Book Review: Holes- Louis Sachar

Holes by Louis Sachar
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've always had the vague goal of reading all of the Newbery books, so recently I added a whole bunch to my listen to later wish list. I then let my wife suggest her favorites and am trying to read those first.
I remember my wife reading this book, but she was uncertain as to whether she ever got around to finishing it. Personally, I couldn't put it down. Sometimes I judge how good a book is by how much work I find around the house to do, just so I can have the excuse to keep listening. Our kitchen is now very clean, and the book was too short so I finished it in under one day. It was not at all what I expected which made it more enjoyable. I thought that like other books or movies [I'm specifically thinking of a similar scenario in The Man Without a Face], the emphasis on the boys digging holes would be to build character, but such was not the case here; (view spoiler)[they were being treated like slaves and looking for buried treasure (hide spoiler)]. The ending of the book was a little abrupt and sudden, but that seems to be the case in a lot of young adult fiction so it wasn't unexpected. I don't know if I'll read the sequel, but this book was well worth the time.</["br"]>

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Book Review: You Are Now Less Dumb: How to Conquer Mob Mentality, How to Buy Happiness, and All the Other Ways to Outsmart Yourself- David McRaney

You Are Now Less Dumb: How to Conquer Mob Mentality, How to Buy Happiness, and All the Other Ways to Outsmart Yourself by David McRaney
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I stumbled across You Are Not So Smart a couple of years ago, but was unable to find a copy on audio and never got around to reading it. When I was looking for a nonfiction book to read and stumbled across the follow up You Are Now Less Dumb by the same author I decided to give it a chance.
The book was good, but for me it wasn't that impacting. This happened for two reason I think. First, I've read several other books about pop psychology and they all seem to refer to the same few studies and their implications. Specifically, I am thinking of 59 Seconds by Richard Wiseman and to a lesser extent Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman which I read [and reviewed] recently. You Are Now Less Dumb even refers to Kahneman's book a few times. The biggest downside of any book like this is the tendency for information overload and the difficulty that comes with retaining so many suggestions and implementing them all. Also, the organization of the book, at least on audio, was hard to follow. There was a lot of emphasis on how and why our brains work the way they do, but much less emphasis on practical application to your personal life. That is part of why I enjoyed 59 Seconds so much is that it focused on application and continuously strove to debunk pop thinking.

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Book Review: Dear Luke, We Need to Talk, Darth: And Other Pop Culture Correspondences- John Moe

Dear Luke, We Need to Talk, Darth: And Other Pop Culture Correspondences by John Moe
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I picked up this book both because I am an Star Wars fan and was attracted to the title and because of Jim Gaffigan's review of the book.
It was a quick read and I was laughing so much at first that I had to replay several sections of it for my wife. We laughed together on a snowy weekend at the "Wanted Dead or Alive" APB for Bon Jovi and the concerned letter from the teacher with a speech impediment to the absent parents of the Peanuts gang. But as with any comedic book it seems to be hit or miss with little in-between. Impatient to listen to the book on my own in my free-time and while shoveling I listened ahead of my wife and then played the best of later on. Maybe a third of the narratives were great the rest were OK. Furthermore, as with any pop culture book, there are occasions where you don't get the reference and then the whole bit is lost to you. None-the-less it was an entertaining and lighthearted read that I enjoyed and enjoyed sharing.

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