Chad Comello

Tag: books

  • DDC 400-409: Learn ALL THE WORDS

    A Teach Me How To Dewey production

    This Is How We Dewey:

    • 400 Language
    • 401 Philosophy & theory
    • 402 Miscellany
    • 403 Dictionaries & encyclopedias
    • 404 Special topics
    • 405 Serial publications
    • 406 Organizations & management
    • 407 Education, research, related topics
    • 408 With respect to kinds of persons
    • 409 Geographical & persons treatment

    Gotta admit this up front: I friggin’ love words. As an English major, a writer, a reader—pick the reason. I love them so much that I keep a list of cool words I’ve encountered that I want to remember. (*pushes up glasses*) So I’m embarking on the 400s with great vim and ebullience. Though, curiously, I’ve thus far restrained myself from owning a physical dictionary, mostly because I can’t decide which version I should have. Plus, with the OED and Merriam-Webster adding new words every year, it would soon be out of date. And I gotta have ALL THE WORDS if I have a book of them. (Erin McKean’s TEDTalk on this topic is a great one if you’re interested. And who wouldn’t be?!)

    Regardless, I’m pumped—nay, aflutter—to go through this section and see all the lexical gold we will find. Shall we?

    The Dew3:

    A Little Book of Language
    By David Crystal
    Dewey: 400
    Random Sentence: “The Smiths will be in their clarence.”

    The Way We Talk Now: Commentaries on Language and Culture From NPR’s “Fresh Air”
    By Geoffrey Nunberg
    Dewey: 400
    Random Sentence: “They don’t hear a lot of resemblances to Angelina Jolie, either.”

    The Infinite Gift: How Children Learn and Unlearn the Languages of the World
    By Charles Yang
    Dewey: 401.93
    Random Sentence: “It would have been fun to know what Adam and Eve said to each other in Africa.”

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  • DDC 390-399: Emily Post-Its

    A Teach Me How To Dewey production

    This Is How We Dewey:

    • 390 Customs, etiquette, folklore
    • 391 Costume & personal appearance
    • 392 Customs of life cycle & domestic life
    • 393 Death customs
    • 394 General customs
    • 395 Etiquette (Manners)
    • 396 No longer used—formerly Women’s position and treatment
    • 397 No longer used—formerly outcast studies
    • 398 Folklore
    • 399 Customs of war & diplomacy

    This section is a bit of a grab-bag. I suppose customs, etiquette, and folklore fit together under the broad category of culture, but on the shelves this looks like that one drawer in the kitchen where you throw all that miscellaneous crap that doesn’t have a standard space, like rubber bands and capless pens and scrap paper. Not at all discounting the value of these topics—because how could we live without Emily Post telling us how to behave?!—but clearly some sections are better synthesized and meant to be than others. But that’s why we love Dewey, right? There’s a reason for everything (theoretically… we hope…) so we best try to understand why.

    Or these books just needed to be somewhere.

    The Dew3:

    Breakfast: A History
    By Heather Arndt
    Dewey: 394.1252
    Random Sentence: “For those wanting even less human contact for their meal, there were the automats.”

    Would It Kill You to Stop Doing That?: A Modern Guide to Manners
    By Henry Alford
    Dewey: 395
    Random Sentence: “I have benign hand tumors, so don’t worry.”

    Every Tongue Got to Confess: Negro Folktales From the Gulf States
    By Zora Neale Hurston
    Dewey: 398.208996073
    Random Sentence: “Tom told his wife, ‘Tell God I’m not here.’”

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  • DDC 380-389: We built this city on rock and roads

    A Teach Me How To Dewey production

    This Is How We Dewey:

    • 380 Commerce, communications, transport
    • 381 Internal commerce (Domestic trade)
    • 382 International commerce (Foreign trade)
    • 383 Postal communication
    • 384 Communications; Telecommunication
    • 385 Railroad transportation
    • 386 Inland waterway & ferry transportation
    • 387 Water, air, space transportation
    • 388 Transportation; Ground transportation
    • 389 Metrology & standardization

    Honestly, I was surprised by how intrigued I was by this section. Typically I’m not one to fall for anything relating to commerce, but I’m officially coming back to this section to find stuff for my to-read shelf. As represented by the Dew3 picks below, I’m often fascinated by how systems, especially concrete and/or historical, come into being. So while I wouldn’t care much for systems of thought or abstract things, I’m all over the Transcontinental Railroad and space transportation, despite my highly limited knowledge of engineering. Or perhaps it’s because of that lack of knowledge that I’m interested. Knowledge rocks! As do trains!

