A few years ago, I read a book called Debt: The First 5,000 Years. Written by David Graeber, an anthropologist, and anarchist (I’m not sure how one teaches at the London School of Economics and calls themselves an anarchist, but what do I know?), it was less about economics and more about anthropology. It described […]
Archives for 2017
Short Review | A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
2017-11-10 · by ·
As titles go, A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles is about as much of an understatement as it gets. And yet, it is one of the most surprisingly fulfilling reads of my year. During the Russian Revolution, Count Alexander Rostov finds himself an aristocrat in a world where only the proletariat is legal. By […]
DNF | Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
2017-09-10 · by ·
As part of this year’s UK Reading Challenge, I tried to read Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons. It’s a satire about 19-year old orphan Flora Poste who decides to go live with her distant relatives (or something) instead of getting a job and becoming a productive member of society. She DOES have a one […]
Short Review | Grit by Angela Duckworth
2017-09-09 · by ·
I think one of the best measures of a book is how long after you read it you find yourself talking about it, thinking about it, and recommending it to others. One that recently intrigued me was Grit by Angela Duckworth. It sat on my shelf in my TBR pile for months after I received […]
Dunkirk? Speaking of WW II history, here are a few recommendations…
2017-08-09 · by ·
(Recommendations at the bottom. If you have a favorite you don’t see listed, post it in the comments.) Known as “Operation Dynamo,” the evacuation at Dunkirk began on May 26, 1940, saving 338,000 Allied troops from the German juggernaut. On June 4, Prime Minister Winston Churchill took to the floor of the House of Commons […]
Seeking Fortune in the Pacific Ocean: A Review of Three Great Books
2017-07-19 · by ·
I didn’t set out to read three books in a row about three completely different casts of characters as they seek their own kind of fortune in the expanses of the Pacific Ocean, but two Audible daily deals about this topic happened while I was reading another book that had been on my to-read list […]
Harry Potter’s 20th Birthday: On magic, youth, and reading the series to my kids
2017-06-27 · by ·
There’s nothing quite like rediscovering Harry Potter through the eyes of children. Like most readers of my generation, I enjoyed the books of the Harry Potter series as they were released (mostly, at least…I missed the first couple while on my mission). I read the Sorcerer’s Stone over a Christmas break during college when I […]
Book Review | All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
2017-06-18 · by ·
I think I must be the last person I know to read All the Light We Cannot See, and I admit I’m kicking myself that I took so long. It’s easily one of the most moving books I’ve read in recent memory. That said, I feel like it was also one of the most effortlessly […]
Book Review | Watchlist: 32 Stories by Persons of Interest by Bryan Hurt
2017-05-11 · by ·
Around the time that I read the Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer, I came across this article that he wrote about various ideas that informed the trilogy: The Slow Apocalypse and Fiction I offset the link to make it stand out because the article itself is a good read and worth a click. It […]
Book Review | Zero to One by Peter Thiel
2017-04-30 · by ·
One of the most fascinating books I have read in recent months is Peter Thiel’s Zero to One. I am not a tech entrepreneur or even starting a new business. But I found Zero to One so thought provoking and interesting, that I bought it after reading a library copy. I found myself frequently recommending […]
