More thought provoking than fun

The Great Stagnation: How America Ate All the Low-Hanging Fruit of Modern History, Got Sick, and Will(Eventually) Feel Better by Tyler Cowen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a really small book - 111 pages including notes, index and "About the Author." I found it irresistable sitting on the New Books shelf, but it took a while to get through it. I would read a chapter, then read something else, but I kept returning. A lot of what Cowen has to say is sobering, but it is not hopeless. One mistake we seem to keep repeating is to assume that today's "breakthrough" will necessarily have the kind of world-shaking and quality-of-life improving impact that some 19th and 20th Century inventions had.

View all my reviews

Maybe Next Year

Ayn Rand Nation: The Hidden Struggle for America's Soul by Gary Weiss
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After several starts (and renewals - thank you Thomas Crane Public Library) I only reached page 15. I think the topic of "selfishness and private enterprise versus public enterprise and public good" is important and in flux over the last few decades. I often speak and write about the Public Library and Public Education movements as practical "barn raising" endeavors by people who intuitively know that not all enterprises need to be shared in the same way. However, I returned and re-read those fifteen pages and never developed any momentum with the book. Maybe next year.

View all my reviews

Maybe After I Retire

Under the Dome by Stephen King
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This one was quite good for the first 73 pages. It was too fat to take on vacation on the airplane. After renewing it and coming home to it I realized I just don't have time right now to another 999 pages. (No joke. It's 1072 pages without the Author's Note at the end. Stephen King is an excellent writer and storyteller, but I am just too busy and am trying to learn to not kid myself about how much reading time I have available. Maybe after I retire?

View all my reviews

Fun reading in Massachusetts and Arkansas

A for Argonaut by Michael J. Stedman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Before: Mary at the Reference desk called and said "There's a man here who wants to meet you and donate his book." Michael Stedman presented me with a copy for the Thomas Crane Public Library and we chatted for about 20 minutes. Soon after he left my office I purchased the Kindle version to take on my vacation. Why would someone as thrifty as I purchase a book when I had a copy in hand? Because I read the reviews on Amazon, and then Mr. Stedman's biography. I'll post here and on Goodreads when I've finished it but I'm really looking forward to an exciting read!

After: I finished the book (Kindle edition but Goodreads doesn't have an option for it on this title) on vacation in Arkansas and enjoyed it a lot. The hero is almost unbelievably good while also painfully vulnerable, so the outcome is always in question. I recommend this one.

View all my reviews