Book Recommendations (a work in progress)
Book Recommendations (a work in progress)
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Listed below are books that I have read and feel comfortable recommending. Most of the links below will take you to the pages on Amazon.com where you can purchase the books listed. By buying a book at Amazon.com using these links, a small percentage of the purchase price will go to support this website. This small percentage does not increase the price of the book. The links for books by Thom Hogan will take you to the author's website as his books are only obtainable directly from him (there is no commission involved here). |
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Biography
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Food History / Current Events,... Judaism |
Non-Fiction Photography Travel & Hiking |
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| Biography / Autobiography | |||||||||
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| A Rope and a Prayer: The Story of a Kidnapping by David Rohde & Kristen Mulvihill | |||||||||
| Blood of the Liberals by George Packer - Part autobiography, part family history and part essay on the history of liberalism in the United States. George Packer's family history is a fascinating one. It interacts with the development of liberalism for at least the last 150+ years and through his discussion of his family's history we learn alot about liberalism. | |||||||||
| Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist by Roger Lowenstein | |||||||||
| From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas L. Friedman - A "classic" that has stood the test of time. | |||||||||
| The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride | |||||||||
| Company C: An American's Life as a Citizen-Soldier in Israel by Haim Watzman - The author is not a famous military hero or politician. He is sort of an "everyman". An American who emigrated to Israel, has lived there for 20+ years going through what an average person might go through who gets drafted into the Israeli army and after his initial stint serves in the reserves until he reaches the mandatory retirement age (40 ?) for people like him in the reserves. It is a well written and interesting peek into what an average person might expect to experience in the Israeli army and an insight into real life in Israel. The author is good at explaining how things related to this work in Israel and I found this book both interesting and informative. | |||||||||
| Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins (Audio CD) - A 9.5 hour unabridged audio version of this book in which it the author relates his atypical professional experiences, one where he created economic forecasts to suit his superiors and American interests. These forecasts generally misled other countries into agreeing to various financial arrangements that ultimately were not at all in their interest as these forecasts were purposely slanted. His professional experiences are not the sort found in textbooks. As the saying goes "Lies, damn lies and statistics!" | |||||||||
| Faith of My Fathers by John McCain (Abridged audio CD) | |||||||||
| Hunting the Jackal by Billy Waugh with Tim Keown -Mr. Waugh is certainly someone who has compiled a very impressive record defending our country and our country is the better for it. While I doubt that this book will win any major literary awards, it is still an interesting well written fast paced and entertaining story which I enjoyed. If this type of material or story interests you then you will not be disappointed as Mr. Waugh is the real deal and few can relate a story such as his as there may not be any other people around who've written autobiographies of a career in the Special Forces (and doing similar but different work later on for the CIA) that spans half a century! If I ever were to cross paths with Mr. Waugh (not likely as he seems to spend all his time in dangerous places) then I would consider it an honor to meet him and thank him for defending my country. | |||||||||
| Imagining Robert: My Brother, Madness, and Survival: A Memoir by Jay Neugeboren - This book sucks you in. I learned a lot about the life of someone with a non-trivial emotional problem(s) and how society (and families) treats them. This is also an absorbing personal story that made it hard for me to put the book down. Well written, highly absorbing, and educational. | |||||||||
| Leadership by Rudolph W. Giuliani with Ken Kurson | |||||||||
| Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 by Marcus Luttrell (Abridged audio CD) - Marcus Lutrell's book excels in the telling of his becoming a Navy SEAL and the mission that led to the writing of this book. It's only downside IMHO are the sections where Lutrell rails against "liberal journalists" (and liberals in general?). It is not that I disagree with him (I probably do disagree with him in many cases), it is that he spends too much time railing against them and repeating his disdain of them a multiple of times - we got it the first time. Still, the autobiographical stories which are the main part of the book more than make up for this as Lutrell is a good storyteller and he has quite a story to tell. | |||||||||
| Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder | |||||||||
| The 188th Crybaby Brigade: A Skinny Jewish Kid from Chicago Fights Hezbollah by Joel Chasnoff - A fast and entertaining read. Enlightening about Israeli society and its army. | |||||||||
| Schlepping Through the Alps: My Search for Austria's Jewish Past with Its Last Wandering Shepherd by Sam Apple | |||||||||
| See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism by Robert Baer | |||||||||
| Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices by Mosab Hassan Yousef - The story of a son of one of the seven founders of Hamas. How he decides that Hamas's methods didn't square with his values, how he ends up becoming a spy for Israel within Hamas for about 10 years, and then (and he was still under 30) decides to settle in California. Oh, and by the way, he secretly converts to Christianity at some point while acting as a spy for Israel. | |||||||||
| Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder | |||||||||
| Teacher Man: A Memoir by Frank McCourt | |||||||||
| This Just in: What I Couldn't Tell You on TV by Bob Schieffer | |||||||||
| War Reporting for Cowards by Chris Ayres - It reminded me in some way of A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. | |||||||||
| When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa by Peter Godwin | |||||||||
| Business, Economics & Finance | |||||||||
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| A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton Malkiel - A timeless "classic". IMHO, the best one-book introduction to investing. | |||||||||
| The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis - The financial meltdown; what really happened, why it happened and who's to blame. | |||||||||
| Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and Other Writings by Philip A. Fisher - A classic. | |||||||||
| Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors by Michael E. Porter - Excellent, a classic, one of the few "must reads" in any MBA program. It's one you will keep long after you finish your MBA. (I read the 1980 edition but I gather the newer / current edition is extremely similar). | |||||||||
| Confessions of an Advertising Man by David Ogilvy - A classic. | |||||||||
| Contrarian Investment Strategies in the Next Generation by David Dreman | |||||||||
| Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't by Jim Collins and Good to Great and the Social Sectors: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great by Jim Collins - The later is a supplement to the former. | |||||||||
| The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing. A Book of Practical Counsel (Revised Edition) by Benjamin Graham - A classic (I read the 1973 edition but I gather the newer / current edition is even better). | |||||||||
| Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis | |||||||||
| The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor by David Landes -David Landes is an enjoyable story teller and writes in a very readable manner. He explains, with amply researched proofs, why various countries have developed the way they have. I learned a lot about world history as well as economics and how geography, culture and government have all interacted in the world to explain the economic history of the world, why some countries are rich and others are poor. | |||||||||
| You Can Be a Stock Market Genius Even if You're Not Too Smart: Uncover the Secret Hiding Places of Stock Market Profits by Joel Greenblatt - Poor title, great book! The title of this book does a disservice to its contents. The title is much more sensationalist than the book. | |||||||||
| Environment | |||||||||
| A Civil Action by Jonathan Harr - The book is better than the film IMHO. | |||||||||
| The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters by Rose George | |||||||||
| Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution -- and How It Can Renew America by Thomas L. Friedman (Abridged Audio CD) | |||||||||
| Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis by Al Gore - If you want to only read one book which will explain all the issues regarding the climate crisis then this is the book. It has an impressive amount of breadth and depth and is very readable. | |||||||||
| The Polluters: The Making of Our Chemically Altered Environment by Benjamin Ross & Steven Amter - That the chemical industry has released huge quantities of inadequately treated toxic wastes into the environment is not news to most people. What was news to me was how successful (truly breathtaking) the industry was for many many years in their efforts to thwart government regulation of their impact on the environment. The "regulatory capture" of government entities (including the Public Health Service) by the industry was more than I ever would've believed prior to reading this book. This subject may sound dry but this write-up is actually an enjoyable quick read (with lots of good guys, bad guys, greed, duplicity, conflicts of interest, etc). | |||||||||
| Pollution in a Promised Land: An Environmental History of Israel by Alon Tal - The most complete environmental history of Israel in English that I am aware of. It has great breadth and depth. | |||||||||
| Taking Back Eden: Eight Environmental Cases that Changed the World by Oliver A. Houck | |||||||||
| The Way Into Judaism and the Environment by Jeremy Benstein - Most discussions of what Judaism has to say about the environment involve pasook tossing, quoting a few relatively well known verses from traditional Jewish sources (i.e. the bible) and expounding on how they demonstrate that Judaism is an environmentally friendly religion. While Jeremy's book does discuss all of the usual verses, it doesn't stop there. It goes much much further and creates a learned, sophisticated and nuanced connection between Judaism and pro-environmental policies and behaviors. (Full disclosure: I met Jeremy in 2008 when I participated in a multi-day hike in Israel to raise money for The Heschel Center, Jeremy's NGO, which works on environmental issues in Israel, and for another environmental group. I've written these comments on my own volition without Jeremy's knowledge). | |||||||||
| Fiction | |||||||||
| The Brethren by John Grisham | |||||||||
| The Bus Driver Who Wanted To Be God & Other Stories by Etgar Keret | |||||||||
| Scribblers on the Roof by Melvin Jules Bukiet & David G. Roskies - The book is quite entertaining, a collection of stories written by Jewish writers. | |||||||||
| Food | |||||||||
| Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer - If the first step in resolving a problem is acknowledging that you have the problem, then requiring all meat and poultry eaters (as well as everyone else) to read this book would probably satisfy step one. The knowledge gained from reading this book will probably lead to changes in our society that would benefit everyone (regardless of whether everyone became a vegetarian or not). | |||||||||
| The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite by David Kessler - Dr. Kessler covers does a great job of covering this topic with much breadth and a decent amount of depth. The chapters about how processed food (including food served in many restaurants) is manipulated deserves a book of its own and lots of publicity about it as I believe it would change public policy for the better (better mandated disclosure if nothing else). | |||||||||
| Fair Food: Growing a Healthy, Sustainable Food System for All by Oran B. Hesterman | |||||||||
| Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser | |||||||||
| In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan | |||||||||
| Jewish Eating and Identity Through the Ages by David Kraemer - Jewish law about kashrut has changed much much more than I ever knew or would have guessed over the years. | |||||||||
| Kosher Nation: Why More and More of America's Food Answers to a Higher Authority by Sue Fishkoff - Here's the how and why of the Kosher food industry. | |||||||||
| The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan - Do you think you know where your food comes from? Don't be so sure unless you've already read Michael Pollan's book. Michael traces the path that food in America takes to get to your plate. For a discussion of meat and corn (we learn that corn is in almost everything around us) he actually buys one steer and follows it's life. There is a fascinating chapter on "grass farmers". He also discusses the organic food industry (i.e. Whole Foods) and other paths that food takes to get to you. While I do not at all consider myself to be a foodie, I found this book very interesting as it illuminated how a part of our world works that I knew relatively little about (although I thought I did before reading this book). Only someone working in the food industry might not be surprised by what they learn in this book. This book should be a "must read" for anyone interested in what they eat (as well as policymakers). Eating "responsibly" takes on a whole new dimension now that I've read this book. A very well written "food" book for foodies and non-foodies alike. | |||||||||
