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bedsitter23Collapse: How Societies Choose to Succeed or Fail by Jared Diamond- This book was recommended to me here many moons ago when I asked my LJ friends for reading recommendations. Since then, I have seen a lot about Diamond- David Byrne mentions him, The Smithsonian recommends him, etc..
This book really moved me. i generally fall in the pro-environment camp, but this really puts some history behind logging, water quality, and hunting/fishing practices. Diamond covers some of the great civilizations who fell- the Mayans, the Anasazi, the Easter Islanders, and the Greenland Norse. He also examines some of the modern equivalents- Haiti and Rwanda, of course, but also similar happenings in Montana and Australia.
Nor is it all bad. Diamond mentions the things that Big Oil, Big Logging and Ag do well and don't do well. He also talks about the successful flipside (the Netherlands, for one, is a place that has faced many obstacles successfully).
I recommend this heavily, with one caveat. It's a dense book, and though it is easy to understand, it takes a lot to read. If I could, I would at least recommend people to check it out and read a few chapters (There is a bit of repetition, so a few chapters should suffice, though there's so much that reading it all would be highly recommended.
I would also recommned to people who might not normally read fiction or Social Studies books. This will have an impact on you.
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins- Well.... the internet isn't too crazy about the final installment of the Hunger Games trilogy, for various reasons. I don't have particular strong things to say about Book 3, though I did like the series as a whole (and really enjoyed the first book).
Mockingjay has a plot that I think will translate very well to the Big Screen. this book is all about the action. Unfortunately, reading this book, it doesn't present as a compelling attention-grabber. I found myself wanting to just skip to the end. I was generally okay with how things played out, but it does feel rushed. There are some interesting thoughts put in, but the quality is watered down. This feels like the 5th or 7th book in a series, not the third. Again, I still liked the series overall. It's a shame that it didn't end as strong as it started.
Resonant Leadership: Renewing Yourself and Connecting with Others... - by Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee- An interesting thought for a business book- How do leaders fight burnout? As with most business books, I don't think the objective is to give you the answers but to facilitate good discussion about the subject.
I think that this generally does that. It's a subject that you don't always think about. it draws heavily on a few concepts you might already be aware of- Servant Leadership and What color is your parachute? to name two. Important stuff, but again, nothing new.
That said, I am hesitant to recommend this. It treads like a business book, but it also tries to be a business textbook, and a psychology/self-help book, the textbook elements drag the whole thing down. the self-discovery exercises may be helpful, but also take up a large portion of the book, giving you a smaller amount of material than you would expect from 300 pages.
This book really moved me. i generally fall in the pro-environment camp, but this really puts some history behind logging, water quality, and hunting/fishing practices. Diamond covers some of the great civilizations who fell- the Mayans, the Anasazi, the Easter Islanders, and the Greenland Norse. He also examines some of the modern equivalents- Haiti and Rwanda, of course, but also similar happenings in Montana and Australia.
Nor is it all bad. Diamond mentions the things that Big Oil, Big Logging and Ag do well and don't do well. He also talks about the successful flipside (the Netherlands, for one, is a place that has faced many obstacles successfully).
I recommend this heavily, with one caveat. It's a dense book, and though it is easy to understand, it takes a lot to read. If I could, I would at least recommend people to check it out and read a few chapters (There is a bit of repetition, so a few chapters should suffice, though there's so much that reading it all would be highly recommended.
I would also recommned to people who might not normally read fiction or Social Studies books. This will have an impact on you.
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins- Well.... the internet isn't too crazy about the final installment of the Hunger Games trilogy, for various reasons. I don't have particular strong things to say about Book 3, though I did like the series as a whole (and really enjoyed the first book).
Mockingjay has a plot that I think will translate very well to the Big Screen. this book is all about the action. Unfortunately, reading this book, it doesn't present as a compelling attention-grabber. I found myself wanting to just skip to the end. I was generally okay with how things played out, but it does feel rushed. There are some interesting thoughts put in, but the quality is watered down. This feels like the 5th or 7th book in a series, not the third. Again, I still liked the series overall. It's a shame that it didn't end as strong as it started.
Resonant Leadership: Renewing Yourself and Connecting with Others... - by Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee- An interesting thought for a business book- How do leaders fight burnout? As with most business books, I don't think the objective is to give you the answers but to facilitate good discussion about the subject.
I think that this generally does that. It's a subject that you don't always think about. it draws heavily on a few concepts you might already be aware of- Servant Leadership and What color is your parachute? to name two. Important stuff, but again, nothing new.
That said, I am hesitant to recommend this. It treads like a business book, but it also tries to be a business textbook, and a psychology/self-help book, the textbook elements drag the whole thing down. the self-discovery exercises may be helpful, but also take up a large portion of the book, giving you a smaller amount of material than you would expect from 300 pages.
