Book Discussion - Weds - August 15th - THE EDUCATION OF HENRY ADAMS (wrap-up)
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Alice Aman
Aug 6, 2012, 10:11:02 PM8/6/12
to houston-nonfic...@googlegroups.com
Hi everyone!
For anyone who missed last month and who still wants to participate,
it's not too late!
We will meet again on Wednesday August 15th at 7pm at Houston Central
Market (Weslayan and Westheimer) in the Community Room upstairs.
We will finish our discussion of THE EDUCATION OF HENRY ADAMS by Henry
Adams. In this third and final discussion, we will cover chapters 22
through 35. Opinions and questions that apply to previous months'
readings are welcome too.
For next month, on September 19th, we will start (and finish) a new
title that is very pertinent to the upcoming Presidential Election.
Join us and learn about the U.S. Tax Burden by discussing: THE BENEFIT
AND THE TAX BURDEN: TAX REFORM-WHY WE NEED IT AND WHAT IT WILL TAKE
[Hardcover] by Bruce Bartlett .
http://www.amazon.com/The-Benefit-Burden-Reform-Why-Need/dp/1451646194
Meanwhile, hope to see you August 15th for the wrap-up of THE
EDUCATION OF HENRY ADAMS.
--Alice
p.s. And as always: We are free and open to the public. We ask that
you read the assigned reading if you want to participate in the
discussion but you can sit in and listen anytime, whether you have
read or not.
More details on our website at:
http://www.houstonbookclubs.org/HoustonNonfiction
===UPCOMING DISCUSSIONS =====================
For selections below, we will not usually be reading a full book per
month. Detailed schedule of how books will be partitioned (100 or 200
pages or so per month) is available at
http://www.houstonbookclubs.org/HoustonNonfiction/
[finishing on Aug 15]
--THE EDUCATION OF HENRY ADAMS by Henry Adams (publ 1907) 420 total pages
[Top 100 Modern Library list and Pulitzer Prize winner in 1919]
Printed privately in 1907 and published to wide acclaim shortly after
the author's death in 1918, The Education of Henry Adams is a
brilliant, idiosyncratic blend of autobiography and history that
charts the great transformation in American life during the so-called
Gilded Age.
[Sept 19]
--THE BENEFIT AND THE TAX BURDEN: TAX REFORM-WHY WE NEED IT AND WHAT
IT WILL TAKE [Hardcover] by Bruce Bartlett [publ 2012] 288 pages
[highly recommended by Kathy, a regular attendee of the group]
Written by a senior economist in the Reagan and Bush administrations
it is surprisingly fair in pointing out where our politics has not
been helpful in the debate on federal taxes and spending. Most of the
explanations of economics and tax policies are clear and easy to
understand without a degree in finance required.
[Oct 17 and finishing on Nov 21]
--THE SHALLOWS: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas
Carr (publ 2011) 228 total pgs
[2011 Pulitzer Prize finalist]
While the author tries to ground his argument in the details of modern
neuroscience, his most powerful points have nothing do with our
plastic cortex. Instead, he is most successful when he sticks to
cultural criticism, as he documents the losses that accompany the
arrival of new technologies.
[Dec 19, Jan 16 and finishing on Feb 16]
--THE ELEGANT UNIVERSE: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest
for the Ultimate Theory by Brian Greene (publ 2001) 464 total pgs
[2000 Pulitzer Prize finalist]
The author, a specialist in quantum field theory, believes that the
two pillars of physics - general relativity and quantum mechanics -
can be reconciled in superstring theory and gives the nonspecialist at
least an illusion of understanding--or the sense of knowing what it is
that you don't know. And that is traditionally the first step on the
road to knowledge.
[Feb 16 - also on meeting agenda for February is election of new
titles - those who have attended at least twice may submit up to two
titles for the ballot IN ADVANCE. Winners will lead discussion of the
book they suggested. Titles subject to review prior to being posted on
ballot..]
[Mar 20, Apr 17 and finishing on May 15]
--LORDS OF FINANCE: The Bankers Who Broke the World by Liaquat Ahamed
(publ 2009) 505 total pages
[2010 Pulizer Prize]
The book is about events leading up to and culminating in the Great
Depression as told through the personal histories of the heads of the
Central Banks of the world's four major economies at the time:
Benjamin Strong Jr. of the New York Federal Reserve, Montagu Norman of
the Bank of England, Émile Moreau of the Banque de France, and
Hjalmar Schacht of the Reichsbank.
