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Book Report
Oct. 14th, 2012 02:01 pmHow to Live Well Without Owning a Car by Christ Balish – I love books like this, even though I’m not sure why. When I say ‘books like this’, I am thinking of “The Sharing Solution” in addition to this one. “The Sharing Solution” was a guide to saving money and building community by sharing things (cars, tools, housing, the list is endless) with friends and neighbors. With this book, “How to Live Well Without Owning a Car”, you can easily guess its subject matter from the title. I guess I just love books that offer practical solutions to societal problems rather than just kvetching about how bad things are. The author came up with a lot of great tips and he answered any possible objection that someone might have to ditching their car. He does concede that if you don’t have a reliable non-car method of getting to your job then you probably can’t entirely banish your car. I just loved his positive attitude and his explorations of other ways of getting stuff done. (And for the record, I did again search to see if there is a way for me to get to work on public transportation, but no matter which one of two possible routes I could take, there is a 5-7 mile stretch with no public transportation.) Grade: A
Think: Straight Talk for Women to Stay Smart in a Dumbed-Down World by Lisa Bloom – This is like an awesome book written by an older sister or a young Aunt. Lisa Bloom easily makes the case that this is a dumbed-down world where large percentages of women say they’d rather lose their ability to read than to lose their figures, where the American public cares more about the Kardashians than about real news. While arguing that the media needs to do its job better and that we need to demand more from the media, Bloom also gives you tips on how you can lead a more meaningful life. Her advice is nothing too revolutionary but it’s something we each need to be reminded of. And most of her ideas are things that I do regularly and that I can confidently say have changed and vastly improved my life: read a lot, get regular physical activity, spend time with your girlfriends, demand that your significant other do their share of the housework and child care, volunteer, use your brain, read at least one reputable news source regularly*, cook healthy but easy meals. It was just a great reminder message that I needed to hear, and I do truly wish that Bloom was my Aunt. Grade: A-
* - I need to do better with this one.
I loved the first two books – they were uplifting and they offered some real solutions.
More books behind the cut!
( Read more... )
Think: Straight Talk for Women to Stay Smart in a Dumbed-Down World by Lisa Bloom – This is like an awesome book written by an older sister or a young Aunt. Lisa Bloom easily makes the case that this is a dumbed-down world where large percentages of women say they’d rather lose their ability to read than to lose their figures, where the American public cares more about the Kardashians than about real news. While arguing that the media needs to do its job better and that we need to demand more from the media, Bloom also gives you tips on how you can lead a more meaningful life. Her advice is nothing too revolutionary but it’s something we each need to be reminded of. And most of her ideas are things that I do regularly and that I can confidently say have changed and vastly improved my life: read a lot, get regular physical activity, spend time with your girlfriends, demand that your significant other do their share of the housework and child care, volunteer, use your brain, read at least one reputable news source regularly*, cook healthy but easy meals. It was just a great reminder message that I needed to hear, and I do truly wish that Bloom was my Aunt. Grade: A-
* - I need to do better with this one.
I loved the first two books – they were uplifting and they offered some real solutions.
More books behind the cut!
( Read more... )
