Books Notes

This is a list of books I’ve read and links to notes that I’ve taken the time to type up. This is something I’ve been wanting to do for a while and I will continue to add notes from past books as I have time.

Please note, links are to my notes. They are NOT a summary of the book or a review. The notes are sections of the book that struck me in some way while reading them. I enjoy going back to see what I found interesting and looking at my notes lets me see themes in my thought that I don’t always notice otherwise.  Some books have a lot of notes, particularly if it’s a new topic for me. Some books have very few notes which tends to happen if I’m already familiar with a lot of the ideas and have already digested them.

The War of Art

by Steven Pressfield

Date Read: June 2022 | Rating: 9/10

My Notes | Amazon | AbeBooks

Authentic Relationships in Group Care for Infants and Toddlers – RIE: Principles Into Practice

by Stephanie Petrie and Sue Owen

Date Read: November 2020 | Rating 10/10

An incredibly thorough resource about putting using the RIE approach as taught by Magda Gerber and Emmi Pikler to efficiently improve the quality of early education and infant care and why it is imperative that we do so. 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

The RIE Manual: For Parents and Professionals

Edited by Magda Gerber

Date Read: November 2020 | Rating: 10/10

An amazing resource on the philosophy and research supporting the Educaring™ approach developed by Magda Gerber as she learned it from her mentor Emmi Pikler. Dense but easy to read and very rewarding. So very glad I read this book.  

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

Sensory Awareness Foundation: Bulletin 14: Emmi Pikler

Date Read: November 2020 | Rating 10/10

A great resource on the work of Emmi Pikler that argues for allowing the natural development and learning of young children.   

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

Parent Effectiveness Training

by Thomas Gordon

Date Read: July 2020 | Rating 10/10

Practical steps to use right away to improve your relationships with your kids or anyone else. Though the book has been around forever, it is just as relevant today. Highly recommended.

My Notes | PURCHASE

Experience & Education

by John Dewey

Date Read: July 2020 | Rating: 9/10

A short but dense book by one of the most important figures in progressive education theory. This book discusses the need for a new theory of education that avoids the “either-or” thinking and is based on the student’s experience. 

My Notes | Purchase

Mathematician’s Lament

by Paul Lockhart

Date Read: July 2020 | Rating: 10/10

Notes coming soon…

My Notes | Amazon | AbeBooks

Losing Our Cool: Uncomfortable Truths About Our Air-Conditioned World

by Stan Cox

Date Read: July 2018

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self

by Alice Miller

Date Read: May 2020 | Rating: 10/10

Notes coming soon…

My Notes | Purchase

The Continuum Concept: Allowing Nature to Work Successfully

by Jean Liedloff

Date Read: May 2020 | Rating: 10/10

Notes coming soon…

My Notes | Purchase

For Your Own Good

by Alice Miller

Date Read: February 2020 | Rating: 10/10

 

My Notes | Purchase

Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving

by Pete Walker

Date Read: Jan 2020 | Rating 10/10

Notes coming soon…

My Notes | Purchase

Air-Conditioning America

by Gail Cooper

Date Read: May 2019 | Rating: 9/10

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

The Simple Path to Wealth

by JL Collins

Date Read: May 2019 | Rating: 9/10

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

Punished by Rewards

by Alfie Kohn

Date Read: February 2019 | Rating: 10/10

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

Your Self-Confident Baby

by Magda Gerber

Date Read: Mar 2019 | Rating: 9/10

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

Instead of Education

by John Holt

Date Read: January 2020 | Rating:

 

My Notes | Purchase

Elevating Childcare

by Janet Lansbury

Date Read: Jan 2019 | Rating: 10/10

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

Thermal Delight in Architecture

by Lisa Heschong

Date Read: Dec 2018 | Rating: 10/10

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

No Bad Kids: Toddler Discipline without Shame

by Janet Lansbury

Date Read: Jan 2019 | Rating: 10/10

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

How Children Fail

by John Holt

Date Read: Dec 2018 | Rating: 

