Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

The Righteous Mind

Posted on August 26, 2013 by smellincoffee

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion© 2013 Jonathan Haidt528 pages The Righteous Mind begins with a question, seriously posed: why  can’t we all get along? To find the answer, Jonathan Haidt delves into the … Continue reading →

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Save the Males

Posted on August 24, 2013 by smellincoffee

Save the Males: Why Men Matter and Why Women Should Care© 2008 Kathleen Parker215 pages It’s not a man’s world any more. Far from it, Kathleen Parker writes: in America, men have not only been dethroned but imprisoned by a … Continue reading →

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The Making of the Fittest

Posted on August 22, 2013 by smellincoffee

The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution304 pages© 2006 Sean B. Carroll Sean B. Carroll’s The Making of the Fittest examines the genetics of evolution, relating to readers not only how changes come about … Continue reading →

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This week at the library: genes, love on a moving train, and war

Posted on August 19, 2013 by smellincoffee

Dear readers: This past week I finished two books on meaning and morality and a bit of natural history. I enjoyed Shubin’s Your Inner Fish, but de Botton’s work on religion and Jonathan Haidt’s The Righteous Mind were both extraordinary. … Continue reading →

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What Are People For? (Comments & Selections)

Posted on August 19, 2013 by smellincoffee

What Are People For?© 1990, 2010 (2nd Edition) Wendell Berry210 pages Did the Lord say that machines oughta take the place of livin’? (“John Henry“, Johnny Cash) Wendell Berry is a softly outspoken critic of the triumph of inhumanity. What … Continue reading →

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Religion for Atheists

Posted on August 18, 2013 by smellincoffee

Religion for Atheists: A Non-Believer’s Guide to the Uses of Religion© 2012 Alain de Botton320 pages What were we doing when we unchained this earth from its sun? Whither is it moving now? Whither are we moving? Away from all suns? … Continue reading →

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A reading on your mind

Posted on August 17, 2013 by smellincoffee

The brain is like a book, the first draft of which is written by the genes during fetal development. No chapters are complete at birth, and some are just rough outlines waiting to be filled in during childhood. But not … Continue reading →

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Basic Economics

Posted on August 14, 2013 by smellincoffee

Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy © 2010 Thomas Sowell 789 pages (4th edition) Basic Economics is a sweeping introduction  to the fundamental principles of market economics and their application to  constituent elements of the local and global economy like … Continue reading →

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The Conservative Mind

Posted on August 5, 2013 by smellincoffee

The Conservative Mind: From Burke to Eliot© 1953 Russell Kirk534 pages (7th Edition) For most of human history, change has been a glacier — slow to move, retreating as much as it advances. Since the scientific and industrial revolutions, however, … Continue reading →

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This week at the library: airborne chivalry, unschooling, and cool, cool, considerate men

Posted on August 5, 2013 by smellincoffee

The week’s reads: A Higher Call, Adam Makos | The Unschooling Handbook, Mary Griffith | Hannah Coulter, Wendell Berry | 1632, Eric Flint This week I’ve been reading from two larger works, both challenging: Russell Kirk’s The Conservative Mind and … Continue reading →

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