| The Unhealthy Truth: How Our Food Is Making Us Sick - And What We Can Do About It by Robyn O'Brien - I thought I knew a fair amount about the food I ate and I had also always been curious as to why we have had a non-trivial increase in the incidence of peanut allergies among people much younger than me. Even if you have read Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan you will not be disappointed if you buy this book to learn more about the food you eat (hint: read Omnivore's Dilemma first). | |||||||||
| History / Current Events / Current Affairs | |||||||||
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| A Continent for the Taking: The Tragedy and Hope of Africa by Howard W. French - Maybe you remember the details of the Rwandan massacres (genocides?), maybe you've been following the tragedy in Darfur or maybe you went on an African safari and now think you know something about Africa. Read this book and The Shadow of the Sun (see below), two excellent and very enlightening books (my recommendation is to read The Shadow of the Sun first) to see if that is really the case (maybe yes but probably not IMHO). They certainly opened my eyes about Africa and helped to explain to me why things are as they are there (including why some very horrific events have happened in the past and will probably happen again). | |||||||||
| A Special Mission: Hitler's Secret Plot to Seize the Vatican and Kidnap Pope Pius XII by Dan Kurzman | |||||||||
| Against All Enemies by Richard A. Clarke - A real page turner, well written and informative. A well written account of this nation's war against terrorism through Richard Clarke's eyes. Richard's prose is clear, is good at explaining how things work in Washington and the White House and you will come away better informed. You may also, as I did, come away with a new appreciation for how Clinton handled terrorism. If you are a fan of President Bush then you will not like this book as it carefully explains the illogic of the war in Iraq in regards to terrorism and other issues. | |||||||||
| Among the Righteous by Robert Satloff | |||||||||
| The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq by George Packer - This book should be required reading to understand the Iraq war. It reminds me of From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas Friedman in that I didn't want to put it down and its 480 pages flew by. I expect that it will also stand the test of time and also be considered a classic. It is carefully researched and very well written. | |||||||||
| The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream by Barack Obama (Abridged audio CD) - Read by the author himself, this book will give you an insight into Obama's basic philosophy in each of the major policy areas as well as some autobiographical material. One doesn't generally choose to listed to a 6.5 hour speech by a politician but this "speech" is quite listenable and will make obvious why Obama is currently the competitive presidential candidate that he is. | |||||||||
| Cain's Field: Faith, Fratricide, and Fear in the Middle East by Matt Rees - I had considered myself well read about the Israeli/Arab conflict in general and then I heard Matt Rees speak in person about this (then) new book. He told me quite a few things I never knew before (mostly about the Palestinians). I bought this book on the spot and don't regret it. He is a good story teller and delves into issues and people that I don't read about in both the general and special interest media that covers this part of the world. I now have a better understanding about the issues that each side deals with internally (and especially about the Palestinian side). | |||||||||
| Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War by Tony Horwitz | |||||||||
| Emancipation: How Liberating Europe's Jews from the Ghetto Led to Revolution and Renaissance by Michael Goldfarb | |||||||||
| The Forever War by Dexter Filkins | |||||||||
| Foxbats Over Dimona: The Soviets' Nuclear Gamble in the Six-Day War by Isabella Ginor & Gideon Remez | |||||||||
| Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 by Steve Coll - Ghost Wars is a very long read. The reading is fast because it is well written but the book is simply long in length. It is very well researched and it never lost my attention. I now have a better understanding of the history of that part of the world. This book should be the standard core text on this subject. Overall a very impressive book. | |||||||||
| Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristof & Sheryl WuDunn - An important book for those who care about humanity. | |||||||||
| The Hebrew Republic: How Secular Democracy and Global Enterprise Will Bring Israel Peace At Last by Bernard Avishai - Strongest in illuminating some key internal sociological, demographic, historical and political problems and worth reading for this part alone. Author lays out a positive vision for the future but has no real plan for getting there. | |||||||||
| Imperium by Ryszard Kapuscinski - Imperium gives you the gestalt of the Soviet Union from about World War II to the early 90's. The author, a Polish journalist, is a great observer of regular life. | |||||||||
| Jerusalem 1913: The Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict by Amy Dockser Marcus | |||||||||
| Masters Of Chaos: The Secret History of the Special Forces by Linda Robinson - I read this (almost) 400 page book within one 24 hour day. A very readable history of the U.S. Army's Special Forces. The author uses a core of real people she met to personalize the stories. | |||||||||
| Operation Mincemeat: The True Spy Story That Changed the Course of World War II by Ben Macintyre | |||||||||
| Rescued from the Reich: How One of Hitler's Soldiers Saved the Lubavitcher Rebbe by Bryan Mark Rigg | |||||||||
| The Secret War Against the Jews: How Western Espionage Betrayed The Jewish People by John Loftus & Mark Aarons - Truth is stranger than fiction. What they tell you in history books may not be the full story. | |||||||||
| The Shadow of the Sun by Ryszard Kapuscinski - The gestalt of Africa. Maybe you remember the details of the Rwandan massacres (genocides?), maybe you've been following the tragedy in Darfur or maybe you went on an African safari and now think you know something about Africa. Read this book and A Continent for the Taking: The Tragedy and Hope of Africa (see above), two excellent and very enlightening books (my recommendation is to read this book first) to see if that is really the case (maybe yes but probably not IMHO). They certainly opened my eyes about Africa and helped to explain to me why things are as they are there (including why some very horrific events have happened in the past and will probably happen again). | |||||||||
| Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East by Michael Oren - Awesome! I read about half of this book in the course of 24 hours of traveling on a multiple of airplanes and almost couldn't put it down (I finished it a few weeks later). While a serious work of scholarship, history never read so easily as the book moves quickly (basically because the writing is excellent and a pleasure to read). I have been a (amateur) student of the history of Israel and have read many things on it and even with a lifetime of doing this, I learned an awful lot about the area from this book and in a very enjoyable way. Subsequently, I had the good fortune to be at a social function in NYC where the author also happened to coincidently be. He mentioned that his next book was a two volume series on a subject regarding the Middle East that only sounded mildly interesting to me. If it were another author then I might easily pass on it but if it lives up to the standard set by the Six Day War book then I will seriously consider it. | |||||||||
| Sleeping with the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude by Robert Baer | |||||||||
| Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan by Greg Mortenson - The sequel / continuation of the story that starts in Three Cups of Tea. Read Three Cups of Tea before reading this book. | |||||||||
| Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin - Inspiring, we're all lazy self centered shlubs (Yiddish for "a stupid, worthless, or unattractive person") compared with Greg. The world is a better place because of his work. | |||||||||
| The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century by Thomas L. Friedman - A very good explanation of how technology has impacted how business works in the last 5+ years. Good at explaining and illustrating ideas with real world examples (and some name dropping). Best for corporate world denizens who do not work in a large corporate IT department. If you are very aware of technology and what it can do today in the corporate world then a decent part of this book may be a review. There are a couple of minor mistakes in Tom's explanations of how certain technology works. These are small mistakes and do not at all take away from the book enough to make a difference. Tom readily admits that his background is not technical and seems to have tried hard to make sure he has his technical explanations are correct. The mistakes are subtle and do not detract much if anything from the book. I think this book will stand the test of time for a few (5+?) years but as technology changes, it may become dated. On the other hand, one of his earlier works, "From Beirut to Jerusalem", has held up very well over a long period of time and I highly recommend it. Bottom line: This is a good book if you are not a techie in the corporate world (who then probably already knows a lot of this stuff but probably doesn't have as many stories to tell as Tom does and can't write as well). | |||||||||
| Judaism | |||||||||
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| As a Driven Leaf by Milton Steinberg | |||||||||
| Basic Judaism by Milton Steinberg | |||||||||
| Conscience: The Duty to Obey and the Duty to Disobey by Harold M. Schulweis | |||||||||
| The Courtier and the Heretic: Leibniz, Spinoza, and the Fate of God in the Modern World by Matthew Stewart | |||||||||
| A Delightful Compendium of Consolation: A Fabulous Tale of Romance, Adventure and Faith in the Medieval Mediterranean by Burton L Visotzky | |||||||||
| Doing Jewish Theology: God, Torah & Israel in Modern Judaism by Neil Gillman - Rabbi Gillman explores a range of topics in Jewish theology. A good follow up for those who have already read his classic Sacred Fragments: Recovering Theology for the Modern Jew. | |||||||||
| Empowered Judaism: What Independent Minyanim Can Teach Us about Building Vibrant Jewish Communities by Elie Kaunfer - Rabbi Kaunfer explains the origins of Kehilat Hadar and Yeshivat Hadar which he helped found and the Independent Minyanim movement which has grown in recent years. His discussion of the decisions made as to why and how to start and run Hadar and his explanation of the ethos of Hadar (the minyan and the yeshiva) are interesting and/or instructive to others. | |||||||||
| The Genesis of Ethics by Burton L. Visotzky | |||||||||
| Getting Our Groove Back: How to Energize American Jewry by Scott A. Shay | |||||||||
| God and Evil: A Unified Theodicy/Theology/Philosophy by David Birnbaum - It doesn't get much better than this, that is assuming you can talk about a theodicy not getting much better. David Birnbaum delivers a very very carefully thought out, consistent, organized and all encompassing theodicy/theology such that this might be last book you will feel the need to read on this subject. David doesn't ignore other theodicy's, he discusses all of them while on his path to presenting his. His thesis is consistent with the various streams of normative Jewish belief/law including the traditional ones. | |||||||||
| The God Who Hates Lies: Confronting and Rethinking Jewish Tradition by Dr. David Hartman - Excellent book with a poor and misleading main title (maybe it is about lashon hara?). Mostly about halakha (Jewish law) and orthodox Judaism and issues the author has with with how these interact. | |||||||||
| Jewish Eating and Identity Through the Ages by David Kraemer - Jewish law about kashrut has changed much much more than I ever knew or would have guessed over the years. | |||||||||
| Jews and Power by Ruth R. Wisse | |||||||||
| Jewish Theology in Our Time: A New Generation Explores the Foundations and Future of Jewish Belief by Elliot J. Cosgrove - I did not agree with all of the points of view expressed in all of the essays in this anthology (I probably only agreed with a minority). In fact, that would almost be impossible given the differences between them. What they all had in common, and what makes this book worthwhile, is that they are all thought provoking (and educational at times). This is also a highly readable book that does not assume advanced knowledge in this area. FWIW, If you are looking for a first book on Jewish theology then this may not be your best choice. For that I recommend some of the books by Neil Gillman such as Sacred Fragments: Recovering Theology for the Modern Jew. | |||||||||
| Judaism and Justice: The Jewish Passion to Repair the World by Sidney Schwarz | |||||||||
| Kosher Nation: Why More and More of America's Food Answers to a Higher Authority by Sue Fishkoff | |||||||||
| The Limits of Orthodox Theology: Maimonides' Thirteen Principles Reappraised by Marc B. Shapiro - Somewhat sensationalist title for a serious scholarly work. It discusses what traditional Jewish commentators (as well as Maimonides in other writings) have said about the 13 Principles. Worthwhile reading for those concerned with theology as defined by the 13 Principles. | |||||||||
| Love Your Neighbor And Yourself: A Jewish Approach to Modern Personal Ethics by Elliot N. Dorff - The title of the book doesn't do it justice. While some parts are dry and semi-obvious, many other parts systematically explore the Jewish approach to personal morals and ethics in ways that will give one a better understanding of the issues and the original sources for the basis for the Jewish point(s) of view. Both timeless and modern day issues are dealt with. | |||||||||