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

Dear Parent: Caring for Infants with Respect

by Magda Gerber

Date Read: November 2018 | Ratin: 10/10

The foundational work for Magda Gerber’s Educaring™ approach known as RIE® or Resources for Infant Educarers. A practical and useful book that shows parents how to put respectful parenting into practice. 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing

by Marie Kondo

Date Read: September 2018 | Rating: 10/10

This book lives up to the title. I really can’t believe how much this book has changed my life. Every week or so for the last couple of years I think of this book and how grateful I am that I read it. It has helped me prioritize better, get more done, become my more authentic self. Can’t recommend it enough.

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding

by La Leche League

Date Read: August 2018 | Rating: 10/10

Every new mother who has any interest in breastfeeding should read this. So much information that you won’t get anywhere else. Can’t recommend it enough.

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

Losing Our Cool: Uncomfortable Truths About Our Air-Conditioned World

by Stan Cox

Date Read: July 2018 | Rating: 

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

Rich Dad, Poor Dad

by Robert Kiyosaki

Date Read: June 2018

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

Think and Grow Rich

by Napolean Hill

Date Read: November 2014

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

Deschooling Society

by Ivan Illich

Date Read: 2012

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

Silent Spring

by Rachel Carson

Date Read: 2011

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

Food Rules: An Eater’s Manifesto

by Michael Pollan

Date Read: 2009

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

In Defense of Food

by Michael Pollan

Date Read: 2009

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

Dumbing Us Down

by John Taylor Gatto

Date Read: 2009

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

The Ascent of Humanity

by Charles Eisenstein

Date Read: 2009

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

The Underground History of American Education

by John Taylor Gatto

Date Read: 2009

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

The Yoga of Eating

by Charles Eisenstein

Date Read: 2008

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

by Barbara Kingsolver

Date Read: 2007

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

A Pattern Language

by Christopher Alexander

Date Read: 2007

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A natural History of Four Meals

by Micheal Pollan

Date Read: June 2006

Notes coming soon…

My Notes | Amazon | AbeBooks

Vino Italiano

by Joseph Bastianich & David Lynch

Date Read: 2006

 

My Notes | PURCHASE

The Unprejudiced Palate: Classic Thoughts on Food and the Good Life

by Angelo Pellegrini

Date Read: 2006

 

My Notes | PURCHASE

The Wine Bible

by Karen MacNeil

Date Read: Jan 2005

Notes coming soon…

My Notes | Amazon | AbeBooks

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

by thomas S. Kuhn

Date Read:  2004

 

My Notes | PURCHASE

Authentic Relationships in Group Care for Infants and Toddlers – RIE: Principles Into Practice

by Stephanie Petrie and Sue Owen

Date Read: November 2020 | Rating 10/10

An incredibly thorough resource about putting using the RIE approach as taught by Magda Gerber and Emmi Pikler to efficiently improve the quality of early education and infant care and why it is imperative that we do so. 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

The RIE Manual: For Parents and Professionals

Edited by Magda Gerber

Date Read: November 2020 | Rating: 10/10

An amazing resource on the philosophy and research supporting the Educaring™ approach developed by Magda Gerber as she learned it from her mentor Emmi Pikler. Dense but easy to read and very rewarding. So very glad I read this book.  

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

Sensory Awareness Foundation: Bulletin 14: Emmi Pikler

Date Read: November 2020 | Rating 10/10

A great resource on the work of Emmi Pikler that argues for allowing the natural development and learning of young children.   

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

Parent Effectiveness Training

by Thomas Gordon

Date Read: July 2020 | Rating 10/10

Practical steps to use right away to improve your relationships with your kids or anyone else. Though the book has been around forever, it is just as relevant today. Highly recommended.

My Notes | PURCHASE

Experience & Education

by John Dewey

Date Read: July 2020 | Rating: 9/10

A short but dense book by one of the most important figures in progressive education theory. This book discusses the need for a new theory of education that avoids the “either-or” thinking and is based on the student’s experience. 

