about princes and potentates, has become more personal. Now it's told from the bottom up. This change - which can be explained by the decline of collective loyalties and the rise of individualism - has made history more subjective.
That is the perfect introduction to this book - it is novelistic in much of its approach and the personal stories are used to illustrate larger historical trends. It isn't my favorite approach and it isn't the type of book I would actively seek out again, but I can certainly see a readership for this style. Rory MacLean is a talented writer with a strong imagination, best illustrated in his WWII chapters, and the book is definitely worth a read....more
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
I worried about reading this book when I first received it. Thumbing through the pages, wiI received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
I worried about reading this book when I first received it. Thumbing through the pages, with the close-up line drawings of tattoos on bodies, the funky font that mixes cursive and capital letters, and the highly-personal stories. I assumed that this would be a collection of personal stories about why someone got a generic tattoo for some self-important reason.
But in reality, this is a collection of emotional stories, with a few comic items thrown in. It feels less impersonal than I originally assumed, and more like listening to a friend's story while sharing a beer. Some of the stories are a little too literary in their aspirations, and some are throwaways (like the one with the tattoo of "Pizza Party" on her toes - "I really f***ing love pizza"), but most are surprisingly heartfelt and real. Perhaps it is the nature of tattoos, but there is often something emotionally impactful or strange in the reason for the tattoo.
Take for example, the "Daddy" tattoo on a woman's forearm. She tells us:
I don't know how to tell this story. One day my dad was alive and we were on vacation and swimming in the ocean and making mermaids in the sand. And then we got back and I was at work and I got a call from my mom saying that there was an ambulance on the way to take my dad to the hospital. The last thing I ever heard him say was "who's that?" Mom said, "it's Ali." Dad said, "I love you, Ali. Don't worry. I'm ok."
And then I drove from San Francisco to Sacramento and he never woke up and I rubbed his feet while he died. I wanted to always have him with me so I mixed his ashes in with the ink."
It isn't a long read history of tattoos and it isn't a compendium of tattoo designs, but this is a rewarding book nonetheless. It provides you with an insight into a person's emotional reasons for their tattoo, giving you the back story of an image you might glance at and wonder about....more
Dan Jurafsky's book, The Language of Food: A Linguist Reads the Menu, is a wonderful, informative read that takes a serious look at the words and phrases we use everyday to describe our food. Jurafsky is both an excellent researcher and a lucid writer, able to meld history, linguistics, sociology, and culinary information seamlessly. Each chapter gives a unique glimpse into an everyday food concept or item.
For example, ketchup is the great-grandchild of a Chinese fish sauce (called ke-tchup in Hokkien) that British sailors acquired a taste for during their trading. Ketchup eventually came to mean "any number of think dark sauces made of mushrooms or even walnuts, often used to flavor butter" in 18th and 19th century England, before it was started to be mixed with tomatoes. Then, after the Civil War, American producers started to create fish-free recipes for the "American consumer who began to prefer their ketchup a bit sweeter and thicker than the British." As Jurafsky notes, this isn't just a bit of trivia, but also an insight into globalism before the term was coined.
Jurafsky is also adept at introducing linguistic terms in a way that illustrates their meaning. He discusses the concept of semantic bleaching in the "Sex, Drugs, and Sushi Rolls" chapter, discussing the terms used in negative and positive reviews:
Words like horrible or terrible used to mean "inducing horror" or "inducing terror," and awesome or wonderful meant, "inducing awe" or "full of wonder." But humans naturally exaggerate, and so over time people used these words in cases where there wasn't actual terror or true wonder. The result is what we call semantic bleaching: the "awe" has been bleached out of the meaning of awesome.
The Language of Food: A Linguist Reads the Menu reminds us how food connects people and communities across time and space. In every culture it is a great honor to share food and drink and this book celebrates that common bond....more
I. Ideas About What Is Passed Down Are Passed Down - a somewhat awkward way of describing the four chapters that deal with the negative perceptions of genealogy, hidden family histories, and the terrible ideas behind eugenics and the Third Reich's racial doctrines. Kenneally explores the way that our genealogical history has been tied to social status and a sense of belonging in exclusive groups.
II. What is Passed Down? - a mix of information on genealogy and DNA. Kenneally also uses this section to talk about what is not passed down - those parts of our past that we remain silent about.