| Maimonides, Spinoza and Us: Toward an Intellectually Vibrant Judaism by Marc Angel - An interesting exploration of some of the works and philosophies of Maimonides and Spinoza and how they may be relevant for today (which they are IMHO). | |||||||||
| Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl | |||||||||
| Matters of Life and Death: A Jewish Approach to Modern Medical Ethics by Elliot N. Dorff - Everything from pregnancy to death. Elliot Dorff is a scholar in this area and his book is modern, realistic, comprehensive and readable by the layperson. | |||||||||
| On Being a Jewish Feminist by Susannah Heschel | |||||||||
| Righteous Indignation: A Jewish Call for Justice by Rabbi Or N. Rose, Jo Ellen Green Kaiser, & Margie Klein (editors) - A set of about 30 articles on Judaism and social justice, the environment, Israel, public policy and the like. Thought provoking, enlightening and worthwhile. | |||||||||
| The Sabbath by Abraham Joshua Heschel | |||||||||
| Sacred Fragments: Recovering Theology for the Modern Jew by Neil Gillman | |||||||||
| Sage Tales: Wisdom and Wonder from the Rabbis of the Talmud by Rabbi Burton L. Visotzky - Stories (or should I say "tales"), the stories behind the stories, the historical settings for the stories and the connectedness between the stories. Rabbi Visotzky explores various stories from the Talmud with an expert's knowledge of them, the experience of exploring and teaching these stories for many years and a raconteur's ability to tell a story. Full disclosure: Rabbi Visotzky is a friend of mine. | |||||||||
| Spirit of Renewal: Crisis and Response in Jewish Life by Edward Feld | |||||||||
| Taking Hold of Torah: Jewish Commitment and Community in America by Arnold M. Eisen - An especially interesting book given that it was written about ten years before the author was selected to become the Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. | |||||||||
| Talking about God: Exploring the Meaning of Religious Life with Kierkegaard, Buber, Tillich and Heschel by Daniel Polish | |||||||||
| There Shall Be No Needy: Pursuing Social Justice Through Jewish Law & Tradition by Jill Jacob -A well written discussion of Jewish law and tradition and what it says about important current social policy issues. The discussion makes clear that Jewish law and tradition are relevant today in these areas. | |||||||||
| To Be a Jew: A Guide to Jewish Observance in Contemporary Life by Hayim Halevy Donin | |||||||||
| To Do the Right and the Good: A Jewish Approach to Modern Social Ethics by Elliot N Dorff - Thoughtful, knowledgeable, and reasonable. The author explores serious issues as only someone with a large breadth and depth of relevant knowledge and a long experience thinking and dealing with these issues can. | |||||||||
| To Heal a Fractured World: The Ethics of Responsibility by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks | |||||||||
| To Pray As a Jew: A Guide to the Prayer Book and the Synagogue Service by Hayim Halevy Donin | |||||||||
| The First Jewish Catalog; A Do-It-Yourself Kit by Michael Strassfeld, Richard Siegel, & Sharon Strassfeld | |||||||||
| The Second Jewish Catalog: Sources and Resources by Michael Strassfeld & Sharon Strassfeld | |||||||||
| The Third Jewish Catalog: Creating Community: With a Cumulative Index to All 3 Catalogs by by Michael Strassfeld & Sharon Strassfeld | |||||||||
| The Way Into Judaism and the Environment by Jeremy Benstein - Most discussions of what Judaism has to say about the environment involve pasook tossing, quoting a few relatively well known verses from traditional Jewish sources (i.e. the bible) and expounding on how they demonstrate that Judaism is an environmentally friendly religion. While Jeremy's book does discuss all of the usual verses, it doesn't stop there. It goes much much further and creates a learned, sophisticated and nuanced connection between Judaism and pro-environmental policies and behaviors. (Full disclosure: I met Jeremy in 2008 when I participated in a multi-day hike in Israel to raise money for The Heschel Center, Jeremy's NGO, which works on environmental issues in Israel, and for another environmental group. I've written these comments on my own volition without Jeremy's knowledge). | |||||||||
| When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold S. Kushner | |||||||||
| Why Faith Matters by David J. Wolpe | |||||||||
| Non-Fiction | |||||||||
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| Book Design by Andrew Haslam - From A to Z. | |||||||||
| Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions by Ben Mezrich | |||||||||
| Calculated Bets by Steven Skiena - Buy this book! (Disclaimer: I am a friend of the author and he gave me a free copy of this book. He did not solicit a review from me and he does not know that I am writing one, although I guess he will find out sooner or later). I procrastinated in reading this book. It did not sound very exciting. While I have degrees in Computer Science and Business, the title sounded as if the book would be a dense technical treatise on the subject. It was not. I read it in one (long) day. Steve has written a lively book on Jai-Alai, mathematical modeling, probability, statistics, gambling and betting and made it both interesting and instructive at the same time. I enjoyed reading it and learned a lot at the same time. | |||||||||
| Deadly Spin: An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR Is Killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans by Wendell Potter | |||||||||
| The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst | |||||||||
| Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher, William Ury, & Bruce Patton | |||||||||
| House by Tracy Kidder | |||||||||
| Inside Sport Psychology by Costas Karageorghis & Peter Terry | |||||||||
| The Layout Book by Gavin Ambrose & Paul Harris - Lots of breadth but no huge depth in any specific area. | |||||||||
| The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work by Alain De Botton - Interesting observations about modern work life. | |||||||||
| Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely - Educational, entertaining, and worthwhile. | |||||||||
| The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen R. Covey | |||||||||
| The Soul Of A New Machine by Tracy Kidder | |||||||||
| So Why Have You Never Been Married?: 10 Insights Into Why He Hasn't Wed by Carl Weisman - While I'm not a big believer in fate, I can’t conjure a better explanation for what brought this book into my possession. A library in my office building was getting rid of excess books and this book was among them. It figuratively “had my name on it”. I’d never seen an article or book written from this perspective (late 40's single never married male) on this topic before. If there were other studies on this specific subject then I might be able to compare and contrast this one but Carl has the field to himself. As such all I will say is that I found this book interesting and fast reading. | |||||||||
