Book Reivew: A Guide to the Good Life; The Art of Stoic Joy

Review: A Guide to the Good Life; The Art of Stoic Joy
Author:  William B. Irvine
Published Date: 2009
Link:  http://books.google.com/books/about/A_Guide_to_the_Good_Life.html?id=u3HTAwAAQBAJ


  A great primer to Stoicism with lots of practical exercises.  Good explanations of things like 'negative visualization'.

Book Review: The Better Angels of Our Nature

Review:  The Better Angels of Our Nature
Author: Steven Pinker
Published Date: 2011
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Better_Angels_of_Our_Nature

  'Better Angels' serves both as a wonderful survey of historical violence perpetrated by both individuals and states, as well as a mountain of evidence for the FACT that the world is getting less and less violent every year.  Pinker, being a professional academic and educator, takes a very even-handed and dispassionate view on the very political topic of violence.  Don't let any local news broadcast ever convince you that the world is getting worse because we have been on an almost unbroken trend of decreasing violence for centuries.

A Note: Nothing is Precious

     I have allowed a wide gulf to grow between the reviews cataloged here and the actual books I've read.  None of my reviews are particularly brilliant so why should I ever delay publishing one under the pretense of improving it.

     I'm lowering the bar for myself and focusing on just keeping up from now on!