Not For Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities

Not For Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities. This concise and well-written book thoroughly debunks two of the main areas of focus in American education: 1) That education is primarily important for creating good workers, and 2) That math and science are the most important subjects. This book makes a strong case that education should primarily serve to create better and more able citizens and more fulfilled humans and that the humanities are every bit as important as math and science. The author provides a brief history of progressive education from the late 18th century up through Dewey and Tagore. The latter is an interesting figure, having introduced many progressive ideas into Indian education (on top of being an accomplished dancer, choreographer, and artist). In a time when corporate education reformers are running roughshod over American education, this book is valuable and timely.

Reality Bites Back

Reality Bites Back: The Troubling Truth About Guilty Pleasure TV. This is a really timely book that really lives up to its title. Ever since reality TV shows first started airing, I mentally vomit a little every time one comes on. This book really does an excellent job dissecting these shows showing how they promote the worse aspects of our culture - the sexism, racism, consumerism, class-ism, gender/sexual orientation discrimination, etc..
It is very comprehensive and would serve as an excellent class reference or reading group book to spur further conversation. It's also a great example of critical media literacy.
There is a bit of repetition and some examples are not the best. As some Amazon reviews note, the font is also very small. Overall, these are minor issues and the book is very well written and organized and covers a very important and neglected topic.

The Myth of Standardized Tests

An important book that exposes the myths of standardized tests and provides thoughtful alternatives. As a quick overview the book shows how standardized tests are too narrow, they don't measure achievement adequately, are less than objective, distort learning and accountability, force other important subjects out, and because they don't predict well mislead students in their growth. The book is well backed by solid research, but is presented in an easy to read and understand manner. The book concludes with some valuable thoughts and reminders about what the purpose of schools should be, how standardized tests lead us astray of these goals, and provides some steps for how we can get back on track. With Obama promising to ratchet up the use of such tests further, this book is very timely and valuable resource.

The Music Lesson: A spiritual search for growth through music

This book by the great musician Victor L Wooten shows us through a somewhat fantastical personal story the possibilities of personal, spiritual, and musical growth. The book reminds me somewhat of the book (not the movie) What Dreams May Come in making the somewhat fantastical events seem real. In fact, I'm not sure whether Victor believes these events occurred or not. Regardless, they made a more entertaining story and a compelling way to introduce the elements of music. Even if you're not interested in the spiritual or fantastical aspects, the lessons in the elements of music make this book worth reading for any musician.

The Predator State: How Conservatives Abondoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too

Excellent book by James K Galbraith about the fallacies of the free market and, conversely, the benefits of gov't involvement. The author claims to have written the book for a general audience, but I found it still to contain reference to unfamiliar economic terms which made some of his arguments hard to follow. There is some similarity between his views and those of Naomi Klein and Noam Chomsky, but Galbraith comes much more from an economist's perspective.

Bicycle Diaries

Bicycles Diaries by David Byrne is a multifaceted book - combining travel highlights, social commentary, cycling advocacy, and personal journal all in one. Very enjoyable to read.

Bright-Sided

Bright-sided: How the relentless promotion of positive thinking has undermined America by Barbara Ehrenreich.

Another entertaining and enlightening book by Barbara E. Her conclusion in this book is to try to have a realistic outlook on life. And what I really like about this book (and her others that I've read) is that they seem to present such an honest look at American society. The book is not advocating that we should be miserable, but that obsessively trying to be positive is not a good approach either. She points out how this approach tends to put the blame on the victim. Like, if only you had a better attitude, your cancer would've improved, or you would've been promoted or not fired. Moreover, such an attitude can also distract us from taking more meaningful action about the bad things that happen.