Adventures With Alex

Tag: book recommendations

  • BR331) “Stolen Focus” Book Review

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    Alex Furst
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    Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention – and How to Think Deeply Again by Johann Hari.  5/5 rating. 283 pages. Book #47 of 2023. Read November 19, 2023. This has officially become one of my favorite books! Johann looks at the epidemic of failing attention throughout the world.  If you talk to nearly anyone,…

  • BR324) “The Anthropocene Reviewed” Book Review

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    Alex Furst
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    The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet by John Green.  5/5 rating. 274 pages. Book #40 of 2023. Read September 17, 2023. This book is the outgrowth of quite possibly my favorite podcast of all time. After listening to all 37 episodes of John’s podcast (multiple times) where he “reviews different facets of the…

  • BR321) “Pilgrim at Tinker Creek” Book Review

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    Alex Furst
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    Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard.  4/5 rating. 271 pages. Book #37 of 2023. Read August 27, 2023. Annie missed the opportunity to give this the subtitle “Meditations on (or maybe in) Nature”. This is an absolutely beautiful book of prose. Reading this is no small undertaking if it is to be actually enjoyed…

  • BR318) “The Least of Us” Book Review

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    Alex Furst
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    The Least of Us: True Tales of America and Hope in the Time of Fentanyl and Meth by Sam Quinones.  4/5 rating. 390 pages. Book #34 of 2023. Read August 15, 2023. This book talks all about the US path from OxyContin to fentanyl, and finally meth: highlighting the lives of some users, people from…

  • BR317) “Prodigal Summer” Book Review

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    Alex Furst
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    Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver.  4/5 rating. 444 pages. Book #33 of 2023. Read August 6, 2023. This novel tells three intersecting tales of lives near the Virginia-Kentucky border. One of them is Deanna, a National Forest worker living in the woods and looking to find coyotes. Another is Garnett Walker, an old farmer who…

  • BR316) “Tip of the Iceberg” Book Review

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    Alex Furst
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    Tip of the Iceberg by Mark Adams.  4/5 rating. 297 pages. Book #32 of 2023. Read July 31, 2023. This was an incredibly interesting book about Alaska and the 1899 Harriman expedition throughout a large swath of the Alaskan coast. This was book 10 in July!!! I found myself just continuously sharing quotes from this…

  • BR310) “The Great Alone” Book Review

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    Alex Furst
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    The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah. 5/5 rating. 545 pages. Book #26 of 2023. Read July 14, 2023. This is an unbelievably amazing book about a family who moves to Alaska and not only has to fight to survive that unwelcoming climate, but figure out how to fight their own demons within their family. Just,…

  • BR308) “Demon Copperhead” Book Review

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    Alex Furst
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    Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. 4/5 rating. 546 pages. Book #24 of 2023. Read July 8, 2023. This novel is Damon (nickname “Demon”) telling the story of his childhood up until about age twenty-one. This book was soooo good and really entertaining! Demon has quite a story to tell as a rural Virginian in Lee…

  • BR306) “Rambunctious Garden” Book Review

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    Alex Furst
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    Rambunctious Garden: Saving Nature in a Post-Wild World by Emma Marris. 4/5 rating. 171 pages. Book #22 of 2023. Read June 28, 2023. This book is all about how to best take care of the world’s ecosystems in a way that saves what we find most dear to us. I really loved the idea that…

  • BR304) “Dopesick” Book Review

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    Alex Furst
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    Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America by Beth Macy. 4/5 rating. 308 pages. Book #20 of 2023. Read June 17, 2023. This book follows the pipeline from OxyContin to heroin caused by Purdue Pharma. It highlights the evils – and I mean EVIL – of the Sacklers who own Purdue Pharma,…