| Sunday Money: Speed! Lust! Madness! Death! A Hot Lap Around America with NASCAR by Jeff MacGregor - Jeff MacGregor introduces us to the world (religion?) of NASCAR. | |||||||||
| Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students by Ellen Lupton | |||||||||
| Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us) by Tom Vanderbilt - More about traffic than you ever thought to ask. | |||||||||
| White Coat, Black Hat: Adventures on the Dark Side of Medicine by Carl Elliott | |||||||||
| Words That Work, Revised, Updated Edition: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear by Frank Luntz - This book does have some unnecessary self-promotion and name dropping and may present certain political views you don’t agree with. On the other hand there is a core to this book, one about how to use language to present your ideas in a way that will have the best chance of convincing people of them, that is very worthwhile. While it would have been a better book without the fluff around the core, it is still worth reading. | |||||||||
| Photography & Filmmaking | |||||||||
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| Adobe Photoshop CS4: Up to Speed by Ben Willmore | |||||||||
| The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book: The Complete Guide for Photographers by Martin Evening - Not a "killer tips" book, not a simpleton cookbook type book (just follow these 13 steps), just a straightforward guide to Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. It is well written, illustrated and organized. Skip the free book that comes with Adobe Lightroom and read this instead. | |||||||||
| Adventure Photography: Capturing the World of Outdoor Sports by Michael Clark | |||||||||
| ASMP Professional Business Practices in Photography, 7th Edition - Amazing breadth and a must read for any aspiring or practicing professional photographer. | |||||||||
| Best Business Practices for Photographers by John Harrington - There's a lot more to earning a living with your photography than simply creating a great image. John's a successful pro and his advice is very thorough, very professional and based upon actual experience. Highly recommended! | |||||||||
| Captured by the Light: The Essential Guide to Creating Extraordinary Wedding Photography by David Ziser - Not just for wedding photographers! Very worthwhile instruction for those interested in shooting portraits and/or events. I bought this book for its advice on shooting portraits and events and it did not disappoint. | |||||||||
| Digital Portrait Photography: Art, Business & Style by Steve Sint - This is an excellent one-book treatment of all the major aspects of taking portraits (lighting, posing, equipment, etc etc). The author covers a huge breadth of material with reasonable depth in each area and with generally good illustrations and images to illustrate his points. If you only buy one book on portraiture then this would be a great choice. | |||||||||
| Doug Box's Guide to Posing for Portrait Photographers by Douglas Allen Box | |||||||||
| First Light: A Landscape Photographer's Journey by Joe Cornish - Most of this book is composed of 2-page spreads with a larger image that the author is happy with as well as smaller one that he is less happy with. Joe discusses in good detail the background related to the images. The quality of the imagery in this book is quite good and I would be very very proud if I was able to claim them as my own. I would have preferred if Joe discussed in much more detail why he thought the smaller images didn't work as well as he would have liked. His more detailed analysis would have added a much greater amount of value than some of the other interesting but less educational background information he discusses about each image. | |||||||||
| Galen Rowell's Inner Game of Outdoor Photography by Galen Rowell | |||||||||
| Galen Rowell's Vision: The Art of Adventure Photography by Galen Rowell | |||||||||
| A Hands-on Guide to Creative Lighting (Nikon School DVD) with Bob Krist & Joe McNally - Some instructional DVD's can put you to sleep. This one is well organized, informative and kept interesting throughout. Bob Krist and Joe McNally are both very clear in their explanations of what they are doing and interesting to watch in action. Two and a half hours goes by quicker than you expect. This DVD is a good companion to Joe McNally's The Hot Shoe Diaries (see below) which I suggest you read prior to viewing this DVD (although the DVD does stand very well on its own). | |||||||||
| The Hot Shoe Diaries: Big Light from Small Flashes by Joe McNally - More similar than different in structure relative to his previous book "The Moment it Clicks" and much of what I wrote in my review of that book (see below) applies here. This is an excellent book to read after reading "The Moment it Clicks" (and it also stands very well on its own). Hot Shoe Diaries entertains as it educates. While certainly not a straight textbook, this book is more instructional in a formal way than his last one. Many of his lessons are simply the stories of how he has created each of the impressive images that are in the book. It is fun, fast reading, educational and has lots of impressive imagery. | |||||||||
| How Pictures Work by Molly Bang - An unusual book that discusses, with many examples, how pictures work or "How does the structure of a picture affect our emotional response?". | |||||||||
| John Shaw's Landscape Photography by John Shaw - A classic and a good place to start in learning more about landscape photography. | |||||||||
| Kevin Kubota's Lighting Notebook: 101 Lighting Styles and Setups for Digital Photographers by Kevin Kubota | |||||||||
| Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting by Fil Hunter, Steven Biver, & Paul Fuqua - This book is quite unique. It covers light and its use as a photographer might be concerned with it from a more scientific viewpoint than any other photography how-to book I've ever seen (no high-level science or advanced math involved at all!). I learned quite a few things from this book (i.e. issues regarding shooting white-on-white and black-on-black and issues regarding various types of reflections) and I think most photographers, through advanced and professional levels, will also. It might be too much for someone just starting out in photography unless they have a strong science or technical background (but they should probably wait until they've mastered the basics of photography first). | |||||||||
| Looking at Photographs: 100 Pictures from the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art by John Szarkowski | |||||||||
| Master Lighting Guide for Portrait Photographers by Christopher Grey | |||||||||
