DS's 13 in 13 Challenge

So the 12 in 12 Challenge went well, I was able to complete 12 books each month and managed to read at least one book in each of the 12 categories, even if I haven’t put the last ones on my thread yet. . .

That being said, I think that I would have savored a few more if I hadn’t set the goal of 12 books a month. (And ok plus the 75 book challenge.) So I have decided to mindfully read 13 books for this challenge, anything else will go to the 75 book challenge. According to my Kindle I read over 60 books in the last month or so, so quantity isn’t an issue.

Obviously the books for this challenge are not going to be quick romance novels, but instead will be books that require a bit of thinking, or creating or doing. I have my eye on Seventeenth-Century Women's Dress Patterns: Book 1 and I am planning on locating a copy of Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nun Son Döneminden Kadın Giysileri Sadberk Hanım Müzesi Koleksiyonu when I am in Istanbul next month.

So for this challenge not only would I read the book, but also I would like to try to recreate one of the items that is described in the book. For books that require thinking and not doing I will probably try writing a short paper to show myself that I have understood the concepts, or to further understand the concepts that I find difficult. Cookbooks are of course easy, I will have to do some cooking. I am considering doing a 75 cookbook challenge this year so they might have to all go for that challenge.

Any books that I have read to help me mindfully read a given book will be listed below that book. So if I want to read Seventeenth-Century Women's Dress Patterns: Book 1 and decide that I need to know more about 17th Century embroidery patterns to complete whatever item I decide to create, any books that I read will be listed with the book. So I guess technically, each book can considered a category.

1 - Turkish Self Study Course: Bk. 1
2 - 2000 English-Turkish Proverbs & Idioms by Osman Delialioglu
3 - The Complete Idiot's Guide To Game Theory by Edward C Rosenthal
4 - Eating Mindfully by Susan Albers
5 - A Global Life: My Journey Among Rich and Poor, from Sydney to Wall Street to the World Bank by James D Wolfensohn
6 - Balance: The Economics of Great Powers from Ancient Rome to Modern America by Glenn Hubbard and Tim Kane
7 - Spousonomics: Using Economics to Master Love, Marriage and Dirty Dishes by Paula Szuchman and Jenny Anderson
8 - Principles of Microeconomics: University of Minnesota Edition by N Gregory Mankiw
9 - Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To by Sian Beilock
10 - Germs, Genes, & Civilization: How Epidemics Shaped Who We Are Today by David P Clark
11 - Keynes: The Return of the Master by Robert Skidelsky
12 - grand pursuit the story of economic genius by Sylvia Nasar
13

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Welcome Back!

Welcome back! Looking forward to seeing what you read over here - your plan for the challenge sounds very intriguing!

I like your challenge of creating an item from the books. I hope pictures will be forthcoming!

Cool challenge!!! It will be interesting to see what you do/make. I'd think a 75 cookbook challenge pretty daunting for most people, but you can certainly do it... without even buying any knew ones. ;) Have you set your 75 thread up yet?

Welcome! I like your idea of reading more thought provoking books. I'm curious to see what books you choose and if they'd be something I would be interested in reading sometime.

>4 mamzel: Pictures. . . I guess that i will have to remember how to post those! Maybe I should get a photography book for the first book. That would get me in the mood to practice shooting some pictures before my trip in a month!

>5 cammykitty: What do you mean not buying any new cookbooks?? We haven't even hit the 500 book mark yet! I have been a bit distracted (creating an Ottoman style silk jacket for the company party on Friday - hopefully tonight I will cut out the actual fabric! And planning the trip to Istanbul) and have not set up any 75 book threads yet.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

OK here are links to my two 75 book challenges:

DS tries reading & reviewing 75 Cook Books for 2013

http://www.librarything.com/topic/147981

DS tries the 75 Books Challenge for 2013

http://www.librarything.com/topic/147980

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

The book that I am currently working on is Turkish Self Study Course book 1.

This is the first book in a 3 book/6 CD set that I bought in a well known English bookstore in the Sultanahmet area of Istanbul. These are by far the best Turkish language instruction books that I have gotten so far.

Each lesson starts with a vocabulary list of about 10-12 words, each with a picture and sample sentence. The lessons cover 1 concept and have lots of repetition, with many clear examples. The lesson ends with a section of exercises, unlike most books with only a few exercises at the end of the lesson these books have about 6 sections each with 5-10 questions.