    The Dew3:

    The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires
    By Tim Wu
    Dewey: 384
    Random Sentence: “Is Google destined to arrive at its Napoleonic moment?”

    Nothing Like It in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad, 1863-1869
    By Stephen Ambrose
    Dewey: 385.0973
    Random Sentence: “This was hard work, dangerous and claustrophobic.”

    The Big Roads: The Untold Story of the Engineers, Visionaries, and Trailblazers Who Created the American Superhighways
    By Earl Swift
    Dewey: 388.122
    Random Sentence: “Even by his standards, he was stinking rich.”

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  • DDC 370-379: Trigger warning – School

    A Teach Me How To Dewey production

    This Is How We Dewey:

    • 370 Education
    • 371 School management; special education; alternative education
    • 372 Elementary education
    • 373 Secondary education
    • 374 Adult education
    • 375 Curriculums
    • 376 No longer used—formerly Education of women
    • 377 No longer used—formerly Ethical education
    • 378 Higher education
    • 379 Government regulation, control, support

    A fitting section to happen upon as we approach back-to-school season. It’s a time of year that is bittersweet for me: while I do miss the camaraderie and intellectual rigor of being in school, I don’t miss BSing papers, having to take math, and the peaks and valleys of semester after semester of different work. But every trip to Target these days brings all this back, especially seeing all those school supplies that would be on the list every year but that I would never use. I mean, who uses hole-punch reinforcement stickers?

    Anyway, this section goes out to all those teachers returning from the sunny beach and getting back into the classroom to prepare for another year. I had a handful of terrible teachers in my day, but also some great ones. Here’s hoping for your kids’ sake that you’re the latter.

    The Dew3:

    How Lincoln Learned to Read: Twelve Great Americans and the Educations That Made Them
    By Daniel Wolff
    Dewey: 370.973
    Random Sentence: “He’d sworn off that, but there was this: this hunt for ideas.”

    True Notebooks: A Writer’s Year at Juvenile Hall
    By Mark Salzman
    Dewey: 373.11
    Random Sentence: “You stealin’ my chips?”

    Be Honest: And Other Advice from Students Across the Country
    Edited by Ninive Calegari
    Dewey: 371.8
    Random Sentence: “You are not our last salvation.”

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  • DDC 360-369: A curious case of massive understatement

    A Teach Me How To Dewey production

    This Is How We Dewey:

    • 360 Social services; association
    • 361 General social problems
    • 362 Social welfare problems & services
    • 363 Other social problems & services
    • 364 Criminology
    • 365 Penal & related institutions
    • 366 Association
    • 367 General clubs
    • 368 Insurance
    • 369 Miscellaneous kinds of associations

    361 “General social problems”? Really, Dewey? There could (and probably should) be an entire library filled with books in that subclass. But as has been the case with the previous 300s sections, this one gets FascinationPoints™ for dealing with people themselves: the good, the bad, the insane, the pathological, the criminal… We contain multitudes, we humans and our psyches, and it’s all pretty well represented here. So dive in, if you dare, to the Human Experience. Hope you brought a swimming suit because you’re about to get drenched by humanity.

    The Dew3:

    Devil in the Details: Scenes From An Obsessive Girlhood
    By Jennifer Traig
    Dewey: 362.196852
    Random Sentence: “Instead of tights, I had Torah.”

    The Kid: What Happened After My Boyfriend and I Decided to Go Get Pregnant: An Adoption Story
    By Dan Savage
    Dewey: 362.73408664
    Random Sentence: “I took some more codeine.”

    Catch Me If You Can
    By Frank Abagnale
    Dewey: 364.163
    Random Sentence: “After that I was flying kites.”

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  • Notes on Shady Characters

    shady

    Keith Houston’s 2013 book Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols, and Other Typographical Marks is like catnip for word nerds. It’s rife with historical trivia about the more uncommon punctuation marks that have littered language history, including the pilcrow (¶), dagger (†), and interrobang (‽). It also provides background on the symbols we seen all the time, like the hash sign (#) or the ampersand (@). Intrigued? Of course you are! Learn more at shadycharacters.co.uk and read on for some notes I took while reading the book. Caution: extreme geekery ahead.

    — Boustrophedon (adj. & adv.): from left to right and right to left in alternating lines (from Greek “as an ox turns in plowing”)

    — Komma, kolon, and periodos were initially dots denoting short, medium, and long pauses

    — The pilcrow (¶) started as a C (from the Roman capitulum, meaning “chapters”) that was filled in with a vertical line by medieval scribes

    — The word pilcrow originated as the Greek paragraphos, which became pelagraphe, which became pelagreffe, whose Middle English pylcrafte turned into pilcrow.

