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.: books --> bookshelf 2003
2003
january
{ your money or your life }
I can't speak for the program itself, but I do recommend this book for its common sense approach to financial transparency. if your goal is financial independence, you must read Step 9 Revisited after you finish the book. a little preachy, a little cutesey, and a little too eager to convince you of the value in their chosen way of life. grit your teeth and read through it before making a final judgment.
february
{ bleak house }
bleak house has been one of my favorite books for many years. I read the book very slowly this time, savoring dicken's incredible use of the language and his storytelling abilities, and took the time to thoroughly enjoy every memorable character. highly recommended.
(-) dematerializing: taming the power of possessions
what a disappointment! I had high hopes for this book, but unfortunately, it completely lacks a concrete organizing idea. it's competently written (except for a few very annoying tics); what it needs is two or three more think-throughs. the author has good instincts, but she never follows through in her exploration of the subject. she touches on dozens of interesting ideas, but nowhere does she really sort out which apply to her main thesis, and if they do, how they fit into a larger picture. additionally, the author isn't willing to present her ideas in a definite way: everything is modified with 'perhaps' or 'maybe' or 'it might be worth considering'. the result is that the author herself never seems to stand behind her own writing. [disclaimer: I received this book as a gift from my publisher.]
march
{ the witch of blackbird pond }
well, not as good as it was when I was 12, but still a fun read. a newbery award winner. recommended for young people.
{ spiritual housecleaning }
not at all what I expected. basically a self-help book using the activity of cleaning your house to externalize and understand the various components of your life and personality. if you cannot tolerate new age stuff, you will not be able to tolerate this book. though I was initially disappointed (and I disagree with some of the cleaning advice), I ended up liking it very much.
clean as you go, and spiritual housecleaning will get your house in pretty decent order (though if you want an in-depth education in housekeeping, buy home comforts). the self-help aspect of the book is saved by robyn's underlying practicality and belief that imperfect individuals are perfectly sufficient. in the end I was moved by her deep compassion for the individual burdens that each of us carry, and her fundamental respect for the sacredness of everyday work and everyday lives.
april
what's not there, jeffrey winke
may
{ always we begin again }
terrific again. this little book is packed with insight and wisdom, and presented in a very non-religious way. whatever your belief system--even if your belief is no belief--this book will be of value in envisioning and practicing a balanced life.
june
{ the transparent society }
simply fascinating. brin proposes, quite convincingly, that transparency is a better guarantee of our freedoms than secrecy ever can be. a mostly pragmatic look at the issue that acknowledges the complexity of the issue. highly recommended.
{ }= recommended
(-) = not recommended
< current >
when I was young
bookshelf 2002 34 books
bookshelf 2001 17 books
bookshelf 2000 10 books
july
the tightwad gazette II,
good fun and some good ideas. it's all about using what you have on hand and finding things on the cheap.
august
every sewer's guide to the perfect fit: customizing your patterns for a sensational look,
I haven't tried the fitting technique yet, but it looks very thorough. women only.
september
fitting finesse,
though I haven't yet tried the techniques, this looks to be a great reference for quick and basic fitting techniques.
ethics for the new millennium,
not as rigorous as it thinks it is, this book argues to its conclusions much of the time. many worthwhile thoughts, but often tedious.
october
{ the reader over your shoulder }
really a delight. intelligent, scathing, and highly entertaining. I don't always agree with the authors, but their revisions of every piece they examine are models of clarity. highly recommended.
{ the thurber album }
someday I want to be able to write as well as james thurber. this is a book to be savored. great writing. highly, highly recommended.
{ the red tent }
I want every woman I know to read this book. a beautiful retelling of the old testament story of dinah. amazing. men, you read it too to understand the kinds of bonds women share across generations. highly, highly recommended.
november
(-) the art of readable writing,
fun at first, but quickly tedious. skip it.
(-) awakening intuition,
some good exercises, but overall too defensive, too insistent to classify all psychic and possibly not-psychic phenomena as 'unexplainable', and tediously written.
{ a thousand years over a hot stove }
a slightly (and necessarily) superficial look at women and cooking through the ages, somewhat weakened by the author's insistence on framing all of it in terms of women. still, schenone beautifully captures the essential nature of nourishing others, and brings this most fundamental of human activities into clear relief. a lovely, interesting, and readable introduction to the subject. recommended. based on reading two others of this genre (see below) this is one of the best of the bunch.
december
the return of the king,
a little hard to get through. maybe it was just my mood.
from hardtacks to homefries: an uncommon history of american cooks and meals,
a spotty collection of historical moments through the lens of cooks and cooking. the stories are all interesting, but this reads like a collection of essays rather than one work, and the essays themselves often lack a clear through-line. very interesting work, but not quite what I had hoped it would be: the history of modern civilization as described by its cookbooks.
{ database nation: the death of privacy in the 21st century }
every American needs to understand the ways in which their information is used and their privacy compromised. this is the best book I know to do that in a clear, readable, non-polemic manner.
eat my words: reading women's lives through the cookbooks they wrote,
one academic tic that bothers me is the tendency to speculate based on little or no evidence (a necessity in writing about arcane and well-picked-over subjects); another is the tendency to give every fact and speculation equal weight. this book suffers from both. unfortunate, because the subject and material are extremely interesting.