Also, the vocabulary seems to be words that everyone can use: dog, cat, teacher, student, door, window, table. Not some seemingly random words that you will not use. And the lessons are long enough that by the time you get to the questions you can answer them without hesitation.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Well, no wonder you haven't been posting -- you're determined to learn a language first!

Sounds like a good choice! & by the time you get back to Turkey, you'll be able to talk to everyone about there pets. Hopefully there's a section on food and cooking words! Then you can start research for your own cookbook while you're there and write off following trips as "work."

There are cats & dogs EVERYWHERE in Istanbul, so that shouldn't be a problem :-)

I am also learning: plate, fork, spoon, cup, knife, glass and bottle. I learned a lot of the food and cooking terms before I went to Istanbul so I could understand the recipes in the cookbooks I was looking for, and read any menus that I came across. Only two of the cookbooks that I found have pictures.

DS
(Bruce'e evil twin :-))

“Proverbs and idioms are a vital part of a country’s culture which passes on from generation to generation. Proverbs arise from the past experiences of a society through a process of cultural accumulation; they provide a bridge between a society and its forefathers by reflecting past experiences in the present. Ignoring these proverbs will isolate new generations from their descendants; whereas, engaging with them will establish roots from the past to the present.”

2000 English-Turkish Proverbs & Idioms by Osman Delialioglu

I always say that the people who argue whether the most important part of language learning is grammar or vocabulary have it all wrong and are missing the big picture. Language has 3 important parts, vocabulary, grammar and culture, you need all three they can’t really stand alone.
Language is culture and it colors how we see the world. For example in Chinese the number 4 is bad, because it is nearly homophonous to the word "death", so they skip it. So I am always interested in idioms and proverbs because you usually can’t understand what they mean by reading them because they don’t actually ‘mean’ what they ‘say’. Like ‘to kick the bucket’ or the even older and less known ‘to stick my spoon in the wall’, which if you are a native English speaker you know that it means to die. A friend of mine said that the first building that he lived in in Canada had no floors with the #4, so even though he lived on the 33rd floor, it was called the 37th floor.
I must say wow, even though I spoke maybe 2 words of Turkish in Istanbul just going seems to have made a huge difference in my level of understanding. (I have to admit that I have a terrible eavesdropping habit ) Reading all the signs, hearing it spoken really did make a difference. And the 3 book, 6 DC set is really helping a lot. I am sure that other people would be bored by all the repetition but I have the first 27 lessons on my iPod and made a playlist with them and some music so I get to randomly listen to the lessons with music breaks. I currently have at least a 40 minute commute each way, so I figure that I listen and practice at least 40 minutes every day. I also listen to it when I take the dog for a walk.
Since I have been diligently working through my Turkish Self Study course I thought that I would take a break and treat myself with this book.
First let me say that I totally understand how much work that this book must have taken and that this is an impressive piece of work.
But, you knew there was going to be a but :-), there is no index, no clear organization, and no additional information. You get the English ‘proverb/idiom’ and then the Turkish equivalent. I don’t feel that they are all proverbs or idioms either. For example “with the object of”, how is that an idiom or proverb? Or how about ‘to feel miserable’? According to the book the Turkish equivalent is kötü hissetmek (I am only guessing that this is correct, but I don’t know enough to validate this, but I have no reason to believe that it is incorrect.) Since kötü means “bad”, and hissetmek means” to feel, perceive, sense” putting the two together and figuring out what it means is easy.
The introduction is perhaps the best written part of the book, and if the rest of the book had followed that it would have been much better. For example it explains that “idioms and terms explain a situation; they have their source in proverbs and stories. They are classified as follows: . . . “ It then it lists 8 different classifications (mocking & entertainment, story, descriptive, exaggeration, praying, admiration & affection, warning & advice, swearing & humiliation). If the phrases had all been arranged first into these general categories it would have made things much easier to locate if you were looking for something.
They are sort of arranged alphabetically, as long as you are looking for the same word that they picked out of the phrase you should not have any trouble finding the phrase you are looking for. For example if you are looking for "mad as a March hare" and look in the 'M's you will find it. But if you are looking for 'to drive someone mad' in the 'D's you will not find it, because they choose to put it under 'M' for mad, as is 'flags will fly at half-mast' which to me is really a stretch.
Unlike other more ‘mainstream’ languages where you have plenty of choices, English books on the Turkish language are extremely limited, so this book is the best that is currently available. The addition of an index would greatly improve the usefulness, but it is still a valuable resource if you are willing to dig for the information that you need.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

No wonder you are jealous of all the idiom books available in Spanish. I'll say the "naughty" Spanish books all have the same problem your idiom book has, plus this - they got cute about defining what exactly was naughty about the phrase with "too obscene to translate." Then why did you call your book "naughty?"

