The premise of Kondo’s book is that one’s environment should spark joy and that you should feel happy when surrounded by your material possessions. She encourages you to do this not only by getting rid of objects in the tidying push but rather by focusing on the objects that give you pleasure.
Who’s going to argue with that?
Ronald White recounts the president’s life chronologically, drawing upon personal correspondence, newspaper articles, reports, and other biographies and memories to inform his work.
As an audiobook, the piece flows easily. One can follow the narrative and get a feeling for the principal figures without strain. For the chapters dedicated to the civil war a map could be useful. In that way, the audiobook may compare unfavorably to the printed version (assuming there are some maps there.)
Since reading Atomic Habits by James Clear I’ve been obsessed with creating positive systems of habit in my life. He says “You do not rise to the level of your goals, but fall to the level of your systems.” So, while my goal might be to have a successful and satisfying life, that’s just too vague. It wouldn’t be acheivable on its own without an implementation plan.
Housel’s thesis is that ‘financial success is not a hard science. It’s a soft skill, where how you behave is more important than what you know.’
Arguing to support this point he gives a small comparison. Given that health and wealth are important to everyone, how can we have made such advancements in the medical field yet find ourselves unchanged in the domain of wealth creation?
Good question.
Pastoral Song is an easy book to read. It is sometimes poetic, often peppered with relatable observations, even quaint. Because it paints a large picture of the forces at work in Western agriculture over the last 70 years it gives voice to the dawning realization many of us have that farming, coupled with profit motives, results in sub-optimal outcomes when considering the animals, planet, farmers, and consumer health.
Prynne’s shame is represented by the scarlet letter that she must wear as punishment for adultery.
Prynne becomes pregnant and is thus discovered. Since her husband was still in Europe, it would have been impossible for him to be the father. But Prynne refuses to tell who the real father is. She keeps his identity secret so that his life will be spared.
Rather than being strictly Luddite, Newport allows for the measured usage of social media. He suggests that readers take a digital diet for a few months to eliminate the addiction. He encourages the reader to reflect during this time and see if anything is missing. Social media can be re-introduced later
Quicksilver is the first of three books of the Baroque Cycle trilogy, and it’s also three independent books in one. It follows the lives of three fictional characters interwoven with real figures from the 17th century such as Louis XIV, Isaac Newton, and Leibniz.
Drunk describes the effects alcohol has had on human civilisation. It covers the physiological, mental, psychologic/creative, and communal effects of alcohol, as well as its negative aspects. Slingerland keeps one foot in the scientific fields but his text is more for the general public.