On Tevye the Dairyman and the Railroad Stories by Sholem Aleichem

 I had a really great time reading this fiction book. The style was different than anything I’ve read: incredibly conversational and a distinct syntax that reads just like a Jewish guy in a rush. The story was good, but the storytelling was amazing. I felt connected to my grandma's shtetl roots and remembered old Yiddish words along the way (ahem, schlimazel). 

My family all read Tevye the Dairyman together, which was a nice touch. 

On Walkable City by Jeff Speck

Walkable City by Jeff Speck was a great read. Unfortunately, I think I could have benefitted from it more deeply had I read it earlier on in my Urbanism journey. Overall, the book is a good introduction to anyone curious about urbanist principles. Speck introduces Donald Shoup's in-depth parking analysis in an understandable way. I also really liked that he included a lot of statistics. 

A topic that really hit home for me in this book was the importance of "context" when redeveloping an area; that a trolley car will not bring back people, for example, or that 4-7 story apartments will fix a downtown.

Once again, one of my New Year's Resolutions is to write my blogs in a more timely manner.

On On Trails by Robert Moor

On Trails by Robert Moor was a different kind of nonfiction than I've read before. Trails, like the ones we walk, were a means to really explore how we communicate and prescribe value to experiences and tangible messages.

The author explores the parameters of "trails" for use by wild animals communicating with one another about food or nesting to use by Native Americans for trade or hunting routes to use by typical urbane humans using trails solely as recreation. 

This quote sums up how I think most people feel after a bit of time in nature: "There is, if we were to look closely enough, a wisdom of trees and a wisdom of seagrass, a wisdom of mountains and a wisdom of rivers, a wisdom of planets, and a wisdom of stars," (p.319).

This review is short because it has been about a month since I finished the book. New Year's Resolutions this year are to read 22 books and to write my reviews in a more timely manner. 

Thanks, Jeremy & Rachel for recommending this book.

Miscellaneous quotes:

In a conversation with an evolutionary biologist who had read an article questioning the definition of human beings, due to the fact that our bodies depend on "an unseen universe of microorganisms to survive," Moor quotes the companion: "Which sort of brings you to a point of 'What is you? What am I?"

"Over the course of thousands of years, Native Americans devised a beautifully functional network of paths, not knowing that those same trails would later be used by a foreign empire in its slow invasion," (p.177)