III. How What Is Passed Down Shapes Bodies and Minds - two short chapters on how our family history or the information in our genes affect us today. These continue the conversations in section II to give a modern look at how our society thinks about these issues.
We live in a temporal envelope. For most of us the horizon extends forward maybe two generations and back just two or three. It is hard to break out of the mind-set that we stand at a crucial center point of that span and that all the people who came before were merely precursors to us. It isn't until you populate the family tree that it becomes clear how brief a human life is, how soon it is over, and how you only play a bit part in a story line that expands out and contracts back and goes off in directions that no one can predict or control.
Kenneally also is careful to point out that, despite the modern advances in recording information and examining our genetic code, modern technologies and businesses are incredibly temporary. From the Domesday genealogical information burned on to laser discs that can no longer be read to the genetic testing company sold and your information sold with it, we need to be cautious in how we proceed with documenting and sharing our histories....more
How to Be Parisian Wherever You Are: Love, Style, and Bad Habits is a somewhat strange book. It seems to be more decorative than informative - not because it has lots of pictures or a unique design, but because it doesn't exist so much to be read as glanced at and commented on. Almost like carrying Lolita around in the hopes someone will comment and think how cool you are to read Lolita, this book is more about the facade of what it means to be Parisian rather than something more in-depth. Does that make it bad? No, but a bit unfulfilling.
I have to admit that I did not realize this book is really geared to women when I first saw the title. Instead, I thought it would be a view into the culture of Paris and the people who make it unique. The book is actually a collection of items from the four different authors (Anne Berest, Audrey Diwan, Sophie Mas, and Caroline de Maigret), ranging from lists, to make-up tips, to recipes, to condensed stories.
Perhaps too influenced by the blogging trend of top 10 lists, there are many, many lists of things on a topic: a list of aphorisms (from the generic, "be your own knight in shining armor," to the off-color, "always be f*ckable"), a list of Parisian Pantone colors, a list of "A Mother's Advice on Love." It is all just too cute, too preciously crafted to sound ironic and unaffected. The content isn't bad, just randomly thrown together under the umbrella of Parisian. Some of the short stories are actually quite memorable, like "1:00 P.M. First Date at the Cafe de Flore," and the imagery throughout is great, but the whole book is underwhelming in the end....more
I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
Ha-Joon Chang admits that most people aren't likely to find this book's topic attractive. II received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
Ha-Joon Chang admits that most people aren't likely to find this book's topic attractive. In the lead chapter of Economics: The User's Guide, Why Are People Not Very Interested in Economics?, Chang explores how the field's jargon and seeming difficultness make most people turn away. But he also makes it clear how this book is different than other introductory books on economics: Chang takes the reader seriously, giving them the breadth and depth necessary to make their own judgements, while also ensuring that the information is clear and direct.
Chang takes an innovative approach in the book by giving readers options for how in-depth they want to go into the text. You have 10 minutes? Chang recommends that you read the chapter titles and the first page of each chapter. You have a few hours? Chang suggests reading the first two chapters plus the epilogue. And so on. This gives a convenient "out" for those readers who might pick up the book but are wary of reading all 12 chapters. I also found the recommendation useful in certain chapters, when the text (for me) wasn't particularly interesting, like the author was saying that skimming the content was ok.
Overall Economics: The User's Guide is a great introduction to the topic of economics, especially the various theories that compete with the all encompassing one in current use: the Neoclassical approach (which Chang doesn't have a favorable opinion of). That said, it can often feel like a textbook despite Chang's best efforts - important terms are bolded, lots of acronyms throughout, and a slow pace. He makes the concepts clear and understandable, but this isn't going to be a page turner for a majority of readers. ...more
I'm of two minds about The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan. On one side, I think it is a well-researched, passionately argued text about the mega-personalities of Nixon and Reagan and their circles of influence; on the other side, it often reads like an obsessive takedown using any means possible of anything that falls outside of a liberal value. I enjoyed the historical perspective Rick Perlstein provides, but constantly found myself questioning the filter he was applying to facts.
