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My Book Reviews
I rated and ranked the books on this site using the direct rating technique and the checks found in Decision Analysis and Behavioral Research by Detlof Von Winterfeldt and Ward Edwards. I compared the books in each category with the other books in the same category on a scale of 0 to 10. The comparisons are not from category to category. A rating of eight in the philosophy category does not mean that the book is better than a book with a rating of seven in the psychology category. The books that were not rated or ranked were not done so because I was highly unsure where to rate and rank them or because I did not read the entire book.
The sections were rated and ranked according to:
Stats and stuff: Well-reasonedness
Ethics: Ethical value
Thinking Books: one-half pragmatic value, one-half well-reasonedness
Psychology: one-half pragmatic value, one-half well-reasonedness
Philosophy: well-reasonedness
Narrative Books: one-half esthetic value, one-half my enjoyment
Important or Interesting Books: one-half moral value of specific policy prescriptions, one-half overall well-reasonedness
I rounded up all half numbers.
Important or Interesting Books
|
Book |
Policy |
Well-reasonedness |
Total |
|
Economics at the Wheel |
9 |
10 |
10 |
|
Nobody’s Children |
8 |
9 |
9 |
|
True Security |
10 |
9 |
10 |
|
New Voices/ Real Choices |
9 |
9 |
9 |
|
The Academic Achievement Challenge |
5 |
10 |
8 |
|
Will America Grow Up Before… |
5 |
7 |
6 |
|
The Feminine Economy… |
6 |
7 |
7 |
|
Inside American Education |
5 |
8 |
7 |
|
Luxury Fever |
6 |
7 |
7 |
|
Rewarding Work |
6 |
7 |
7 |
|
Growing Up with a Single Parent… |
6 |
6 |
6 |
|
The Great American Tax Dodge |
6 |
5 |
6 |
|
Patient Power |
5 |
6 |
6 |
|
Paul Krugman’s works |
4 |
6 |
5 |
|
Promises to Keep |
3 |
2 |
3 |
|
Jefferson’s Children |
3 |
1 |
2 |
|
Abolition of Marriage |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
Restoring Prosperity |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
Posterity Lost |
0 |
2 |
1 |
|
Greedy Hand |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
Stakeholder Society |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
Myths of Rich and Poor |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
Baby Boon |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Narrative Books
|
Name |
Esthetic |
Enjoyment |
Total |
|
The Cliff Walk |
10 |
9 |
10 |
|
Gig |
8 |
10 |
9 |
|
Jack Faust |
8 |
4 |
6 |
|
White Noise |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Thinking Books
|
Book |
Pragmatic |
Well-reasonedness |
Total |
|
Hard Thinking |
10 |
10 |
10 |
|
Decision Making |
10 |
10 |
10 |
|
How to Think About Weird… |
8 |
6 |
7 |
|
Understanding Scientific Reasoning |
5 |
9 |
7 |
|
Strategies for Creative Problem… |
8 |
5 |
7 |
|
Thinking and Deciding |
5 |
6 |
6 |
|
Logic and Contemporary Rhetoric |
5 |
6 |
6 |
|
Tools of Critical Thinking |
6 |
4 |
5 |
|
Unlimited Power |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Psychology
|
Book |
Pragmatic |
Well-reasonedness |
Total |
|
Nurture Assumption |
9 |
10 |
9 |
|
Losing Control |
10 |
6 |
8 |
|
White Bears and Other Unwanted… |
9 |
7 |
8 |
|
Passion and Reason |
9 |
6 |
8 |
|
The Marriage Clinic |
7 |
7 |
7 |
|
Evil |
7 |
6 |
7 |
|
Flow |
9 |
5 |
6 |
|
Management of the Absurd |
5 |
2 |
4 |
|
10 Dumbest Mistakes Smart… |
2 |
1 |
2 |
|
Happiness Is a Serious Problem |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Books reviewed by J.T. Fournier.