I spent the first week of May in the Finger Lakes Knowing that this part of New York had a substantial Amish community, I decided that this was an opportune time to learn about that community. New York Amish: Life in the Plain Communities of the Empire State by Karen Johnson-Weiner recounts the history of …
Last month, to honour poetry month, I read James Longenbach’s How Poems Get Made. This is a very readable book that will teach you not only how to dissect a poem but also how to construct one. Longenbach provides definitions and examples of each element of a poem’s structure. I don’t think I have ever …
I was on holiday last week. In a bookstore in Ithaca, New York, I found the Anywhere Travel Guide: 75 Cards for Discovering the Unexpected, Wherever Your Journey Leads by Magda Lipka Falck. This is a deck of 75 cards, each containing a suggestion to follow to help you get to know or understand the …
This past week I read a book recommended to me by one of my teenage patients. “You said laughter is good for you,” he said, “Well, it’s hilarious!” This comes from a person who told me that my advice to read funny stories because it helps improve your mood is the best advice I’ve ever …
There is an independent publishing company, Microcosm Publishing, based in Portland, Oregon. This is a publishing company with an edge – have a look at their website and you’ll see what I mean. They publish some very interesting series of books, and maybe I will explore that more fully in the future, but today, I …
Have you ever wanted to skin a rabbit? Or make cheese? Perhaps that’s more self-sufficiency that you really want, but John Seymour’s The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It is still a guide that anyone can use if they wish to commit to a more simplified lifestyle. This book has excellent sections on growing …
Two great stories will occupy the minds of millions of humans today. Most of the people listening to these stories will have heard them many times before – and know that they will likely also hear them many more times before their life ends. Do you not also have stories that you read or listen …
Everyone who knows me would tell you that I love the various BBC programs about historical farms: Victorian Farm, Edwardian Farm, etc. One of the two archeologists in these series, Dr. Alex Langlands, has written a book, Craeft: How Traditional Crafts Are About More Than Just Making. What is important about this book for me …
As a Canadian doctor, my experience with the American health care system is limited. While the research evidence supports that we have an more equitable system that the United States, it is difficult to believe this when we Canadians are waiting for essential medical tests or procedures. We have the impression that, in the United …
This is the second book I have read in the last two months concerning the fear that robots and other machines powered by artificial intelligence will take over many professions in the next twenty years. Jay Richards’ book, The Human Advantage: The Future of American Work in an Age of Smart Machines, the author reminded …