& shouldn't the idiom book go the other way around? You want to see an idiom in Turkish and what it means. Who cares about the English idioms. We already know them, and there may be no foreign equivalent.

I am working on creating my own index for 2000 English-Turkish Proverbs & Idioms. I created a spreadsheet where I have 4 columns so far - English phrase, Turkish phrase, page# and since I am using Google Translate to type the Turkish, the Google Translate version. Note to self - get a Turkish font installed so I can just use word. . . and start saving documents on the 'Cloud'. My flash drive got reformated or something now all the computers think that it is a card reader. . .

Anyway I figure that this will help me learn the darn keyboard for the Turkish font and gives me practice reading. And when I am done it will be a useful resource.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Great project and great way to practise! Good luck learning the keyboard :)

Yes, do get a Turkish font!!! After all, you may be writing letters to people in Turkey some day.

My old computer has the font for Hindi (I can't remember how to spell it but it starts with s 'D'. . . but I usually 'copy & paste' for the Turkish font.

I am currently reading Indexing Concepts and Methods by Harold Borko and Charles L Bernier. I know, everyone is jealous. . .

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Good heavens, I have a copy of that left over from library school.

A riveting read isn't it? :-)

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Mercifully I don't remember.

It's not that bad, and distracts from the - SNOW. Didn't someone tell Mother Nature that is is May??

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

remember when before global climate change that we'd be surrounded by the smell of apple blossoms and the buzzing of bees right about now to be followed by the buzzing of mosquitoes in a month

I am slogging through A Global Life: My Journey Among Rich and Poor, from Sydney to Wall Street by James D Wolfensohn. It seems pretty interesting and yet is pretty slow going.

He was the president of the World Bank. He has led a pretty interesting life. So far it is just showing me how much I don’t know about banking. I am reading on my Kindle and Amazon says that it is 480 pages long, but I have been reading it for hours & hours and am only 44% done!

Need to finish it before next week, when I start summer school, which should be pretty intense. Class is 2 hours long, 4 nights a week and the last time I had a class at the “U” was 1989! EEK! And I have never really given Economics much thought before, so I feel very unprepared.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Check the end of the book to see if there is an index or other addenda that could bloat the page count. I do that now when I read on my Kindle so I'm not surprised when I get to the end.

That is the problem with the Kindle isn't it? It's not as easy to 'see' if there is random stuff at the end. I really get annoyed when I am reading a book and it says that is has 75% left and then a few pages later it ends, and I find out the last 25% is basically adds for other books.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Last year I read Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life by Thich Nhat Hanh and was really, really disappointed. Savor was too judgmental, and clearly not following what I understand the Buddhist philosophy to be. That is not the case with Eating Mindfully; it delivers everything that I was looking for, and is truly written using the Buddhist philosophy, not surprising since it was a gift from my Buddhist sister-in-law.

Eating Mindfully delivers a short concise message - be forgiving to others AND to yourself, learn to make conscious decisions about eating and life in general.

There is no telling you what to eat or not to eat, no telling you that you shouldn’t do this or that. Instead she tells you to be aware, to think about your habits, and actions and how you think about yourself.

It is divided into 4 sections, each for the 4 foundations of mindfulness: mind, body, feelings, and thoughts. There are also simple exercises that you can do to help you live & eat more mindfully.
I believe that this book is an excellent introduction to learning to be more mindful with the added bonus of learning to be forgiving to yourself too.

DS
(Bruces' evil twin :-))

A Global Life: My Journey Among Rich and Poor, from Sydney to Wall Street to the World Bank by James D Wolfensohn

My reading subject has made a forceful turn to the less ‘fluffy’ and more to the what makes the world work – or economics. I thought that an autobiography by a former president of the World Bank would be a good start.
While I found the book interesting, it did seem to be slow going. He has led a very interesting life. Whether I can recommend it to others to read . . . not sure if it would be everyone’s cup of tea. But if you are interested in banking or the World Bank you might find it interesting.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

I am currently reading Balance: The Economics of Great Powers from Ancient Rome to Modern America by Glenn Hubbard and Tim Kane. It is very interesting and engaging, and having a bad influence on my growing Amazon wish list. . . . :-)

I saw the review for it in the Economist this last week, and thought, hey that looks good.

