I read North Woods over the last week or so, and I really liked it. It's a generational novel covering European settlement in an area of western Massachusetts from sometime in the late 1600s going forward a few centuries into the future. That sounds like it would be kind of superficial, but the stories of … Continue reading North Woods →

I recently read the book Not Too Late by Rebecca Solnit and Thelma Young Lutunatabua. It's a book about the climate crisis, with a focus on providing some level of incentive to sufferers of climate despair. I have really enjoyed Rebecca Solnit's other work, so I thought I'd give this book a try.It's a collection … Continue reading Not Too Late →

For our book club at OEF we're reading the book Smart Cities (2013) by Anthony Townsend. I just finished the Audible audio book and wanted to get my notes down in writing before they slip away. The book covers the deployment of digital technology for managing and understanding the city. There are a two main … Continue reading Smart Cities (2013) →

My organization, the Open Earth Foundation, started a kind of book club a few months ago. For the first event, we read through the IPCC’s 6th report on climate change. We enjoyed the conversation so much, we decided to continue the practice monthly. We missed a month, so I picked a book that I thought … Continue reading Speed and Scale →

I finished this audiobook last week, and I'm taking a few minutes to write down my thoughts before I forget them. It's a hard thing to remember to do! The book is called Gangsters of Capitalism, by Jonathan M. Katz. Superficially, it's a biography of the American Marine officer Smedley Butler, best known, I think, … Continue reading Gangsters of Capitalism →

I received this book as a gift from my friend Heather Kelley for my birthday, but I just got around to reading it. Her note on the gift said, For my own birthday this year, I am giving friends copies of this book which I loved, and I hope it inspires you. I sent her … Continue reading Everything for Everyone →

I finished Melvin Sheldrake's "Entangled Life" today. The book covers how fungus interact with humans and the rest of life. It's a great read; each chapter discusses different aspects of fungus. The writing is personal, multi-faceted, kind and curious. One chapter is about lichens, the complex symbiotic forms of algae and fungus that adapt so … Continue reading Entangled Life →

Regenesis is a remarkable book by the remarkable author George Monbiot. It's about the looming crisis in feeding humans on planet Earth, and what smart people are doing about it. I'm a few months behind on writing up my book synopses. Which is hard, because one of the points of doing so is to better … Continue reading Regenesis →