No One Makes You Shop at Wal-Mart: The Surprising Deceptions of Individual Choice

No One Makes You Shop at Wal-Mart: The Surprising Deceptions of Individual Choice by Tom Slee

Economics is based on individual choice. People "vote by their feet". If everyone chooses something, that will win. However, it is not so simple. The large corporations have power that make it difficult for others to compete. There is an amalgamation of benefits and costs with an imbalanced relationship. Game theory comes into play. People may prefer to have a vibrant local downtown. However, they also want the lower prices that walmart offer on some things. Alas, by getting those low prices, they decimate the downtown. The book has some interesting cases of how decisions are made for us by the big entities, leaving us with little opportunity. Big movie studios and big businesses make things their way, leaving an illusion of free choice, but providing little of it. The book has interesting thoughts, though does get a bit disorganized.

Pearl the Cloud Fairy

Pearl the Cloud Fairy by Daisy Meadows

Everyone around them has a little "cloud" over their head. Most of the time, this cloud causes them to have bad emotions. They are often grumpy or quick to anger. The girls and cloud fairy find that a goblin has taken her feather and doesn't know how to use it. The goblin is hanging out in the candy factory, eating candy and waving the feather. They get it back from him (after some interesting times getting stuck in a cotton candy cloud). Afterwards, all is happy again. It is just original enough to keep interesting.

Tom Brown's School Days

Tom Brown's School Days by Thomas Hughes

This is a pretty well done Librivox book. Tom Brown is a boy going to Rugby school. He plays sports like football and cricket and help boys work together. He is asked to help a young boy who is starting the school. He finds himself defending the boy when he is praying. He does more to work with him and grows as a person. He gains more empathy and appreciation for others. It is a well done and accessible today. It feels like a predecessor of the many "boarding school" stories that have come out since then.

Light Perpetual: A Novel

Light Perpetual: A Novel by Francis Spufford

During World War II, London was bombed heavily. This novel starts with the bombing of London that incinerated a number of people. then it goes to explore the lives of some of the people involved as if they were not killed. I missed out on the key change, and just saw the going forward of people living lives in future London.

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft

This is an early feminist essay. The discussions include topics which seem almost foreign to us, such as joint education for boys and girls. It advocates greater respect for women and less treating of them as appendages of men. It is a little longer than I expected and does go around a lot of topics regarding women's right.

Kant's Prolegomena and Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science

Kant's Prolegomena and Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science by Immanuel Kant, translated by Ernest Belfort Bax

This book includes a discussion of Kant's life and career and then two of his shorter works.

Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics That Will Be Able to Present Itself as a Science (1783)

A brief introduction to metaphysics and defense of Kant's writings. This is written as more of a discussion of philosophy and Kant's thought and metaphysics.

Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science (1786)

This shorter work reads more as a math and science book. There are discussions about gravity and other similar physical phenomena and how these are built on metaphysics

Jasmine the Present Fairy

Jasmine the Present Fairy by Daisy Meadows

There is a neighborhood carnival. They notice some fairy magic helps one girl get the present that she wants. Then they notice that for one game, all the prizes end up bad. They think there must be goblin issues going on. There is a goblin hiding there. He tries to take Jasmine's presents. They keep him away and eventually trap him in a box and send him back to Jack Frost. Then they are able to go to the big fairy 1000 birthday party. The book has little drama. My daughter did point out that King Oberon and Titania ar the fairy king and queen from Midsummer Night's Dream.

The Deep Places: A Memoir of Illness and Discovery

The Deep Places: A Memoir of Illness and Discovery by Ross Douthat

The author started to feel some weird medical symptoms. He went to various doctors to diagnose. They couldn't find the cause. He even tested for Lyme disease and came up negative. Many suggested he see a mental health doctor. Eventually he did get diagnosed for Lyme disease. He went through various treatments and saw varying degrees of success. Meanwhile, the family had moved to their "dream" house in the country and later had to sell it to move closer to doctors. The book ends with Covid outbreak. He was prepared. Lyme often has doctors being more cautious with patients requesting more cutting edge or drug-based treatments. There is also some speculation it could have been part of government experiment gone wild.  It is an interesting book that explores personal impact of a disease as well as how it changes world views.

Max Havelaar; or, The Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company

Max Havelaar; or, The Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company by Multatuli (the pen name of Eduard Douwes Dekker), translated by Alphonse Nahuys

The book is written from the point of view of a coffee broker from canal street. He deals with the Dutch Indonesian colonies. He realizes there is widespread mistreatment going on there. He appeals to authorities, but gets nowhere. The book has a fairly tearse style as if written by a businessman trying to express his points rather than a novel writer. (There seem to be a few different "writers") It is a bit "man against the system" and a bit "exposé of the evils of colonialism. With the reputation of the dutch, it seems odd that they were the ones that were so cruel.

