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Old 01-17-2015, 06:42 PM   #2001
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Just read it. She seemed like a very bitter, angry person. However, as I read I came to understand where this attitude of hopelessness and exhaustion came from. Kind of disturbing.


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Sorry, I hadn't read the last chapter, "An Open Letter to Rich People". Her description of the typical office meeting, alone, makes the rest of the book worthwhile. LOL truth.


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Old 01-18-2015, 03:36 AM   #2002
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Sorry, I hadn't read the last chapter, "An Open Letter to Rich People". Her description of the typical office meeting, alone, makes the rest of the book worthwhile. LOL truth.


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That's why I said that it was funny. I didn't really get bitterness or anger from her writing, more of a little defensive nature, like when she says she is bothered when people ask her why she and other poor people have children they can't really afford.


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Old 01-18-2015, 11:27 AM   #2003
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The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload

Probably the best book I've read in a year. Mine has to go back to the library now, but I can definitely see myself reading it again soon, or maybe even buying it. That's how much I enjoyed it.

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Praise for THE ORGANIZED MIND

“Levitin is about as knowledgeable a guide to neuroscience as one might hope for...” –New York Times Book Review

"[An] impressively wide-ranging and thoughtful work..."The Organized Mind" is an organized book, but it also rewards dipping in at any point, for there are fascinating facts and examples throughout." - The Wall Street Journal

"From how not to lose your keys to how to decide when the risks of surgery are worth it, Levitin focuses on smart ways to process the constant flow of information the brain must deal with." - The Washington Post
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Old 01-18-2015, 11:32 AM   #2004
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I just started reading 'the warmth of other suns' by Isabel Wilkerson. I'll let you know how it is.
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Old 01-22-2015, 07:31 PM   #2005
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I just finished a terrific book a few minutes ago. It's call "The Martian" by Andy Weir. If you are an engineer or just want to know what engineers do then this is the book for you. I know there are a lot engineers in this forum.

Summary: A manned Mars missions aborts and ends up leaving one guy behind. He struggles for survival while trying to meet up with a rescue mission.
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Old 01-23-2015, 05:22 AM   #2006
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I just finished a terrific book a few minutes ago. It's call "The Martian" by Andy Weir. If you are an engineer or just want to know what engineers do then this is the book for you. I know there are a lot engineers in this forum.

Summary: A manned Mars missions aborts and ends up leaving one guy behind. He struggles for survival while trying to meet up with a rescue mission.
Indeed...very good in audiobook form as well.
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Old 01-23-2015, 02:58 PM   #2007
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As the result of reviews posted here I just finished "Hand to Mouth" and agree it is a good read. The library here didn't have it so I bought it from Amazon and when DW finishes it I'll donate it to the library.

Before that I read Bad Science - quacks, hacks and big pharma by Ben Goldacre, a London physician. It is an interesting read, especially the part about the placebo effect. It seems that because of it, an individual may actually be better off buying a name brand over-the-counter drug instead of the store brand if it actually works better for that person because of their belief system. Not true for everyone of course. But I have known people who believe that "if it costs more it must be better".
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Old 01-25-2015, 03:13 PM   #2008
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I just finished Michel Faber's novel " The Book of Strange New Things" and quite liked it. The jacket blurb described it as "genre-defying" which seems very apt. Ostensibly, it's science fiction (most of the story takes place on another planet) but once those pesky Laws of Physics are sidestepped, it becomes an examination of faith and alienation.
A young minister is recruited by a shadowy Megacorp to travel to a distant world to evangelize to the native inhabitants. His wife remains behind but communicates with him regarding various catastrophes that befall the Earth while he is gone. The Big Reveal concerns why those natives are so hungry for his presence.
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Old 01-25-2015, 03:27 PM   #2009
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I just finished Michel Faber's novel " The Book of Strange New Things" and quite liked it. The jacket blurb described it as "genre-defying" which seems very apt. Ostensibly, it's science fiction (most of the story takes place on another planet) but once those pesky Laws of Physics are sidestepped, it becomes an examination of faith and alienation.
A young minister is recruited by a shadowy Megacorp to travel to a distant world to evangelize to the native inhabitants. His wife remains behind but communicates with him regarding various catastrophes that befall the Earth while he is gone. The Big Reveal concerns why those natives are so hungry for his presence.
Oh good! I'm looking at it in my bookshelf. I will get to it soon.
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Old 01-25-2015, 05:49 PM   #2010
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I just finished Being Mortal - Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande. I was alerted to this excellent book by Midpack in the following thread: http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...ml#post1501127.