On a lighter note, I am also reading Scrapbooking Made Easy by Crafts Media LLC. I really like this book. It has given me some great ideas for my Istanbul scrapbook. I am all about not using ready-made elements, instead I like to use paper, stamps, punches etc. to create my own. And since the hubby got me a Silhouette Cameo cutter for Mother’s Day I can be even more creative. I have already made a cut-out for the Galata tower and it looks fabulous!

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

I found Balance: The Economics of Great Powers from Ancient Rome to Modern America a totally fascinating book. It examines the fall and decline of several great powers and explains the reasons for the fall.

If you are interested in a brief economic history of the great powers and why they fell this is a great book to read.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Scrapbooking books are so much fun - I am, however, greater at running around Michael's getting cool stuff than I am at actually sitting down and getting to work. :)

& I can attest to you putting the scrapbooking book to good use. Your Istanbul book is looking great!

I am another one that enjoys shopping at Micheal's for craft projects. Such a fun store to roam through. Kudos that you make your own scrapbooking elements!

I don't usually go to Michael's because we have a local company, Archiver's, that specializes in scrapbooking stuff. They also have a thing on Friday & Saturday nights where you can work on your scrapbooks there! I haven't tried it yet but they have a great space for it.

I am going to try to do a scrapbook for Minneapolis-St Paul too. I figure that it will give me good reason's to go out and play tourist and get some pictures of local places.

My scrapbook only took off with the deadline of the family coming to town for a college graduation. I decided that I at least needed to get some pictures on some pages. I picked an 8x8 inch album which makes things challenging. But I think that I am starting to get the hang of it now. I am using 8x10, wallet, 5X6 and 4X6 pictures. And of course using the 'crop' feature when ordering the photos. And cutting them too. I think that too many of us want our scrapbooks to be 'perfect' the first time. So I just slayed out blank pages and started putting pictures on them. Try doing some basic pages with just pictures in like 15-30 minutes. I think that you might be surprized at how much you can get done. Then go back and add frames, and text, and then the 3rd or 4th, or 5th. . . once you have the basic format of the page done, add embellishments.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

I just got My Adventures as a Spy by Robert Baden-Powell because I it was mentioned in the Public Domain Review e-mail that I got today. What a sneaky boy! Has anyone read it?

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Is that the Baden-Powell that started the Boy Scouts?

Haven't read it. Do tell. I'll bet it is the Baden-Powell of the Boy Scouts.

Yes, it looks liks it is the Baden-Powell of the Boy Scouts.

An Amazon reviewer said - " My personal favorite was the incident where B-P was collecting on German fortifications in the Balkans. He walked through the German military site drawing pictures of the facility, was stopped, and was able to walk away without being detained. How did he pull this off? It was the butterfly net, book about butterflies, sketch book full of drawings of butterflies, and having the nerve to ask the German soldier if he had seen a specific butterfly. Where were the sketches of the fort? Concealed inside the drawings of the butterflies...."

well, it will have to wait until after ECON 1101 is done. :-( Why is there never the option of 'impulse buy' when filling out the reason you are taking the class on those class/intructor review forms?

DS
(Bruce;s evil twin :-))

Yeah! I won a Kindle Fire from work!

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Good for you! Do you have your Amazon account already set up?

Silly question! :-) I have a terrible Amazon addiction, the Fire is only adding to it. Now the hubby & I both have a Fire (but I still have my old keyboard Kindle, while he lost his. . . ). I am not sure what to do with my old Kindle, though the hubby was making noises about letting him us it, because he liked the old style better. So far I think that I agree that for reading an actual book/novel the old Kindle is way better.

I also got some game apps. One is sort of a flash card game for Turkish vocabulary and is kind of addicting. I think that this will also be good for magazines.

Today I am planning on going to the library and study. But they don't open until 10 and are only open until 5! And are closed on Sundays! I might have to break down and go to the U library.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Congrats on the Fire win - I am highly addicted to mine, but, as you are aware, your credit card will be in danger of getting overheated. :)

I am very stingy on how much I will spend on a book! I guess it is like the water vs diamond argument, we have lots of water so we are not willing to pay lots for it, but diamonds are hard to come by so we will spend more. Cammykitty can attest to the fact that we have A LOT of books!
And the hubby is always getting the free e-books and cluttering up my Kindle reading list!