Rilla of Ingleside

Rilla of Ingleside: Anne of Green Gables Series #8

In this novel, Anne is the mother. Most of the action revolves around her children. It is the time of World War I. Patriotism stirs in that part of Canada. People want to go help the British cause. However, things in the war are not going so well. They do wish the Americans would also join in. There are some references to American politics at the time. At home, one girl ends up watching a "war baby". His father is fighting the war, while the mother has dies. This is a significant sublot, that comes to a nice conclusion as he gets an inheritance from an old lady that they had met once. People back home were also interested in coupling, with some weddings made right before they go off. The novel provides a good exploration of what life was like when the Great War was going on.

The World the Plague Made: The Black Death and the Rise of Europe

The World the Plague Made: The Black Death and the Rise of Europe by James Belich

Europe went through the black death in the middle ages, severely reducing its population. Then it popped back bigger than ever and launched empires that controlled most of the world. This book starts by looking at the plague. There are evolving explanations for how it occurred and spread. Bubonic plague has gone in and out of favor. There does seem to a connection with rat populations. The black death did strike areas at different times and different mortality. It appears it also struck other parts of the world, such as Asia.

However, the plague itself is only the first part of this book. How did the activities of the various populations react to it? How did it change their behaviors and history? What was the next phase in history after the plague. Europe was even more fragmented than it is now. Economic activity and the associated trading were starting to boom. Some places, like Geneo were heavily involved in financial and mercenary activity. Europe was eager to spread its wings throughout the world. How much did the plague contribute to all these activities? The book paints a very broad picture that is perhaps a little too expansive.

Who Was Rosa Parks?

Who Was Rosa Parks? by Yona Zeldis McDonough

I did not realize that Rosa Parks had a backstory of fighting for rights. There were other black people who failed to give up their seats for whites on Montgomery busses. However, they did not resonate with the general public the way Rosa Parks did. She was an educated, upstanding citizen. She had also worked behind the scenes for civil rights. The bus boycott and fame were challenging for her and her family. Eventually she moved to Detroit with other family members. 

This book is a quality, short introduction to her life and the background of the bus boycott and civil rights movement. It is somewhat sad that it was transportation that was attacked. In the name of improving civil rights we ended up hurting our transportation system. (Next step would be to bulldoze black neighborhoods for freeways.)

Magic Tree House 25-29

Magic Tree House books 25-29 by Mary Pope Osborne

#25 Stage Fright on a Summer Night

They go to Elizabethan England and find people going to a performance. A man hears Jack read and asks him to substitute in the play. The man ends up being Will Shakespeare and the kids perform in Midsummer Night's Dream (with Annie pretending to be a boy dressed as a girl.) They also rescue a bear that was going to be used in a bear fight. This was my favorite of this group of books.

#26 Good Morning, Gorillas

They go to Africa and see gorillas. This was not a very good book.

#27 Thanksgiving on Thursday

They see the pilgrims on Thanksgiving, but don't fit in well.

#28 High Tide in Hawaii

They go to Hawaii and go surfing. They also need to go to high land when a tidal wave comes.

#29 Christmas in Camelot

They go to the imaginary time and find King Arthur and the gang. This was later to become Merlin Missions #1 and another book became magic treehouse 29.

Ivy and Bean Make the Rules

Ivy and Bean Make the Rules (Ivy & Bean book 9) by Annie Barrows, illustrated by Sophie Blackall

Bean's older sister is going to camp where she gets to do lots of fun things. Ivy and Bean decide they will have their own camp. They will be the counselors and do fun things too. They get some of the neighborhood kids (even boys!) to join them in the camp. They have fun, but it is a lot of work. It is amazing that they manage to stick to it and have fun in the process. The follow-through is perhaps the least believable part of the book.

The Last One

The Last One: Last One, Book 1 by Rachel Howzell Hall

This was better than our typical romantasy. It actually had some semblance of a story with characters that were interested in a bit more than just saving the world and sleeping with the enemy. (But only a small bit more.) The protagonist, Kai, cannot remember much of anything about her past. She said once she was "Just Kai" and that left others a name to use. There is a guy named Jaden who she likes. There are your typical save the world stuff as well as plenty of double entendre. People also seem to be keen on stealing her clothes and special amulet. She gradually finds out more about herself and what her mission was. By the end it does devolve into more of the typical romantasy.

Eugene Onéguine

Eugene Onéguine (Eugene Onegin) by Alexander Pushkin, translated by Henry Spalding

Eugene Onegin is told in strict verse form and would probably be more appreciated in the original Russian. The protagonist is a rich youth who thinks of himself better than others. Alas, his life does not go as well as he would like for it to go. 

Phantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men and Women

Phantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men and Women by George MacDonald

Phantastes is a fantasy novel written more than a century and a half ago. Alas, it is still a fantasy novel. It influence Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. In the story, a man gets drawn in to a fantasy world and goes on a quest. Like most fantasy works, that was about all I got out of it.

Song of Hiawatha

The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Longfellow composed an epic poem about Native Americans. The poem is filled with romantic imagery. There is a story in there also, but I had trouble grasping what was going on. The narration of this audiobook was also well done.

