On Fire combines a dire environmental backdrop that underscores why the book is important to read, truth-to-power statements about which political parties and multinational corporations are at fault, and a seam of hope that makes you feel empowered and inspires you to get active in the climate fight.
Overall, French child-raising seems more civilized than the American model that Druckerman describes, that being the “helicopter parent.” I don’t fully recognize it from my childhood. But if that is what mainstream American child raising is nowadays, the French method is way less fatiguing for parents and results in better-behaved, happier children.
There are two main storylines.
One: Where Jack comes out of third-stage syphilis delirium and leads a diverse rascal band of former galley slaves on a wild quest to steal a boat-load of silver, then return with it back to Europe via the Pacific.
And Two: Where Eliza faces her own troubles in the French court of Louis XIV at Versailles.
So Good They Can’t Ignore You is Cal Newport’s response to the recent cultural assumption that there’s a mysterious, perfect job out there waiting for you and that all you have to do is find it.
Instead, Cal Newport argues that the best way to find a fulfilling job is to develop rare and valuable skills and to apply yourself deliberately.
Ariadne gives a point-of-view perspective to pivotal events of Ariadne’s life and does the same with Ariadne’s younger sister Phaedra. Ariadne and Phaedra are shaped and moved by other mythological figures such as Theseus, Minos, Pasiphae, the Minotaur, Daedalus, and Dionysus.
Smil uses historical information and data to show how modern civilization, far from being at the cusp of turning its back on fossil fuel dependence, is more likely to continue its current trajectory of using ever more in the years to come. And he explains that even if stepping away from fossil fuels was an uncontested objective, actually shifting society away from fossil fuels would be very complicated in the near term.
Circe is born into her father’s kingdom, one of the thousands of nymphs – her cousins. They are so numerous and similar that remembering any one as distinct from the others is impossible. Instead, it is what is done to them that is memorable. They are as objects to be acted upon. And so begins Circe’s life.
J.B. MacKinnon speculates about what would happen in the real world if everyone suddenly stopped their unsustainable shopping.
Since Covid lockdown and quarantines were just a few years ago and as it’s still easy to remember how quickly nature rebounds with wonderous birdsong, clear canal water, and incredible blue skies, MacKinnon’s speculations are easy to visualize
The Gardens of the Moon begins in the wartorn capital of a grasping empire just as a new and bloodthirsty Empress seizes power from her predecessor. The reader follows a young noble as he is attached to a squad of old-guard soldiers who have survived the coup and the Empress’ initial purges.