#reading dewey

[achos-laazov]

Dewey Decimal Challenge Masterpost

I’m attempting to read through then entire Dewey Decimal System, one book for every 10 numbers. This post will get updated every time I finish another book. If anyone else wants to be crazy, feel free to join me and challenge yourself!

000 Computer Science, Information, and General Works

000 Computer science, knowledge & systems

005.7 Weapons of Math Destruction by Cathy O’Neil

010 Bibliographies

011.73 The Joy of Reading by Charles van Doren

020 Library & information sciences

020.2854 BiblioTECH by John Palfrey

030 Encyclopedias & books of facts

030 Back to School by Benjamin Smith

040 [Unassigned]

050 Magazines, journals & serials

060 Associations, organizations & museums

069.0257 Not the Met by Janel Halpern and Harvey Appelbaum

070 News media, journalism & publishing

070.92 Unforgettable by Scott Simon

080 Quotations

081 100 Things to Make You Happy from National Geographic Kids

090 Manuscripts & rare books

098.3 Lost Book of Moses by Chanan Tigay

100 Philosophy and Psychology

100 Philosophy

100M Philosophy for Dummies by Tom Morris

110 Metaphysics

111.85 The Beauty Experiment by Phoebe Baker Hyde

120 Epistemology

128 The Nature Principle by Richard Louv

130 Parapsychology & occultism

133.82 Mind Reading: Quick & Easy by Richard Webster

140 Philosophical schools of thought

Temporarily skipped (hello, understocked libraries)

142.78 At the Existentialist Cafe by Sarah Bakewell

150 Psychology

155.232 The Secret Lives of Introverts by Jenn Granneman

160 Logic

170 Ethics

180 Ancient, medieval & eastern philosophy

190 Modern western philosophy

200 Religion

200 Religion

210 Philosophy & theory of religion

220 The Bible

230 Christianity & Christian theology

240 Christian practice & observance

250 Christian pastoral practice & religious orders

260 Christian organization, social work & worship

270 History of Christianity

280 Christian denominations

290 Other religions

300 Social Sciences

300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology

310 Statistics

320 Political science

330 Economics

340 Law

350 Public administration & military science

360 Social problems & social services

370 Education

380 Commerce, communications & transportation

390 Customs, etiquette & folklore

400 Language

400 Language

410 Linguistics

420 English & Old English languages

430 German & related languages

440 French & related languages

450 Italian, Romanian & related languages

460 Spanish & Portuguese languages

470 Latin & Italic languages

480 Classical & modern Greek languages

490 Other languages

500 Science

500 Science

510 Mathematics

520 Astronomy

530 Physics

540 Chemistry

550 Earth sciences & geology

560 Fossils & prehistoric life

570 Life sciences; biology

580 Plants (Botany)

590 Animals (Zoology)

600 Technology

600 Technology

610 Medicine & health

620 Engineering

630 Agriculture

640 Home & family management

650 Management & public relations

660 Chemical engineering

670 Manufacturing

680 Manufacture for specific uses

690 Building & construction

700 Arts and Recreation

700 Arts

710 Landscaping & area planning

720 Architecture

730 Sculpture, ceramics & metalwork

740 Drawing & decorative arts

750 Painting

760 Graphic arts

770 Photography & computer art

780 Music

790 Sports, games & entertainment

800 Literature

800 Literature, rhetoric & criticism

810 American literature in English

820 English & Old English literatures

830 German & related literatures

840 French & related literatures

850 Italian, Romanian & related literatures

860 Spanish & Portuguese literatures

870 Latin & Italic literatures

880 Classical & modern Greek literatures

890 Other literatures

900 History and Geography

900 History

910 Geography & travel

920 Biography & genealogy

930 History of ancient world (to ca. 499)

940 History of Europe

950 History of Asia

960 History of Africa

970 History of North America

980 History of South America

990 History of other areas

[achos-laazov]

010 Bibliographies

It was not easy to find a book that was not just a list of books in this category but I finally did!

