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Dear Reader, “What do Al Gore and Mount Pinatubo have in common?” This is one of the many questions that economist Steven D. Levitt and writer Stephen J. Dubner answer in their hit book SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance. SuperFreakonomics like its predecessor Freakonomics explores how the... Continue Reading →
Dear Reader, How is it that one person can look like a college student and the other middle-aged while both are in their early 30s? Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn and Dr. Elissa Epel get to the bottom of aging in their book The Telomere Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living Younger, Healthier, Longer. Telomeres are the... Continue Reading →
Dear Reader, Was there ever a more insidious emotion than desire? I recently finished reading the novel Call Me by Your Name by Italian author André Aciman, which features ‘desire’ as a key theme of the story. Call Me by Your Name is a 2007 romantic fiction novel set in Italy in 1987. The book... Continue Reading →
Dear Reader, We are not doomed to be upset just because something does not turn out the way that we planned. In 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do, psychologist Amy Morin discusses key steps that everyone can take to help improve their emotions, outlook, and general life satisfaction all by focusing on developing mental... Continue Reading →
Dear Reader, In the ever-expanding ocean of books, which waves are most likely to sweep you away? Some of us read deeply—checking out all books by the same author and others in the same genre—while others tend to read more broadly—choosing a mystery here or a sci-fi there, etc. And, of course, some of us... Continue Reading →
Dear Reader, In times of personal uncertainty, sometimes learning about the plights of others is the best escape. In this spirit, I picked up a copy of The Picture of Dorian Gray and listened to it on audiobook. This book is a gothic classic written by Oscar Wilde. Filled with philosophical musings and quote-worthy moments this book... Continue Reading →
Dear Reader, When I was in sixth grade my homeroom was the middle school library. Many mornings, my friends and I would mosey over to one of the shelves and sift through the titles. At one point, we had a phase in which we would read aloud the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” books. For... Continue Reading →
Dear Reader, Did you have book fairs at your school growing up? I went to a public elementary school in the US. Once a year, my school district would host the “Scholastic Book Fair” to visit the school and turn the gymnasium into a little market filled with tables piled with books and other colorful... Continue Reading →
Dear Reader, Things become much more precious to us when we know that they will soon end. While I believe this statement to be true, I’m also just being over-dramatic as I am referring only to a book I just read. I love audiobooks. One year I listened to over 100 because I had a... Continue Reading →
Dear Reader, After I graduated from my Master’s program, I stayed in Boston working my 10-hr a week gig at the university library while I looked for “real” jobs. For me, this was a period of great uncertainty. I applied for positions all over and I was not even certain that I would end up... Continue Reading →
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