Book Review #1

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As some of you know, I like to read a lot of books. As someone with an  INTP personality, I enjoy learning new information or diving into new worlds between fiction, nonfiction, and poetry (don't read a lot of dramas or scripts). I wanted to share some of the things I was reading with you guys to give you an idea of something that might catch your interest as well. 

   If you would like to see more of this, please let me know. If you have any book suggestions, feel free to suggest them to me on Twitter, on my My Discord Server, or in a message (check the sidebar to contact me). I promise I will take them into consideration. 

 Now that we are done with an intro to the series, let's go!

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Book Review

 The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America is Tearing Us Apart
Written by Bill Bishop


  When I was first made aware of this book, I was at a time in my information scouting where I wanted to know what made United States Americans tick. I wanted to understand something about what made all of us separate out into our different groups and tribes. I was/am still really invested in reading and re-reading the series by Wait But Why called The Story of Us. (Though not a book, I might still write about my thoughts it at some point.) This book offers another complimentary piece of information, particularly relating to the political sphere of our lives in the US.

  As an United States American, it is enlightening to really see where we came to this point historically and statistically. I would reason that as someone outside of the US, it might be helpful to read as a point of discussion of what to do with us pile of lovably stupid weirdos. (Yes, in my opinion, that is what we as a collective entity are. We are new to the civilization scene, not to mention we are founded on some very interesting principles that are regularly questioned. Hence my label for all of us US people.) Either way, it is still a rather interesting, albeit statistically heavy book. Not a positive point for me, but not entirely negative point either. Just not my personal taste, but still useful. 

In the end...

PROS
  • Statistical data conducted by (assumed) non-biased sources
  • A look at the historical events that contributed to the situation
  • Enough of stories and anecdotes from people outside the normal circle of those with a highlighted reputation (celebrities, current politicians, or current news journalists/reporters)

CONS
  • Statistically heavy for my tastes (a good chunk of the book reads like this, and there are graphs as well)
  • The conclusion to this book points to a solution that (at the time of my reading) doesn't really seem to offer much in the way of a permanent solution.
  • There might be a bias toward being more independent that may not sit well with some. I am not entirely sure of this, but I felt like there were sprinklings of it throughout the book.

Would I recommend it?
  Yes, but with a caveat: If you do not like reading statistics, I would hesitate in picking this up. It is a lot of information, and a good chunk of this book is statistics. If you think you can handle it or you enjoy it, then this is a great book! 

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