    — Alternative names for the interrobang (‽): exclamaquest (which is my favorite), interrapoint, exclarogative

    — lb (for “pound”) came from the Roman libra, meaning scales or balances

    — oz (for “ounce”) came from medieval Italian onza, meaning twelfth of a Roman pound

    — lb with tilde above it (which was used to show a contraction), when written in haste, looked like the hash sign (#); combined with Latin pondo it became the “pound sign”

    — The ampersand (@) started as Pompeian graffiti, later becoming part of the alphabet: “X, Y, Z, and per se (by itself) and” – i.e. “ampersand”

    — The dagger (†), called obelos (Greek for “roasting spit”) was originally a straight line that marked superfluous lines in a text

    — The asterisk (*) (from Greek asteriskos for “little star”) was used for marking genuine lines in Bible translation as opposed to added or mistranslated one

    — The em dash (—) was used to censor names or curses, so “dash” became its own epithet

    — Exclamation points on early typewriters were made with a period and apostrophe

    — There were such things as the commash ,— and semicolash :— but they have faded from use

    — Double hyphen (- -) instead of em dash was standard on typewriters; practice proliferated with spread of comics

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  • DDC 350-359: Battle Cry of Deweydom

    A Teach Me How To Dewey production

    This Is How We Dewey:

    • 350 Public administration
    • 351 Of central governments
    • 352 Of local governments
    • 353 Of U.S. federal & state governments
    • 354 Of specific central governments
    • 355 Military science
    • 356 Foot forces & warfare
    • 357 Mounted forces & warfare
    • 358 Other specialized forces & services
    • 359 Sea (Naval) forces & warfare

    Time to rally ‘round the flag, sound the horns, and charge into the stacks to do battle with the many books in the 350s. As a Yankee-bred Union man, I’m partial to “The Battle Cry of Freedom” but realize my counterparts below the Mason-Dixon line might prefer the equally catchy but mightily more incendiary “Dixie.” (Whichever one you pick, rest assured that people will judge you for it.)

    While the Civil War is the prototypical American military story, you’ll have to head to the 900s to get history on that: this section tackles the armed forces themselves in all their diversity (as well as “public administration,” whatever that means). I’m not much of a military buff. I’m probably most familiar with World War II, whether because my familial connection to it through my grandpa or the plethora of popular and academic readings and pop-culture renderings of it. While I can’t say I’m glad that there’s a lot of interest in the armed forces, it’s certainly a huge part of American culture, and human nature for that matter.

    The Dew3:

    Badass Ultimate Deathmatch: Skull-crushing True Stories of the Most Hardcore Duels, Showdowns, Fistfights, Last Stands, Suicide Charges, and Military Engagements of All Time
    By Ben Thompson
    Dewey: 355.0092
    Random Sentence: “I think we can all see that this is pretty messed up.”

    The Troopers: An Informal History of the Plains Cavalry, 1865-1890
    By S.E. Whitman
    Dewey: 357.10973
    Random Sentence: “Nor could the Republicans duck.”

    The Heart and the Fist: The Education of A Humanitarian, the Making of A Navy SEAL
    By Eric Greitens
    Dewey: 359.984
    Random Sentence: “It’s death. There is no prize for 2nd place.”

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  • DDC 340-349: Law and Boredom

    A Teach Me How To Dewey production

    This Is How We Dewey:

    • 340 Law
    • 341 International law
    • 342 Constitutional & administrative law
    • 343 Military, tax, trade, industrial law
    • 344 Social, labor, welfare, & related law
    • 345 Criminal law
    • 346 Private law
    • 347 Civil procedure & courts
    • 348 Law (Statutes), regulations, cases
    • 349 Law of specific jurisdictions & areas

    Favorite courtroom drama? 12 Angry Men, hands down. I’m also a sucker for Aaron Sorkin’s smooth, laser-fast writing in A Few Good Men and the politically hokey yet dramatic flair of Runaway Jury. But we’re talking about real law, aren’t we. In that case, I suppose it’s time for a serious, substantive discussion about 347 Civil Procedure & Courts or 349 Law of Specific Jurisdictions & Areas. Anyone? Bueller? That’s what I thought.

    Law (and I’m sure most lawyers would agree, though don’t litigate me on this because I have zero evidence to back it up) is way more boring in real life than in the movies. And what isn’t? I’m much rather watch Tom Cruise cruise his way through witty monologues than listen to civil attorneys drone on about procedure and precedent in cases from before the Civil War. Am I being unfair? Sue me.

