![]() Let’s say it’s the holidays, and two different neighbors invite you to their parties in the same week. Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions The Beatles proclaimed some time ago that you “Can’t Buy Me Love” and this also applies to the love of learning-you can’t buy it and if you try, you might chase it away.” To do this we certainly can’t take the path of market norms. ![]() ![]() Instead of focusing the attention of the teachers, parents, and kids on test scores, salaries, and competition, it might be better to instill in all of us a sense of purpose, mission, and pride in education. As we learned in our experiments, cash will take you only so far-social norms are the forces that can make a difference in the long run. I suspect that one answer lies in the realm of social norms. Would it be wise to add more money? The same consideration applies to testing: we are already testing very frequently, and more testing is unlikely to improve the quality of education. ![]() The United States already spends more money per student than any other Western society. “feeling so far is that standardized testing and performance-based salaries are likely to push education from social norms to market norms. ![]()
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![]() ![]() ![]() He’s one of those lost souls who joined the army in search of family, an outsider who knows the belly of the beast. An overweight former boxer with one leg amputated below the knee, ex-military police – and you don’t get much more authoritarian than that – he grew up in the counterculture of squats and communes with a groupie mother who died of an overdose. ![]() Strike is a wonderfully complex creature, with just the right balance of contradictions to guide us through this labyrinthine world. Each chapter is headed with a quote from Ibsen’s state of the nation play Rosmersholm, indicating themes of social, political and moral conflict, and from the start it’s clear that we’re also on an emotional journey, particularly in the love lives of our two protagonists. Strike and Ellacott must walk the line between corrupt Tories, devious coalition Liberals and brutish proto-Momentum activists. There are whispers of blackmail and double-dealing in the corridors of power and something suitably nasty and gothic that happened in the country seat of a Conservative MP. It’s set amid the 2012 London Olympics, that last precarious moment of national unity. At nearly 650 pages, it’s a big book and it certainly doesn’t lack ambition. ![]() Lethal White, the fourth in JK Rowling’s crime series featuring the disabled war veteran turned private investigator Cormoran Strike and his partner in the agency Robin Ellacott, arrives with the customary fanfare, declaring itself “the most epic Robert Galbraith novel yet”. ![]() ![]() ![]() For Bordwell and Thompson, the most fruitful place to begin is how movies are made, how they work, and how they work on us. Informal pieces, conversational in tone but grounded in three decades of authoritative research, the essays gathered here range from in-depth analyses of individual films such as Slumdog Millionaire and Inglourious Basterds to adjustments of Hollywood media claims and forays into cinematic humor. ![]() Minding Movies presents a selection from over three hundred essays on genre movies, art films, animation, and the business of Hollywood that have graced Bordwell and Thompson’s blog. You would be hard pressed to find a serious student of the cinema who hasn’t spent at least a few hours huddled with their seminal introduction to the field- Film Art, now in its ninth edition-or a cable television junkie unaware that the Independent Film Channel sagely christened them the “Critics of the Naughts.” Since launching their blog Observations on Film Art in 2006, the two have added web virtuosos to their growing list of accolades, pitching unconventional long-form pieces engaged with film artistry that have helped to redefine cinematic storytelling for a new age and audience. ![]() David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson are two of America’s preeminent film scholars. ![]() ![]() ![]() She’s a figment born of a writer’s imagination, despite what many believe or claim to know. ![]() The caller claims to be the “real” Aubrey, the alluring title character from his most successful novel, Dream Girl. Injured in a freak fall, novelist Gerry Andersen is confined to a hospital bed in his glamorous high-rise apartment, dependent on two women he barely knows: his incurious young assistant, and a dull, slow-witted night nurse. In the end, has anyone really led a blameless life? Plus: enthralling." - Megan Abbott, Edgar Award-winning author of Dare Me and The Feverįollowing up on her acclaimed and wildly successful New York Times bestseller Lady in the Lake, Laura Lippman returns with a dark, complex tale of psychological suspense with echoes of Misery involving a novelist, incapacitated by injury, who is plagued by mysterious phone calls. The sharpest, clearest-eyed take on our #MeToo reckoning yet. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Still they agree to share one waltz at each ball they. ![]() They know there is no question of any relationship between them for she is nine years older than he.They return to London the following season, both committed to finding other, more suitable matches. Both are surprised when their sled topples them into a snow bank and they end up sharing an unexpected kiss. She simply enjoys his company as they listen to carolers on Christmas Eve, walk home from church together on Christmas morning, and engage in a spirited snowball fight in the afternoon. That, however, is the last thing on her mind when she meets Colin Handrich, Lord Hodges, at the Westcott Christmas house party. During a rare white Christmas at Brambledean Court, the widow Elizabeth, Lady Overfield, defies convention by falling in love with a younger man in the latest novel in the Westcott series.After her husband's passing, Elizabeth Overfield decides that she must enter into another suitable marriage. ![]() ![]() ![]() Herbert Stencil searches for V., a woman of his father's generation, but also many other undefined and generally unobtainable mysteries. The other leg of the V-ish plot includes the travelogue above and tried every which way to shake me off the book. Just out of the Navy, he spent 1956 in the Virginia naval world and in the New York City underworld, until he graduated to the Whole Sick Crew, a crowd of very hippie-like eccentric, entertaining and generally useless souls (and also Rachel). (And probably you haven't ?) The real appeal for most of this book for me was Benny Profane, who lived a life on equal with his wonderful name. ![]() But Pynchon certainly never lost me for a second in Paris and when he got back to Malta again, I was fully engaged.What the hell am I talking about, you might ask, if you haven't read this. ![]() Malta was a bit slow too, in WWII, but had it's appeal. Namibia in 1922 was terribly disturbing, but I had to respect the effort. That's a far cry from where I was a few weeks ago, lost in Cairo and ready to toss the e-book.and where I was again in Florence. So, posting as is - flaws and all.I spent last night thinking about this book when I should have been sleeping. V.by Thomas Pynchon published: 1963 format: 534 page Kindle e-book acquired: listened: Dec 31 - Feb 11 Rating: 4½ stars I know I should take more time and write out a more careful, and more thought-out review, one that actually captures all aspects of the book, but this just kind of poured out. ![]() ![]() ![]() I’d heard a lot of reviews say it was “lovely” and “charming” and “heartwarming”, and the cynic in me was skeptical, but it really was all that and more. Review: I didn’t know I needed a fun quirky romance story to get my mind of current events until I read Nicola Yoon’s sophomore novel, “The Sun is Also a Star.” I enjoyed her first novel, “Everything Everything” and was looking forward to this second one. The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store-for both of us. ![]() But when I see her, I forget about all that. Falling in love with him won’t be my story.ĭaniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. ![]() ![]() I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Summary: Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. ![]() ![]() In a deal that will spare his brother, Thomas has agreed to recruit Travis into the FBI. ![]() Travis’s only savior is his unusual tie to the mob. Younger brother Travis is faced with prison time for his involvement in a basement fire that killed dozens of college students, and the media want a conviction. Though, as many lives as he’s saved, there is one that is beyond his reach. He is tasked with putting away some of the world’s toughest criminals, and he is one of the best the Bureau has to offer. Special Agent in Charge Thomas Maddox is arrogant, unforgiving, and ruthless. She dreams of promotions and shaking hands with the director after cracking an impossible case. Deciding she is married only to her job, she breaks off her engagement and transfers from Chicago to the field office in San Diego. No-nonsense Liis Lindy is an agent of the FBI. Summary: If A Maddox boy falls in love, he loves forever. ![]() ![]() ![]() To do this, she breaks Pahlad Boudrakim, famous thief, out of prison, in the hopes that his stolen goods will give her mother enough power to defeat her political rival. ![]() It follows Ingray, an adopted daughter of a politician, who wants to prove herself as being more worthy than her brother to inherit their mother’s title. Provenance is in the same universe as the Imperial Radch trilogy, but it’s set on Hwae, a tiny system of just one planet and a handful of stations far outside of the Radch. I cannot be normal about her books, and almost always go off the rails on a tangent. ![]() She writes excellent science fiction and fantasy, and her books are jam packed with incredible world building, a mixture of politics and action, and a heavy dose of gender fuckery. Amazon Affiliate Link | Affiliate LinkĪnn Leckie is probably my favorite author. ![]() ![]() With plenty of pictures bursting with charm and character, this hilarious book about an irresistible rascal is the new must-read for the chapter book set. And when they really need her, daring Dory will prove her bravery, and finally get exactly what she has been looking for. ![]() ![]() Her siblings may roll their eyes at her childish games, but Dory has lots of things to do: outsmarting the monsters all over the house, moving into the closet, and exacting revenge on her sister's favorite doll. But she's too much of a baby for them, so she's left to her own devices - including her wild imagination and untiring energy. Jones and Ivy & Bean! Here comes a lovably energetic little sister with a BIG personality - and an imagination to match! As the youngest in her family, Dory really wants attention, and more than anything she wants her brother and sister to play with her. ![]() |