Thursday, June 28, 2018

The Gut Balance Revolution by Gerard E. Mullin

The Gut Balance Revolution: Boost Your Metabolism, Restore Your Inner Ecology, and Lose the Weight for Good!The Gut Balance Revolution: Boost Your Metabolism, Restore Your Inner Ecology, and Lose the Weight for Good! by Gerard E. Mullin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

5 stars for nutrition and biology research. I’ll give the actual diet a try and get back to the rating and review. I suspect it works- as the author himself admits, all diets work initially. The issue is if it can be easily maintained. I’ll probably be combining with Alternate Day Fasting (ADF) so my attempt might not be especially instructive to others.

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Tuesday, June 26, 2018

The Martian by Andy Weir

The MartianThe Martian by Andy Weir
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Yes, I know, I gave this the same rating as Jane Eyre, but it's a completely different system for genre fiction. If this were classical literature I'd rate it much lower. As an adventure and science fiction book, it's solidly entertaining. I was rooting for the plucky main character, Mark Watney. Am I to believe such an ingenious astronaut would really have been single back on Earth? No, I don't buy that. But all the crazy space shenanigans and the techno-babble were totally believable.

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Friday, June 22, 2018

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

Turtles All the Way DownTurtles All the Way Down by John Green
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I liked the narrative of the mentally ill main character Aza and her relationship and interaction with her best friend Daisy. The plotline with her friend and love interest Davis seemed silly, but I'm sure it adds a lot of interest for younger readers.

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Thursday, June 21, 2018

The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf

The Beauty MythThe Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Some parts of this were amazing. It was full of really cogent feminist arguments with lots of citations.

That said, the hyperbole/alarmist tone in some sections was a little difficult to swallow even if it turns out it’s not an exaggeration. Also, I felt like some of the belabored points made the book unnecessarily long, one of my nonfiction book pet peeves. In particular, the sections on anorexia and plastic surgery seemed a little dated because it was much discussed in the 1990s but both issues have faded into the background in the current decade.

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Wednesday, June 20, 2018

The Givenness of Things by Marilynne Robinson

The Givenness of Things: EssaysThe Givenness of Things: Essays by Marilynne Robinson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The first few essays were tough to get into but some of the essays in the middle deserve 10 million stars. This is really challenging reading, but so worth it. Where I don't agree with Robinson I have to suspect I might be wrong or missing crucial information because she is just so brilliant.

I highlighted many sentences but this is one of my favorite: “We would not now have a sizable part of our own population prepared to engage in homicidal violence if they truly believed that that young man in the hoodie was an image of God.”

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Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim

Elizabeth and Her German GardenElizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read this because it's so lovingly regarded in The Shell Seekers. The beginning is charming and plotless. The middle is full of men subjecting the main character Elizabeth to long sexist diatribes. I especially enjoyed the segments about her best friend and how they celebrate each other's birthdays.

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Monday, June 18, 2018

Nebraska by Jim Ollhoff

NebraskaNebraska by Jim Ollhoff
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A great middle school level book about the geography and history of Nebraska. It gets good starting at about page 18. I’m especially excited to visit the zoo in Omaha and the Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park in Royal.

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Sunday, June 17, 2018

Mindset by Carol S. Dweck

Mindset: The New Psychology of SuccessMindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I learned the same thing from one chapter in NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children. The message is important but this book just belabors that one point that our abilities are not fixed based on inborn talent, but must be cultivated through hard work and determination.

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Friday, June 15, 2018

Your Best Year Ever by Michael Hyatt

Your Best Year Ever: A 5-Step Plan for Achieving Your Most Important GoalsYour Best Year Ever: A 5-Step Plan for Achieving Your Most Important Goals by Michael Hyatt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I think that if you like books in this goal-setting genre, this one is pretty good. I'll probably also buy a copy for reference. I have to admit, I really love the title (maybe to a bias-forming level). *Warning! This review is more like note-taking on the book than a real summary. It's definitely more valuable if you take some notes on it.

Some of my favorite parts of the book were in the first introductory chapter:
1. Starts with a story about the amazing results of resilience. "Stay in the game and keep pushing" even if you're behind, you can still achieve your goals.
2. Set more than a few goals. Imagine accomplishing ALL of your goals a year : Health: best health of your life, energy to spare. Relationship: deepen your relationship. Finance: Debt-free with deep savings, money leftover and protected from emergencies. Spiritual: Feeling a connection to something greater and feeling grateful every day.
3. Document your baseline in the 10 domains so you can see your progress.

Ten Domains: Spiritual, Intellectual, Emotional, Physical, Marital, Parental, Social (friends), Vocational (career), Avocational (hobbies), Financial. Although I notice that home management seems to be missing from his list.

