The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Someone gave me this book as a gift in 1999, I guess I read it for the first time in 2009, but I didn't remember any of it when I read it again this year. It's a really short novel that's organized more like a short story collection of a short book of poems.

I grew up on what could be called a Mango Street. I lived in an apartment on Boulevard East in a town in New Jersey that had once been half Italian but was then mostly Hispanic. Like the main character, I never had a house, and to this day, I have never had a house. While I can relate to the longing to own my home, it only developed later. As a kid, you're usually mostly happy with what you have.

--SPOILER ALERT--

As for the rest of the novel, I found it a very heavy-handed in places (the rape chapter in particular), and incomplete in others. Maybe who you are is in part where you're from, but there's no special case made here as to why Esperanza is Mango Street, especially when she's presented as fundamentally different from the other residents and eager to leave.

Not a favorite of mine.

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Don't Worry, It Gets Worse by Alida Nugent

Don't Worry, It Gets Worse: One Twentysomething's (Mostly Failed) Attempts at Adulthood by Alida Nugent
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A cute and funny recounting of the author’s 20s in New York City post-2008 recession.

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Shockaholic by Carrie Fisher

Shockaholic by Carrie Fisher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is Fisher’s second memoir. I also read her first one, Wishful Drinking, which is more of a conventional memoir so I recommend reading that one first. This one is more of a series of super interesting anecdotes. Nonetheless, I like this one better than the first.

Wow, Ted Kennedy sounds like a huge misogynist asshole in Fisher’s account of meeting him. Despite being a liberal myself, I’ve always suspected the worst of him, so it’s easy to just trust Fisher’s account.

The Michael Jackson account is also fascinating but maybe less reliable because she makes a lot of assumptions about him.

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The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Very quick read. I enjoyed it, and it was an extremely impressive scene writing for such a young author. Some picky things: Ponyboy seems a little unclear about whether he is or isn't into girls yet, and at his age, you'd think he'd get it. Also, who was paying for all these kids' hospital bills?

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Pastoralia by George Saunders

Pastoralia by George Saunders
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's hard to write a review when a novel is really good, and even harder when a short story collection is good. The first story felt a little long and depressing, but the stories get progressively better. The stories at the end in particular linger after you've put the book down and continue to demand your attention while you're doing other things. Now I'm looking forward to reading The Tenth of December.

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NurtureShock by Po Bronson

NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children by Po Bronson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book is supposed to be about the application of science in child-rearing. It's basically about how science can disproves common sense all the time, and how it important it is to do control studies to test our beliefs. That part I like. The actual studies this book covered however, with the exception of one, weren't actually all that interesting.

The first study was the most interesting and important. It studied how praising children is not necessarily beneficial to their learning, development, and achievement. It also explained why. This one was major. I also found the chapter on helping siblings get along interesting and possibly helpful in the future.

The following studies interested me less: how hurtful even a small lack of sleep can be to children(duh); how ignoring race doesn't make children less racist- discussing it does; kids lie way more than parents realize and it's part of their development; testing kids in kindergarten is a poor measure of their future success (duh); why teens arguing with parents is a sign of respect; how to teach children self-control (interesting, but this seemed pretty difficult to implement on your own); why high emotional intelligence is not correlated with good behavior; and how to get babies talking sooner.

One thing that bothered me in particular is that each study dealt with a particular time period in the child's development but the book wasn't organized chronologically. It was strange reading about babies verbalizing after reading about teens in high school.

Anyway, the book is pretty good, but maybe just look up the study on praise and you'll be doing pretty well on your own.

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Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If your baby does not just automatically sleep wonderfully on his own, buy this book. It's a reference book that will last you until your child is 6 and take you through all different developmental stages in a child's sleep. If you're a new parent, you might want to consider buying it before you do everything wrong like I did.

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Pledged by Alexandra Robbins

Pledged by Alexandra Robbins
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Honestly, I'm embarrassed I even read this. Though I use the word "read" loosely as the book is largely unreadable. Considering that this was such a salacious treatment of the topic, it was really boring. And considering that the author claims to be attempting a somewhat academic treatment of the topic the book is extremely disorganized and scattershot. Terrible.

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The Day I Turned Uncool: Confessions of a Reluctant Grown-up by Dan Zevin

The Day I Turned Uncool: Confessions of a Reluctant Grown-up by Dan Zevin
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I personally did not find this funny. I also found it a little strange that while it focuses on how lame adulthood is, the author did not yet have children when he wrote this book. Nothing makes you less cool than having children.