| The Moment It Clicks: Photography secrets from one of the world's top shooters by Joe McNally - Education, entertainment and impressive imagery. Reading it feels like going to a very interesting all-day PowerPoint based seminar. Joe educates us with lots of advice and by giving us explanations of how he created some of the images in the book. He entertains us with war stories from his career and he certainly impresses us with his imagery. This book doesn’t pretend to be a thick textbook book on some aspect(s) of photography or a detailed autobiography. It is however photographically inspiring and fun to read. | |||||||||
| Mountain Light: In Search of the Dynamic Landscape by Galen A. Rowell | |||||||||
| Occam's Razor: An Outside-In View of Contemporary Photography by Bill Jay - The next time you go to a gallery or museum to see a photography exhibit and can't make heads or tails of the artist's statement or the curator's description about the work (and you also speak the same language that it is written in) then read this book to feel better. Occam's Razor is a serious and well written critique of certain aspects of the world of Fine Art Photography, certain types of academic programs in photography and other related areas. An unusually entertaining and fairly quick read for a book on a subject like this. | |||||||||
| On Being a Photographer: A Practical Guide by David Hurn & Bill Jay - Caution: Read about this book before buying it as the title could be misleading. (new copies available from Lulu) | |||||||||
| The Passionate Photographer: Ten Steps Toward Becoming Great by Steve Simon | |||||||||
| The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos by Michael Freeman | |||||||||
| The Photographer's Mind: Creative Thinking for Better Digital Photos by Michael Freeman - More thought provoking and jam-packed with ideas, information and analytic thinking about images than any other book I've read on this topic in recent memory. Better for intermediate or advanced level photographers than beginners. If one is looking for a book on improving one's images then this book should be on your short list. It is not a book about the technical aspects of photography (although some are touched on), it is about what makes images more compelling. While very different in many ways, it reminds me of another highly recommended book; Photographing the World Around You: A Visual Design Workshop by Freeman Patterson. | |||||||||
| The Photographer's Vision: Understanding and Appreciating Great Photography by Michael Freeman | |||||||||
| Photographer's Legal Guide by Carolyn E. Wright - A short (110 pages) and straightforward guide to the legal and business practice issues that a photographer should know. Written by a lawyer who is also a professional photographer. | |||||||||
| The Photographer's Studio Manual by Michael Freeman | |||||||||
| Photographically Speaking: A Deeper Look at Creating Stronger Images by David duChemin -The first two-thirds of this book are educational in a general sense in discussing various aspects of a photograph, the types of decisions that are made when capturing an image, why some options may be better than others and in helping us to have a language / vocabulary to critically discuss an image. The final third of this book presents twenty images and then spends a few pages on each analyzing them. David explains in depth how he thinks the images work and various issues surrounding his decisions in creating the images in the way he has. Highly recommended (a standout in the the last third compared with other books which claim to do the same)! | |||||||||
| Photographing the World Around You: A Visual Design Workshop by Freeman Patterson - I have read both this book and Freeman Patterson's Photography and the Art of Seeing and much prefer this book. They are both good but this is definitely better. I bought this book to help improve my photo's composition and I am was not disappointed. Freeman's text is clear and easy to understand and his photo's are generally good examples of what he writes about. | |||||||||
| Photoshop Channel Chops by David Biedny, Bert Monroy, & Nathan Moody | |||||||||
| Photoshop Color Correction by Michael Kieran - This is an excellent book on color management and correction. From beginner to advanced, this book will interest and educate. Very well written with many images to illustrate the points made in the text. | |||||||||
| Posing for Portrait Photography: A Head-to-Toe Guide for Digital Photographers by Jeff Smith - This, so far (December 2011), is the best of the three books (all from Amherst Media) on posing that I have read. | |||||||||
| The Practice of Contemplative Photography: Seeing the World with Fresh Eyes by Andy Karr & Michael Wood - Many books on photographic technique discuss lighting ratios, Photoshop technique, rules of composition and/or various hardware and/or software issues. This book is a timeout from that. After being on the treadmill of "shot discipline" (having perfect technical technique, this book will help you slow down and look more carefully (perceptually in the book's terminology) at the world with the notion that you will then be able to perceive various things (and photographic possibilities) that you might have missed otherwise. Not every image in the book will work for you, some in the book did and others did not for me. Overall, this is a quick read that will probably help you widen your perspective. IMO, photographers need to be observant to be good at what they do and this book will be a guided exercise in helping one to become more observant (perceptive). | |||||||||
| The Professional Photographer's Legal Handbook by Nancy Wolff - Given the subject matter, I was expecting a dry and slow read. What I got was an interesting, fairly quick and enjoyable ~240 page read mostly about copyrights, trademarks, rights to publicity and privacy and defamation. This book is not an all encompassing legal guide for professional photographers as the title might lead one to think. One would need another book (i..e Best Business Practices for Photographers by John Harrington or maybe the ASMP Professional Business Practices in Photography) to much more fully cover all the legal areas that a professional photographer may face. It does cover some important areas and does so very well. | |||||||||
| Real World Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop CS4 by Bruce Fraser and Jeff Schewe - Bruce Fraser (now deceased), a true guru and Jeff Schewe deliver another classic. | |||||||||
| Real World Image Sharpening with Adobe Photoshop, Camera Raw, and Lightroom (2nd Edition) by Bruce Fraser & Jeff Schewe - Bruce Fraser (now deceased), a true guru and Jeff Schewe deliver yet another classic. | |||||||||
| Real World Color Management by Bruce Fraser, Chris Murphy & Fred Bunting - A classic by (Bruce Fraser, now deceased) a true "guru" of color management. | |||||||||
| Shooting in the Wild: An Insider's Account of Making Movies in the Animal Kingdom by Chris Palmer | |||||||||
| Sketching Light: An Illustrated Tour of the Possibilities of Flash by Joe McNally - Joe is a gifted storyteller (entertaining and educational) and if you are interested in the topic then this book is for you. I highly recommend that you read The Moment It Clicks and The Hot Shoe Diaries (both by Joe and in the order listed) before reading this book (all highly recommended!). | |||||||||
