Reading “inspirational” books from the pre-war era tends to be a dicey proposition. The interceding 70 years, especially the 60s and 70s, pushed self-help into a whole new level, making these early books foundations and therefore relatively simple. Think and Grow Rich has some concrete specifics and does a fairly good job of presenting the [...]
This book arrived at the office and sat quietly on a shelf as I ignored it for glossier reading over the summer. I could read this or I could read blissfully short Animal Farm. I could read this or I could read InStyle. I could read this or I could read that sign on the [...]
Your standard “for Dummies” book on how to buy a house. Clear, easy to read, not too detailed but I never felt like anything was underexplained either. I already knew a little about preparing for buying a house, but this laid out exactly how much work it really is.
me: i have to stop reading books that self-describe as “tragic” and “epic”
me: because it really means “depressing” and “long”
[smash]: you should watch full metal jacket instead!
db: (giggles)
bug: stick to short stories
bug: while sometimes tragic, they are rarely epic
Acts of Faith. The complaints against this book–it’s depressing (tragic) and long (epic). As noted in a [...]
I have to admit that I’m profoundly embarrassed to have succumbed to the book publisher’s ploy of appealing to my financially-focused (ed. originally said greedy, but see traits #5 & 6 below) side and bought Secrets of Six-Figure Women. This, however, speaks to the book’s topic–how financially successful women approach money in a way that [...]
As one the books in Penguin’s (very pretty) Great Ideas series, Henry David Thoreau’s Where I Lived, and What I Lived For was a refreshing philosophical treat at a time when I was contemplating how I am choosing to go about my life. The book contains three essays that are a part of Thoreau’s Walden, [...]
I am reading Henry David Thoreau’s essay on Economy, which serves as the first chapter of Walden. Given its old-timeyness and Thoreau’s way with words, there is some new vocabulary for the modern reader:
obtrude: push out: push to thrust outward
fain: disposed(p): having made preparations; “prepared to take risks”
integument: A natural outer covering or coat, such [...]