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From Conception to Birth: A Life Unfolds by Alexander Tsiaras

From Conception to Birth: A Life Unfolds by Alexander Tsiaras
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

This is a large coffee table book with photography of unborn babies throughout gestation. I really wanted to love it, but it left me cold. It offers virtually no information and the photography is very difficult to match up with my stages in pregnancy. Definitely not worth it, especially with all the great photography and video available online now.

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Your Pregnancy Week by Week by Glade B. Curtis

Your Pregnancy Week by Week, 7th Edition by Glade B. Curtis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

My insurance company sent me this book for free, as a way to "improve outcomes." I think it's definitely an improvement over "What to Expect When You're Expecting." The book is actually much shorter, which I think is a good thing (looks the same size because of big fonts and illustrations). It's true that there's a fair amount of scary information in this book, but I think most of it is information that is important to know in case a more serious issue arises. (It doesn't have tons of normal symptoms it discusses endlessly like WTEWYE.) One thing that I like better about WTEWYE is that at the end there's a section about after the baby comes, and this book doesn't have that, though it does have a small section on breastfeeding. Overall, I would still opt for books on what to do after baby arrives especially feeding and sleeping books. You can get most of your pregnancy information on Babycenter and The Bump.

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What to Expect When You're Expecting by Heidi Murkoff

What to Expect When You're Expecting by Heidi Murkoff
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I read this book week by week with my last pregnancy, and I think it was a waste of precious time and effort I should have spent reading about actual newborn and toddler care. There are very small sections about what's happening to the baby and your body every week. For this, you can get better information from Babycenter or The Bump delivered right to your email each week.

Then following the section on what's happening that week, there's a lot of information on any number of questions a pregnant woman might have that month. This might have been useful once upon a time, but now it makes more sense to Google any symptom you have a concern about, rather than reading about a lot of symptoms you don't have. What would be more helpful is a book that covers the things you actually should watch out for or worry about even if they seem innocuous.

Most importantly, your time is better spent with baby books. When our baby arrived I had trouble breastfeeding, the baby was extremely fussy, and eventually he developed all sorts of sleeping problems. Of course, once he was here, I didn't have much time to read books about all that, and I was constantly exhausted. And unlike with pregnancy symptoms, you can't just Google how to solve your baby's sleep problems.

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Getting Rid of Books! 2013

Well, we've finally started to actually get rid of some of our books. Since getting rid of my dad's books was so hard for me, I started with my own books. Kevin and I have both gone through all the nonfiction books we keep in our living room. We still haven't gone through all the fiction upstairs though, and there's been woefully few dad-books that have left the house. But we've now donated about 23 boxes of books so we're definitely making progress.

Also, even though there haven't been as many reviews as I would like, I have actually started and not-finished countless books that aren't on here, so I'm going to try to wrap some of those up in the near future.

The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin, Nicola Kraus

The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin, Nicola Kraus
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is pretty well-written for the genre. I first read this when I was in my 20s and the moms were just low-grade villains. But as a mom now, whatever, I want to have this nanny come work for me, and run out of the room whenever my kids get awful. LOL. True though.

The book is still really funny (and anger-inducing) on a reread though.

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Jo's Boys by Louisa May Alcott

Jo's Boys by Louisa May Alcott
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This one is the worst of the bunch. It seems mostly occupied with telling you what became of an endless list of characters from the last book, Little Men. They were all children back then and at least had actual personalities. As adults, we just see small snippets of their lives mostly as they meet their significant others. The scenes mostly lack any real depth.

A large portion of the book is about stalking. Tom is obsessed with Nan, and she makes it really clear that she is not interested. He doesn't give up and tries to become a doctor just to please her even though he's worried he might kill patients because he doesn't really care about medicine. Jo is hiding from fans and reporters because apparently back then writers were the Kardashians of the world. Josie stalks an actress, who rewards Josie by offering to train her. Then Tom inexplicably gets engaged to a woman Dora that's primary good quality is that she is not Nan. Is this healthy? I don't think so.

And then Emil, whoever he is, gets shipwrecked. EYE ROLL. More mini-romances follow. And then Alcott's favorite move, the big tragedy.