The first half of the book talks about the aging process, and how the nursing homes and assisted living centers could accomodate the seniors better and make them feel more at home. The second half of the book describes the difficult choices that patients of terminal illness and their family have to make at the end when modern medicine brings diminished returns and is often harmful.

The author is a Boston surgeon and a professor at the Harvard Medical School. Even though both of his parents were also physicians, all three did not know what to expect when his father underwent surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy for a spinal tumor. In the end, they reluctantly accepted that imminent death was at the doorstep, and they would better prepare for it. And despite being physicians, they welcome the help of skilled hospice nurses; palliative care alleviated the mental anguish as much as the physical pain.

The public library has more than a dozen copies of this book, and still I had to reserve it and waited for more than a month before it was my turn. I discovered that Gawande had a couple of more books, and already reserved them.
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Old 01-29-2015, 11:49 AM   #2011
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I highly recommend The Unquiet Dead. Beautifully written by Canadian human rights lawyer Ausma Zehanat Khan, it is ostensibly a mystery set in present day Toronto, but is more an exploration of the horrors of the Bosnian genocide in the early 90s and the effects that echo on.
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Old 01-29-2015, 01:30 PM   #2012
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I am enjoying the sci-fi Ready Player One by Ernest Cline Very fun.
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Old 01-29-2015, 04:46 PM   #2013
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Great Expectations by Dickens.
Great stuff.
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Old 01-29-2015, 05:03 PM   #2014
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"Eat the Yolks", an explanation of how our nutrition guidance got so screwed up and how to eat healthy ... Paleo.

"Grain Brain" a neurologist that has found that many of his patients are cured by removing gluten and refined foods from their diet.
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Old 02-01-2015, 08:33 PM   #2015
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I just finished "The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes -- and Why" by Amanda Ripley. The author examines how people react in disasters, both individually and in groups, and explores the psychology and physiology of those varied responses. She also explores what makes certain people resilient and able to function where others are not. Not surprisingly, she concludes that planning and preparation can alter what would otherwise be our normal animal instincts of denial and freezing. I found it all fascinating. It received nearly universally positive reviews on Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Unthinkable-Su...asin=307352900
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Old 02-01-2015, 10:35 PM   #2016
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I am more than halfway through the book, "How We Got to Now," by Steven Johnson. Johnson describes the history behind several discoveries and inventions which were crucial to improving the quality of life and how they interacted with each other to cause other, unforeseen impacts on our everyday lives years later. Interesting read.
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Old 02-02-2015, 10:57 AM   #2017
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Currently reading "Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela". A great reminder of how precious freedom really is and what a positive force forgiveness can be.
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Old 02-02-2015, 11:09 AM   #2018
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What have you read recently?

Some time ago, I mentioned Cliff's Notes regarding a couple of works by Hermann Hesse. Like everything else, they have an online presence, including "Cliff's Notes Mobile", which includes "CramCasts" (sound familiar?):

Literature Notes: iPhone Apps and iPod Podcasts from CliffsNotes Mobile
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Old 02-07-2015, 12:18 PM   #2019
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What have you read recently?

I am nearly through my first re-read of To Kill A Mockingbird in I-don't-know-how-long (still a fantastic novel) and now this about another novel by Harper Lee to appear later in 2015:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/harper-l...ded-1423270702

To say I'm psyched is putting it mildly.

Edit: that seems to be a link that requires WSJ subscription, sorry. I do not subscribe but found it with a Google search for "harper lee".
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Old 02-11-2015, 09:08 AM   #2020
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"Goodbye Columbus" by Philip Roth. Good for escapism.
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