Category: Goodreads Reviews

author: Daniel H. Pink
name: Elaine
average rating: 0.0
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2011/07/10
date added: 2011/08/18
shelves: business, didnt-finish, non-fiction, psychology, self-help, science, sociology, read-again, own
review:
It’s been a while since I read this (early July?), and I wish I’d gotten all the way through before it had to go back to the library — I didn’t read all of the supplementary/how-to material in the back. Interesting stuff, some of which I’d read before, about how rewards can backfire and other things about motivation & behavior. But as a cog, generally speaking, in the employment wheel, somewhat disheartening. It’s hard to see how one can influence a larger system to go in a more rational direction. Might try it again to see if there are tools I can integrate into my life, though.

author: Daniel H. Pink
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2011/07/10
date added: 2011/08/18
shelves: business, didnt-finish, non-fiction, psychology, self-help, science, sociology, read-again, own
review:
It’s been a while since I read this (early July?), and I wish I’d gotten all the way through before it had to go back to the library — I didn’t read all of the supplementary/how-to material in the back. Interesting stuff, some of which I’d read before, about how rewards can backfire and other things about motivation & behavior. But as a cog, generally speaking, in the employment wheel, somewhat disheartening. It’s hard to see how one can influence a larger system to go in a more rational direction. Might try it again to see if there are tools I can integrate into my life, though.

author: Daniel H. Pink
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2011/07/10
date added: 2011/08/18
shelves: business, didnt-finish, non-fiction, psychology, self-help, science, sociology, read-again, own
review:
It’s been a while since I read this (early July?), and I wish I’d gotten all the way through before it had to go back to the library — I didn’t read all of the supplementary/how-to material in the back. Interesting stuff, some of which I’d read before, about how rewards can backfire and other things about motivation & behavior. But as a cog, generally speaking, in the employment wheel, somewhat disheartening. It’s hard to see how one can influence a larger system to go in a more rational direction. Might try it again to see if there are tools I can integrate into my life, though.

author: Daniel H. Pink
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2011/07/10
date added: 2011/08/18
shelves: business, didnt-finish, non-fiction, psychology, self-help, science, sociology, read-again, own
review:
It’s been a while since I read this (early July?), and I wish I’d gotten all the way through before it had to go back to the library — I didn’t read all of the supplementary/how-to material in the back. Interesting stuff, some of which I’d read before, about how rewards can backfire and other things about motivation & behavior. But as a cog, generally speaking, in the employment wheel, somewhat disheartening. It’s hard to see how one can influence a larger system to go in a more rational direction. Might try it again to see if there are tools I can integrate into my life, though.

author: Jack Lynch
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2010/05/27
date added: 2011/07/12
shelves: history, non-fiction, writing
review:
If you are a language nerd of any sort, you’ll enjoy this book. Lots of weird tidbits about the attempts to wrangle the English language into place beginning with the printing press.

Which, as it turns out, is when consistent spelling actually starts to matter. Also, as it happens, is when there was some sort of huge shift in English pronunciation, so that the written form preserves (kinda) a different English than the one we actually speak. That explains a lot!

Some fascinating characters in here; he spends lots of time with Johnson and Webster in particular. At the same time, he engages with the big social movements around them. All in all, great writing.

(BTW, the "South Park" in the subtitle: not enough to get excited about, which is somewhat disappointing. As in, I can’t remember now what the reference was. I could’ve also stood for some discussion of how the Simpsons has actively shaped our lexicon. He loses some steam after the kerfuffle around Webster’s 3rd edition.)

author: Jack Lynch
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2010/05/27
date added: 2011/07/12
shelves: history, non-fiction, writing
review:
If you are a language nerd of any sort, you’ll enjoy this book. Lots of weird tidbits about the attempts to wrangle the English language into place beginning with the printing press.

