- Experts, Parents and a Century of Advice About Children
By Ann Hulbert
Once in a while, you have the feeling of being over serious, and simply want some cheap or even cheesy reading, just to humor yourself, gather some gossip material, something that you can shock your fellow chatters on the bbs. Well, this is what I was looking for when I open this book, but only find it over serious about itself. It's actually a history of child development research of the last century. It's too knowlegeable to be fun. This is could be a very well book at another time, but right now, I simply don't have the appetite for it.
The way some people quote or summarize the book can be so misleading!
Freakonomics
- A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
By Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
Interesting Points:
- New York City murder rate in 1990, 2245, 2003, 596. Contribute to the drop of crimes in late 90's and early 2000's, Roe v. Wade.
- The single most important factor in preventing a postwar revival of KKK in the North, Stetson Kennedy, through Superman radio show.
- Words to avoid in a real estate ad: Fantastic, Spacious, !, Charming, Great Neighborhood.
- Listerine, invented in 19th cent. as surgical antiseptic, later sold as floor cleaner and a cure for gonorrhea. Since 1920s, it claimed to be a solution for bad breath.
- Parents, who you are is much more important to a kid than what you do for parenting. But this may be only true for school performance at younger age, not life time achievements.
A light and interesting read, and once again, data rips off common sense. The book is full of insigts, but no unifying theme. From my own experience as an once-upon-a-time PhD candidate, this is the early stage of a research, the most interesting part maybe, and the part that most people couldn't go beyond. The last part about naming and parenting is a little bit dragging and lost focus.
By Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
Interesting Points:
- New York City murder rate in 1990, 2245, 2003, 596. Contribute to the drop of crimes in late 90's and early 2000's, Roe v. Wade.
- The single most important factor in preventing a postwar revival of KKK in the North, Stetson Kennedy, through Superman radio show.
- Words to avoid in a real estate ad: Fantastic, Spacious, !, Charming, Great Neighborhood.
- Listerine, invented in 19th cent. as surgical antiseptic, later sold as floor cleaner and a cure for gonorrhea. Since 1920s, it claimed to be a solution for bad breath.
- Parents, who you are is much more important to a kid than what you do for parenting. But this may be only true for school performance at younger age, not life time achievements.
A light and interesting read, and once again, data rips off common sense. The book is full of insigts, but no unifying theme. From my own experience as an once-upon-a-time PhD candidate, this is the early stage of a research, the most interesting part maybe, and the part that most people couldn't go beyond. The last part about naming and parenting is a little bit dragging and lost focus.
The Lincoln Lawyer
by Michael Connelly
The book is categorized as mystery by the library, but the development doesn't seem to exemplify that genre. Less than half way through the story, it is pretty clear about who did what. However, this is not to say that this is a less interesting novel. The detailed and assumably accurate depiction of the legal system is the strong point of the book, and is what makes it attractive. We are led to discover the mental process of a criminal defense lawyer, a profession most people can't understand that well.
The author definitely worth to return to. From the beginning, an atomosphere of complete authority is well maintained, and not vanished till the very end, which is rare.
The book is categorized as mystery by the library, but the development doesn't seem to exemplify that genre. Less than half way through the story, it is pretty clear about who did what. However, this is not to say that this is a less interesting novel. The detailed and assumably accurate depiction of the legal system is the strong point of the book, and is what makes it attractive. We are led to discover the mental process of a criminal defense lawyer, a profession most people can't understand that well.
The author definitely worth to return to. From the beginning, an atomosphere of complete authority is well maintained, and not vanished till the very end, which is rare.
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