in which I write about stuff
author: Barack Obama
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1995
rating: 4
read at: 2009/03/18
date added: 2009/03/20
shelves: autobiography, non-fiction, psychology, sociology
review:
Picked up a copy at the Austin airport and read it on the way home. Fascinating, especially since it was written in 1994. Chock full of that Obama nuance, and a striking amount of angst. Plus, wow, that’s a crazy childhood!
author: Nicole Galland
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.31
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at: 2009/03/11
date added: 2009/03/13
shelves: fiction, history
review:
placeholder. write more later. (ending bummed me out.)
author: Steve Weinberg
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2009/03/12
date added: 2009/03/13
shelves: biography, history, non-fiction
review:
placeholder. write more later.
author: Ellen Kirby
name: Elaine
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2009/03/07
date added: 2009/03/09
shelves: gardening, politics, urban-studies
review:
Didn’t finish (another book overdue!), but even just reading the first few chapters reinvigorated my interest in an Eastside community garden. Got me thinking about research, and maybe about scouting an alternative location to the Madison Scenic Overlook. Short, enthusiastic, lots of pictures.
author: Michelle Goodman
name: Elaine
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2009/03/07
date added: 2009/03/09
shelves: business, legal, read-again, self-help
review:
Had to take it back to the library — a good sign of its quality: there were IIRC several other people with holds. A cheerful and encouraging guide to starting as a creative freelancer. I’m feeling a little too overwhelmed at the moment to really take it in, but I want to get my own copy when I’m in a better space for it.
author: Hillary Rettig
name: Elaine
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 2009/03/07
date added: 2009/03/09
shelves: politics, psychology, read-again, self-help, wishlist
review:
Had to go back to the library. 🙁 Good stuff, like a GTD for the leftist. Doing one of the early exercises helped me clarify what I do and don’t want to do as a volunteer, and to get some perspective on a project that I feel like I botched. Definitely want to get my own copy and finish working through it.
author: Jonathan Harr
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.70
book published: 1995
rating: 4
read at: 2009/03/07
date added: 2009/03/09
shelves: business, economics, environmentalism, history, legal, non-fiction, politics
review:
My first non-library book in a while. ($1.99 at Goodwill!) Gripping story, both the legal and the personal aspects. The author draws rich portraits of the players, making even the "villains" into interesting and sometimes sympathetic characters. I found the ending almost unbearably depressing, which I guess is the way life actually works. Only the smackdown by the EPA redeemed the flameout of the lawsuit.
author: David Weber
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2009/03/01
date added: 2009/03/02
shelves: fantasy, fiction, sci-fi
review:
Big crazy scifi/fantasy/history crossover. I read the first book a while ago, and some of the particular relationships evaded my memory as I read this one, but mostly I picked it back up as I went along.
Expansive & adventurous, to be sure, and compelling enough that I spent a huge chunk of the last weekend reading it. And argh! I wish there were a sequel already, which was pretty much exactly what I said with the last one. The plot keeps rolling in fun weird directions.
I think it could have been just as good and about 20% shorter with judicious trimming of adverbs & adjectives, especially modifiers of "he said". Plus all of the characters are superlatively superlative, and my eyes glaze over on the naval battle/history of armament bits.
Still, way fun reading.
author: Jeffrey Madrick
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.14
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2009/02/25
date added: 2009/02/25
shelves: economics, history, non-fiction, politics
review:
I’m just going to quote Obama’s speech of Feb 24 2009:
"History reminds us that at every moment of economic upheaval and transformation, this nation has responded with bold action and big ideas. In the midst of civil war, we laid railroad tracks from one coast to another that spurred commerce and industry. From the turmoil of the Industrial Revolution came a system of public high schools that prepared our citizens for a new age. In the wake of war and depression, the GI Bill sent a generation to college and created the largest middle-class in history. And a twilight struggle for freedom led to a nation of highways, an American on the moon, and an explosion of technology that still shapes our world.
In each case, government didn’t supplant private enterprise; it catalyzed private enterprise. It created the conditions for thousands of entrepreneurs and new businesses to adapt and to thrive.
We are a nation that has seen promise amid peril, and claimed opportunity from ordeal. Now we must be that nation again. That is why, even as it cuts back on the programs we don’t need, the budget I submit will invest in the three areas that are absolutely critical to our economic future: energy, health care, and education."
Because that’s pretty much the detailed (if brief) argument of the book. A quick solid read.
author: Nicole Galland
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.21
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2009/02/10
date added: 2009/02/11
shelves: fiction, history, religion
review:
I seriously stayed up until midnight finishing this book. Unfortunately, I’m way too tired this morning to write much about it, except that it’s got a lively narrative voice, although the narrator has an ahistorical feel (to me anyway), there’s lots of twists & turns, and I almost cried near the end.