* Added "Bolo'bolo"
Weird and wonderful little book that proposes a whole societal structure of radical autonomous communities — complete with an invented language to describe the parts of this new community vision, and their machinations. Very eye-opening; in some ways it's a strange and impractical utopian dream; in others it's a sobering and critical plea for reorganizing society along lines of greater sustainability and social cohesion. Very interesting whichever way you look at it!
An incredible book about the art of translation, and a million other very welcome tangents. Hofstadter spins endless threads of ideas around a fascinating central premise: that a specific favorite poem of his, by a fairly obscure 16th century French poet, can spark an infinite variety of translations. There are 80+ of these translations sprinkled throughout the book, from friends and family, students and colleagues, noted translators and computer programs (and many by Hofstadter himself). Among them, a feast of academic lessons and personal reflections interwoven into a testament to the complexity and magic of translation and a whole lot of fascinating problems posed by language, literature, cognition and more. I've owned Hofstadter's infamous Gödel, Escher, Bach for a few years now, and still haven't finished swashbuckling my way through it — but I found this one thematically related yet more accessible, a great entrance point to a capacious and curious mind.
Really wonderful book about nature, the passage of time, and really paying attention to the world around you. The whole book could almost be categorized as prose poetry; it's not a large volume but took me a while to get through just due to the sheer density of lush and sensitive description. It chronicles a year in which both nothing and everything seems to happen; Dillard mostly hangs out around her home and its backyard creek (or at least, the book is constrained mostly to these experiences) but manages to evoke transcendent beauty and spirituality, capturing cycles of predator and prey, weather, and her own reactions to the unfolding of life in its infinite forms.
It is impossible to overstate the importance of this book.
Michelle Alexander shows how slavery in the United States has not disappeared - it has just changed shape, into the mass incarceration of black men.
The author, a former supreme court justice aid, meticulously describes and delineates the "War on Drugs" as being a system designed to 1) repress inner city lower income communities and effectively turn them into red zones, 2) place "criminals" under constant supervision and monitoring of the state, 3) prescribe harsh and unhelpful sentences for drug use and possession beyond the range of 'justice,' 4) criminalize poverty, 5) reward state and local drug enforcement agencies in the form of cash (federal subsidies for picking up and prosecuting drug criminals), and 6) effectively remove on third of the population from being able to vote in elections.
I think this book should be read by all entrepreneurs out there running towards there passion without knowing the "WHY" factor for it's existence towards society.
Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, is a book by Simon Sinek that appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list.
I think this book should be read by all entrepreneurs out there running towards there passion without knowing the "WHY" factor for its existence towards society.
Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, is a book by Simon Sinek that appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list.
The book is complicated and requires focus to be understood, bit it deserves that. The author's search for Quality is rather thrilling to observe. The Quality described in the book can challenge lots of people to become more conscious about their work. Overall, great book for those who enjoy challenging reading/
Set in an alternate future where North America has become one state and Quebecois radicals want to secede, the action happens at a tennis academy and a nearby halfway house in Boston, Massachusetts, this book will expand your mind with a mere attempt to read it. It's brilliant, funny, and sad, but it's also packed with interesting ideas about entertainment, addiction, self-development, being human, the civic ideal, setting and meeting expectations, family, and a whole lot more. It's also got tons of footnotes and plenty of fascinating factual asides about pharmacology, tennis, Alcoholics Anonymous, and much more.