Frindle

Frindle by Andrew Clements

A kid is usually able to get teachers sidetracked by bringing up topics that get them talking. However, their current elementary school teacher will not take the bait. Instead, she asks him to research the topic. He learns that words end up getting their meaning because everyone understands its use for that purpose. He puts it to the test and uses the term "frindle" to refer to a pen. It soon catches on in the class and then the school. The kids get in trouble for using it, but continue to do so. It makes the news coverage and eventually spreads on throughout the nation. A local entrepreneur has trademarked the term and used it to manufacture "frindles". He realizes he needs buy in, so negotiate a licensing agreement from the boy and his family. He later learns (via a letter sealed earlier) that the teacher who had been fighting the use of frindle had actually been supporting him all along. At the end, he donates a large sum of money in the name of the teacher and gives her a special gift. It was a lesson well learned. The book does a nice job of weaving together academic learning with an extreme scenario to make an enjoyable book.                                                                                                                     

All Things Shining: Reading the Western Classics to Find Meaning in a Secular World

All Things Shining: Reading the Western Classics to Find Meaning in a Secular World by Hubert Dreyfus and Sean Dorrance Kelly

From the introduction, this seems like it was going to be a great book. Alas, it became too full of itself and got lost in the mud trying to appease all. The authors try to use classics to help explore meaning in the world. They discuss how events like Woodstock seek to change the paradigm of culture. However, that didn't last. Very few have really changed things - the two examples they gave are Jesus and Descarte. They discuss how David Foster Wallace struggled for meaning and how Dante used the reference religiosity of his time. There are bits and pieces that are good, but it gets a bit too lost in the weeds. In trying to provide "meaning" to modern times it tries to be all things to everyone, and thus succeeds in nothing.

William Blake: Selected Poems

William Blake: Selected Poems by William Blake

This audiobook contains a lot of Blake's poetry, but suffers from lack of organization. There is no written table of contents or chapters in the audiobook. The Song of Innocence collection is roughly in order. Then it starts to get very random with the rest of the works. Blake's poems invoke imagery, and would probably be best read with the initial engravings. The audiobook format does not do them justice. Marriage of Heaven and Hell is an interesting longer work involving some conversations with biblical characters and situating them as people acting appropriately for their conditions. It has some interesting thoughts. "Why Was Cupid a Boy" is a fun little poem exploring gender roles and Cupid. I have a greater respect for Blake after listening to these, but now would like to read them as originally written

Song of Innocence (1789) - most of the poems are here

Song of Experience (1794) - the initial poems are present, then others are interspersed throughout.

I fear'd the fury of my wind (1793 from Blake's notebook)

Mental Traveler (written around 1803, published 1863)

Crystal Cabinet (written around 1801-1803 from pickering manuscript)

Grey Monk (written around 1803 in pickering manuscript)

Long John Brown and Little Mary Bell (pickering manuscript)

William Bond (1801-1803 pickering)

Why Was Cupid a Boy (1808-1811 in Blake's notebook)

And did those feet in ancient time (from Milton: a Poem 1804 or 1808)

Auguries of Innocence (written around 1803, published 1863)

A Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790)

Reflections on the Revolution in France/Rights of Man (Giants of Political Thought)

Reflections on the Revolution in France/Rights of Man (Giants of Political Thought) by Wendy McElroy and George H Smith, discussing works by Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine (Contributor)

This is a quick audio introduction to two famous works from over two centuries ago. The audiobook includes various voice actors to discuss the essays and their authors. There was some controversy with Burke as he seemed to take on different views. This short audiobook provides good background, but is not a source of the original works. 

Five Weeks in a Balloon

Five Weeks in a Balloon by Jules Verne, translated by Jules Verne

Some adventurers go in a hot air balloon to explore Africa. It felt like it should have been an interesting adventure, but I had trouble getting involved with it in the same ways as other Jules Verne books.

Shannon the Ocean Fairy

Shannon the Ocean Fairy (Rainbow Magic Special Edition) by Daisy Meadows

This is an extra long fairy book that has three "sections" that appear similar to normal fairy books. The girls get invited to a fairy luau, but then things start to go wrong. The tides are coming in to far and other weather is not doing what it is supposed to. The goblins have stolen three magic pearls that control the weather. The girls and Shannon travel under the sea to find the pearls and fix the weather. Before each time, the weather seems to get really bad in both the fairy and human world. They complete the quest go going to Hawaii where the last pearl is making big waves. It is a longer story with the goblins seemingly falling over quickly when the fairies arrive. 

Pippi on the Run

Pippi on the Run by Astrid Lindgren, illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully

Pippi on the Run is shorter than the other Pippi Longstocking books and was likely adapted from the movie of the same name. Tommy, Annika and Pippi decide to run away from home. They start out with a horse, by the horse ends up leaving them. They travel by foot, on top of a train, and even in a hay loft. At one point, Pippi floats down a river and over a waterfall in a barrel. They hang out with a guy in abandoned house and have times begging for food. Pippi showcases her strength a bravery numerous times. Eventually they return home. Tommy and Annika are happy to see them. They do not seem to be phased that they were gone for a few days. But, hey, this is Pippi, you need to suspend disbelief and just go on for the ride.