April DeweyCAT --- 300 thru 354

The 300s (Social Sciences) include such a broad range of topics that we voted to spend two months on them. In April we will be concentrating on the 300-354 range which includes: sociology, anthropology, statistics, political science, economics, law, and public administration.

Here's a list of some of the most popular books in this category on LibraryThing

300s: Sociology and Anthropology – including such topics as race relations, women’s studies, gender studies, and many more
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell
The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century by Thomas L. Friedman
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich
A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo

310s: Statistics (Includes World Almanac, etc.)
Turning Numbers into Knowledge: Mastering the Art of Problem Solving by Jonathan G. Koomey
The Foundations of Statistics by Leonard J. Savage
Population and History by E. A. Wrigley

320s: Political Science
The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli
The Republic by Plato
Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism by Benedict Anderson
The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt

330s: Economics
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt
The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
Utopia by Thomas More
The Undercover Economist: Exposing Why the Rich Are Rich, the Poor Are Poor--and Why You Can Never Buy a Decent Used Car byTim Harford

340s: Law
The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison
The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town by John Grisham
The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World by Lawrence Lessig

350-354: Public Administration:
Soft Power: The Means To Success In World Politics by Joseph S. Nye Jr.
Bureaucracy by Ludwig von Mises
An Economic Theory of Democracy by Anthony Downs
The Story of Scotland Yard by Laurence Victor Thompson

Time for me to pull out The Gardner Heist. I was going to read it in January, until someone pointed out that it's Dewey Decimal Number was 347.

I have a review copy of The Bloomsbury Reader on Islam in the West that I need to read and review for publication. The title sounds like it would fit the March DeweyCAT, but its Dewey number is actually 305.6. I'd also like to fit in either Women and the Law of Property in Early America (347) or The Googlization of Everything (338.7).

>2 RidgewayGirl: - I'll be waiting to see what you think of it, Kay, as that's on my radar.

Meanwhile, I'll be reading Glass, Paper, Beans: Revelations on the Nature and Value of Ordinary Things by Leah Hager Cohen which has a Dewey number of 306.

I have two that I'd like to get to in April: Guns, Germs and Steel and the audiobook of SuperFreakonomics, a sequel to Freakonomics.

I'll read Der Crash des Kapitalismus by Ulrich Schäfer, which I borrowed from my sister years ago but never read. So now it is. If there's still time, I'll also read No Logo by Naomi Klein, but I doubt there will be enough time for both.

I don't know what I'll be reading yet but I highly recommend Behind the Beautiful Forevers!

I have numerous books which would fit into this category. Currently, I am thinking of the following:

Cross Currents in the International Women's Movement, 1848-1948 by Patricia Ward D'Itri (305.42) -- for an international perspective
Harriet Martineau on Women by Harriet Matineau, edited by Gayle Graham Yates (305.4) -- 19th century British woman
Woman in the Nineteenth Century by Margaret Fuller (305.42) -- 19th century American feminist -- although short, might be a difficult read; I've tried it once before
The Plantation Mistress: Woman's World in the Old South by Catherine Clinton (305.5)
The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli (320.1) -- to help decide whether or not I want to take a class about Machiavelli in May

I probably will end up not reading all of these, especially since I will also be taking a class reading Virginia Woolf's short fiction.

I've come up with the following non-fiction potentials:

305.897 - Encounters at the Heart of the World: A History of the Mandan People by Elizabeth A. Fenn
306.734 - I Want to Get Married!: One Wannabe Bride's Misadventures with Handsome Houdinis, Technicolor Grooms, Morality Police, and Other Mr. Not Quite Rights by Ghada Abdel Aal
320.52 - The Politics of Prudence by Russell Kirk
338.4766 - For the Love of Wine: My Odyssey through the World's Most Ancient Wine Culture by Alice Feiring
347.3073534 - A Matter of Interpretation: Federal Courts and the Law by Antonin Scalia

For fiction, I was thinking of perhaps The Cold Between, which promises an intergalactic government conspiracy, First Man: Reimagining Matthew Henson, a graphic novel that looks at the life of African-American Arctic explorer through his relationship with the Inuit, and maybe Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection or The Great Divide. But there are a lot of children's and YA novels with anthropological or sociological themes, so who knows what I'll actually end up reading by the end of the month.

