# Book Notes I've been taking book notes since almost forever, most of them lost to long-gone paper notebooks. In early 2022 I started digital note-taking, so these notes here are comments on books I've read (or re-read) since then. These book notes, like everything else in here, are about me, _not_ about the books. They're not reviews, they're scribbles on page margins. They're a reflection of who _I_ am, not of what the book is. --- # -- Fiction book notes-- I choose what to read based on the (very subjective) *mood* I get from two things combined: 1. reading random fragments from the book as I flip through it in the library or elsewhere and 2. reading deeply personal half-thoughts from other readers, if I find any. It's important that these other readers are people I know. Not personally, but people I'd heard of, or that I can reasonably place in some kind of context. This is because to me [[all evaluation is interpretation]], so I want to have some sense of their personal aesthetics to run their notes through. Given I'd like to have access to these two things when I decide to what to read, that's also what my own book notes consist of. Quotes and notes. To which I also add a third thing, a star rating representing how much I liked the book overall, from 1 star being the worst to 5 stars being the best. ## ----- 5 Star Books ★★★★★ - [[I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings]] by Maya Angelou, 1969 - [[Milkman]] by Anna Burns, 2018 - [[The Grass Is Singing]] by Doris Lessing, 1950 - [[The Color Purple]] by Alice Walker, 1982 - [[Purple Hibiscus]] by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, 2003 ## ---- 4 Star Books ★★★★☆ - [[My Antonia]] by Willa Cather, 1918 - [[Tar Baby]] by Toni Morrison, 1981 - [[White Teeth]] by Zadie Smith, 2000 - [[Flights]] by Olga Tokarczuk, 2007 - [[The Magic Toyshop]] by Angela Carter, 1967 ## --- 3 Star Books ★★★☆☆ - [[The Age Of Innocence]] by Edith Wharton, 1920 - [[The Driver's Seat]] by Muriel Spark, 1970 - [[The Handmaid's Tale]] by Margaret Atwood, 1985 ## -- 2 Star Books ★★☆☆☆ - [[Ordinary People]] by Diana Evans, 2018 - [[My Brilliant Friend]] by Elena Ferrante, 2011 - [[The Death Of Vivek Oji]] by Emezi Akwaeke, 2020 - [[The Vegetarian]] by Han Kang, 2007 ## - 1 Star Books ★☆☆☆☆ - [[Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit]] by Jeanette Winterson, 1985 - [[Normal People]] by Sally Rooney, 2018 - [[His Only Wife]] by Peace Adzo Medie, 2020 - [[Oroonoko]] by Aphra Ben, 1688 --- # -- Nonfiction book notes-- Most of the books I read are non-fiction. Most are popular science books in the fields I'm interested in. ## 1. Cognitive Science & Psychology Books Cognitive Science - **The Society Of Mind** by Marvin Minsky, 1985 - **How We Learn** by Stanislas Dehaene, 2018 Psychology - **Stumbling On Happiness** by Dan Gilbert, 2006 - **Predictably Irrational** by Dan Ariely, 2008 - **Thinking: Fast & Slow** by Dan Kahneman, 2011 - **Feeling Good** by David A. Burns, 1980 - **Cognitive Therapy And The Emotional Disorders** by Aaron T. Beck, 1975 - **Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me)** by Carol Tavris & Elliot Aronson, 2007 ## 2. Ethics & Philosophy Books Ethics - **Moral Tribes** by Joshua Greene, 2013 - **The Righteous Mind** by Jonathan Haidt, 2012 - **Against Empathy** by Paul Bloom, 2016 Philosophy - **The Wisdom Of Insecurity** by Alan Watts, 1951 - **Life Is Hard** by Kieran Setiya, 2022 ## 3. Parenthood Books - **The Drama Of The Gifted Child** by Alice Miller, 1979 - **How To Talk So Kids Will Listen** by Adele Faber, 1980 - **Listen** by Patty Wipfler & Tosha Schore, 2016 ## 4. Economy & Business Economy - **Doughnut Economics** by Kate Raworth, 2017 - **Utopia For Realists** by Rutger Bregman, 2014 Business - **Made To Stick** by Chip Heath & Dan Heath, 2007 - **The Mom Test** by Rob Fitzpatrick, 2013 ## 5. (Auto-) Biography & Memoirs - **Man's Search For Meaning** by Viktor Frankl - **The Year Of Magical Thinking,** by Joan Didion, 2005 - [[Nanette]] by Hannah Gadsby, 2022 - **Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From The Beaten Track** by Richard Feynman, 2005 - **Just Kids** by Patti Smith, 2010