Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life

Shared. Our isolated social bubbles can reinforce the divisions that cause a breakdown in social order. In his book titled, Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life, Eric Klinenberg explores how we can make society stronger by supporting places that bring different people together. Libraries, parks, and welcoming religious and civil organizations can provide places where people can increase interaction and build stronger networks and communities. Through investments in creating these places, we will make our society stronger and more resilient. Any reader interested in public policy and in building a better community and country should consider reading this book and taking action along the lines Klinenberg describes. Rating: Five-star (I love it) Click here to purchase Palaces for the People from amazon.com.

The Art of the Wasted Day

Leisure. How unscheduled is your life? How much do you go with the flow? Do you daydream much? Is leisure for you a set of structured recreational activities or is it a period of being totally carefree? In her book titled, The Art of the Wasted Day, Patricia Hampl explores leisure and takes readers into episodes from her life, as well as stories from the lives of Michel Montaigne, Gregor Mendel and others. We can discover a lot about ourselves and others when we get off the beaten path mentally and physically and lose ourselves in thought and in the places we go. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase The Art of the Wasted Day from amazon.com.

Let Love Have the Last Word

Reflections. The many fans of musical artist and actor Common will provide a natural audience for his book titled, Let Love Have the Last Word. Introspection about his life leads Common to sharing candidly his reflections about life and love. There’s an upbeat message in this book that may be inspiring to those readers who can hear the lessons from another’s life and apply them to one’s own situation. In an age when hate and polarization gets loads of attention, it’s terrific to spend some time basking in messages about love. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase Let Love Have the Last Word from amazon.com.

The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West

Cutlers. Readers who enjoy history that’s lively and well-written should consider David McCullough’s book titled, The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West. McCullough focuses on the movement west in the settlement of the Northwest Territory, the place that became the states of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. McCullough tells of the Cutler family, especially Manasseh Cutler, a Massachusetts minister, whose efforts led to the settlement of this region, and whose leadership ensured that three key provisions were included in what Congress approved: freedom of religion, a prohibition of slavery in the territory, and universal education. Cutler’s son, Ephraim embodied these values, and ensured his father’s values would continue. McCullough tells the story of this time in American history through the Cutlers and through a few other significant characters. As a result, readers are brought into the time and place in a very readable narrative. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase The Pioneers from amazon.com.

Exhalation

Possibility. There are nine short stories in a collection by Ted Chiang titled after one of them, Exhalation. Fans of science fiction often enjoy the ways in which this genre allows speculation about what might be possible, and how the big questions in our own lives can be pondered in the context of that conjecture. Some science fiction writers have a few clever ideas and build clunky prose around their concepts. Chiang’s prose is finely written and enhances his clever ideas. From time travel to free will to multiple parallel worlds to living under constant surveillance and recording, Chiang’s speculations will stimulate every reader to think about what is possible and what that means for our lives. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase Exhalation from amazon.com.

The Bride Test

Breakthrough. The protagonists in Helen Hoang’s novel titled, The Bride Test, both need to change their lives. Khai Diep falls on the high functioning end of the autism spectrum. He succeeds at work in California and fails at relationships. Esme Tran wants to be more than a hotel maid in Vietnam. After Khai’s mother travels to Vietnam to find a potential bride for Khai, she convinces Esme that the young woman had nothing to lose in coming to America to see if there’s a future there for her. Hoang writes from her personal perspective of what life on the autism spectrum is like and offers in this novel a sweet romantic story about the breakthroughs that are necessary in any life to lead to dramatic change. Readers who finish the novel are likely to close the book with a smile. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase The Bride Test from amazon.com.

Aug 9 - Fog

Collage. I know I’ve never before read anything like Kathryn Scanlan’s book titled, Aug 9 – Fog, and I’m guessing that most readers haven’t either. Fifteen years ago, Scanlan bought a diary at an estate sale. The diary was written by an octogenarian woman over the course of several years. I was reminded of refrigerator poetry and what impressions can be made from assembling different words. Scanlan doesn’t transcribe the diary; she curates it in pieces, carefully selecting what words and phrases will best reveal the diarist and her life. The result is an odd book that will appeal to adventurous readers. Rating: Three-star (It’s ok) Click here to purchase Aug 9 Fog from amazon.com.