The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything by Ken Robinson

Robinson continues with his critique of the American education system in this book. It actually took me quite a while to read this one because I kind of lost interest in it since a lot of it seemed like a rehashing of Out of Our Minds.

American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America by Colin Woodard

I want to be clear: I am not a big fan of history, but I found this book really informative in a fun way. Granted, I could not read more than two chapters at a time before all the information started falling out of my ears, but it was interesting to learn what European countries settled where and how that culture still impacts America to today. I had no idea so many people died in the earliest settlements since they didn't know what they were doing (necro-canabalism anyone? digging up the dead after you have buried them for food? yum yum?). So fun facts such as that pepper the entire book. If this were required reading for a history class in college, I think it would have been really enjoyable.

Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative by Ken Robinson

This is my first book as part of my "creativity" series for this year, read in conjunction while I (hopefully) make my goal of book binding 40 books this year (I am currently on book #6). On that book binding note, my books will soon be in a brick and mortar store called Eclectic NW in Salem. Back to the book... This book seemed like it was mainly a critique on the American education system and how it fails students and the population as a whole. Robinson emphasizes that creativity and jobs is more than math and science; there are other options that schools are fazing out, like music and art, that certain people respond to better than the hard sciences. I thought it was really interesting and I am currently reading the second book in his series, The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything.

Into the Wild by John Krakauer

Krakauer retraces the steps of Chris McCandless, a young man who walked into the Alaskan wilderness and never walked out again. The author speaks to people who took McCandless in and drove him to Alaska and around the west. He also discusses other adventurers who never returned to society and goes over the possible reasons why McCandless perished. To be frank, the book creeped me out, so I would not recommend reading it before bed unless you want to think of dead bodies in sleeping bags.

This was a book for my Couples Book Club-PDX Meetup group.

The End of Men and the Rise of Women by Hanna Rosin

I really enjoyed this book; it was a lot like The Richer Sex, but more readable/easy to read. Rosin discusses all the ways that women are surpassing men: education, careers, financially. I would recommend this book over The Richer Sex, but both are great reads if you want to learn more about how women are outperforming men.

The Erotic History of Advertising by Tom Reichert

I found this to be a really insightful book. It went through using sex in advertising through the ages (starting in the late 1800s and going through present) and also in specific campaigns (perfume/cologne, intimates, jeans, etc). It shows and explains a lot of examples and also goes over how not only are items sold, but the lifestyle surrounding them. Like if you wear Guess? Jeans, you instantly become desirable and people flock to you. I would recommend this book if you are interested in the history of advertising and how sex sells things, including sex itself.

The Richer Sex: How the New Majority of Female Breadwinners Is Transforming Sex, Love, and Family by Liza Mundy

I loved this book! I seem to be having a streak of really great feminist nonfiction books and I am not complaining! Mundy discusses the increase of women in college, which is leading females to be taking higher-paying jobs than their male counterparts. This has impacted the family dynamic and has led to an increase in non-traditional home lives, such as stay at home fathers/husbands, since the wife makes more money. I thought the book was really interesting. It does discuss the difficulties of women who don't want to "marry down" (marry someone less educated than them), since more and more women are getting graduate degrees, which leads to less (graduate-educated) men to match them with. Mundy also talks about how work/school/home life will be in the future if the trends continue the way they are going.

The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women by Naomi Wolf

I really loved this book! The book is divided into chapters such as violence, hunger, and sex and how what Wolf terms as "the beauty myth" interacts with them. Like violence is not domestic violent disputes, but violence against one's body, such as plastic surgery and fixing flaws that aren't really there through surgical means. The book was originally published in 1991, so it definitely shows its age. I wish there was an updated version of it that included more recent statistics, but the book is still extremely relevant--maybe even more so than when it was originally published--and worth a read.

Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture by Ariel Levy

I had high hopes for this book, really, I did. It took me two check outs before I finally had a chance to read it, and then I was disappointed. It was kind of like the unprofessionalism of Down the Up Escalator made it to feminist, non-fiction works. It felt like the book was full of Levy's own opinions, and less about facts and how the degrading and oversexualization of women has reduced culture. This book is only 10 or so years old, but so much has changed since it was written...it would be much better if they did a tenth anniversary revised edition to include Facebook (the book talked about Friendster and LJ...talk about a flashback!). I did get the point that women sexualizing each other like men do is not a good thing, but there is no talk of instead of lowering women to men's levels, of raising men to women's levels (if that makes sense). Like...why all the sexualization? Who really wins from that?

