Replies

[Michelle]

Have you read any good books recently? Here's a roundup of my favorites that I read in 2008:

General fiction

The Gone-Away World



In the near future, much of the world has been rendered unhabitable, thanks to the effects of a great war and some unusual weaponry. Human society limps along in a narrow Livable Zone. Then the pipeline keeping that area stable catches on fire. Uh oh. A dark, comic, conspiracy-laden, epic debut that unfolds slowly in unexpected directions. Plenty of plot twists kept me involved in the story. Pirates? ninjas?? mimes??? It's a love-it-or-hate-it book, and I'm firmly in the love-it camp.

The Art of Racing in the Rain



Enzo, a lab-terrier mix and the narrator of this novel, is the companion of Denny, a struggling mechanic/racer. Enzo is a wise and philosophical dog who hopes to be reincarnated as a human (he saw a documentary on tv that suggested this was possible). In the meanwhile, he is a steadfast friend to Denny and Denny's family, and is witness to some of the darkest times in Denny's life. It's hard to describe this book without making it sound like a melodramatic mess, but it's an emotional, compelling look at the human--and canine--condition.

(Edit: forgot the following)

Last Night at the Lobster



Manny is the conscientious manager of a Connecticut Red Lobster. He's committed to his job and should be the envy of any corporate restaurant chain. Despite his efforts, however, he's been informed that his location is performing below expectations and will be closed. He wants to have a great last day and lock the restaurant up with some sense of dignity and accomplishment. But fate intervenes in the form of a northeastern blizzard, keeping much of his crew from coming in and making customers few and far between. This novella deals with the mundane, but provides rich characters, good dialogue, and a pitch-perfect feeling of everyday life.

[lbl]

Nudge by Thaler and Sunstein. READ IT!

http://www.nudges.org/

Oh, one more thing, READ IT!

Every day, we make decisions about how to invest our money, where
to send our children to school, and what to put on our dinner plates.

Unfortunately, we often make poor choices - and look back at them with bafflement! We do this because as human beings, we all are susceptible to a wide array of routine biases that can lead to an equally wide array of embarrassing blunders in education, personal finance, health care, mortgages and credit cards, happiness, and even the planet itself.

Our errors are what make us human, but up till now, they have been largely ignored by those around us, whether they make a complex public policy or sell us a plain old bottle of wine.

In this ground-breaking collaboration, two extraordinary, if ultimately human, thinkers, economist Richard Thaler and legal scholar Cass Sunstein, invite us into an alternative world, one that takes our humanness as a given. They show that by knowing how people think, we can design choice environments that make it easier for them to choose what is best for themselves, their families, and their society.

Using colorful examples drawn from the realms of 401(k) investing, organ donations, and marriage, Thaler and Sunstein demonstrate how thoughtful "choice architecture" can be established to nudge us in beneficial directions without restricting freedom of choice.

Nudge offers a unique new take-from neither the left nor the right-on many hot-button issues, for individuals, companies, and governments alike.

Nudge is a book about making your life better-one small decision at a time.

Click here to read an excerpt of the book.

http://nudges.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/...zen-nudges1.pdf




Penguin Books| For media/publicity requests contact Yen Cheong 212.366.2000


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