For anyone who missed last month and who still wants to participate,
it's not too late!
We will meet again on Wednesday August 15th at 7pm at Houston Central
Market (Weslayan and Westheimer) in the Community Room upstairs.
We will finish our discussion of THE EDUCATION OF HENRY ADAMS by Henry
Adams. In this third and final discussion, we will cover chapters 22
through 35. Opinions and questions that apply to previous months'
readings are welcome too.
For next month, on September 19th, we will start (and finish) a new
title that is very pertinent to the upcoming Presidential Election.
Join us and learn about the U.S. Tax Burden by discussing: THE BENEFIT
AND THE TAX BURDEN: TAX REFORM-WHY WE NEED IT AND WHAT IT WILL TAKE
[Hardcover] by Bruce Bartlett .
http://www.amazon.com/The-Benefit-Burden-Reform-Why-Need/dp/1451646194
Meanwhile, hope to see you August 15th for the wrap-up of THE
EDUCATION OF HENRY ADAMS.
--Alice
p.s. And as always: We are free and open to the public. We ask that
you read the assigned reading if you want to participate in the
discussion but you can sit in and listen anytime, whether you have
read or not.
More details on our website at:
http://www.houstonbookclubs.org/HoustonNonfiction
===UPCOMING DISCUSSIONS =====================
For selections below, we will not usually be reading a full book per
month. Detailed schedule of how books will be partitioned (100 or 200
pages or so per month) is available at
http://www.houstonbookclubs.org/HoustonNonfiction/
[finishing on Aug 15]
--THE EDUCATION OF HENRY ADAMS by Henry Adams (publ 1907) 420 total pages
[Top 100 Modern Library list and Pulitzer Prize winner in 1919]
Printed privately in 1907 and published to wide acclaim shortly after
the author's death in 1918, The Education of Henry Adams is a
brilliant, idiosyncratic blend of autobiography and history that
charts the great transformation in American life during the so-called
Gilded Age.
[Sept 19]
--THE BENEFIT AND THE TAX BURDEN: TAX REFORM-WHY WE NEED IT AND WHAT
IT WILL TAKE [Hardcover] by Bruce Bartlett [publ 2012] 288 pages
[highly recommended by Kathy, a regular attendee of the group]
Written by a senior economist in the Reagan and Bush administrations
it is surprisingly fair in pointing out where our politics has not
been helpful in the debate on federal taxes and spending. Most of the
explanations of economics and tax policies are clear and easy to
understand without a degree in finance required.
[Oct 17 and finishing on Nov 21]
--THE SHALLOWS: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas
Carr (publ 2011) 228 total pgs
[2011 Pulitzer Prize finalist]
While the author tries to ground his argument in the details of modern
neuroscience, his most powerful points have nothing do with our
plastic cortex. Instead, he is most successful when he sticks to
cultural criticism, as he documents the losses that accompany the
arrival of new technologies.
[Dec 19, Jan 16 and finishing on Feb 16]
--THE ELEGANT UNIVERSE: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest
for the Ultimate Theory by Brian Greene (publ 2001) 464 total pgs
[2000 Pulitzer Prize finalist]
The author, a specialist in quantum field theory, believes that the
two pillars of physics - general relativity and quantum mechanics -
can be reconciled in superstring theory and gives the nonspecialist at
least an illusion of understanding--or the sense of knowing what it is
that you don't know. And that is traditionally the first step on the
road to knowledge.
[Feb 16 - also on meeting agenda for February is election of new
titles - those who have attended at least twice may submit up to two
titles for the ballot IN ADVANCE. Winners will lead discussion of the
book they suggested. Titles subject to review prior to being posted on
ballot..]
[Mar 20, Apr 17 and finishing on May 15]
--LORDS OF FINANCE: The Bankers Who Broke the World by Liaquat Ahamed
(publ 2009) 505 total pages
[2010 Pulizer Prize]
The book is about events leading up to and culminating in the Great
Depression as told through the personal histories of the heads of the
Central Banks of the world's four major economies at the time:
Benjamin Strong Jr. of the New York Federal Reserve, Montagu Norman of
the Bank of England, Émile Moreau of the Banque de France, and
Hjalmar Schacht of the Reichsbank.
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