http://www.ryananddebi.com Public journal, baby stuff, travelogue, book reviews, and other stuff... (mostly written by Ryan) Mon, 26 Jul 2010 13:00:21 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 http://www.ryananddebi.com/2010/05/23/the-spirit-of-generation-y-young-peoples-spirituality-in-a-changing-australia/ http://www.ryananddebi.com/2010/05/23/the-spirit-of-generation-y-young-peoples-spirituality-in-a-changing-australia/#comments Sun, 23 May 2010 14:36:11 +0000 ryan http://www.ryananddebi.com/?p=4499 Title: Mason, Michael, Andrew Singleton, and Ruth Webber. 2008. The Spirit of Generation Y: Young People’s Spirituality in a Changing Australia. John Garratt Publishing. Rating: 7/10 Review: I met one of the authors of this book, Andrew Singleton, at the annual conference I attend on the social science of religion. Andrew’s a very cool guy. [...]]]> http://www.ryananddebi.com/2010/05/23/the-spirit-of-generation-y-young-peoples-spirituality-in-a-changing-australia/feed/ 0 http://www.ryananddebi.com/2010/05/22/mistakes-were-made-but-not-by-me-why-we-justify-foolish-beliefs-bad-decisions-and-hurtful-acts/ http://www.ryananddebi.com/2010/05/22/mistakes-were-made-but-not-by-me-why-we-justify-foolish-beliefs-bad-decisions-and-hurtful-acts/#comments Sat, 22 May 2010 11:52:04 +0000 ryan http://www.ryananddebi.com/?p=4497 Tavris, Carol, and Elliot Aronson. 2008. Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts. Reprint. Mariner Books. Rating: 8/10 Review: In my opinion, one of the most fascinating domains of social scientific inquiry is social psychology – the intersection between social forces and individual behavior. Social [...]]]> http://www.ryananddebi.com/2010/05/22/mistakes-were-made-but-not-by-me-why-we-justify-foolish-beliefs-bad-decisions-and-hurtful-acts/feed/ 0 http://www.ryananddebi.com/2010/05/16/shortchanged-life-and-debt-in-the-fringe-economy/ http://www.ryananddebi.com/2010/05/16/shortchanged-life-and-debt-in-the-fringe-economy/#comments Sun, 16 May 2010 14:28:32 +0000 ryan http://www.ryananddebi.com/?p=4469 Title: Karger, Howard. 2005. Shortchanged: Life and Debt in the Fringe Economy. illustrated edition. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Rating: 9/10 Review: Shortchanged examines the sector of the economy that caters to the credit-challenged and vulnerable; the author calls this the “fringe economy.” What marks a business or corporation as a participant in the fringe economy? The basic [...]]]> http://www.ryananddebi.com/2010/05/16/shortchanged-life-and-debt-in-the-fringe-economy/feed/ 0 http://www.ryananddebi.com/2010/03/17/starfish/ http://www.ryananddebi.com/2010/03/17/starfish/#comments Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:00:41 +0000 ryan http://www.ryananddebi.com/?p=4277 Title: Watts, Peter. 2008. Starfish. Tor Books. Rating: 6/10 Review: The plot of the book is quite complicated and left in large part to the reader to figure out. Here’s my interpretation of what happens: The book takes place at an unspecified point in the not too distant future. At this unspecified time, human technology [...]]]> http://www.ryananddebi.com/2010/03/17/starfish/feed/ 0 http://www.ryananddebi.com/2010/03/16/religion-in-a-free-market-religious-and-non-religious-americans/ http://www.ryananddebi.com/2010/03/16/religion-in-a-free-market-religious-and-non-religious-americans/#comments Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:00:21 +0000 ryan http://www.ryananddebi.com/?p=4275 Title: Kosmin, Barry A., and Ariela Keysar. 2006. Religion in a Free Market: Religious and Non-Religious Americans. Paramount Market Publishing, Inc. Rating: 8/10 Review: Religion in a Free Market is actually quite simple in its aims: The religious marketplace understanding of religion is used as a theoretical framework to analyze the American Religious Identification Survey [...]]]