Customer Comments

Renee has commented on (3) products.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

Renee, August 15, 2012

This was the funniest book I've read in years. I laughed out loud through the whole book, until I cried. The characters are all hilarious and heartbreaking, and the ending turns out just right-- no fairy tale happily-ever-after, but realistic and hopeful. Be warned, however, that it goes places that might be considered pretty offensive, but I think that's just how high school boys talk.

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Everything Is Illuminated: Movie Tie-In by Jonathan Safran Foer

Renee, January 7, 2010

This is one of my favorite books of all time. It spans every emotion for gut-splitting hilarity to gut-wrenching sorrow. Foer's writing is fresh and inspired, while the structure and pacing perfectly set up the climax. It doesn't get any better than this.

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The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less by Barry Schwartz

Renee, February 28, 2007

As soon as I saw this book, I knew I had to read it. Schwartz's premise is exactly what I have come to suspect: as our society presents us with more and more choices for everything from jeans to careers, we become increasingly anxious and dissatisfied with the choices we make. We are often paralyzed by the number of choices available and end up making no choices at all. I can absolutely, totally relate to that premise. I feel like that all the time.

Schwartz’s points are logical, clear, and interesting. The concept of “maximizing”—always wanting to go with the absolute “best” choice available, versus “satisficing”—going with the “good enough” choice, is central to his discussion. He also delves into issues of regret, opportunity cost, comparisons, and the root of happiness, and how they all relate to how we make choices and react to choices we’ve already made.

Schwartz spends most of the book—ten of its eleven chapters—presenting evidence for the psychological and societal causes of this phenomenon, and only one chapter giving suggestions for what we can do in our daily lives to combat it. Not that the ten chapters aren’t interesting, clear, well-written and supported. But it did start to feel a little like preaching to the choir, and all I wanted really was for him to tell me what to do.

All in all, however, it was fascinating read.

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