I am planning on reading Nothing to Envy (306.09) by Barbara Demick.

I have several on my shelves that might work, but I'm gravitating towards A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal by Ben Macintyre, which is classified (at my library, anyway) at 327.1247.

I've earmarked The Prince for this challenge.

I need to look at my tbr, but I'm certain I'll have LOTS to choose from for April!

Hmmmm, I'm guessing someone could get both a DeweyCAT and RandomCAT with the same book.

Wow, I've got over 40 books on my shelves in this Dewey Decimal range. I'll have to think about what my top couple of choices will be.

>14 LibraryCin: - How'd you know that's what I was planning? :) I'm reading The Death and Life of Monterey Bay for both CATs.

I am hoping to read Two Old Women by Velma Wallis. Ordered from library. It should fit both GeoCAT and DeweyCAT. Setting is the Artic.

>16 LittleTaiko: The two just seem to fit together nicely! I've looked a bit and it seems I should also be able to find one (or two or more!) books that will fit both to choose from.

>17 Kristelh: I bet there could even be a few CAT tricks in April!

>19 LibraryCin: I haven't read it yet (obviously), but First Man: Reimagining Matthew Henson may be a CAT trick. It's definitely a lock for GeoCAT, and I'm fairly certain there's enough anthropology in it for DeweyCAT. The question is whether the overall message fits RandomCAT, and since it's about an African-American explorer interacting with Inuit there's a good chance it might. I don't think I've ever had a CAT trick before. Maybe April is my month.

>20 inge87: I hope it works out for you! I don't think I've ever had a CATtrick before either!

>21 LibraryCin: Thanks!

I've decided to read Midlife Irish by Frank Gannon.

>23 clue: That looks interesting. I can't wait to hear how it is!

I have so many books on my shelves in this range I'm going to try to restrict myself to ROOTs. The one I'm certain to read is Visual Anthropology, which also works for the AlphaKit.

I had a bit too much time on my hands because we're on spring break at work and I went wandering through the 300 section at my local library trying to glean some ideas for fiction potentials. Besides legal and political thrillers, it looks like any novel about family (including divorce), anything about the Civil Rights movement, and many books about humans and the environment (333, for some reason) could work for April's challenge.

I think my best bet for this one is Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves by Sarah B. Pomeroy about women in the ancient world.

Other books I have in mind for this CAT are
An Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano 305.567092
Leaving Before the Rains 306
Praying for Sheetrock 306
The Tipping Point 302
Strength in What Remains 305.896

If I have time, my most likely would be Praying for Sheetrock.

I have a lot to choose from in this CAT. These are the most likely:

The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan (306.4)
Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo (305.5)
Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup (306.3)
Malcolm X by Walter Dean Myers (320.54)
A Spy Among Friends by Ben Macintyre (327.12092)
Being Mortal by Atul Gwande (306.9)
The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli (320.101)
Dreamers of a New Day by Sheila Rowbotham (305.420941)
The Wayfinders by Wade Davis (303.48)
Letters to a Young Contrarian by Christopher Hitchens (332.4)

I will try to listen to my audiobook ROOT of The Federalist Papers... or if it is too hard to listen to, I will read the Kindle edition.

My plan is to listen to the audio of The Feminine Mystique (305.420973) by Betty Friedan, narrated by Parker Posey.

touchstones not working

I looked over the pile of books I have for this month and in trying to winnow it down decided my top choices need to fit more than one CAT or KIT.

I have one that fits three - so it's a definite: Hot, Flat and Crowded which also fits the AlphaKIT and the RandomCAT.

Then I have another 15 books that fit two CATs/KITs and one of those is also a Virago Modern Classic, one of my categories for this year, so that will also have to be at the top: Millennium Hall.

Then, if I get around to any more, I will pick from these:
Common Sense Leadership: A Handbook for Success as a Leader
Blood and Rage: A Cultural History of Terrorism
Veiled Kingdom
Honeymoon in Tehran
Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity
The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived

I hope you like Boo's book as much as I did. It really grabbed me and I thought I could almost smell the slum.

