The Librarianist
This excellent book by Patrick deWitt investigates the life of a solitary librarian. We meet our character at the end of his life as he befriends a number of people in an old age home. There is a major twist that caught me off-guard but I continue to think about the tragedy of the story.…
Genre: Literary FictionStyle: Fiction
A Man Called Ove
I very much enjoyed this grumpy old man coming to terms with people that actually want to talk to him and befriend him despite how grumpy he is. The ending is sweet and made me cry. There is a trigger warning regarding talk of suicide. Purchase on A Man Called Ove on Amazon
Genre: Literary FictionStyle: Fiction
Fahrenheit 451
I read the 60th Anniversary edition of the book and the biggest thing that stuck out to me is the relevance to today’s world. So many people are following the “screens” and not living life, only looking for something easy, just like much of society in this world. We need to do a better job…
Style: Fiction
Sideways – The City Google Couldn’t Buy – Josh O’Kane
This is a book about the hubris of Google thinking that despite what all levels of government told them about the Toronto Waterfront project, they would not be able to simply assume their way into more land and more tracking of people. It’s a good look at how Big Tech companies get us to believe…
Style: Non-fiction
The Data Detective – Tim Harford
In The Data Detective, Tim Harford takes a good look at how statistics are presented to us in various mediums working to help readers develop the tools needed to evaluate the claims being put forward in society. If you’re going to follow one rule from the book, be curious. Don’t just take claims at face…
Style: Non-fiction
The Case Against Education – Bryan Caplan
Bryan Caplan argues that education much past early high school is mainly to signal to employers that you’ll sit and listen like a good replaceable robot. Unless you’re going to teach, when was the last time that high school physics was useful (never for me)? So why do we require students learn all this stuff…
Style: Non-fiction
You Are Awesome – Neil Pasricha
In You Are Awesome, Neil Pasricha works to encourage readers to believe in themselves while also highlighting how the lives we live today has caused us to loose the resilience of former generations. Not many of us have been through famines or wars or, let’s be honest, any form of true scarcity. We have it…
Style: Non-fiction
Rest – Alex Pang
Many of us are interested in how to work better, but we don’t think very much about how to rest better. Productivity books offer life hacks, advice about how to get more done, or stories about what CEOs or famous writers do. But they say almost nothing about the role of rest in the lives…
Style: Non-fiction