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The adventures of four amiable animals, Rat, Toad, Mole and Badger, along a river in …
Such a joyful, picturesque little book.
Of its time, there are several offhanded sexist comments which I might omit if I were reading it to a child but it certainly doesn’t dominate the story.
Everyone needs to love and be loved -- even men. But to know love, men …
This is my introduction to Bell Hooks and I’m sad I’ve not engaged with her work earlier. She has a very clear pithy way of communicating ideas and I thoroughly resonate with her position of change arising from love and understanding (with love including the importance of holding people accountable). Perhaps I’m to rigid and new to the writing of theorists but as a scientist I do find it disconcerting when there isn’t a reference list. There were some key statements throughout that make claim to something that is feasibly researched but that she doesn’t cite anything. I have read a good deal of psychology literature so knew many of her claims to be true, but others I was interested by and they did not accompany a reference and it is hard to know what she is basing these claims on? Her previous body of writing? Experiences talking to many …
This is my introduction to Bell Hooks and I’m sad I’ve not engaged with her work earlier. She has a very clear pithy way of communicating ideas and I thoroughly resonate with her position of change arising from love and understanding (with love including the importance of holding people accountable). Perhaps I’m to rigid and new to the writing of theorists but as a scientist I do find it disconcerting when there isn’t a reference list. There were some key statements throughout that make claim to something that is feasibly researched but that she doesn’t cite anything. I have read a good deal of psychology literature so knew many of her claims to be true, but others I was interested by and they did not accompany a reference and it is hard to know what she is basing these claims on? Her previous body of writing? Experiences talking to many women? Or has she just read research so widely she knows this as a basic truth? Either way, it left me wishing for a bit more rigour to underpin her worthwhile thoughts and theory. I wonder perhaps if with this being a later work of hers, she no longer feels the need to establish key ideas she has already thoroughly broached in other books and so I’m a little “out of order” if one considers that valid manner to consume a thinkers literary body.
An introduction to "disaster capitalism" argues that the global free market has exploited crises, violence, …
Truly one of the best books I’ve read.
3-3.5
I have mixed feelings about this book.
On the one hand I think engelhart has created a very well researched book. She presents information in a very matter of fact manner allowing the reader to make of the lives, actions and opinions of the key ‘characters’ as they will without any clear moral assertion.
On the other hand, I feel the book gets so close to offering key insights and then just moves onto the next conversation/interview. There is a lack of theory, deeper reflection, or the posing of philosophical questions to guide readers to consider these issues at a deeper level. Repeatedly Englehart touches on something of great significance, such as concern for people being pushed to VAD due to inequitable access to healthcare but never dives deeper into this. Under what conditions would healthcare be deemed sufficient to allow VAD? will it ever? How will we know? …
3-3.5
I have mixed feelings about this book.
On the one hand I think engelhart has created a very well researched book. She presents information in a very matter of fact manner allowing the reader to make of the lives, actions and opinions of the key ‘characters’ as they will without any clear moral assertion.
On the other hand, I feel the book gets so close to offering key insights and then just moves onto the next conversation/interview. There is a lack of theory, deeper reflection, or the posing of philosophical questions to guide readers to consider these issues at a deeper level. Repeatedly Englehart touches on something of great significance, such as concern for people being pushed to VAD due to inequitable access to healthcare but never dives deeper into this. Under what conditions would healthcare be deemed sufficient to allow VAD? will it ever? How will we know? Does it matter? Can we finance this and if not what are the barriers? What do other thinkers on this matter contend? Is there an argument for decriminalisation even if not for doctors assistance? Overall, I just constantly got excited for a deeper more critical level of analysis and then was left wanting. Instead of pages being filled with this deeper analysis born out of the lived experiences of the people she so thoroughly got to know, there is a heavy heavy emphasis on relaying specific discussions and a detailed narrative account of exactly how that interaction occurred (think 1-2 sentences of describing a handshake and the opening of a laptop before meaningful dialogue is relayed). An interesting book, but if you have an interest in this area and are already familiar with and/or work in medicine/psychology or adjacent fields I don’t know that it will offer much if any further understanding than what you’ve already seen and considered in the lives of those you know.
4.5
A lovely, light perusal through some fascinating topics as they relate to memory. Quiroga avoids this becoming an incredibly dense scientific book by aptly explaining key concepts, allowing you to consider them, and then guiding you onto the next point. Most chapters could be 500 page books if they were dissected further (which they would all need to be to give them true justice) so he does an excellent job of containing them in pithy chapters without losing the awe and interest of many of science, psychology and philosophy’s most interesting issues.
From the internationally bestselling author of “The Vegetarian,” a rare and astonishing (The Observer) portrait …
Brutally tragic but necessary
3.5
Well written and interesting content but my biggest criticism would be the missed opportunity to add small diagrams. There are sections of the book which are made so much more difficult to understand if you are not already an avid ornithologist with a good understanding of bird anatomy and behaviour. Many descriptions are highly visual with something along the lines of ‘weaved left to right, tucked behind, swivelled in on itself and the knot fastened to the mid section to create the nest’. I had to read these sections multiple times or google pictures throughout the book to get a clear understanding of what I was meant to be envisioning. This disrupted the flow and would have been much more enjoyable with a few small diagrams to visually explain what was less efficiently communicated with language.
Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the …
4.5
Very enjoyable, minus a few points for some eye-roll clichés
This is not a book for someone with a surface level or current-treatment interest of migraine, nor someone who only wants to read chapter length narrative form case studies. This book is undoubtedly now outdated, but is nevertheless brilliant. Some aspects of what sacks writes are timeless - insights to the person, early descriptions of migraine aura - but others, as with all evidence based treatment guides, need to be updated and viewed within its historical context. If you don’t wish to subsequently read extensively on current understandings of migraine, or were just hoping for a migraine self help book, then this is perhaps one to skip. Otherwise read ahead and enjoy. It is a denser book compared to others of Sacks’ style (think An anthropologist on mars / man who mistook his wife for a hat / musicophilia).
As always, Sacks is a beautiful writer.
Entry level. Easy to digest. Practical.
Unlike many other ‘self-help’ books these days, Russ does a good job of being optimistic about the utility of ACT but not overstating its possibilities.
A grand new vision of cognitive science that explains how our minds build our worlds …
Beautifully written. High quality accessible psychological science writing in line with contemporary thought as of when it was written.