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Like a Warm Bath

The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down: How to be Calm in a Busy World by Haemin Sunim

May 21, 2022 by ASKReviews Leave a Comment

Best for: Anyone who feels a bit overwhelmed by life. Anyone who doesn’t, but still wants some suggestions for how to slow down and calm down. In a nutshell: Buddhist monk and professor Sunim offers reflections on ways to more deeply experience different aspects of life: rest, mindfulness, passion, relationships, love, life, the future, and spirituality. Worth quoting: “Unless we recognize the still point beneath the surface of our changing emotions, we will feel we are hostage to their whims.” “When you make a mistake, […]

It’s A Problem That Needs Fixing

No Place to Go: How Public Toilets Fail Our Private Needs by Lezlie Lowe

May 15, 2022 by ASKReviews 1 Comment

Best for: People with an interest in public infrastructure, but also people interested in how our public choices impact who can enjoy being out in public. In a nutshell: Author Lowe explores the problems with the (lack of) public toilets across many countries. Worth quoting: “I grew up being socialized to expect a line for the bathroom. I spent decades so desensitized to the indignity that I never questioned it.” Quoting someone interviewed for the book: “Public bathrooms are part of that infrastructure, the same […]

Exactly What I Should Have Expected

Ten Steps to Nanette by Hannah Gadsby

May 3, 2022 by ASKReviews 2 Comments

Best for: People who like memoirs, especially ones that go in unexpected places. In a nutshell: Comedian Hannah Gadsby tells of her life growing up in Tasmania, her career in comedy, and how she built her one-of-a-kind show Nanette. Worth quoting: “The lies of a vulnerable minority should never have been put into the hands of the majority in a media landscape that is all too happy to be powered by the fumes of a toxic debate.” “I find joy in my life where I […]

Can Nature Heal Itself?

Islands of Abandonment: Life in the Post-Human Landscape by Cal Flyn

May 1, 2022 by ASKReviews Leave a Comment

Best for: Readers interested in climate change, abandonment, natural disasters, and nature. In a nutshell: Author Flyn explores a variety of places across the world where humans have left a space – either because of their own damage, or natural disaster, or change in the way of living – and looks at how the earth renews itself, sometimes coming back stronger than before. Worth quoting: “We weed out plants well suited to the ground and conditions, and insist on propping up expensive, ill-suited, ornamental ones. […]

Some Good, Some Not So Good

The Practice of Not Thinking: A Guide to Mindful Living by Ryunosuke Koike

April 23, 2022 by ASKReviews Leave a Comment

Best for: Anyone looking for a book on mindful living that isn’t primarily about meditating a few times a week. In a nutshell: Former Buddhist monk Koike shares his thoughts on ways we can stop thinking (or, I’d argue, stop overthinking, as his suggestions do require a fair bit of though) and ultimately live more peacefully. Worth quoting: “[B]egin by being considerate, thinking of our listener, so we don’t cause unnecessary stimulation or stress for the other person.” “If we’re truly sorry about something, we […]

What Do We Want From Our Higher Education?

The Good University: What Universities Actually Do and Why It’s Time for Radical Change by Raewyn Connell

April 11, 2022 by ASKReviews Leave a Comment

Best for: Anyone who works in higher education, or anyone who has or plans to attend higher education, or anyone who lives in a society with higher education in it. In a nutshell: Author Connell explores what universities do, how that has changed, and why that is not great. Worth quoting: “It is vital to recognize that universities and schools themselves are highly active in making inequalities.” “Universities themselves have become increasingly complicit with market ideology.” Why I chose it: I work in higher education […]

narfna on And now, jump back hundreds and hundreds of years…#BlameMalin on this one for me, too, because she literally sent me a copy.
narfna on “And that very same evening—that very same evening—Lord Edgware dies. Good title that, by the way. Lord Edgware Dies. Look well on a book stall.”That's gotta be the new headcanon.
drmllz on “And that very same evening—that very same evening—Lord Edgware dies. Good title that, by the way. Lord Edgware Dies. Look well on a book stall.”I like to think the wife packs Hastings off to England to hang out with Poirot and enjoys having a whole ranch to herself...
Emmalita on And now, jump back hundreds and hundreds of years…Oh yay! Another #BlameMalin victim. That was an expensive miscommunication. I'm glad your grandmother is ok.
Emmalita on I liked this more as an exercise in boundary pushing for meI have to admit, I really liked this one. But Anita Kelly's whole vibe just works for me. I do have a couple of non...

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