Down the Up Escalator: How the 99% Live in the Great Recession by Barbara Garson

Maybe the tip-off should have been the "99%" in the title, but this was a very non-professionally written non-fiction book. When the author starts commenting on what people look like (Russian nesting dolls...really?!) it is definitely cause for concern and reduces the overall impact of the book. Especially when you write a book that is about the poor and include people who lost their jobs in their early 50s, but have enough money to last until they retire. Not part of the 99%, in my opinion, but okay.

Overall, I think the grand idea of this book was that there was a recession, these are the effects (mainly focusing on wage depression, foreclosed houses/loan modification, and stocks/capital), and people are suffering from something they did not causes since the US government can't seem to understand that the "debt crisis" isn't really a crisis at all and the fastest way to make that crisis go away is by dealing with the jobs crisis that politicians refuse to acknowledge.

The author did do their homework and provided many anecdotes on what people were doing to keep their houses or the methods they were using to support themselves, but I feel like the fact that the author is Wiccan and spent ten days in jail back who-knows-when because of protesting are not really relevant factors in the Great Recession. But what do I know, all I do is read Jared Bernstein and Paul Krugman...every day.

New: Understanding Our Need for Novelty and Change by Winifred Gallagher

I thought this book was very interesting. Gallagher presents information on neophobes, neophiles, and neophiliacs. Neophobes shun technology. One can think that only the older generations are neophobes, but I know that isn't the case from personal experience with a decidedly older gentleman asking about how e-books work. Neophiliacs are all about the latest and greatest thing. If it's new, they want it. Neophiles are able to find a balance between the two: they know when to use technology, but aren't addicted to it.

The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter--And How to Make the Most of Them Now by Meg Jay

I wish I had this book when I turned 20.

Jay discusses how the 20s are an important development period of everyone's life and how 30 is not the new 20. She discusses how in your 20s, you make some of life's most important decisions: what you will do, who you will marry, and whether or not you will start a family. She explores each of these topics in turn and uses vignettes from her clients (she is a counselor) to highlight certain aspects of work, love, and biology (what happens to your mind and body in your 20s). Jay emphasizes that the 20s are meant to be a building block of the rest of your life: where your career begins, who you will love, and how your body changes during these years. I think I will be talking this book up to all of my friends.

Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the Economy by Joseph Stiglitz

I took my very sweet time reading this one, and I am not sure why since it drew some amazing conclusions. Stiglitz summarizes in this book what occurred when the housing bubble burst in 2008 and the incidences leading up to its event (since certain legislation was repealed 10 years prior to the bust). He discusses the irony of why when a financial crisis happens in a third world country, Americans tell them that they need to go the austerity and regulation route, while when it happens in America, a different medicine is used. The most interesting part, to me, was when Stiglitz posits that when this dichotomy occurs, maybe when the time comes, third world countries will reject democracy based on what they experienced compared to what Americans did to deal with market failure. I found that to be an extremely interesting concept.

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink

I think this is a book every manager needs to read. Pink discusses what motivates people at work. I thought it would be more about general life stuff, like what "drives" us to finish a project or lose weight, things along the lines of The Power of Habit, but I was still not disappointed. It made me realize what is important to me in the work environment, like a flexible schedule (and how "flex time" doesn't count...a truly, whenever-you-want-to-work-as-long-as-you-clock-40s schedule). I think managers could learn a lot from reading this because it would make them want to know their employees better and learn what is truly important to them. Would they prefer a higher salary and less vacation time or more acknowledgement of a job well-done instead of higher pay, etc? 



The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

I had seen this book for quite a while and knew it was popular and had great reviews on Amazon, so I wanted to know what the fuss was all about. I have to say...I am glad I did. It is a memoir, with Jeannette detailing her life growing up, the places they lived, and her family's relationship with each other. I had a hard time putting it down and finished it tonight after only starting it on Sunday, four nights ago. I found it so unbelievable (and I don't mean this in a rude way) that people actually choose to live as she did. That is not to say that she enjoyed how her family lived; although she did for the most part, except for the time they lived in West Virginia, but that was for about six years... Her story starts with her first memory, of being three years old and making hot dogs on a stove wearing a frilly pink dress. She has to make them herself since her mom is too busy painting/being an artist. This unfortunately leads her to catch on fire and stay in the hospital for six weeks getting skin graphs. That is only one story of an unbelievable life. I absolutely recommend this book.  