Which, as it turns out, is when consistent spelling actually starts to matter. Also, as it happens, is when there was some sort of huge shift in English pronunciation, so that the written form preserves (kinda) a different English than the one we actually speak. That explains a lot!

Some fascinating characters in here; he spends lots of time with Johnson and Webster in particular. At the same time, he engages with the big social movements around them. All in all, great writing.

(BTW, the “South Park” in the subtitle: not enough to get excited about, which is somewhat disappointing. As in, I can’t remember now what the reference was. I could’ve also stood for some discussion of how the Simpsons has actively shaped our lexicon. He loses some steam after the kerfuffle around Webster’s 3rd edition.)

author: Jack Lynch
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2010/05/27
date added: 2011/07/12
shelves: history, non-fiction, writing
review:
If you are a language nerd of any sort, you’ll enjoy this book. Lots of weird tidbits about the attempts to wrangle the English language into place beginning with the printing press.

Which, as it turns out, is when consistent spelling actually starts to matter. Also, as it happens, is when there was some sort of huge shift in English pronunciation, so that the written form preserves (kinda) a different English than the one we actually speak. That explains a lot!

Some fascinating characters in here; he spends lots of time with Johnson and Webster in particular. At the same time, he engages with the big social movements around them. All in all, great writing.

(BTW, the “South Park” in the subtitle: not enough to get excited about, which is somewhat disappointing. As in, I can’t remember now what the reference was. I could’ve also stood for some discussion of how the Simpsons has actively shaped our lexicon. He loses some steam after the kerfuffle around Webster’s 3rd edition.)

author: Randy O. Frost
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2011/06/30
date added: 2011/07/08
shelves: ebook, non-fiction, psychology, read-again, wishlist
review:
I’ve been done with this for at least a week, maybe two, but I’ve been procrastinating writing my review. (So much so that the book has expired out of Overdrive, which means I lost all my bookmarks. Argh.) In any case, for someone with a family history of hoarding — particularly my paternal grandmother — and a personal tendency that way, this was fascinating, illuminating, and scary. Very compassionate, deals less with the cases that end up on TV than the otherwise normal-seeming people who have houses crammed with things, and the various psychological issues involved. I feel like I need to read it again and make notes. (FWIW, I think I have a lot of digital hoarding issues, too; bookmarks that will never be read, recipes that will never be made, etc., etc.) Very highly recommended.

author: Randy O. Frost
name: Elaine
average rating: 0.0
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2011/06/30
date added: 2011/07/08
shelves: ebook, psychology, non-fiction, read-again, favorites
review:
I’ve been done with this for at least a week, maybe two, but I’ve been procrastinating writing my review. (So much so that the book has expired out of Overdrive, which means I lost all my bookmarks. Argh.) In any case, for someone with a family history of hoarding — particularly my paternal grandmother — and a personal tendency that way, this was fascinating, illuminating, and scary. Very compassionate, deals less with the cases that end up on TV than the otherwise normal-seeming people who have houses crammed with things, and the various psychological issues involved. I feel like I need to read it again and make notes. (FWIW, I think I have a lot of digital hoarding issues, too; bookmarks that will never be read, recipes that will never be made, etc., etc.) Very highly recommended.

author: Randy O. Frost
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2011/06/30
date added: 2011/07/08
shelves: ebook, psychology, non-fiction, read-again, favorites
review:
I’ve been done with this for at least a week, maybe two, but I’ve been procrastinating writing my review. (So much so that the book has expired out of Overdrive, which means I lost all my bookmarks. Argh.) In any case, for someone with a family history of hoarding — particularly my paternal grandmother — and a personal tendency that way, this was fascinating, illuminating, and scary. Very compassionate, deals less with the cases that end up on TV than the otherwise normal-seeming people who have houses crammed with things, and the various psychological issues involved. I feel like I need to read it again and make notes. (FWIW, I think I have a lot of digital hoarding issues, too; bookmarks that will never be read, recipes that will never be made, etc., etc.) Very highly recommended.