Usually, I give my thoughts on the books instead of summaries, but I wanted to record this for myself. So here's my little summary.
1. Believe the possibility- overcome doubts, be positive and abandon scarcity thinking, what's lacking and imagine putting it there, don't limit your goal based on your resources
(A bit repetitive: a. Recognize the limiting belief, b. Record it in writing, c. Is this belief helpful? d. Reject or reframe the belief. e. Revise the belief turn into liberating truth, f. Implement the new way of thinking.)
2. Get closure on the past and develop gratitude. After action review- write it down: What happened, why it happened, and what you can do to improve. You can do this with last year's goals. Adjust your beliefs and behavior. Gratitude makes you resilient and reminds us that we have agency. (A little repetitive here.)
3. Set goals that really work (Chapter 7)- Specific and measurable, habit goals, but also risky goals that stretch and challenge you.
4. Find your motivation to achieve your goal (this was my least favorite part). Find an accountability group.
5. Make it happen (Chapter 13-14): a. Start with the easiest /smallest part first for big projects (instead of eating the frog)- warm-up and create a positive feedback loop, if you get stuck try something else. b. seek outside help. c. Fully commit and schedule parts on your calendar. d. Activation triggers or cues to make responses easier. (Brainstorm triggers that are easier than your goals, optimize your activation triggers by automating them or taking them out of your control, decide in advance what to do if you're blocked, revise your activation trigger if it's not working.) e. Regular review of our goals: Daily review of all your goals (7-10 goals)- look for daily 3 actions; Weekly review: look for next 3 big actions and check at next weekly review; Quarterly review: rejoice your milestones, recommit to your goal- reconnect to your "why," revise your strategy or goal if it's not working, or remove the goal if you decide it's not worthwhile. If you remove it you might want to add a new one.

Celebrate your wins- both the overall goal and the milestones.

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Thursday, June 14, 2018

Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly

Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space RaceHidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I didn’t like the book at the beginning because I’d seen ads for the movie and thought I would be reading about the individual women. The author doesn’t do a great job writing about the separate characters of the women. As I kept reading though, I began to appreciate the amazing juxtaposition of the women’s developing careers against both civil rights history and science history.

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Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Cannibalism by Bill Schutt

Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural HistoryCannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History by Bill Schutt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love reading about science so I’m definitely the target audience for an exploration of zoological and anthropological cannibalism. I was especially intrigued by the discussion of mad cow disease and the mirror illness in human cannibals. An article on a different illness has haunted me since I first read about it in 2008, and I’d love to read a more detailed explanation of what, if any, relationship these illness have (as soon as scientists figure it out): https://mobile.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/health/05pork.html.

One thing really bothered me though, despite the book coming out in 2017, Schutt seems to have missed major research on Neanderthals that came out in 2015 of DNA evidence that there was "Ancient gene flow from early modern humans into Eastern Neanderthals": https://www.nature.com/articles/nature16544.

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Monday, June 11, 2018

Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde

Sister Outsider: Essays and SpeechesSister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lorde’s unique way of thinking and communicating is on display in these essays about race and feminism. This is especially true in the lengthy interview in the middle of the book. I might have done better to start with her poetry though.

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Sunday, June 10, 2018

A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab

A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic, #2)A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was extremely bloated. The story would have been interesting if it had been much shorter.

The first half is just Lila moping around on a pirate ship for no particular reason and Kell moping around London because his life is boring and careful because it’s tied to Rhy’s life.

The second half could have been a more interesting magical competition but it is still bloated with a ton of filler.

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Friday, June 8, 2018

Stormcaster by Cinda Williams Chima

Stormcaster (Shattered Realms, #3)Stormcaster by Cinda Williams Chima
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The best. If you like the fantasy genre and/or YA or joy, just drop everything and start with The Demon King by this author. Read all 7 books and then sit with me impatiently while we wait for the 8th book to come out. You’re welcome.

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Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Shadowcaster by Cinda Williams Chima

Shadowcaster (Shattered Realms, #2)Shadowcaster by Cinda Williams Chima
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This one was pretty good. One thing that kind of bothers me is that despite the name of this book, it didn't really feel like Shadowcaster was an important or developed character. Also, his name is weird and doesn't really tell you anything about his power. I did enjoy the other main characters Princess Heir Alyssa and the Arden soldier Hal.

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Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Monday, June 4, 2018

Girls & Sex by Peggy Orenstein

Girls & Sex: Navigating the Complicated New LandscapeGirls & Sex: Navigating the Complicated New Landscape by Peggy Orenstein
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book isn't perfect, but I'm a big believer in "don't let perfect be the enemy of the good." I think this is a useful tool for thinking about how to talk to your children- both daughters and sons- about sex.

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Sunday, June 3, 2018

Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov

Uncle VanyaUncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Beautiful writing, wonderfully sulky, surprisingly environmental.

A group of people are staying at a country estate together: there is an older country doctor Mikhail Lvovich Astrov (the main character as far as I could tell), a professor and his younger beautiful wife Yelena, the professor's plain daughter from his first marriage Sonya (who keeps up the estate) and her mother's brother Uncle Vanya, and his mother Maria. Everyone is in love with the wrong person, and everyone is extremely depressed. Enjoy!

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Saturday, June 2, 2018

Flamecaster by Cinda Williams Chima

Flamecaster (Shattered Realms, #1)Flamecaster by Cinda Williams Chima
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the first book of the Shattered Realms series, but it's also a continuation of the Seven Realms series. I just finished Seven Realms, so as a continuation of that perfect story, I kind of hate it. But as the beginning of a new series, I like it a lot and I'm excited to read the next one! (Also you don't have to read the first series to understand this one, but I recommend it anyway.)

One of the two main characters, Ash is the second child of Hans and Raisa. We follow his challenging story and the people he meets and cares about on his journey. The other main character is Jenna, an underage coal miner in Arden turned revolutionary against the King of Arden. (Remember the super evil King of Arden from the first series? He hasn't developed any nuance in this one either.)

Solid start!

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Friday, June 1, 2018

An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen

An Enemy of the PeopleAn Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Unless I'm missing something deeper, it appears to just be about the ugliness of politics. The locals don't seem to understand the science of the local baths making people sick and they are so involved in their own power struggles that they don't care. We see this frequently in American politics. I still didn't connect to this play that well. Perhaps it was my particular translation that made the language or scenes seem somewhat awkward, but I didn't enjoy it.

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