Review: Wild Thoughts from Wild Places

Wild Thoughts from Wild Places by David Quammen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A fantastic book by a fantastic writer and thinker. This book makes me want to experience life more fully and not waste it. Quammen has a humility and sense of being that is wonderful. This comes across quickly in his stories and essays. I’m looking forward to reading more of his novels soon.

I don’t have a strong knowledge of science, physics and math so it was nice to read his stories where he was able to connect nature and science in a beautiful and simple addition to each other.



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Review: 7 Billion

7 Billion by National Geographic

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a collection of articles about the world’s population hitting 7 billion and beyond. It is a little scary and a little hopeful. It all depends on what we decide to do and how we adapt. Interesting fact, the world’s population would fit in a state the size of Texas if it was a densely populated as Manhattan. Never would have thought that. I would have liked to have some more stories that were positive and not just doom and gloom about how we are pretty much destined for destruction which is why I only gave it four stars. However, the view of the world and what is coming down the road for us is not positive and quite worrisome. It almost seems like there is no reason to care because we are in so much trouble.



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Review: Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior

Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior by Ori Brafman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another book on how we are “swayed” into thinking we know what we are doing, and why we do it, when we really are very susceptible to opinions and ideas from others. It is not as strong as Malcolm Gladwell’s work but definitely worth reading. Many of the ideas are written about elsewhere but this worked well as a reminder of them and how I can be swayed to believe many things and that being the “blocker” in a meeting or a team is incredibly useful so that group think doesn’t happen automatically. It is also very useful to me as a therapist because it reminds me that what we think/believe is pretty much a made up system and has very little to do with reality. We base our life on beliefs that may or may not have any real significance or historical fact and then proceed as we think we should. This is then easily used and manipulated by advertisers, media and politicians. Not to mention friends and family. And, of course, ourselves.



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Review: The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2011

The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2011 by Mary Roach

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I can’t say enough positive comments about this book. There are so many different and enlightening articles that I’m blown away. I would give a more indepth review but each article is worthy of its own review and I don’t have time to do that. Suffice to say that I learned so much about so many different aspects of life, whether it be M-theory, jellyfish, brain lesions, memory, or the effects of our destruction of the environment (fracking) that this needs to be read by everyone. It will change the way you think about what you do and how you react to life.



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Review: You Are Not So Smart: Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You’re Deluding Yourself

You Are Not So Smart: Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You’re Deluding Yourself by David McRaney

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am having to question everything I believe because of this book. Not just what I believe, as fact, but what I believe about anything at all. There seems to be no definitive proof about much of life and existence other than we lie to ourselves, to others, and to anything that will listen so that our “reality” matches up with our self-made morals and attitudes about ourselves and life. Amazing.

Something that I really enjoyed was the final chapter when the author speaks about his own life and how he and his wife, after working low paying jobs, decided to sell everything and move to Germany. They realized how sheltered and ignorant most Americans are about life and other cultures and decided they wanted to be educated and learn more. They both took a beginner psychology class that questioned everything and had an amazing teacher. This led them to get their B.A.s and then the author wrote this book after starting a simple blog about these issues. Very cool.



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Review: Lost City Radio

Lost City Radio by Daniel Alarcón

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was my second time reading this book because I suggested it for the Noe Valley Book Club this month. Truly fantastic and horrifying. Each character is a semi-shadow of a person and it seems as if that makes total sense because nothing is certain in this war or this country. Everyone is confused, lost and hoping to find some type of grounding and hope, love, or containment.

Daniel Alarcon is an amazing writer and I have also read his “War by Candlelight” which was amazing. He is able to switch locations and times in LCR paragraph by paragraph and yet I did not get confused or lost. It takes true master to be able to do that.



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Review: Dune

Dune by Frank Herbert

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A truly fantastic novel. It really is that simple. The story is incredible and the way that Frank Herbert builds the characters is perfect. It also amazes me how Herbert was able to bring together so many different languages, cultures and religions and meld them seamlessly. Most people know this story so I won’t summarize it other than to say the movie is a horrible representation of if and this book needs to be read by anyone that wants to see a different view of the world and, in my opinion, what Avatar basically stole and made “new” when it was just Dune. I will definitely read this book again and am thinking of reading the series as time progresses.

Also, the epilogue, written by Herbert’s son, is enlightening. Definitely worth reading those few pages to see how he researched, thought of, and made this universe.



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Review: A Canticle for Leibowitz

A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A truly amazing novel. This was Miller’s only novel, while writing many short stories, in his lifetime. It basically chronicles the two thousand or so years after the holocaust that the world caused by one of their many world wars. The first section is about 500 years after the first one, the second part is about 1200 years after, and the final part is about 2000 years after the war.

I absolutely loved everything about this book. Miller’s mind is incredible at making up religious vs scientific ethical issues and then making the writer feel that they have to figure out which is correct. I tend to follow the scientific choice since i’m an atheist and don’t believe in made up fairy tales (which is what I believe religion to be) and yet it is up to humans to use it for good or evil.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that wants to read an incredibly exciting and be willing to question your own ideas and beliefs at the same time.



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Review: How to Moon a Cat

How to Moon a Cat by Rebecca M. Hale

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read this book for the Noe Valley Book Club of which I am a member.

I really wanted to like this mystery but I just couldn’t really get the hang of it. There is an amazing amount of historical knowledge presented about the Bear Flag Revolt against Mexico in Sonoma, a fictional but very believable cycling race in California, and many deeply designed characters but the story itself just seemed to miss something for me.

I can’t quite put a finger on it other than it seemed to drag on and become more and more unbelievable as the story developed and finalized. The characters were fairly interesting and the story wasn’t bad but I just felt like I needed something more in depth and more definitive.

I did appreciate the humor that the author used in describing the Mayor of San Francisco (obviously Gavin Newsom) and making fun of his ego and how he ran the city before becoming Lt. Governor but overall there seemed to be too much happening in this book and it became overwritten.

There were some interesting stylistic writing points such as the anthropomorphic use of the moon, the cats, and the frogs. However, that bothered me a little because these creatures did things that were so far out of the realm of reality that it took away from the story.



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Review: SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes And Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance

SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes And Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance by Steven D. Levitt

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really love books like this one. Levitt has an amazing ability to break down very difficult concepts and ideas into little bits that make a lot of sense when looked at rationally. From the invention of cars and how horse manure was piled 60 feet high in NYC to how we could stop global warming for about 250 million dollars with a few sulfur dioxide chimneys it is a blast I also really liked the bit about prostitution and how the economy of it works. Another classic was the monkeys and realizing that they learn token economies just like we humans do and also, that these token economies lead to sex being paid for very quickly. The world’s oldest profession lives.

I would say the writing style compares to Malcolm Gladwell in that both writers are very smart, witty and have a wonderful sense of humor about subjects that could be very depressing and worrisome. Well worth the read.



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