> http://www.ryananddebi.com/2010/03/16/religion-in-a-free-market-religious-and-non-religious-americans/feed/ 0 http://www.ryananddebi.com/2010/01/31/the-obsidian-trilogy-book-3-when-darkness-falls/ http://www.ryananddebi.com/2010/01/31/the-obsidian-trilogy-book-3-when-darkness-falls/#comments Sun, 31 Jan 2010 13:00:20 +0000 ryan http://www.ryananddebi.com/?p=4151 Title: Lackey, Mercedes, and James Mallory. 2007. When Darkness Falls: The Obsidian Trilogy, Book 3. Tor Fantasy. Rating: 8/10 Summary: (Warning: Spoilers!) The third and final book in this series not surprisingly picks up where the second left off – Knight-Mage Kellen Tavadon, the elves, and the few allies they have been able to muster [...]]]> http://www.ryananddebi.com/2010/01/31/the-obsidian-trilogy-book-3-when-darkness-falls/feed/ 0 http://www.ryananddebi.com/2010/01/26/the-end-of-faith-religion-terror-and-the-future-of-reason/ http://www.ryananddebi.com/2010/01/26/the-end-of-faith-religion-terror-and-the-future-of-reason/#comments Tue, 26 Jan 2010 20:20:20 +0000 ryan http://www.ryananddebi.com/?p=4139 Reference: Harris, Sam. 2005. The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason. W. W. Norton. Rating: 8/10 Review: I probably should have read this long ago considering my research interests, but I’m finally just getting around to reading it. Given the title of the book, you’d think the focus would be more [...]]]> http://www.ryananddebi.com/2010/01/26/the-end-of-faith-religion-terror-and-the-future-of-reason/feed/ 7 http://www.ryananddebi.com/2009/11/01/the-lost-symbol/ http://www.ryananddebi.com/2009/11/01/the-lost-symbol/#comments Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:56:44 +0000 ryan http://www.ryananddebi.com/?p=3703 Reference: Brown, Dan. 2009. The Lost Symbol. Doubleday Books. Rating: 5/10 Review: I wouldn’t necessarily consider myself a fan of Dan Brown’s novels, but I have read the two previous novels in the Robert Langdon series and enjoyed them sufficiently to be interested in the latest book. Events conspired to bring the book into my [...]]]> http://www.ryananddebi.com/2009/11/01/the-lost-symbol/feed/ 4 http://www.ryananddebi.com/2009/08/29/trick-or-treatment-the-undeniable-facts-about-alternative-medicine/ http://www.ryananddebi.com/2009/08/29/trick-or-treatment-the-undeniable-facts-about-alternative-medicine/#comments Sat, 29 Aug 2009 12:26:05 +0000 ryan http://www.ryananddebi.com/?p=3450 Citation: Ernst, Edzard, and Simon Singh. 2008. Trick or Treatment: The Undeniable Facts about Alternative Medicine. 1st ed. W.W. Norton & Co. Rating: 10/10 Review: Few non-fiction books I have read are as well-written and as clear in their message as is Trick or Treatment. I believe this book should be required reading in high [...]]]> http://www.ryananddebi.com/2009/08/29/trick-or-treatment-the-undeniable-facts-about-alternative-medicine/feed/ 0 http://www.ryananddebi.com/2009/07/17/what-weve-learned-having-a-child-v1/ http://www.ryananddebi.com/2009/07/17/what-weve-learned-having-a-child-v1/#comments Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:00:16 +0000 ryan http://www.ryananddebi.com/?p=3132 Debi and I have a background that provided us with a lot of information about pregnancy and childbirth, so we thought we were at least somewhat knowledgeable about having children (yeah, not really).  I teach a class on the Sociology of Human Sexuality (using this text: Understanding Human Sexuality), so I knew the basic outlines [...]]]> http://www.ryananddebi.com/2009/07/17/what-weve-learned-having-a-child-v1/feed/ 6