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

It's so easy to click and buy. Or I have no willpower, perhaps that's the bigger issue. :)

It's so dangerous at night when you're comfy and don't want to get out of bed to look for another book. Of course I have no personal experience with that.

45> . . . I never search through looking for free e-books in the middle of the night . . . :-)

The books that I tend to spend the most money on are the books that I don't get for Kindle but I need the paper copy. Otherwise they beter be pretty cheap! Becuase I would be just as happy with the books that I find at the thrift store for $0.89!

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

There are a lot of bargains. I just bought Curse of the Mistwraith, a series that Majika is enjoying, for only .99. There are also a lot of classics out of copyright for free or very inexpensive, too.

Spousonomics

‘We believe in economics because it doesn't discriminate between the sexes, between who’s “right “ and who’s “wrong”, who communicates better and who talks worse. It doesn't talk down to you or attempt to psychoanalyze. It doesn't care who won the last fight, or whose turn it is to control the remote. Instead, it offers dispassionate, logical solutions to what can often seem like thorny, illogical, and highly emotional domestic disputes.

In this book, we’ll show you how to apply basic economic principles to get the most out of you resources. Meaning: have more sex, wash fewer dishes, argue more effectively, have more sex, survive the lean years, negotiate more successfully, have more sex, and, believe it or not, get your spouse to do things he’s never done before, like clean the gutters. Or listen.”

This was a totally engrossing book. I started it yesterday after I woke up from my after work nap and finished it this morning during breakfast. It was a compromise between studying for my Microeconomics final this week and reading a trashy novel. It was very entertaining, and a good review of a lot of the principles that we have covered in class, using ‘real-life’ examples that were completely different from the one in class, in the textbook or on-line, which for me means that they will ‘stick’ better.

People could save a lot of money on therapy or marriage counseling if they read this book first. Seriously. Think of marriage, and family as a business and try to take out the emotions from the equations. A really good example of this (saving money & time) is one couple, Howard & Jen, where the husband is a bully. And you think no way is this going to work without lots of therapy for him to learn to control his anger issues, really how is economics going to help? How about one of George Loewenstein's major contributions to behavioral economics called Hot-cold empathy gaps? (Which we didn’t cover in my class, but oh, well. . . I am sure I will be taking a class in the future where we will cover it.)

Basically the hot-cold empathy gap means that when you are in one state ‘hot’ you are less able to empathize with the person in a ‘cold’ state. Or in this case when Howard came home to a cluttered house & got angry he threw a major temper tantrum, even though his ‘cold’ state self (i.e. not angry) knew that what he did was wrong and resulted in an outcome that no one wanted.

Jen and Howard used a commitment device ("a means with which to lock yourself into a course of action that you might not otherwise choose but that produces a desired result" – per Wikipedia) and called it ‘the Red Flag game’. Remember my quote? How they mention more sex?

So the Red Flag game was this, if Howard controlled his temper for 3 days his wife would have sex with him, if he went 2 weeks she would have sex with him two days in a row (if he didn't lose his temper in-between), if he went a month without blowing up she would do whatever he wanted.

If it looked like he was going to lose his temper Jen, would say Red Flag. If he lost his temper, there would be no sex for a week, two Red Flags and he had to rub Jen’s feet for a week, and if there were 3 she got a day at the spa while he took care of the kids. And it worked.

It didn’t focus on why he got angry (you know like because he had a terrible childhood, or is a bad person or whatever) it focused on the actions and controlling that. Apparently Jen mused that you should be careful of what you wish for, because Howard has learned to control his temper and they are having sex more than ever.

What else does the book cover?

Division of labor, opportunity cost & comparative advantage or why the 50-50 split doesn't really work.

Loss aversion – why we should go to bed angry.

Supply & Demand or how when the cost of something is too high you want less of it, so the reason we are having less sex, is because it costs too much, and we need to learn how to ‘lower our start-up costs’.

Moral Hazard – why we are taking bigger risks with our relationships than we should. Incentives - getting your partner to do what you want them to do.

Trade Offs – or the art of getting over it.

Asymmetric Information – why you should tell your partner stuff.

Intertemporal choice – or being a good person, when you get around to it.

Bubbles – making the good times last (this section has a couples confidence index questionnaire).

And finally – Game Theory, because really isn't a relationship a lot like a repeatable game?