011.73 The Joy of Reading: A passionate guide to 189 of the world’s best authors and their works by Charles Van Doren

I finished this book about a week ago and couldn’t find time to write up a review. Anyway, here goes -

Things I Liked:

When the author says a passionate guide, he means it! Reading this book honestly felt like I was being introduced to Mr. Van Doren’s friends. He describes the life and works of the most influential authors in every time period, starting from Homer, Aesop, and Euripides, and ending with JK Rowling.

Many of the authors he picked to include were not in literature - there are mathematicians and scientists and historians who have published influential books as well, and so they are included.

Any fan of Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events will recognize famous figures at least once in every chapter/time period.

Things that were kinda so-so: (not bad or unenjoyable, just... these were not Things I Liked)

Towards the end, in the chapters beginning after World War II, there is an obvious bias towards authors that Mr. Van Doren knew/knows personally. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, but I do wonder if there were influential authors I’d like to read about that were left out in favor of his friends. There are also less scientists/mathematicians/historians in the later chapters.

This book is NOT meant to be read cover-to-cover, as I did. It was very interesting and enjoyable but it’s meant to be more of a reference (which is probably why it’s shelved as a bibliography).

Side note: when my father-in-law saw the book I was reading in his house, he asked me if I knew anything about the author. I didn’t, but I went to look him up afterwards. His involvement in quiz show scandals in the 1950s can be easily separated from his book-writing career as he obviously is a talented author in his own right.

Next up, I’m in middle of a book called BiblioTECH by John Palfrey, shelved as 020.2854 in my library, for the category of Library and Information Sciences.

Who do you think are the most influential authors of this century? Which had the biggest influence on you?

[achos-laazov]

000 Computer science, knowledge & systems

005.7 Weapons of Math Destruction

How big data increases inequality and threatens democracy by Cathy O’Neil

218 pages (not including notes and bibliography)

This book was interesting. I think I never realized how assumptions can skew data in weird and interesting ways. I also never knew how the data can feed itself into a cycle of reinforcing assumptions.

This was a very easy read. The author made the information very accessible and easy to understand. That said, I disagreed with two points mentioned in the book (one was stressed often, one came up passing). I don’t want to go into tons of detail for various reasons, but (1) I think the best way to keep members of minority communities out of prison is for members of those communities to not commit crimes and (2) the United States is a republic, not a democracy, and that is why the electoral college matters.

Overall, I enjoyed myself when I read this, but I think that’d be true of almost any book!

Next up - 010 Bibliographies. I’m going to attempt to read The Joy of Reading by Charles Van Doren (shelved as 011.73 in my library). It’s a bit long - 510 pages - so it may take a while.

[achos-laazov]

In an effort to read a wider variety of books (and because I love to learn new things), I am attempting to read my way through the Dewey Decimal System, one book for every 10 numbers.

I’m also going to try to post a short review or likes/dislike of each book as I read it.

First up is 000 Computer Science, Information, and General Works

000 Computer science, knowledge & systems

010 Bibliographies

020 Library & information sciences

030 Encyclopedias & books of facts

040 [Unassigned]

050 Magazines, journals & serials

060 Associations, organizations & museums

070 News media, journalism & publishing

080 Quotations090 Manuscripts & rare books

Taking suggestions for books that might fall into these categories.

[achos-laazov]

Dewey Decimal Challenge update

540s Chemistry

545.712 Phosphorus: Past and Future by Jim Elser and Phil Haygarth

[achos-laazov]

Dewey Decimal Challenge Update

530s - Physics

535.6 Blue: in search of Nature's Rarest Color by Kai Kupfferschmidt

[achos-laazov]

Dewey Decimal Challenge Update

500 Science

500-809 Science:

508R Outdoor Kids in an Inside World by Steven Rinella

510 Mathematics:

515.01 Change is the Only Constant by Ben Orlin

520 Astronomy

520T To Infinity and Beyond by Neil deGrasse Tyson

[achos-laazov]

Dewey Decimal Challenge update

400 (Language)

440 - French and Related Languages

440.9 The Story of French by Jean-Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlow

490 - Other Languages

492.409 The Story of Hebrew by Lewis Gilnert