My Notes | Purchase

Mathematician’s Lament

by Paul Lockhart

Date Read: July 2020 | Rating: 10/10

Notes coming soon…

My Notes | Amazon | AbeBooks

The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self

by Alice Miller

Date Read: May 2020 | Rating: 10/10

Notes coming soon…

My Notes | Purchase

The Continuum Concept: Allowing Nature to Work Successfully

by Jean Liedloff

Date Read: May 2020 | Rating: 10/10

Notes coming soon…

My Notes | Purchase

For Your Own Good

by Alice Miller

Date Read: February 2020 | Rating: 10/10

 

My Notes | Purchase

Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving

by Pete Walker

Date Read: Jan 2020 | Rating 10/10

Notes coming soon…

My Notes | Purchase

Punished by Rewards

by Alfie Kohn

Date Read: February 2019 | Rating: 10/10

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

Your Self-Confident Baby

by Magda Gerber

Date Read: Mar 2019 | Rating: 9/10

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

Instead of Education

by John Holt

Date Read: January 2020 | Rating:

 

My Notes | Purchase

Elevating Childcare

by Janet Lansbury

Date Read: Jan 2019 | Rating: 10/10

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

No Bad Kids: Toddler Discipline without Shame

by Janet Lansbury

Date Read: Jan 2019 | Rating: 10/10

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

How Children Fail

by John Holt

Date Read: Dec 2018 | Rating: 

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

Dear Parent: Caring for Infants with Respect

by Magda Gerber

Date Read: November 2018 | Ratin: 10/10

The foundational work for Magda Gerber’s Educaring™ approach known as RIE® or Resources for Infant Educarers. A practical and useful book that shows parents how to put respectful parenting into practice. 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding

by La Leche League

Date Read: August 2018 | Rating: 10/10

Every new mother who has any interest in breastfeeding should read this. So much information that you won’t get anywhere else. Can’t recommend it enough.

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

Deschooling Society

by Ivan Illich

Date Read: 2012

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

Dumbing Us Down

by John Taylor Gatto

Date Read: 2009

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

The Underground History of American Education

by John Taylor Gatto

Date Read: 2009

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

A Pattern Language

by Christopher Alexander

Date Read: 2007 | Rating: 10/10

This is one of those books you don’t forget. It’s had a wide influence beyond architecture and is considered to have contributed to the development of object-oriented programming. This book names patterns that make up well built buildings and I can’t help but think of them any time I encounter a space. 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

Thermal Delight in Architecture

by Lisa Heschong

Date Read: Dec 2018 | Rating: 10/10

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

The Nature of Order: An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe, Book 1 – The Phenomenon of Life

by Christopher Alexander

Date Read: 2007 | Rating: 9/10

This book changed the way I think of things and gave a very useful framework for thinking about everything. The only reason I didn’t give it a 10 is that I feel it could have benefitted from being shorter and more concise.

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

Losing Our Cool: Uncomfortable Truths About Our Air-Conditioned World

by Stan Cox

Date Read: July 2018

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

Air-Conditioning America

by Gail Cooper

Date Read: May 2019 | Rating: 9/10

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

The Simple Path to Wealth

by JL Collins

Date Read: May 2019 | Rating: 9/10

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

Rich Dad, Poor Dad

by Robert Kiyosaki

Date Read: June 2018 | Rating: 7/10

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing

by Marie Kondo

Date Read: September 2018 | Rating: 10/10

This book lives up to the title. I really can’t believe how much this book has changed my life. Every week or so for the last couple of years I think of this book and how grateful I am that I read it. It has helped me prioritize better, get more done, become my more authentic self. Can’t recommend it enough.

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

The War of Art

by Steven Pressfield

Date Read: June 2022 | Rating: 7/10

My Notes | Amazon | AbeBooks

Think and Grow Rich

by Napolean Hill

Date Read: November 2014

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE

The Effective Executive

by Peter Drucker

Date Read: 2012

 

MY NOTES | PURCHASE