| Skin: The Complete Guide to Digitally Lighting, Photographing, and Retouching Faces and Bodies by Lee Varis - Skin, The Final Frontier. Skin is neither white nor black nor neutral grey. Lee Varis explains very clearly how to color correct skin (in Photoshop). The one chapter on portrait lighting is good enough IMHO to be the basis for another book. Well illustrated and quick reading. | |||||||||
| Thom Hogan's Complete Guide to the Nikon D70 by Thom Hogan - Thom is truly a "guru" in all areas (Nikon cameras, photography, digital technology, etc etc) related to the title of this book. Thom is also an excellent writer. If you only read the owner's manual that came with the camera and not this book then you will probably not fully understand the camera you have or be able to take full advantage of what it can do. | |||||||||
| Thom Hogan's Complete Guide to the Nikon D100 by Thom Hogan - see comments regarding the Nikon D70 book. | |||||||||
| Thom Hogan's Complete Guide to the Nikon D200 by Thom Hogan - see comments regarding the Nikon D70 book. | |||||||||
| Thom Hogan's Complete Guide to the Nikon D300 by Thom Hogan - see comments regarding the Nikon D70 book. | |||||||||
| Thom Hogan's Complete Guide to the Nikon D700 by Thom Hogan - see comments regarding the Nikon D70 book. | |||||||||
| VisionMongers: Making a Life and a Living in Photography by David duChemin | |||||||||
| Visual Stories: Behind the Lens with Vincent Laforet by Vincent Laforet | |||||||||
| Why Photographs Work: 52 Great Images Who Made Them, What Makes Them Special and Why by George Barr - After reading this book (and looking at the 52 images) which includes the author's as well as the photographers thoughts about each image, I was still somewhat mystified as to why these images work (I didn't always agree with the opinions stated). Some images didn't work for me at all and only a few really did. Is my understanding of fine art photography too limited? Possibly (probably!). I found many of the images challenging and that is the value of this book, to present images that are not always simple in concept (to expand one's horizons from the familiar etc), read some opinions (including the photographer's) about why they thought they worked and then to make one's own mind up. Only a few images really worked for me but that is okay as the challenge to try and analyze each image is valuable. FWIW, most of the images in this book were captured with view cameras, did I mention this was a book about fine art photography!? (For some, including me, it might be a better book to have borrowed than to have bought). | |||||||||
| Within the Frame: The Journey of Photographic Vision by David duChemin | |||||||||
| Working the Light: A Photography Masterclass by Eddie Ephraums, Joe Cornish, Charlie Waite, David Ward - A combination of excellent (landscape) images and commentary by noted professionals and non-professionals. I would have preferred that the commentary by the professionals about each image be much much longer and less diplomatic. Great concept, reasonably well done but could've have been better (but still worth reading). | |||||||||
| Travel, Adventure, Bicycling & Hiking | |||||||||
| A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson - A very entertaining account of one man's attempt to walk the entire length of the Appalachian Trail. | |||||||||
| Be Expert with Map and Compass by Bjorn Kjellstrom and Carina Kjellstrom Elgin - Has an emphasis on orienteering. | |||||||||
| Bicycling Magazine's Complete Guide to Upgrading Your Bike by Frank Berto | |||||||||
| AMC's Complete Guide to Trail Building and Maintenance | |||||||||
| AMC Guide to Outdoor Leadership: Trip Planning: Group Dynamics, Decision Making, Leading Youth & Risk Management by Alex Kosseff - I have been leading various outdoor activities (hiking, rafting, canoeing etc) since the mid-1980's and while I am sure that the author of this book has far more experience than I have, everything he says jives with my own experience. Leaders of outdoor (and other) activities need to have both certain technical skills as well as certain management, planning and leadership skills. This book is not designed to teach the technical skills, it is designed to teach the other skills and I think it excels brilliantly at this. It is an excellent and very readable book for those new to leading groups in outdoor activities and is also a worthwhile book on group management in general (i.e. in a business setting). It is also a worthwhile book for those who have been leading groups in outdoor activities for a while as part of their continuing education. Full disclosure: I lead hikes for AMC's NY-NJ chapter. | |||||||||
| The Complete Walker IV by Colin Fletcher & Chip Rawlins - A unparalleled work and could accurately be titled "The Hiker's Bible". This is possibly the longest single book I've ever read and I do not at all regret reading it. On the contrary I enjoyed it, learned from it, and was entertained by it. I have been a regular reader of Backpacker magazine and plenty of other hiking related material for a long time (and I am an experienced hiker) and IMHO this book is the best and most complete single book on the subject in existence (at least in English - not that I know of any other in any other language). No if, and's or but's - simply the best. | |||||||||
| Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why by Laurence Gonzales | |||||||||
| Eiger Dreams: Ventures Among Men and Mountains by Jon Krakauer | |||||||||
| Here is New York by E.B. White | |||||||||
| I Have Seen the World Begin: Travels through China, Cambodia, and Vietnam by Carsten Jensen - Carsten Jensen gives you the gestalt of these countries and their people and occasionally throws in some very illuminating history (especially about Cambodia and the "Killing Fields"). The only criticism I have is that some of the material may be dated as this book was written in the mid-1990's and these countries are rapidly changing. | |||||||||
| My Favorite Place: Great Athletes in the Great Outdoors by Jason Paur & Corey Rich - Makes me want to visit all of these places and do something active (or maybe just photograph them). | |||||||||
| Outdoor Navigation With GPS: Hiking, Geocaching, Canoeing, Kayaking, Fishing, Outdoor Photography, Backpacking, Mountain Biking by Stephen W. Hinch - I've been using a map & compass and a GPS for fair while and I learned much more than I expected from this book. | |||||||||
| The Places In Between by Rory Stewart - Rory Stewart did what very few westerners have done, go out on his own among the citizens of Afghanistan and actually talk to them in their own language. His observations should inform policy makers (but it doesn't appear as if they have so far). | |||||||||
| Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door 2004: The Travel Skills Handbook by Rick Steves - Real world practical and intelligent advice. | |||||||||
| Whatever You Do, Don't Run: True Tales of a Botswana Safari Guide by Peter Allison |
Comments: Michael_Brochstein@MABsystems.com
Last revision: January 21, 2012