Rating: Maybe
To Write As If Already Dead – Kate Zabreno
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While this book is supposed to be a look at the life of Hervé Guibert, I have no idea who that is or his significance to the literary world, which is notable according to the book. What stuck out to me in this book is the critique of motherhood and the failings of the US…
Eat that Frog – Brian Tracy
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This book is all about doing the hardest thing in your day first so that if you don’t get to much else, at least you’ve got the hardest things done. While I felt it was a rehash of many of the ideas I’ve read about in productivity books, there are a few new ideas and…
Saving Time – Jenny Odell
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This is Jenny Odells attempt to make sense of time outside of how capitalism tells us we should view time, the relentless pursuit of productivity at the expense of inhabiting the life around us. This is much more a philosophical book than practical one. Jenny offers little advice on how to break out of working…
Ruins – Orson Scott Card
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In Pathhfinder we watched Rigg get control of the walls and the ships that brought settlers to Garden but just because he has control of the ships and the robots, doesn’t mean he’s out of danger. Now Rigg and his friends have to navigate the Expendables (robots) who tell the truth, but not always all…
The Prophet – Harry Marks
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There are discussions of child abuse and sexual abuse at the hands of a “religious” leader. Be warned. This book follows the Rich family as dad becomes an outcast in the religious community his brother runs, his daughter gets married to his brother, and his wife is given to another man. While the book was…
Clear Thinking – Shane Parrish
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Shane Parrish, of Farnham Street fame, brings us a book that is intended to help us think clearly. The first half is all about defining the enemies of clear thinking and the second is about putting clear thinking into practice in our lives. While there are many good tidbits to take away from the book…
Slow Productivity – Cal Newport
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Slow Productivity is Cal Newport’s 4th book looking at how to be productive and maximize your career. As such it blends portions of all the previous books, adding a few bits and rehashing many of the same principles explore in earlier books. As the title suggests it focuses on working a slower pace, on fewer…
The Cost of Being a Girl – Yasemin Besen-Cassino
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In The Cost of Being a Girl, Besen-Cassino, looks at how part-time employment in the teenage years affects the income of teenage girls vs boys. The biggest takeaway is similar to what I’ve read in the past about wages for women, they make less, are asked to do more emotional labour, and get penalized if…
Ruined by Reading – Sharon Schwartz
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Ruined by reading was a very different book than I expected. I didn’t expect this memoir on the affect of reading to the author’s life to be a keep but it continually asked thought provoking questions about the nature of power and our imagination. Schwartz questions the very nature and content of a book and…
Liberty’s Daughter – Naomi Kritzer
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Liberty’s Daughter is about Beck Garrison, a teenager living on a libertarian seastead which is part of a collection of seasteads with varying rules. Some have no rules at all, so drugs are openly manufactured and children can buy them, or you can chain your workers to a table and force them to handle toxic…