So it’s a good book. Read it.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Principles of Microeconomics: University of Minnesota Edition

yeah! I have read all 22 chapters at least ONCE!

I am not saying that it was a 'dry' read, but it made Spousenomics look like a trashy novel.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

I am not saying that it was a 'dry' read, but it made Spousenomics look like a trashy novel.

;-)

Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To

So I have finished first class - Economics 1101 as of today. It was a total impulse buy, I didn't really think it through. Because I forgot how bad I suffer from text anxiety. And to top it off, it was summer school - which means a full semester in 8 weeks. Eeek! Taught by TA's. . . So we were taught by 2 different people the first 4 weeks was taught by a Turkish guy from Istanbul, but he didn't seem to be very organized and it was hard to be prepared because I never knew what we were going to cover in class. And we didn't read the chapters in order, and really sucked at getting us prepared for the midterm - which from the comments of the people who did show up to class I wasn't the only one who tanked on it. . . but we sure had a LOT of homework assignments.

The second half was taught by a cute Italian boy who was very organized and really worked hard at getting us all prepared for the final and to understand what we needed to know. I was positive that I failed, I did so bad I totally couldn't answer the simplest questions, I knew that I knew them and couldn't remember them and was so pissed! So I figured I better figure out how to deal with it. And I actually managed to do well on the test, not as well as I did on the practice questions but WAY better than I thought I had done!

Anyway I started reading this book BEFORE I found out how I did. It is very interesting. Though the second half is more about performing in sports, music etc where I am really only interested in academic performance. But still it is very helpful and interesting. Lots of different studies are examined. And I got some very valuable information. And confirmation that I did do quite a few things right.

So if you are interested in avoiding choking on a test, or your golf game, or whatever check this book out.

Some reviewers on Amazon said that the book 'went off tangent' or was 'cobbled together' I didn't feel that way. Yes, there is a chapter on gender & race bias, but I felt that it was very relevant. If asking someone their race or gender before a test could change their score for worse don't you want to know about that and ways to counteract it?

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

It's unofficially official! I pulled up my unofficial transcript today and it confirms that I more than passed ECON 1101! So I now have just over 2 weeks to work on this test anxiety issue before classes start again.

I guess it is time to start getting serious about what I want to do when I grow up. . .

Ds
(Bruce''s evil twin :-))

Congrats on the unofficial news!

53> Thanks!

Cammykitty got me Banker To The Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty as a congratulations gift. It is so nice to have book people for friends! i can't wait to read it after I have OD on the 'pile' of trashy novels i am reading. humm. . . if the books are electronic versions can we still refer to them as 'pile's and 'stack's???

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Woo hoo, great work! :)

Wow - I think the chapter on race & gender would be very interesting in Choke, and just going into a test knowing that information could counteract the effect. Your next econ class is going to involve a lot less nail-biting! You're going to kick that test anxiety in the butt and ace it!

& yes, electronic versions are still heaps of books!

How about calling them 'estacks' and 'epiles'? We would all understand.

Germs, Genes, & Civilization: How Epidemics Shaped Who We Are Today

I have one word for this book – fascinating! Totally fascinating and engrossing. You will look at the history of the world in a totally different way after reading it.

I have been wondering what it is that makes one country better at some things than others. For example why do the Anglo-Saxon countries seem to be better off economically? We all seem to be having issues but what makes Greece worse off than Britain or Canada? Why did some countries become Protestant and others remain Catholic or Orthodox?

Maybe because the Protestant countries were hit harder by the plague?

David P Clark is a professor of Microbiology so he certainly knows his microbe-driven epidemics. He explains about the different types of epidemics and infectious diseases so you can easily grasp how they were/are transmitted and how they are not transmitted. He clearly explains the impact of past epidemics has had on the world populations and institutions (church, government, cites, etc).

I really recommend this book. I am sure that I didn’t pay the current Kindle list price of $12.99 on Amazon, but if I did I wouldn't feel like it was money wasted.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Just catching up

Congrats!

I already have germs, genes and civilisation on the wishlist so am glad to see a good review for it

I have a feeling that the next book that gets done on this list is going to be Principles Of Macroeconomics. And isn't is interesting that although there are several books with that name the 'correct' one is the one that pops up as a touchstone?

Though, I spotted The Art of Strategy on the shelf next to Mankiw's text in the textbook section and couldn't resist. . . And I must say the U of M bookstore is my kind of bookstore! Wow. They have some very interesting titles. I could spend a fortune there (and not on textbooks. . .)

