Rating: 3/5 Jane McGonigal, Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World (New York: Penguin Press, 2011). This book was a bit of an emotional see-saw for me. I found myself agreeing then disagreeing with her almost page by page. But before I analyze, let me describe the book. It’s...
Rating: 3/5 Juan Enriquez, The Untied States of America: Polarization, Fracturing, and Our Future (New York: Random House, 2005). As I read the book (and specifically, as I slogged through the insane typography) I wasn’t sure whether I should accuse him of genius or hubris. After finishing the book, I decided it’s...
Rating: 3/5 John Brockman (ed.), Is the Internet Changing the Way You Think?: The Net’s Impact on Our Minds and Future (New York: Harper Perennial, 2011). Edge.org is a sort of think tank, and every year, John Brockman comes up with a question to ask “over 150 of the smartest people in the world.” This year’s question...
Rating: 3/5 Diane Ravitch, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education (New York: Basic Books, 2010). Well I’ve decided to stop reading books about education for a while. I just get too frustrated and frankly, too hopeless. If Adele and I are ever in a...
Rating: 3/5 Mark Kurlansky, Salt: A World History (A. Knopf Canada, 2002). If you like reading history, then you’ll enjoy the book. It’s well organized and clearly written—very accessible writing style. If history bores you, then the book will bore you. It is just what it says it is, a book on the history of salt...
Rating: 3/5 Max Barry, Jennifer Government (Vintage, 2004). This is a futuristic look at a fully capitalistic world where citizens are truly defined by what they do. It’s part political commentary and part crime thriller. It’s well written with well defined characters and some interesting ideas. I will warn you,...