The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008 by Paul Krugman

I love me my Paul Krugman, but I just had the hardest time getting into this book. Maybe it is because his End This Depression Now! is more timely, but I was also blown away by the list of things that politicians should distinctly not do and how many of them are actually doing them. Like how you should not try to cut spending and pay off your debt (austerity) when you are still in recession/depression mode (like how Europe/Germany is expecting that of Greece/Spain/Italy). As I kept reading, I felt like this particular list kept getting longer and longer...all these no-nos that the governments are pursuing contrary to economic theory and what really works. Take Paul Ryan, for instance; his plan to cut spending would wreak havoc on the economy like no other, and to implement these changes at a time when more people need them is just ludicrous. But that is what politicians are doing. Some people expect the Fed to do more, and there is only so much Ben & Friends can do to help without actual policy measures (like the JOBS Act) being implemented. In the end, more stimulous is needed to help America get out of this trip. For international matters, Germany needs to chill out and understand that what they are doing is contrary to what should be done and in the end it will bite them. I think I read that it is already predicted that Germany will be back into a recession by the end of this year because of the austerity measures they are forcing on the rest of Europe.

What's the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America by Thomas Frank

I had very, very high hopes for this book, but was unfortunately greatly disappointed. It seemed to be more like a single examination of a state (a state that the author is from, by the way), rather than a set of ideas about states that are conservative, even when it won't benefit that particular set of beliefs (and what I was hoping it would really be like). The biggest thing that I came away with after reading this book is that Republicans forever promise changes in this, that, and the other thing (like outlawing abortion, lowering taxes, and smaller government) when in reality, once they're elected, they seem to do whatever they please. The most important part that Frank mentions is that even though Republicans promise to overturn Roe v. Wade, it is really only the Supreme Court that can do that. I have so many friends who vote Republican on this single issue, and I never understood that, and now I especially understand it even less. Why vote for a political party for one reason when that one thing they campaign on will never happen? I can't imagine what Europe would think of America if abortion was outlawed. Just another backwoods thing those durn Americans are doing...who understands those Americans?

MWF Seeking BFF: My Yearlong Search For a New Best Friend by Rachel Bertsche

I love love loved this book. It really resounded with me, especially because all of my high school friends had moved away from home, and then I did, too, two weeks ago. So I find myself in a new city with like two friends besides my boyfriend, which lends itself to a pretty lonely existence, especially now since I am all graduated with my MLS from UNT and don't have homework to keep me busy. ALSO, my job just moved, and I was one of the last to come into this new coworker group, and everyone seems to have their own friends already and aren't interested in me, or making more, or something. ANYWAY, about the book and not ME, the author chronicles her year-long mission to go on 52 girl-dates, as she calls them. She goes through all the different methods and ways she used to meet people and make friends, and it is really comprehensive, going from friends of friends to rent-a-friend (which is crazy, IMO, and super sketchy). Also interspersed are factoids on the science of meeting and making friends, which was really interesting. I definitely recommend this!

A Little F'd Up: Why Feminism Is Not a Dirty Word by Julie Zeilinger

I must say, I am very impressed that Zeilinger is 19/20 years old and wrote this. I had to get that out of the way. So, basically, this book is a great overview of feminism, including a little more than an overview, but not in-depth, discussion of the history of feminism, like the first, second, and third waves and the big players of each movement. I personally really enjoyed that, even though I am not a big fan of history, but because I am pretty new to this whole feminism thing and didn't know the waves and what each one did, etc etc. I'd recommend this for anyone wanting to dip their toe into feminism or just wanting to know what it's all about. Unfortunately, I do have the same complaint about this book as I did with Jessica Valenti's: what is with all the cursing??? Are you doing it to be tough, or break gender roles, or what? It doesn't matter if it's a male or female or whoever, I just do not appreciate all the cursing in these books.

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do and How to Change It by Charles Duhigg

I love love loved this book! It was like Imagine on crack (and much more applicable to real life). I feel like I learned so much and it could be applied to any area of life. It begins with the basis of habit and what happens in your brain when you are learning something new vs after you have been doing the same thing for a while and know what to expect (a "reward"). My mind was quite frankly blown learning that brain activity levels spike before a reward is earned when an activity is done out of habit. Duhigg used the examples of monkeys and juice, and rats/mice and cheese. It also explains why I, at least, have a tendancy to "space out" when doing extremely repetitious things (like my job)...it is a habit. Then Duhigg moved into specific people/situations where habit occurs and why addictions (habits!) are hard to break. I definitely recommend...!