It's been way too long since I posted what I've been reading. Good thing I haven't been reading all that much in the last few months. Most of my extracurricular reading is done with library books. It's easy to keep track of what I have read with the reading history in my online library account. I keep saying how much I love the Multnomah County Library. That's because its AWESOME! This may take awhile. I really should be doing other things.
Cults, Conspiracies, and Secret Societies : the straight scoop on Freemasons, the Illuminati, Skull and Bones, Black Helicopters, the New World Order, and many, many more - Arthur Goldwag.
What a mouthful! I'm not a conspiracy theory guy. But I do like to keep informed about what they are talking about. I sometimes visit conspiracy theory, climate change denier, white supremacist, and other fringe or extremist websites just to see what kind of nonsense they are spouting. That's pretty much why I picked up this book. I should have spent more time deciding if I wanted to check it out. I tried reading it. What total garbage. It was barely readable. And not just because of the content. I don't think I read even 10 pages of this book before I returned it. Don't waste your time with this one.
Unquenchable : America's water crisis and what to do about it - Robert Glennon.
A well-written, thought-provoking and sobering book from 2009 about America's water supplies, consumption, where we may be headed and what we can do about it. Another subject that more people should be aware of.
$20 per Gallon : How the inevitable rise in the price of gasoline will change our lives for the better - Christopher Steiner.
Most books that I have read about how the climate is changing, or about our numerous consumption patterns, or our dependence on oil, etc. are generally kind of worrisome and alarming to read. Maybe even a bit depressing. This book is not like that. I found the author's point of view very refreshing and he put rising gasoline prices under a different light. I wish more people could look at the positive aspects of issues like this. I've been saying for years that gas should cost more. That makes a lot of people angry. People who are scared of change. Some think I just want to punish those who use gas. Stupid. Attack the messenger!
Cradle of Gold : the story of Hiram Bingham, a real-life Indiana Jones, and the search for Machu Picchu - Christopher Heaney.
This was a fun book to read. History, archaeology, Incas, treasure hunters, famous explorers, controversy. It's got it all. The author did a HUGE amount of research and did a great job with this book.
The Complete Do-it-yourself Bike Book : Everything you need to know to fix, maintain, and get the most out of your bike - Mel Allwood.
I learned a bunch about my bicycle from this book.
Return to Treasure Island and the search for Captain Kidd - Barry Clifford with Paul Perry.
Another fun to read book about treasure hunters, the real life Captain Kidd, shipwrecks, and more controversy.
Tony Wheeler's Bad Lands - Tony Wheeler
This book intrigued me. It wasn't as good as I was hoping, but it gave me a view of places like Afghanistan, Albania, Burma, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, and Saudi Arabia from a different perspective than what you might hear in the news. It was interesting, but since it was written as a tourist guide it left me a little flat. Maybe it was his writing. I'm not sure. I give it a C+.
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
During the last school term, because of the literature class I was taking, I was interested in dystopian books and movies and heard about this one. It is very well written and hard to put down. If you are interested in this type of novel I highly recommend this one.
What environmentalists need to know about economics - Jason Scorse.
There was really nothing new here for me but it helped me think more about my potential career path. This book would be ideal for someone who wanted to see what the connections are between economics and the environment. Non-technical and easy to read.
Nineteen Eighty-Four - George Orwell
I am kind of embarrassed to admit that I had never read this book before. It has a dystopian theme, but is nothing like Brave New World, another classic that I had never read before recently. I should be ashamed of myself.
The Worldly Philosophers : The lives, times, and ideas of the great economic thinkers - Robert L. Heilbroner.
This is the book that inspired me to order all those econ books recently. It was a good introduction to famous economists and their theories - past and present. I haven't read many of those "classic" books. Yet. This is a good general audience book that doesn't go to deep, but still gives a good idea of who these old guys were and a general idea of their economic ideology. Another non-technical easy to read book.
Water Wars : Privatization, pollution and profit - by Vandana Shiva.
I have huge respect for this woman. This book is fairly short and to the point. It's basically a history of how the Indian (that place next to Pakistan) people and country has been devastated by the privatization and centralization of control of water. This book and the movie Flow are on the same thing. Both are excellent. You should read this book and learn something new if you have the chance. I'm actually still reading this but should be done with it soon.
The Economics Anti-textbook : A critical thinker's guide to microeconomics - Rod Hill and Tony Myatt.
This is another refreshing alternative view to the current economic paradigm. Specifically about how micro-economic textbooks present theory as cut-and-dried when they really are not. This isn't really a fun book to read and is giving me a refresher of sorts on the class I took nearly two years ago. But with a twist of considering the human side of things and how nothing is really as straightforward as is taught. I do understand that there is only so much that can be covered in a one term class, but I don't think it would be very difficult to work in a little about the variability and randomness of economics. Most people probably wouldn't want to read this book, but anyone who takes or has taken a microeconomics course would be well-served by having this book handy.
Progress and Poverty - Henry George
It took me a while to get into this book the first time. I finally finished it about 6-8 months ago and was intrigued. I reread it a few months ago to try to understand it a little better and was still intrigued. Its disappointing that Henry George's ideas didn't retain their popularity for a while longer. We would all be better off and probably happier if they had. There are some places that did, including several cities in the US, and they have been a big success. It's unlikely that there will ever be a wide scale adoption of them, but one can hope.
The Drunkard's Walk: How randomness rules our lives - Leonard Mlodinow
I almost forgot to list this one. I just finished this one a couple of days ago. A nice explanation of probability and randomness. My philosophy instructor mentioned this book a couple of weeks ago and I thought it sounded interesting. It's amazing how badly we can mispredict the probability of so many things in our everyday lives. Did you know the study of statistics began with gambling? The author did a good job on a potentially very dry topic. His examples were informative and entertaining. Highly recommended.
No comments:
Post a Comment