The Rime of The Ancient Mariner

I've been reading (and thoroughly enjoying) Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams. Throughout the book Adams references a classic poem by Coleridge, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner."​ I was completely unfamiliar with the poem and began to feel I was missing out on some of the Dirk Gently fun as a result. So I grabbed a copy of the poem and started reading.​ I was shocked by how awesome this poem was. Truly haunting and exciting to read. Yes, the language is antiquated and forces the rhymes at times (pun intended), but Coleridge pumps out a vivid tale with cinematic drama and detail. Not only was the poem fun to read, but it is the source material for many common references and phrases of which I'd always gotten the gist, but never understood their true meaning and origin.

Believe Nothing

"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense." -- Buddha

The Night Circus

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I really wanted to feel the magic while reading this book, but never did. Maybe the narrative told me too many times that the Night Circus was magical, so my feisty side started to doubt. Maybe the omniscient narrator kept me just a little too distant from a more compassionate sharing with the plight of the characters. It could be that the historical timeframe of the novel never quite resonated with the personalities and attitudes of what seemed to me modern-minded characters. But I suspect it was the circus, itself, which never grew fully to its own as a character. Although I did develop a certain amount of caring for the humans who relied upon its existence, I never felt like the circus, itself, was a living, breathing, magical entity that I longed to attend, get lost in, whose fate seemed vital to me. I knew more about the way characters felt about the circus than the way I felt about it- always felt as though I had heard about, but never really experienced it. It was a cool story, but for me failed to create that fictional magic of making me feel as though I'd spent time wandering through the Night Circus.



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The Lost Books of The Odyssey: A Novel

The Lost Books of The Odyssey: A Novel by Zachary Mason

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a beautiful collection of tone poems and evocative scenes inspired by the Odyssey. Those looking for a through-composed novel will be disappointed. The collection of stories explores Odysseus and a multitude of other characters and events from both the Iliad and the Odyssey. Author, Mason, demonstrates a deep love for and knowledge of these old stories, both the tales in the "official" version we all read in high school, and those apocryphal tales that survived many generations of oral and written tradition. The overall effect of the book is a haunting, poetic interpretation of a classic that has deep roots in Western culture.



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What's It All About?: Philosophy and the Meaning of Life

What's It All About?: Philosophy and the Meaning of Life by Julian Baggini

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This was the very first philosophy book I'd ever read. It's a challenge for me to rate it, both because I have no other books of its kind to use as comparison, and because much of my positive experience with the book came from reading it with my husband, and the lively discussions it spurred.

The book worked well as an introduction to philosophy because it led with an exciting and fascinating question, then approached the answer by using reasoning techniques and explaining the techniques as we went. To illustrate points Baggini used a healthy mix of commonplace references that held meaning for me, and quotes or core ideas from other philosophers. So the book served as a very gentle introduction to influential philosophers, as well.

This book got me truly excited about a subject that previously held no interest for me. Four stars for explaining what philosophy is (and the meaning of life, too!), and one star of excellence held back for that amazingly awesome philosophy book I hope to read in the future.



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Redirect: The Surprising New Science of Psychological Change

Redirect: The Surprising New Science of Psychological Change by Timothy D. Wilson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Interesting and practical, a book that really changed the way I think about the thought patterns that motivate behavior. The focus of the book is "story editing," rewriting (redirecting) the stories we tell ourselves about who we are, what we can do, and how we feel. Wilson offers story editing as a tool for both personal and societal positive change.

Although I would have preferred that the book focus even more on how to effect change on a personal level, several techniques suggested for supporting personal growth and happiness are already a part of my everyday life. For the first time I actually look forward to keeping a journal, and am able to see writing not just as a form of expression and communication, but as a tool for well-being. On a practical, personal level, Wilson also offers useful parenting techniques.

I felt Wilson's true passion in this book was explaining how to improve the effectiveness of social programs intended to benefit disadvantaged students, children, and families with issues like drug/alcohol abuse, teenaged pregnancy, child abuse, minority marginalization, and poor school performance. Wilson had two points. First and foremost, that a "common sense" approach to helping alleviate these problems is well-intended but may not help, and may actually make the problems worse. It is important to ask the question "does this [intervention] work?" He really pounded on the idea of submitting interventions to study, emphasizing that control groups are essential to proving that a program works, as an individual's experience in an intervention is not a reliable measure of its effectiveness. Wilson also suggested that applying the story editing technique, changing the way at risk individuals perceive who they are, what they can do, and how they feel, may be a useful way to approach intervention design.

I feel that by asking "does this work?" and researching to find the answer, I can make much better choices in the future when donating to charity.



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The Unincorporated War

Unincorporated War by Dani Kollin

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


Avatars, personal incorporation, battle fatigue, mind control, a controversial view on the return of religion: this book had so many interesting ideas, which is probably why I was extra disappointed by the storytelling. I did not enjoy the storytelling because I could not engage with the characters.

Characters in the book felt like engineered aspects of the author's premise. Never for one moment did I feel as though the characters had any life of their own. In most cases characters were completely black and white- the bad guys acted like total jerks, the good guys were total goody two shoes. And it was not unusual for a character to suddenly pop up (even 3/4 of the way through the narrative) just long enough to give a long info dump on their whole life's history, be used to forward the plot, and then get conveniently killed off or simply forgotten about, and never enter into the story again. I felt like the characters were narrative tools, not people, and I could not and did not care about them at all.

Toward the climax of the book, the action did get quite exciting and engage my attention. It was almost like a tragic opera, announcing in advance what was going to happen, then letting the reader bite nails as the foreshadowed dramatic events unfolded. Unfortunately the denouement took the edge off the exciting conclusion by backpedaling and calling into question the finality of the climax. And to add insult to injury, it ended with a big old "to be continued."



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