1. The Professor in the Cage by Jonathan Gotschall.
My copy has a skull with a broken jaw for the cover, rather than this step-right-up-ladies-and-gentlemen poster look. Personally, I like mine better - much as I love the circus, it's the stark skull imagery that grabbed me. [1]
Enough about covers. It's a good read, interesting and well-thought-out. The comparisons of sports and aggression to their parallels in the animal kingdom are compellingly argued. Do I think you should go join a cage fighting gym for the thrill of it? No. But it's a good read.
2. The Shift by Theresa Brown.
Quite the tone *shift* from the last book - this one is about saving people rather than beating their brains out. A bit repetitive in parts, but I think that's part of her point: nursing work is hectic and full of minutae. Contains this gem: "It makes sense that if you crossed the heedlessness of a firefighter with the anarchism of a punk rocker the result would be a person acutely aware of life’s randomness." Convinced K to read it on the basis of that quote alone.
Quite the tone *shift* from the last book - this one is about saving people rather than beating their brains out. A bit repetitive in parts, but I think that's part of her point: nursing work is hectic and full of minutae. Contains this gem: "It makes sense that if you crossed the heedlessness of a firefighter with the anarchism of a punk rocker the result would be a person acutely aware of life’s randomness." Convinced K to read it on the basis of that quote alone.
3. The Speechwriter by Barton Swaim.
What a name, right? Sounds like just the kind of person you'd expect to be a speechwriter. [2] It was, eh. Okay. I'm not sure why he insisted on never naming "the governor," when it says clearly on the jacket flap who he was working for and when.
What a name, right? Sounds like just the kind of person you'd expect to be a speechwriter. [2] It was, eh. Okay. I'm not sure why he insisted on never naming "the governor," when it says clearly on the jacket flap who he was working for and when.
4. Don't Sleep, There are Snakes by Daniel Everett.
A classic anthro-linguistics text that I can't believe I hadn't read til now. [3] Interesting and well-reasoned, though it gets a bit dry in the heavily linguistic parts. It's a good overview of a radically different cultural mindset (The Pirahã, the people he works with, don't count, talk about the dead, and don't have recursion - all stemming from *spoiler alert* an overriding "immediacy of experience" principle. His reasoning about how that principle extends influence into linguistic, cultural, and religious spheres is solid.)
A classic anthro-linguistics text that I can't believe I hadn't read til now. [3] Interesting and well-reasoned, though it gets a bit dry in the heavily linguistic parts. It's a good overview of a radically different cultural mindset (The Pirahã, the people he works with, don't count, talk about the dead, and don't have recursion - all stemming from *spoiler alert* an overriding "immediacy of experience" principle. His reasoning about how that principle extends influence into linguistic, cultural, and religious spheres is solid.)
5. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg.
Awesome. Will change how you think and live, or at least it did me. Writing-wise, I liked how he used two case studies per chapter to fully explore and tie the concept together. The Febreeze story is especially cool.
Awesome. Will change how you think and live, or at least it did me. Writing-wise, I liked how he used two case studies per chapter to fully explore and tie the concept together. The Febreeze story is especially cool.
6. Wonder Show by Hannah Barnaby.
The only fiction book in this roundup, this is another entry in the circus-cum-fairytale subgenre. (The other one that comes to mind is The Night Circus, and maybe Eyes Like Stars, which has a little Shakespeare thrown in for good measure. And sure, a subgenre can consist of three books if I want it to.) Due to liking both of those things - circuses and books written with a fairytale feel - I liked this book well enough. It was lyrical and quick, with intriguing (if not terribly well fleshed out) side characters. Don't read if sideshows give you the squick.
The only fiction book in this roundup, this is another entry in the circus-cum-fairytale subgenre. (The other one that comes to mind is The Night Circus, and maybe Eyes Like Stars, which has a little Shakespeare thrown in for good measure. And sure, a subgenre can consist of three books if I want it to.) Due to liking both of those things - circuses and books written with a fairytale feel - I liked this book well enough. It was lyrical and quick, with intriguing (if not terribly well fleshed out) side characters. Don't read if sideshows give you the squick.
7. All Who Go Do Not Return by Shulem Deen.
What a title. [4] The author's journey from ultra-orthodox Judaism to atheist and secular. It's a sad book, for while we see why he couldn't stay in the skverer neighborhood (so conservative they make regular conservative look downright sinful), it's still heartbreaking to watch his marriage disintegrate and his faith be lost.
What a title. [4] The author's journey from ultra-orthodox Judaism to atheist and secular. It's a sad book, for while we see why he couldn't stay in the skverer neighborhood (so conservative they make regular conservative look downright sinful), it's still heartbreaking to watch his marriage disintegrate and his faith be lost.
***
Partially completed books, unlikely to be finished:
1. Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management, because I cannot resist a ridiculous reference book. This is a Victorian era tome - and I mean TOME. My copy weighs in at 1,112 pages, about 2/3 of which is food and cooking related. Its advice is entertaining and verbose, but c'mon. It's a reference book, of course I'm not going to finish it.
2. The Places In Between by Rory Stewart. Premise: Scotsman decides to walk across Afghanistan, right after the fall of the Taliban. Execution: not as exciting as that description.
3. Queen of the Road by Doreen Orion. Was almost entertaining, but I found the narrator grating and entitled.
4. Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond. Everybody says you should read this book. Shmeh. It's long, it's dry. Maybe when I really feel the need to ~know~ something, I'll try again. Also, it's title always makes me think of these other titles: Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things and Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie - The first is a linguistics classic by George Lakoff, the second a YA novel I read ages ago.
***
BAM. Til next time.
xo
Devo
[1] Don't judge a book by it's cover, they say. Pshaw, I say.
[2] I leave all interpretation of that remark to you to figure out.
[3] Check out that verb tense wrangling! It was a tricky bit of work.
[4] For those keeping track, #1 wins cover, #3 wins author name, and #7 wins title.
Nothing wrong with concise reviews!
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