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Belated congratulations! And since I loved Guns Germs and Steel (Hi psutto!), I'm looking forward to Germs, genes and civilization. Added to the pile.

hi! (no comment on that book)

:)

>61 paruline: I am currently reading Why Nations Fail and am not loving it (its on one of my 75 books lists). One of the issues (one of many) is that it names both author & book Guns Germs And Steel as being wrong. I like what little I have read of Guns Germs and Steel so . . .

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Keynes: The Return of the Master by Robert Skidelsky

Keynes: The Return of the Master was for me a pretty laborious read. It was probably not the best choice as an introduction to Keynes and his work, unless you already have a strong economics foundation, or maybe are very familiar with the history of the time. Me, I am more of an Elizabethan history person, mostly from a spies or costuming veiwpoint.

The last section was much easier to read. It almost seemed like it was from a totally different book. Perhaps there had been a gap from when the first part was written and this last part was written and that accounts for it. Or perhaps the last section is written in the authors more natural ‘voice’.

One thing that I liked about this book is the fact that the author knows how to present his arguments. He doesn't present what he thinks is true or valid and just expects you to take his word for it. He tells you about the opposing views, and explains why he thinks that they are incorrect or not completely true.

Glad to finish this book, I was tempted to put it on the ‘I don’t really want to finish this’ shelf, but I was learning stuff and I felt that it was well written so I slogged on. Now I can read a nice trashy novel for my 75 book challenge as a reward!

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Grand Pursuit the story of economic genius

A very readable book on the 'great' economic thinkers of the last century or so. Not only do you learn about their work but you learn about them as people too. If you are interested in economics or the history of the world wars or the Great Depression this is a very interesting book.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Okay. Germs, Genes, & Civilization go on the wishlist! Your review makes it sound fascinating.

If it wasn't a kindle edition I would loan it to you. That is one thing that I really dislike about e-books!

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

I really dislike that about ebooks, too. Also, I can't give them to friends or donate them to the Friends of the Library.

I am getting closer to finishing Macroeconomics by Mankiw. I swear that I have read half of it at least 3 times!

We had our first midterm last week and got the test back this week. Serdar (our TA) made me really nervous because he told us that our section was a bit different from all the other sections, including his other 2 sections. And he was curious as to why and what he can do to change that.

Yeah, my section managed to get the lowest average score by 9 points, an astonishing 57.68 out of 100, so yeah the average grade for the entire class was a D or lower unless they decide to grade on a curve. The syllabus said that they were going to post the grades on Tuesday, since it is Thursday and the grades still haven't been posted I am wondering if it is because so many people did so poorly. I could have done so much better if I hadn't been so tired, I literally was having issues using my calculator. It was like my brain was filled with syrup. But I still managed to get an 82, whew.

I told Serdar that two things would have helped me to do better, first the practice test didn't look anything like the actual test. I suffer from test anxiety pretty bad, practicing test questions really helps. One question was really easy and I knew that I knew how to do it, but it was in a different format and my brain couldn't deal with it. It seems stupid, but it makes a difference.

The other thing is if I had a list of things that I should know for the class (not just the test). The slides for the class have a "Key Ideas and Things To Think About" section and it says "do not limit yourself to these items when studying". What kind of sh!& is that? What is the purpose? This just makes you spend needless time looking for things that you might have missed? Wouldn't it be better to have a list and to be able to focus on what you need to know? You still have to look up and study the stuff if you have a list!

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Oh dear! I seemed to have neglected the 13th book!

I blame the excitement for getting an "A" in my Macroeconomics class this term. HAPPY DANCE!!!! I calculated that I squeaked by with a 92+ for the term. Was a total surprise, since I came out of the final and pretty much said WTF?? There were several questions that came totally out of left field. But thankfully there was a curve. My two study partners totally agreed with me. (oh and I actually got an 86 on my 1st test. . , when the average score was 57.68). I am guessing that the average score for the final wasn't even close to 57.

It didn't help that about 4 days before the final they gave us all a list of terms that might be on the final and there were several that I didn't even remember going over! Oh, well water under the bridge and I am very excited for my next class International Economics and I ran into Filippo and he confirmed that he is teaching it.

I read so many books this year, and learned so much I think that I need a bigger head!

My 14 in 14 challenge is here:

ww.librarything.com/topic/162794

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))