Waiting: True Confessions of a Waitress

by Debra Ginsberg

While Waiting was not a boring book, the summary I read online beforehand - the reason I picked the book up in the first place - made it sound a lot more interesting than it really was. Ginsberg is a talented writer and her perspective is unique, but I can't say afterwards that I particularly feel like it was an enjoyable read. Still, it was good for passing the hours away at work.

I honestly would recommend reading Nickel and Dimed first, even though only a third of the book is devoted to the author's waitressing experience.

Blink

by Malcolm Gladwell

I realized after I got this book for my birthday that I'd seen one of Gladwell's other books, The Tipping Point. I only had a chance to read the back, but it sounded interesting. And if Blink is any indication, Gladwell is a capable author who communicates his ideas well.

Blink explains how our brains are designed to process information rapidly, behind the scenes, and this often results in an unconscious change in our actions before we notice or can explain the behavior. This is often termed intuition. Gladwell presents many arguments for the value of "rapid cognition," although he does warn of the dangers of always listening to initial thoughts. Altogether Blink is worth reading, and I'd like to read some of Gladwell's other works.

Stumbling on Happiness

by Daniel Gilbert

Although I have about 40 pages left to go, I'm really enjoying this book. The brief summary I read beforehand doesn't really give an accurate idea of what the book is about - as I've moved from chapter to chapter, it's easier to see that the author is explaining more about how the mind works than about happiness. I would say the basic premise of the book is that just as our minds fill in gaps in our past experience (memory) and in our visual experience (sight) with material from the surrounding present, our minds also use that material to build an idea of the future - specifically our future - and that's why so often we expect to feel one way in a given circumstance and feel quite another way when we have actually experienced it. There are dozens of cited studies that help explain the ideas the author builds upon, and I think it is overall a very well-researched book. Gilbert puts forth some curious theories, but all of them have a lot of support. While I don't plan on accepting everything he says as pure fact, the book has changed my way of thinking about thinking. At least for a while.

Rating: I'll probably never read the whole thing through again, but it would be nice to own a copy for reference (and for having a larger library, of course).

Freakonomics

by Steven Levitt

while this was definitely a thought-provoking read, I can't say that it's anything more than theories. levitt makes some very interesting connections between seemingly unrelated topics - but, as he more or less points out, they are merely theories; perhaps the topics really are unrelated. if nothing else, though, since I read it aloud to jarom when we were driving, it gave us some odd material to talk anytime we were in the car.

No Contest

by Alfie Kohn

Because No Contest was assigned reading for my Social Problems class, I read it differently than I would have if I just picked it up. We were required to write a 3-5 page essay discussing a specific aspect of the book or a general thesis of Kohn's that we would then agree or disagree with. This meant that I was looking for something to babble on about - but something I could babble interestedly about.

Part of what Kohn says is that competitive sports and games are actually less fun than non-competitive sports and games, and the reason is that all motivation becomes extrinsic. You play to win. In cooperative games, the point of playing is the pleasure of playing - not a reward at the end. I thought this was Kohn's most well-supported claim, and the most interesting one. Some of the other chapters were cluttered and overly academic, which made them hard to get through. But I think the book is worth taking a look at.

The Holy Temple

by Boyd K. Packer

This was an assigned reading for my Rel C 261 class (Family History). It's a very good background on what temples are for and why they are so important. I think maybe it will make a bit more sense once I go to the temple myself, but I still gained a lot from Elder Packer's writing and I feel like I understand a little more the importance of preparing for the temple.