I’m reading more books, but finishing fewer of them. The trend needs to stop, but like a shopping addict at a Bloomingdale’s friends and family sale, I just can’t stop buying books! Books on books!
Some of my current reads: Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast (short stories of his years in Paris), Kazuo Ishiguro’s Remains of the Day, Kevin Kelly’s What Technology Wants
And I just bought Knausgaard’s My Struggle (Book 1), a series which is all the rage in Scandinavia and has finally landed State-side. Excited about this one.
But on to completed books, just two in May and June:
One World Schoolhouse by Salman Khan
This book tells Sal’s now widely-known story of how he started Khan Academy, and his vision for education which includes sensibly innovative proposals (eg, mixed-age classrooms) that most students will probably never see in their lifetimes.
It’s short, easy to read, and full of memorable anecdotes. My heartiest recommendation.
Tao Te Ching (The Book of Tao) by Lao Tzu
What can I say…it’s old (written in the 6th-century BC) and it’s a foundational text for taoism and Chinese philosophy.
Reading it is like walking on the staircase in that Escher painting. You think you’re going up, only to arrive back where you started, or worse, you don’t even know if you’re going up or down or if its a staircase at all.
But you can feel the beauty and power of its words. I’m on my second read-through, but like reading the Bible or any other old and influential and “mystical” text, its meaning comes to you in tiny bits and pieces as you chew on it, savor the flavor, and let it soak in life’s saliva. Yeah…you’re welcome.
Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life. – Mark Twain