The Story of Stuff - Annie Leonard

Our society's deep, unwavering faith in economic growth rests on the assumption that focusing on infinite growth is both possible and good. But neither is true. We can't run the expanding economic subsystem (take-make-waste) on a planet of fixed size indefinitely: on many fronts, we're perilously close to the limits of our finite planet already. Infinite economic growth, therefore, is impossible. Nor has it turned out to be, aft the point at which basic human needs are met, a strategy for increasing human well-being. After a certain point, economic growth (more money and more Stuff) ceases to make us happier. I mean, if everyone were having fun and enjoying leisure, laughter, and well-being, we might decide that the pursuit of growth was worth trashing the planet. But the majority of us are not having fun; instead we are reporting high levels of stress, depression, anxiety, and unhappiness.

Most people are aware of Annie Leonard from her immensely popular YouTube videos. She has taken that material and incorporated it into this book. It is written with the same friendly charm that she presents on video. It makes the seriousness of her cause easy to swallow without feeling like you are being lectured. She also avoids making the reader feel too guilty, which we all should for the mess we have made of the world. At times, the book gets too detailed over some issue that Leonard advocates. But the reading is fun while she presents vital information that we all need to consider and act on regarding all of our stuff. I especially liked the clarity presented about the lack of a positive relationship between stuff and happiness. Read this book--or at least watch some of her videos.

The Borgias and Their Enemies:1431-1519 - Christopher Hibbert

By now it was not just the sight of the city, little more than a decayed provincial town, that distressed visitors. Corruption was rife in the Church and shocked the pilgrims who came to Rome to receive indulgences, which were now being dispensed on an unprecedented scale. Abandoning in despair their attempts to form a strong and stable political state, the Romans allowed Urban VI's successor, the clever and avaricious Boniface IX, another Neapolitan, to assume full control of their city, to turn the Vatican as well as the enlarged Castel Sant'Angelo into fortified strongholds, and to appoint his relations and friends to positions of power and profit.

The Borgias are are an amazing family living in fascinating times. Unfortunately, this book gets bogged down in too many details, as interesting and amazing as they may be. I felt like I needed to create a chart to keep track of all the relatives and branches of the family. To gain an insight on this time period and the powerful Borgias, this book is a good resource. For enjoyable reading, I found it lacking in a narrative that made it cohesive and moving toward a natural conclusion. The majority of the book details the early years in the time period while the last twenty years are given little attention. Not badly written, just tedious to read.

ArtBook Giotto - DK Publishing

Destined to become one of the most important artists in the history of western painting, Biagio or Agnolo, known as Giotto, was born at Colle di Vespignano in the Mugello valley near Florence in what most scholars date as 1267. There is no documentary evidence to provide us with any certain information about the chronology and events of his life but literary sources and legends abound bearing witness to the fame he enjoyed from the beginning of his artistic career. Until his death in Florence in 1337, his life was spent between the foremost centers of thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Italy, where he absorbed the cultural and artistic legacy of the age and transformed it into a highly evolved and revolutionary language with an originality that is generally regarded as marking the beginning of the history of Italian painting.

This book is part of a series put out by DK Publishing. As an illustrated guide introducing Giotto, it is a nice little book. That, however, is a large part of the problem with this book--it is simply too small and needs a larger size to display the great works of art. The text is minimal with each pages including multiple images. While the illustrated books typically leave one wanting more, they are a fine way to get a taste of an artist. I learned a few things about Giotto and gained a deeper appreciation of him from this book. If you want to enjoy Giotto's great frescoes and alter pieces you should look for a large format book. Giotto is well worth the time if you appreciate art.

Zeitoun - David Eggers

Throughout the afternoon, Kathy tried to convince her husband to come with them. When had officials suggested an all-city evacuation before? she asked. Wasn't that reason enough to go?
Zeitoun agreed that it was unusual, but he had never evacuated before and he saw no need to do so now. Their home was elevated three feet above the ground, and rose two stories on top of that, so there would be no danger of getting stuck in an attic or on a roof, even if the worst happened. Zeitoun could always retreat to the second floor. And they lived nowhere near any levees, so they wouldn't get any of the flash flooding that might hit some of the other neighborhoods. It was East New Orleans, or the Lower Ninth, with its one story houses so close to the levees, that were in gravest danger.

