Tag Archives: book reviews

Living amid an “Ecology of Fear”

I recently read Ecology of Fear: Los Angeles and the Imagination of Disaster by the late Mike Davis. It is an intriguing book that switches from whimsical to dark and foreboding at the turn of a page. In fact, the … Continue reading

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Three superb and fresh reads about Los Angeles

“These three books will certainly introduce readers to the width and breadth of mighty Los Angeles. If that entity, however you define it, resists a simple explanation, then so be it. For that may be one of the LA’s most endearing and enduring qualities.” Continue reading

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Finding “Los Angeles” amid the aura of “LA”

Downtown Los Angeles with the San Gabriel Mountains in the background – Source: unsplash.com Every city is unique unto itself. Just like human beings, cities have their own character, appearance, identity, flaws, attributes, and aesthetics. As a result, no single … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, Alternative transportation, architecture, art, bicycling, Biking, books, branding, business, Cars, cities, civics, commerce, culture, diversity, downtown, economic development, engineering, entertainment, entrepreneurship, environment, film, fun, geography, highways, hiking, historic preservation, history, homelessness, Housing, humanity, inclusiveness, land use, literature, Love, mountains, movies, Music, nature, new urbanism, Passenger rail, pictures, place names, placemaking, planning, politics, rail, Railroads, recreation, skylines, skyscrapers, songs, spatial design, sprawl, technology, Television, theaters, third places, topography, toponymy, tourism, Trade, traffic, trails, transit, transportation, Travel, urban design, urban planning, walking, writing, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The “unity of drought” must supersede myths and self interest

*A small commission is earned from purchases that are made using the above links to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. _______ The book Water is for Fighting Over: and Other Myths About Water in the … Continue reading

Posted in art, book reviews, books, cities, civics, civility, climate, climate change, economic development, ecosystems, education, engineering, environment, futurism, geography, Geology, government, health, history, humanity, inclusiveness, infrastructure, injustice, land use, landscape architecture, literature, Maps, Native Americans, natural history, nature, opinion, planning, politics, reading, recreation, rivers/watersheds, Science, social equity, spatial design, Statistics, topography, urban planning, water, water conservation, weather, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

15.3 million footsteps from Istanbul to Xian!

Over the course of four years (1999-2002), author and retired journalist Bernard Ollivier trekked the ancient Silk Road on foot from Istanbul, Turkey to Xian, China. He accomplished this monumental 7,500 mile (12,000 km) feat by overcoming aches, pains, illnesses, … Continue reading

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Creating LA’s starlit aura – “The Mirage Factory”

What an outstanding book! Perhaps, my favorite the best city biography ever read. Author Gary Krist simply nails it with The Mirage Factory. It’s entertaining, enthralling, infuriating, and thoroughly engaging to read. You will definitely learn some amazing and eye-opening … Continue reading

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One planner’s guide to non-fiction books about specific cities

Nearly every city has at least one unique story to tell about itself and some cities are filled with many interesting ones. The story(ies) may be due to conflict or upheaval, its unique culture or geography, a natural or human … Continue reading

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“The Newspaper Boy” – a helpful remedy when losing hope

Spoiler Alert: While I try not to reveal too much about details contained within the book, there are undoubtedly some aspect of spoilers contained within this post. If you prefer to read the book first without knowing too much about … Continue reading

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Two ideologies, two plutonium programs, and too reckless!

http:// (*see note at bottom of the post) The more read about the Cold War, the more I am convinced that both sides lost. Not only did both the Americans and Soviets/Russians gut large parts of their economies by wasting … Continue reading

Posted in atomic age, book reviews, books, cities, civics, culture, economic development, energy, environment, geography, government, health, Health care, history, humanity, infrastructure, injustice, land use, Maps, military, peace, place names, planning, politics, pollution, product design, rivers/watersheds, Russia, Science, social equity, Statistics, technology, urban planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Tasty Slice of “Tibetan Peach Pie”

* A small commission is earned from purchases that are made using these visual links to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. If you want to read a book that will put a smile on your … Continue reading

Posted in book reviews, books, culture, fun, history, humanity, Language, literature, writing | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments