Great fun - and educational too

The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation by Jonathan Hennessey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a pretty cool idea. A quick course on the constitution is packaged in the form of a graphic novel and it's pretty darned good. The artwork mixes graphic novel renderings of historic events and people with modern comic images. It is a good mix, and the text provides a accessible yet thorough discussion of the US Constitution, how it came into being (including amendments) and how it affects us today. Great fun way to read about our nation's most important document.

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Amusing Ourselves to Death

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Amusing Ourselves to Death is an excellent overview of how the US has moved away from being a nation of readers and rational thinkers, and become a society whose primary mode of communication is entertainment via sound bites and images. The specific focus is on television (published in 1985) but the parallels in other media are unmistakable. This book gives a chilling reality to the predictions of Aldous Huxley in Brave New World, which I read in the last year. There are no sure solutions offered, but some suggestions are given. Most frightening to me is that there may be no way out of our soma induced bliss. The present reality of Trump is clearly a symptom of the dysfunctional state of our national "thought", communication and collective intelligence. We are an Idiocracy!

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Durham Reads Together

The U.S. Constitution and Fascinating Facts about It by Terry L. Jordan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Durham County Library's Durham Reads Together program for providing a copy of this U.S Constitution, and encouraging our community to read it together. It was great to read it through again. I'm looking forward to the related programs coming up during October.

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much to ponder and room to grow

Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man's Fundamentals for Delicious Living by Nick Offerman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Nick Offerman's memoir of his life so far is rich and very enjoyable. I resonated with how Mr. Offerman thinks about things, and i appreciate his no-bullshit approach of sharing his life and philosophy. I really appreciate the depth yet plain language with which he discusses many topics important (maybe too much so) to all of us. I am looking forward to reading more of his books in the future, as well as following him in Internet venues (@Nick_Offerman Twitter, https://offermanwoodshop.com/ ). This is a great read, leaving me much to ponder, and room to grow, even at my advancing age :) Loved it.

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