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this last super exciting installation of the Harry Potter series. There are some powerfully courageous parts, wonderfully romantic parts, and devastatingly sad parts in this book.

I was perpetually counting the Horcruxes though, trying to remember what had or hadn't been destroyed. At the time, I was also a little confused by the subplot of the Deathly Hallows (though ultimately it makes sense). And slight spoiler (but it's been over a decade since publication): I was also confused by the fact that technically there wasn't a Gryffindor Horcrux and there were technically 2-3 Slytherin Horcruxes. I also thought Harry Potter jumped to some crazy conclusions sometimes, some that weren't even necessary to further the plot. This last one could have been slightly edited down and the plot could have proceeded a little bit more logically. None of that matters.

I loved it. I loved it just as much on a reread.

P.S. It might be my favorite of the 7 books. Here's my 7 books ranking: 7, 5, 4, 1, 3, 6, 2.

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The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I haven't read this book in decades and it gave me chills how well this book captured real evil and real love. Well worth rereading as an adult.

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Galaxies Like Grains of Sand by Brian W. Aldiss

Galaxies Like Grains of Sand by Brian W. Aldiss
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is from my Dad's collection. Before I get to the substance of the book, I think it's worth mentioning that my Dad's copy is from 1960 and it has a cigarette ad insert right in the middle of the book. Wow. Anyway, the novel is about the history of the Earth and our Galaxy in the very distant future. It reminds me a lot of Cloud Atlas, even though it was written so long before Cloud Atlas. I enjoyed it a great deal, and the story felt cohesive though I just noticed when examining the book that many of the chapters were published as short stories before being combined into novel form. Because of this short story format, and because the the story spans millions of years, there isn't a central character, but many small under-developed characters. The story is more central than the characters.

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Brooklyn Book Festival 2013

Last Sunday, Kevin and I went to the Brooklyn Book Festival. Our first stop is was the Black Balloon Publishing booth, which is Kevin's publisher for his short story collection! For those of you that we haven't told yet, his short story collection is coming out on May 15, 2014. I will be updating you guys with more information as it becomes available.

So many people at the Brooklyn Book Festival this year!

Black Balloon Publishing Booth was hopping!

We talked with the Managing Director, Publicists, and another author Paul Kwiatkowski. Afterwards, we walked around checking out all the different booths for publishers and organizations. Kevin spotted a bunch of authors I don't know walking around. 

Random House- Penguin ("Random Penguin") had a food truck filled with books

Nick and Emily met up with us, and after a little more walking around we went to a bar to grab some drinks and snacks before a reading that we were checking out. Jon, Becky, and Ben stopped by to say hello as well, but they couldn't stay.

Kevin and me

Emily and Nick

Then we waited on a long long line to attend "The Fantastic and The Strange" reading by Karen Russell and A.M. Homes. I didn't previously know anything about A.M. Homes, but she's funny and kind of badass. Now I want to read all her books.

"The Fantastic and The Strange": (l-r) faciliatator, Karen Russell, and A.M. Homes

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this book a few times as a kid, but I think the first time I was 11. I remember the garden and the children and the magical quality of the book, but I also remember feeling like something was missing.

My sixth grade journal says I rated it 9+/10 so maybe that's 5 stars?

I reread it recently as an adult, and I think that because I read more quickly now, the pacing is better for me now and I appreciate it even more. And because I have more sympathy for Mr. Craven as an adult, the book seems even more beautiful now.

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Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I don't know what to say about this. It was really well-written and I had all the feelings.

It reminds me of Pride and Prejudice and Pygmalion.

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Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George

Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a wonderful book! Julie is a young teen escaping a forced marriage, and she just joins up with a wolf pack. The wolves all have names and different personalities. This book deserved all the awards it got.

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The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks

The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm not sure how much I liked this when I read it as a kid because I don't remember it that well, but it stands the test of time! What a fun children's fantasy book! I want to bring all the toys to life!

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Our Man in Iraq by Robert Perišić

Our Man in Iraq by Robert Perišić
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The novel takes place in Zagreb, Croatia, and one thing that really stands out about this novel is how Croatia seems both completely foreign and very familiar at the same time. Parts of it could definitely take place in Brooklyn instead of Zagreb. The economic and career fear in particular is very familiar and relevant in America right now. The translation appears seamless and I mostly forgot it was in translation even in the scenes where the characters speak English. The beginning of the novel is a little crazed, but it settles in to an interesting and fairly straightforward narrative. Definitely worth reading.

