Irregular Books

The Audubon Society has done as good a job as anyone could with such an abbreviated format. Limitations aside, this is a pretty thick little book, and it covers a huge number of fungal species, from the many-headed slime to the aromatic milky, from the big laughing gym to the dryad’s saddle. If you’re curious about a mysterious growth out by your back stoop, you’ve got a chance of finding it between the covers of this field guide, but then again, you’re just as likely not to.

Intelligent Design ideas are motivated by the terror that God might not exist after all. This terror is reasonable if one has been raised to depend on the absolute truth of a single book such as the Bible. The trouble many Christians still have with evolution is that it shows that belief God and all the other supernatural characters of the Bible just isn’t necessary.

Marketing for Dummies, if that’s what you think of yourself, is suited exactly for you. If you’re not a dummy, you can do better.

Of all the articles in the book, Keeping Slug Woman Alive: The Challenge of Reading in a Reservation Classroom by Greg Sarris is the most interesting. This essay examines the difficulties of making reading a culturally significant activity through the description of an attempt to do so on the Kashaya Reservation in California.

Parenthood is not a fit state for wallowing in self-pity. I’m now the father of three children, and my wife and I have been through some rough times as parents and partners, but whining never made it better. One thing I’ve learned as a parent is that it’s essential to make the conscious decision to see the positive in negative situations, and remain calm. Yes, dealing with children can be difficult, but more often than not the difficulty really lies in the limited patience of the parent, not in the child.

For those in doubt of your beliefs, convinced atheists and even the open-mindedly religious, Betrrand Russell’s ideas on the role of religion in Western society are sure to prove thought-provoking. He clearly and calmly describes the reasons for his ideas in a way that is rare in religious literature. Russell challenges readers to think for themselves, showing how history and the current events of his time contradict the fundamental assumption of the majority that religion is a positive social force.

Professor David Jones of the University of Central Florida exhibits a tediously narrow view of the cultural relevance of dragons in his book, An Instinct for Dragons.

It is a brave thing to try to write in a way that is not accepted in one’s field, as Robin Kimmerer does when writing about moss. Mixing science and purely emotional feelings about truth is commonly regarded as a bad idea, both by those who write in an emotional sphere and in by those who write as scientists.

Carville falls right into the trap of the Republicans, who love to “helpfully” say that the Democrats need to change what they believe in in order to win.

The Handbook of Practical Spying teaches us that spying is like what we do in everyday life. Everyday life is tedious, and so might spying be, if it doesn’t retain fictional flair. Fortunately, this book is about more than just spying, it brings intrigue and mystery to everyday life. It’s generously written and fun to read.