A wonderful story told in an engaging, easy to read, style. The book does an excellent job of bringing the Katrina disaster into the perspective of an individual family. Zeitoun, the central character in this non-fiction account, is a compelling person who makes the reader feel better about being human. At the same time, much of what happens during this historic event is an extremely disappointing comment on human behavior.

I liked very much how Eggers kept this book so personal. The Katrina disaster is told through the eyes of one family. Zeitoun, being a Syrian immigrant, is tested and tortured not only by Katrina, but also by America's inept handling of terrorism. This is an important story to be told and is a good read for all American. You will find yourself unable to stop reading once begun.

The Clerkenwell Tales - Peter Ackroyd

Rumours of her prophecies soon spread beyond the walls of the convent and into the city where, in the turbulent time of a weak and wretched king, her admonitions were given credence. Some called her the mad nun of Clerkenwell, but many others revered her as the blessed maid of Clerkenwell. The bishop's exorcist conducted several interviews with her, but he found her distracted and contradictory. "The sweetness of Christ's Mother has pierced my heart," she told him on one occasion. "To me she came and bade me to sing, O Alma Redemptoris mater."
"But Dame Agnes tells me that you dream only of the damned. Or so you said to her."
"I can no more expound in this matter. I learn my song, but I have small grammar."

A very well written historical novel based in England at the beginning of the fifteenth century. The author uses characters and a structure similar to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. A mysterious plot moves the story along, but this book is more about the people and the times than the underlying story. Ackroyd is able to write with a blend of modern and old English to create text that is easily read, but evokes the historical times. There are lots of intriguing and humorous pieces of this long lost time period. If you have an interest in these times, you will enjoy the descriptions of people's lives in this book. I found myself getting lost in the historical details and fascinating tidbits and losing the central mystery that is trying to be solved. Overall, this was a fun read that displays a depth of well-displayed research.

Who Do You Love - Jean Thompson

We were headed straight into bad news. The snow had begun sixty miles back as something light and sifting. It raced across the highway in curving snake shapes and slid harmlessly beneath the wheels. By the last exit it was sticking to the road in patches. Just a few miles farther and the pavement turned solid white. The wind was stronger now; it blew at right angles to the highway, kicking up loose snow, filling the air with it. I was driving hunched up against the wheel as close as I could get. Holly said, "I told you, check the forecast."
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This book of short stories focuses on disappointments in love. Mostly focused on a woman's perspective, they are sad stories on the flip side of the knight in shining armor. Thompson succeeds in crafting unique situations and people having to face an unsatisfying experience. Too often, I found myself not really caring enough about the people and situations. The author has received a lot of recognition and praise for her work, so I guess she appeals to many more so than she did to me.

Austerlitz - W.G. Sebald

Why does time stand eternally still and motionless in one place, and rush headlong by in another? Could we not claim, said Austerlitz, that time itself has been non-concurrent over the centuries and the millenia? It is not long ago, after all, that it began spreading out over everything. And is not human life in many parts of the earth governed to this day less by time than by the weather, and thus by an unquantifiable dimension which disregards linear regularity, does not progress constantly forward but moves in eddies, is marked by episodes of congestion and irruption, recurs in ever-changing form, and evolves in no one knows what direction? Even in a metropolis ruled by time like London, said Austerlitz, it is still possible to be outside time, a state of affairs which until recently was almost as common in backward and forgotten areas of our own country as it use to be in the undiscovered continents overseas.

Sebald is a most fascinating writer. This book takes the reader into a timeless, surreal environment where one man tells another about his life and self-discovery. I read Sebald with an amusement that is strangely comforting knowing that people examine life from his unusual perspective. His writing is rich and complex. This book, like others of his, includes many odd photographs that are as intriguing as the writing. The photos look as if they were taken from old boxes that would be meaningless to anyone other than the photographer who was simply documenting things he had seen. But put in the context of the writing, they too become oddly captivating. Sebald meanders off into science and history unearthing facts and ideas about things you either never knew or had no idea you wanted to know--such as a biological study of moths.

Not for everybody, as many will likely find Sebald's writing too slow paced and lacking in a typical storyline or format. I find myself amongst those that love Sebald and will read more of his work.