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May 03, 2005
When Your Books Guilt You...
Do you ever feel like you're obligated to finish reading a book? That's how I feel about We the Media: Grassroots Journalism By the People, For the People, by Dan Gillmor. It goes on and on without saying much and yet I feel obligated to finish it. Apparently, some reviewers on Amazon think it ends with a bang, so perhaps I should just continue slogging through.
I'm glad I pick up the aforementioned book at O-Po Library (aka Oak Park Library). Last night, while renewing that book, I picked up MoDo's Bushworld: Enter At Your Own Risk. I think it will be useful to read a few more of her commentaries, since I usually disagree with her out of hand. (I get sick of her trite writing rather quickly, so maybe that'll happen again.)
But what I really want to read are the books I bought at a used bookstore in O-Po -
BoBos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There, by David Brooks. Apparently, he got an op-ed column in the NYT after writing the book and wrote a second book on the middle class in 2004, On Paradise Drive : How We Live Now (And Always Have) in the Future Tense
I'm also eager to start How to End Poverty, by Jeffrey Sachs (which was recently exerpted in Time magazine).
Also purchased: The Portable Machiavelli and Digital Fortress, by Dan Brown
Posted by cj at May 3, 2005 04:42 PM
Comments
CJ -
Great blog. It's fun to read your thoughts. I like the honesty and the humor. Seems like a good way to air everything out and see things for what they really are.
I found your site while wondering if I should polish up several foreign languages before taking the Foreign Service exam, or if I should just not worry about it - I think I read somewhere on their huge new site that they'll teach you what they want you to know.
Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Nathan
Posted by: Nathan at June 4, 2005 02:30 AM
P.S. Regarding "books that guilt you," I just finished reading an entire book including the boring sections, but usually I find I get more out of a book when I skim it until something catches my eye. Then I settle in and read until I feel satisfied or become disinterested. In this way I get most of the important stuff and skip the stuff I probably will not remember anyway.
As far as finding a job you like, have you written letters to the editor of newspapers? How about writing an opinion piece and sending it in? I think you've got the juice. The question is, can you focus it?
Best Wishes,
Nathan
Posted by: Nathan at June 4, 2005 02:35 AM