by eubie

Books read April 2013

The-Worst-Hard-Time coverThe Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan. The Dust Bowl has come back into awareness thanks to a Ken Burns documentary. This book was one of the sources of the documentary. It’s the story of families hoping for a new start, folks hoping to catch a dream before it was too late and folks who always lived there.

We know now that the over cultivation of the area and the denial of the natural characteristics of that terrain led to the disaster. What’s most interesting is that the conditions may be returning again.

 

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain. Had higher hopes on this book, but it would help parents and some bosses with tips on dealing with more introverted, but very capable people. It reminded me of Thinking, Fast and Slow  by Daniel Kahnema.

Bernard-Cornwell-The-Last-KingdomThe Last Kingdom: The Saxon Stories #1 by Bernard Cornwell — I enjoy Cornwell’s stories about the middle ages. This one is the story of a Saxon who is adopted by the Danes and then returns. It’s a great way to appreciate just what life was like 1,000 years ago. This can be the value of historically accurate fiction.