I have been rereading How to Read a Book: A Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading by Adler and Van Doren. This week, I read the chapter on suggestions for reading stories, plays, and poems. While reading the section titled How to Read Stories, the authors discussed the frustration readers sometimes experience when they feel overwhelmed … Continue reading Book Review: The Twisted Circle
Tag: Book Review
Book Review: These Truths – A History of the United States
Reading about our history is fascinating. In How to Read a Book by Adler and Van Doren, the authors write that “if you want to discover the truth of the past, you had better read several books about it rather than one.” The more you read, the more you fill in the gaps. After all, … Continue reading Book Review: These Truths – A History of the United States
Learning How to Read Again
Back when I was starting this blog, I wrote a short book review of How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren. In that post, I mentioned that my first attempt to read the book was in 2009, but I wasn’t ready for it. … Continue reading Learning How to Read Again
Book Review: The Creation of the American Republic 1776-1787
“By ‘reading and reasoning’ on politics they had learned ‘how to define the rights of nature, – how to search into, to distinguish, and to comprehend, the principles of physical, moral, religious, and civil liberty,’ how, in short, to discover and resist the forces of tyranny before they could be applied.” (p. 4) They – … Continue reading Book Review: The Creation of the American Republic 1776-1787
Book Review: The Last Days of Socrates
I have been focusing part of my reading plan on the subject of philosophy. My main interest is the Stoics, but I took a little detour to examine Socrates. After all, the Stoics considered him a role model and a sage. I read The Republic by Plato, which focuses on justice and what a just … Continue reading Book Review: The Last Days of Socrates
Book Review: The Federalist
The Federalist, edited by J.R. Pole, was a great read, but I'm glad the American Heart Association says it's fine to drink up to five cups of coffee a day because I needed a few of those—especially while reading Alexander Hamilton's essays. Still, the book was absolutely worth it. For those who may not know, … Continue reading Book Review: The Federalist
Book Review: Intervention Earth
“People think we’re raising the alarm because human pressures are increasing, but that’s not the case at all. It’s just that we are learning how the planet works, and the more we learn, the more we realize how vulnerable she is.” — p. 27 As controversial subjects go, climate change is near the top of … Continue reading Book Review: Intervention Earth
Book Review: The Righteous Mind
“People bind themselves into political teams that share moral narratives. Once they accept a particular narrative, they become blind to alternative morals worlds.” (p. XXIII) Photo by Ed Ortiz In early June, I wrote a post titled The Human Side of Economics. In it, I discussed a review by The Economist of Alvin Roth’s book, … Continue reading Book Review: The Righteous Mind
Book Review: Slivers
Photo by Ed Ortiz After reading Slivers by Vicki Atkinson, which, by the way, is excellent, I realized it had been decades since I last read a supernatural novel. The last one was The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, which was also her debut novel. As a debut novel, I think Slivers hits … Continue reading Book Review: Slivers
Book Review: Thomas Jefferson
Photo by Ed Ortiz My journey reading the biographies of the principal founding fathers of the United States has been very illuminating up to this point. My goal is to read biographies of the seven principal founders: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. While reading about … Continue reading Book Review: Thomas Jefferson
