Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich

I wrote this post at the end of April, but I never got around to taking this admittedly simple picture.

Since I am going to be moving soon, I am slowly going through my books and trying to read the ones that ended up stacked in the back of the closet so I can decide whether to keep or donate them. I remember finding this book while attempting to organize the massive mess in my sorority's un-air conditioned storage room a few summers ago (mistake on multiple levels). I promptly stuck it on my bookcase and then packed it into boxes on more than one occasion during my CBU time.

The book was ok. Ehrenreich raises some good issues, but she also tends toward hyperbole at some points. It was interesting, and a nice break from Civil War ladies.

Final decision: donating it to the Goodwill Bookstore.

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner

I'm still not exactly sure how I feel about this book. I really liked it at the beginning, given that I generally like anything that makes me question the way I see the world. However, the danger the authors seemed to gloss over is that in exploring the hidden side of things, they still don't give equal weight to all of the possible arguments. I am not fully convinced by some of their rationales, but I did find the chapter about school teachers and sumo wrestlers interesting. If nothing else, at least I can have an informed opinion about it now.

I'm grateful to Greg for giving this book to me after he was finished with it for his Compleat Engineer class.