>33 mamzel: I've heard lots of good things about it, so I'll try to make sure I get to it this month.

I just realized that the book I picked for 300s won't work here as we divided the 300s and it is in May that it will fit and not here, now I will have to rethink.

I finished listening to the very quick SuperFreakonomics (330) which looks at the microeconomics (evaluating events and decisions using statistics) of such topics as whether global warming exists and whether kids older than two years old are safer in car seats. Some of his conclusions are no doubt controversial, but like the previous book Freakonomics I found it both laugh out loud funny and thought provoking.

I'll be reading The Feminine Mystique.

Living Like Ed / Ed Begley, Jr.
4 stars

Ed Begley, Jr. has been living eco-consciously since the 1970s. In this book, he brings lots of ideas and suggestions at various levels (marked by images for cost) to help other people try some of the green things he already does. Chapters include Home, Transportation, Recycling, Energy, In the Gardens and Kitchen, and Clothing and Hair and Skin Care.

I thought this was really good. Even with all the things I have read and already do, I still learned other things. I have just purchased my first home, so there are some ideas that I might be able to use there. This is one book that is probably worth buying so that you can look back on it later (I got this one from the library). There was a running line at the bottom of each page that took the ideas from that page and made it into one sentence. There were also little anecdotes by Ed's wife, who was leery of many of Ed's ideas at first, and had to be convinced of some things; she is quite conscious of style and aesthetics, so it was sometimes harder to get her on board. I think her comments are helpful for some people who are reluctant to try some of these things.

I've seen him in TV a coup,e of times talking about things he does for a smaller environmental footprint. Sounds like an interesting book.

>39 dudes22: Yeah, it sounds like he has (had?) a tv show called Living With Ed. He mentions his show a few times, as well. I've never seen it, but yes, there are definitely some good ideas in the book!

>38 LibraryCin: BB!

I read the VERY short We Should All Be Feminists. I will probably try to get to another book in this section before the end of the month.

I just finished Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell (302), which was very interesting.

>41 Tara1Reads: Hope you like!

I finished reading Feminism Unifinished : A Short Surprising History of American Women's Movements with a group of college honors students. A good short overview of this history that provides historical context for a lot that is going on now - helpful for those who do not know the history or for those who have forgotten.

I thoroughly enjoyed the heartwarming story of two young people in I Will Always Write Back.

I've read a couple for the challenge so far: The Big Thicket: A Challenge for Conservation (333.78) and the book with the world's longest title, I Want to Get Married!: One Wannabe Bride's Misadventures with Handsome Houdinis, Technicolor Grooms, Morality Police, and Other Mr. Not Quite Rights (306.734). I really liked the first one; the second one was good but a bit of the wrong book at the wrong time (I never like satire as much as I think I will).

I have already read two books so far this year that fit this month's DeweyCAT. They are One Nation: What We Can All Do to Save America's Future by Ben Carson and Identical Strangers: A Memoir of Twins Separated and Reunited co-authored by the two sisters, Elyse Schein and Paula Bernstein. They are both in the 306 Dewey range for Social Sciences-->Sociology-->Anthropology-->Culture and Institutions. I enjoyed them both and reviews are on my thread here https://www.librarything.com/topic/204813. I will probably read more books that fit this month's Dewey theme because there are so many books in the 300-354 range that I want to read.

I am going to use The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison as my fiction choice for this CAT. I think it works for race study and women's study.

It occurs to me that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ties in to the race relations aspect of this CAT.

I've had it on the shelf for a long time and at last I got to You Had to Be There: an intimate portrait of the generation that survived the Depression, won the War, and re-invented Canada by Robert Collins.

I thought it might be all about how the older generation suffered in the Depression, something youngsters couldn't do. I was wrong, it was very good.

I have finished reading The Prince by Machiavelli (320.1). I had been planning to read it to see if I wanted to take a Machiavelli course next month; however, enrollment was insufficient so that the course will not be offered.

I am still planning to read at least one book about feminism this month.

Starting Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves by Sarah B. Pomeroy (305.420938) about women in the classical world.