For example, early in the book Perlstein describes an image of a young Reagan as a golf caddy, and from that image he implies Reagan had a mental disorder. And so, there is this interesting image of a teenage, camera shy Reagan, which is a factual document of a certain period of the man's life. But without any context to what was happening when the picture was taken and with no acknowledgement of the fleeting, instantaneous nature of photography (we can all look through old photos and see ones where we look or act differently than we normally would), Perlstein uses the image to set-up this dichotomy of reclusive Reagan versus exuberant Reagan. As I read the book, I kept pausing and having mental arguments with Perlstein, saying, "well, that's your opinion of what might have happened, not the reality."
But Perlstein's passion for this topic comes through bright and clear. He can seem almost breathless at times in describing Nixon's hubris or Reagan's unassailable optimism. The book draws an interesting dotted line from Nixon to Reagan and, though I found his approach heavy-handed, I think The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan will be enlightening to historians and casual readers alike.
I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
Janko Puls's small, game-like book is a little gem of New York City trivia. I say game-likeI received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
Janko Puls's small, game-like book is a little gem of New York City trivia. I say game-like because, even though the word "Game" is in the title, Point of View New York City: A Visual Game of the City You Think You Know is really more like a picture book except the image info is in the back of the book (similar to some art books). As a new resident of NYC, Puls's book both reminded me of sights I see everyday and spurred me to seek out some of the interesting places I didn't know about. Puls also gives a bit of information - often a factual nugget about the sight, sometimes a story - that helps to place each unique corner of the city into the broader history of the people and culture. I think even someone outside of NYC would find value in the book, though, because it serves as an esoteric travel guide highlighting the hidden corners of this huge metropolis. More than anything, I value how small and intimate Puls makes the city feel through his beautiful images and informative text....more
I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
The Last Beach is an eye-opening book about the perilous state of the world's beaches and I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
The Last Beach is an eye-opening book about the perilous state of the world's beaches and the mounting dangers to these fragile ecosystems. Both authors, Orrin H. Pilkey and J. Andrew G. Cooper, are environmental scholars with a focus on shorelines and coasts. They lay out the many dangers faced by beaches, from sand mining to pollution to man-made structures, that are only increasing in quantity and severity. The authors use a lot of powerful, negative examples of how beaches are being destroyed and, with their destruction, the loss of unique & important environments.
With the many competing groups interested in beaches - leisure-seekers, local governments, corporations, multi-millionaire homeowners, coastal engineers - there is no unified effort to save beaches in a comprehensive manner. The authors recommend four rules to preserve beaches for the future:
1. Do not build seawalls - though these are intended to preserve beaches, they end up eroding the beach over time. 2. Do not build beachfront high-rises - high-rises prevent flexibility in responding to sea-level rise and lead to seawalls. 3. Do not mine sand - removing sand (for construction or beach replenishment elsewhere) destroys beachs. 4. Value the beach ecosystem
This is a well-researched, thoroughly thought-out book that leaves you with a sobering view of beaches. It would be useful for those doing research on the topic or those with just an interest in coastal ecosystems. ...more
I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads. George Langelett's management theory book is a great mix of theory and practical advise. HI received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads. George Langelett's management theory book is a great mix of theory and practical advise. How Do I Keep My Employees Motivated? is a comprehensive review of empathy-based management, which is "simply a management style in which you understand and honor the concerns of each of your stakeholders." Langelett merges theory, experience, and scientific research to flesh out why empathy is important and how it leads to more effective management in the workplace. He notes that the ultimate goal of any manager is to facilitate motivated, competent professionals who can creatively solve problems, and empathy is the path to that goal. How? Using empathy creates an emotionally secure work environment, gives employees hope, and helps people grow both personally and professionally.
A key component to the empathy-based management style is "intersubjectivity": when two people (in this case, manager and employee) share a similar emotional response to something that occurred. Langelett lays out the steps any manager can take to create intersubjectivity:
1. Comprehend your employee's experience - ask "what just happened" 2. Respond with empathy, understanding, and acceptance 3. Investigate the causes of the event - ask questions about why the problem occurred 4. Respond again with empathy, understanding, and acceptance 5. Co-creating new meaning to the incident and finding resolution - back-and-forth dialogue to help the employee understand the event better
The end of the book includes a review of motivation theories, a list of mentor characteristics, and then discussions of opposing management styles (like management by fear, management by shame, etc.). The book is comprehensive enough to give anyone insights into empathy-based management, yet is succinct and practical.
Loading...