Full disclosure: My husband signed a contract with Black Balloon Publishing.

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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (#6) by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's hard to believe that Harry is so clever about so many things, and he is not at all clever about the title of this book. Sigh.

Why does Dumbledore not have his own Marauder’s Map? Why does Harry tell adults everything he sees but not mention the disappearances?

This one is also more upsetting to read after having experienced the illness of a loved one than it was the first time I read it. In general, it's not a super fun one to re-read.

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Postcards from the Edge by Carrie Fisher

Postcards from the Edge by Carrie Fisher
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Fisher's writing is often interesting and funny, but overall the book seemed to be missing a plot or maybe just any structure? It was too loosey-goosey.

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Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher

Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Really quick read! Hilarious but not in-depth enough at all. I love her quote about reaching heaven by backing away from hell.

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In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan

In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a simple, straightforward, short explanation of what you should be putting into your body and why. Basically, real food, mostly fruits and vegetables, and not too much food. If only following this advice were as easy as learning it.

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Family Affair by Debbie Macomber

Family Affair by Debbie Macomber
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Cute little romance. It doesn’t pass the Bechdel test or any feminist test you might devise but what romance book does? The ending moves too quickly for me, but that’s the trade-off for the quick, one-sitting read.

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A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I owned this book for many years before I picked it up to read it because I moved to Brooklyn, though I live in Cobble Hill the main character Francie lives in Williamsburg. I felt less of a connection to the location- Brooklyn is not what it once was- and more of a connection to the main character. She loves books and she loves learning, and she tries to push her brother to learn too. I also enjoyed how the relationship between Francie and her mother develops as they both "bloom."

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A Separate Peace by John Knowles

A Separate Peace by John Knowles
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

We had to read this in high school and I hated it then. I recently reread it to see if I still hate it and I do. First of all, the main character has no sense of the significance of World War II. The only good part of the entire book is how well the author captures that sense of anger that those we love the most can inspire-- but nothing is ultimately made of it. The main character regrets his feelings and actions and even tries in a limited way to take responsibility but the whole literary exercise feels pointless, boring, and despicable all at once.

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Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler

Taking Charge of Your Fertility: The Definitive Guide to Natural Birth Control, Pregnancy Achievement, and Reproductive Health by Toni Weschler
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book is full of interesting information. I think it might be helpful while trying to conceive, but personally I wouldn't use it's birth control method. Also, I think the book is too full of personal stories, that aren't especially interesting. I'd borrow a copy or check it out from the library, but definitely don't buy it unless you decide to employ it's system of birth control.

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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (#5) by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am rereading in 2018 and holy cow Rowling saw the future when she wrote this. I know that’s because she wrote it about the past, but even so, so much in this one relates to modern politics and resulting personal interactions. This one in the series is particularly enjoyable because it’s about the resistance and the resistance leaders and headquarters.

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The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A good book that would have been better without the tricky ending. The ending cheapened the entire book quite a bit and lessened the main character's responsibility. I would recommend all but the last few pages of the book. (3 stars)

Update from 3/2018 reread: Besides being captivated all over again by the author's amazing writing and his unreliable narrator, it seems clear to me that the entire point of the story is that there are a chain of people at fault, and the fault of the others does not negate the narrator's responsibility at all. In fact, his particular character flaws left unexamined all these years have gone on to affect the rest of his life as well. (4 or 5 stars)

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Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough

Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by William McDonough
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read this for a seminar I took in law school that challenged us to read nonfiction books on a number of social and ethical topics. I loved the physical book, that true to the author's word, you could bring right into the shower with you, and I loved his message that we need to aim higher in our environmental goals. Rather than reducing waste or recycling products (downcycling he called it) we need to be creating products that produce no waste or produce consumable waste as nature does.

It just got a bit boring in the technical details. Eventually, I donated the book, and I wonder sometimes what happened to it. Did it make it to the next reader perfectly intact as the book doesn't degrade, or if it did ironically end up in a landfill to never ever break down?

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The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book. It explores some of our worst instincts in such a carefully constructed and subtle manner. The author doesn't condescend. Despite being a short book, it leaves a lot for you to think about. I snatched this book away from Kevin who was about to read it, but it would have been a perfect book club selection.

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Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson

Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir by Jenny Lawson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was really entertaining. I didn't laugh out loud but it definitely cheered me up. I actually really enjoyed the chapter on her drug adventures in high school. A lot of the rest of it was so strange on its own that it seemed over the top to discuss it with so much silliness. Like too much frosting on an already really sweet dessert.

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The World According to Garp by John Irving

The World According to Garp by John Irving
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I first read this as a teenager and didn't fully appreciate it. At the time, it just seemed really weird and sexualized. Which it is. But wow, there's so much happening in this novel, both on the surface and in a literary way. And dear lord, the under toad. I hear you, Irving. And I see the toad everywhere.

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Virtual Book Club- July 2013

We're doubling down this month by reading Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes, and/or One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez (in either English or Spanish).

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Mixed feelings. I was not impressed when I read this in high school. When I reread it over 20 years later I appreciated it much more. The writing is of the passionate Jane Austen style, Mr. Rochester is the ultimate in romantic bad boys, and the character of Jane Austen is simultaneously relatable and inspirational— no small trick.

But since I am familiar with Jane Austen now, Jane Eyre feels a little derivative of Pride and Prejudice, especially the awful cousin theme. Is there any meaningful difference in the cold soul of Mr. Collins and St. John Rivers? Also, I found the entire coincidence of Jane Eyre stumbling onto her cousin by coincidence nearly unforgivable.

Final decision: Mr. Rochester, liar though he is, is worth it. Jane and her character development are perhaps unequaled in classic literature.

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Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (#4) by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the one with both the Quidditch World Cup and the Triwizard Tournament. Mad-Eye Moody might be my favorite Hogwarts professor ever even if I also feel like I don't actually know him.

The second challenge in the Triwizard Tournament makes me cry. I'm a total sap!

Goblet of Fire is like 2016. It's when things get dark. When all the (anti-muggle and mudblood) racism comes back out of the shadows, and innocent people pay the price. I'm glad that Rowling has prepared a generation for this.

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Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Our May book club selection. I found the first half pretty boring despite of or because of how beginning spoiled the end, but I enjoyed the end a little more. Still, it was a little predictable, and didn't have a lot of deeper literary value.

It's interesting though that a lot of research went into the book to make both the experience of working on a circus and the actual elephant realistic. I respect that.

I also agree with my dad that the book could have used "more elephant."

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The Game by Neil Strauss

The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists by Neil Strauss
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book is super weird. It's both interesting and gross. Like rubbernecking.

The book starts heavy on the gross side by following a group of sad pickups artists that basically gamify the ability to pick up women with great success. It's a little rapey though the author repeatedly gives women a chance to back out of any sexual contact and gives the "target" women a chance to say no or leave. But the rapey tactics include (from least to most): deception, psychological tricks, and hypnosis (?!).

But then the book starts to interest us in the individuals' problems and neuroses. Plus all the psychology is interesting even if I spitefully don't want it to be. The author also dishes on a number of celebrities he met while working his regular journalism job during this time period.

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Anastasia by Carolyn Meyer

Anastasia: The Last Grand Duchess, Russia, 1914 by Carolyn Meyer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this simplified look at Russian history through the eyes of a young child.

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The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Total weirdness. Made very little sense in the beginning. The issue of the daemons was pretty straightforward, but "dust" still basically makes very little sense. Eventually, the other characters explained to Lyra (and to me) what was going on but I wasn't that impressed by then.

I like that this takes place in an alternate universe that acknowledges the possible existence of ours. The story seems like it would be especially fun if you first read it as a child. I also like that this is the anti-Narnia series (though I did love Narnia).

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Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh

Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hsieh sounds like a lot of fun. I appreciate that he considered his career in terms of greater life satisfaction, and did some reading on the topic. I appreciate that he also applied these principals to his employees and clients. He's done a great service to business in this country, and I hope the trends he's created continue to grow.

The book could definitely have used a ghostwriter though. Some parts just seemed extraneous or annoying... the sections on raves or his apartment, for example.

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Poor Economics by Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo

Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty by Abhijit V. Banerjee
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I actually took an edX course about this topic and read the book as part of the course, but most of the lectures are covered in this book. Although this book is primarily about solving problems in developing countries, and all of the examples deal with India specifically, the way of analyzing problems and testing solutions really changed the way I think about social and political problems in this country. We need to stop philosophizing, guessing, and bickering and just do case studies of possible solutions.

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