Just realized I forgot to report in after finishing my read of Racism Explained to My Daughter by Tahar Ben Jelloun (305.8). A solid 5 star read for me!

COMPLETED Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves by Sarah B. Pomeroy (305.420938)

My review:
An overview of the position of women in Classical antiquity in myth, legend, literature, and history.

This was a groundbreaking book when it was published in 1975, the first to examine the position of women of those times in such a comprehensive manner. In some ways it's very much of its time. I suspect a modern book would give more credence to systemic sociological and economic factors rather than psychoanalytical ones, for example. But, having said that, it's full of interesting tidbits presented in an engaging manner.

I finished They Left Us Everything (306) by Plum Johnson, which is the author's memoirs about sorting through the contents of the family home after her parents' deaths. It was well written, funny and engaging. I highly recommend it!

Here's my brief review of Underground Girls of Kabul (305.3). It was a pretty good read.

While working in Kabul, Jenny Nordberg started to notice that there were girls running around dressed as boys. She wondered if it was unusual, or if there were many more girls dressing as boys than people realized. Over time, she met and interviewed many women who had spent time as boys while growing up, as well as some who were still masquerading as men after they normally might have changed back to girls. She discusses the social reasons for the deception and the risks and benefits. I think she spends a little too much time trying to make it make sense in a Western definition of gender issues (irrelevant in a lot of ways to Afghan culture) and it is disruptive to the flow of her narrative. While I think Nine Parts of Desire is a better book overall, this is a very interesting discussion of the social consequences of living in such a deeply segregated society.

>57 nittnut: I loved Underground Girls of Kabul and I'm glad you found it interesting!

I read Broken April by ismail Kadare. I think it would fit as a fiction under this Dewey as it examines age old customs and social upheavals in the mountains of Albania. A study of culture and social mores.

I've finally finished Glass, Paper, Beans: Revelations on the Nature and Value of Ordinary Things by Leah Hager Cohen (306.3). For some reason it took me all month to read this.

The Botany of Desire / Michael Pollan
3.5 stars

In this book, Michael Pollan looks at four different plants – their history and their impact on society (and society's impact on them): apples, tulips, marijuana, and potatoes.

Up until the last chapter (on potatoes), I was going to rate this at only 3 stars, or “ok”. The potato chapter really bumped up the rating for me, as Pollan was comparing a new Monsanto genetically-engineered potato with the usual potatoes he grows in his farm. By far, I thought this was the most interesting chapter. I did also enjoy the chapter on apples and the tidbits I learned about John Chapman (aka Johnny Appleseed). I didn't find the tulips or the marijuana as interesting, but overall, I'm rating this “good” at 3.5 stars.

When Frank Gannon was growing up he knew his parents were from Ireland. It was odd though that they never talked about it and would rarely give anything but a curt answer to his questions about their lives before coming to America. It's not surprising that after his parents died he decided to go to Ireland and see if he could uncover some family roots.

Midlife Irish is about the trip to Ireland but also about being Irish in America. Gannon is irreverent and funny but he writes with heart too. An Irish heart it turns out.

"Growing up, I knew that I was Irish in much the same way I knew I had asthma. I knew I had it but I didn't know anything about it..." .

Finished Shadows of the Workhouse: Call the Midwife Vol. 2 by Jennifer Worth, Dewey 305.56. Although both Volumes 1 and 3 of Jennifer Worth's series are considered memoirs, Volume 2 focuses on the people she met whose lives were ever changed by the workhouse, and is categorized as Dewey 305. Worth includes a short history of the workhouse in England. There is less in here about the Sisters and Worth herself, and more about the people and places they served. In the 1950s, even though the workhouse was technically a thing of the past, the long-term effects were still evident in London's East End.

It took me a lot longer than expected to finish The spinning world, DDC 338.4, a book of economic history about cotton cloth manufacture and trading in the early modern age. Very interesting.

I forgot to post in here that I ended up reading The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived for the April DeweyCAT. It exceeded my expectations - very well done.

I forgot to post also. I read The Girls with the Grandmother Faces by Frances Weaver. I got this book a few years ago, but I don't think it would have resonated with me if I had read it then.