false 1 26 24 true 6148724 read 0 true 3154106 currently-reading 2 true 3149666 to-read 2 false 4777386 children 1 false 4777392 technical http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/66740964 to: Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions (Hardcover) by Dan Ariely
A pretty good plaidoyer for acknowledging the intricacies of human perception and decision-making in economics, rather than relying on the fictional rational human being beloved of market fanatics. Too much focused on the author's own (very impressive) research, not much of a larger perspective (except for the purely speculative self-help-style sections. Pretty good storytelling in relating the fascinating experiments. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/66740025 to: Atonement (Paperback) by Ian McEwan
I picked this up from a sale table, because I'd vaguely heard that McEwan is a highly admired contemporary author. Beautifully written and structured, though the framing story is both too pat, and distressingly ambiguous, and relies to a disturbing extent on medical implausibilities.

Reminded me of the power of great fiction to put you into other people's minds and raise questions about the nature of reality. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/60222155 Zoe's review of The Man in the High Castle
by Philip K. Dick

It's a remarkable book. I come back to bits of it in my thoughts again and again. More than any other book I know, it really captures the sense of a time when the nature of reality itself seemed to be up for grabs. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/62010912 The Myth of the Rational Market: Wall Street's Impossible Quest for Predictable Markets (Hardcover) by Justin Fox
bookshelves: technical, to-read
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/62010846 Lecturing Birds on Flying: How Financial Practice Differs from Theory (Hardcover) by Pablo Triana
bookshelves: to-read
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/58208227 to: Cultures of the Jews, Volume 1: Mediterranean Origins (Paperback) by David Biale
Chapters by different authors, rather disparate in focus, though chronologically organised. Reminds me in that way of Ariès's 5 volume History of Private Life. Best chapter so far -- this is only volume 1, after all -- on Arabian Judaism in the early days of Islam. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/56352417 to: Die Wilden Hühner. Fuchsalarm. (The Wild Chickens) by Cornelia Funke
Chaya's favourite books. It's a shame they haven't been translated into English. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/56352419 to: Die Wilden Hühner: Die Wilden Hühner und das Glück der Erde: Bd 4 (Gebundene Ausgabe) by Cornelia Funke
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/56352352 to: Oliver Twist (Penguin Classics) by Charles Dickens
bookshelves: children
Not an obvious choice for bedtime reading for a six-year-old, but one thing led to another... She loved it -- we only had to skip over Nancy's murder -- despite the intricate, sometimes positively baroque, language, which she obviously didn't understand word for word. Of course, the plot is ridiculous, but also brilliant. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/56352326 to: The People on the Street: A Writer's View of Israel (Paperback) by Linda Grant
Grant is an engaging character, and she has some amusing anecdotes about life in Israel. But they're culled from fairly brief engagement with the country, and she doesn't really have much to contribute. ]]>