    (Please don’t sue me.)

    The Dew3:

    Plain, Honest Men: The Making of the American Constitution
    By Richard Beeman
    Dewey: 342.7302
    Random Sentence: “Without naming it, Wilson was calling for the creation of an electoral college.”

    Don’t Pee on My Leg and Tell Me It’s Raining: America’s Toughest Family Court Judge Speaks Out
    By Judy Scheindlin
    Dewey: 346.7470150269
    Random Sentence: “This is not Let’s Make A Deal, and I’m not Marty Hall!”

    The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court
    By Jeffrey Toobin
    Dewey: 347.7326
    Random Sentence: “He dominated the arguments to an almost embarrassing degree.”

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  • DDC 330-339: Economics? Interesting? WTF

    A Teach Me How To Dewey production

    This Is How We Dewey:

    • 330 Economics
    • 331 Labor economics
    • 332 Financial economics
    • 333 Land economics
    • 334 Cooperatives
    • 335 Socialism & related systems
    • 336 Public finance
    • 337 International economics
    • 338 Production
    • 339 Macroeconomics & related topics

    Gotta be honest: I was not expecting to find as many interesting books in this section as I did. Like another theoretical principle involving numbers, economics scares me. (I do take great pleasure in the good work of the people at Planet Money, whose mission is to speak plainly about the economy so number-dumb English majors like me can understand what’s going on in the world.) But when I saw what “land economics” meant book-wise (essentially, how to take care of nature) and that “public finance” isn’t quite as mind-numbing as it sounds (yet I’ll still leave it to the financiers—try not to crash the world economy again!), I felt encouraged. There’s plenty to be bored by here, as with most sections, but also more than meets the perusing eye.

    The Dew3:

    John Muir and the Ice That Started A Fire: How A Visionary and the Glaciers of Alaska Changed America
    By Kim Heacox
    Dewey: 333.72
    Random Sentence: “His stout muffled body seemed all one skipping muscle.”

    A Sand County Almanac: With Other Essays on Conservation From Round River
    By Aldo Leopold
    Dewey: 333.72
    Random Sentence: “There is a peculiar virtue in the music of elusive birds.”

    Belching Out the Devil: Global Adventures With Coca-Cola
    By Mark Thomas
    Dewey: 338.766362
    Random Sentence: “Are you a porn star?”

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  • DDC 320-329: Beware the festering swamp

    A Teach Me How To Dewey production

    This Is How We Dewey:

    • 320 Political science
    • 321 Systems of governments & states
    • 322 Relation of state to organized groups
    • 323 Civil & political rights
    • 324 The political process
    • 325 International migration & colonization
    • 326 Slavery & emancipation
    • 327 International relations
    • 328 The legislative process
    • 329 Not assigned or no longer used

    Ah yes, politics: the second of the Banned At Thanksgiving Dinner topics is finally at hand. Personally, I’m fascinated by politics (American specifically). Notice I didn’t say I love them: as a history nut I enjoy viewing current events in historical context, and also enjoy dissecting the various political narratives that come out of them, but horse-race politics disgust me. I’m a moderate through and through, leaning left on some issues and right on others, but I’m a radical in my view that cable news is generally a vapid abomination of journalism and that politics in the U.S. is a festering swamp of ego and soul-crushing skullduggery.

    All that to say that I took extra care in this section to avoid those shoddy polemics by pundits, hucksters, and otherwise annoying public figures who for some cosmically sad reason make a lot of money saying stupid and/or wrong things on TV. There are so many of those books! But there are just as many interesting, well-written ones about a variety of political issues that you ought to check out.

    The Dew3:

    The Black Panthers Speak
    Dewey: 322.42
    Random Sentence: “Whose benefit are they concerned with, Huey P. Newton’s or black lawyers?”

    Freedom Summer: The Savage Season That Made Mississippi Burn and Made America A Democracy
    By Bruce Watson
    Dewey: 323.1196
    Random Sentence: “Beer cans flew, and a SNCC car’s tires were slashed.”

    Will the Gentleman Yield: The Congressional Record Humor Book
    Dewey: 328.7300207
    Random Sentence: “I await with eager anticipation my trophy.”

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  • DDC 310-319: “Sports statistics… interesting subject. Homework, Tannen?”

    A Teach Me How To Dewey production

    This Is How We Dewey:

    • 310 General statistics
    • 311 No longer used—formerly Theory and methods
    • 312 No longer used—formerly Population
    • 313 No longer used—formerly Special topics
    • 314 General statistics Of Europe
    • 315 General statistics Of Asia
    • 316 General statistics Of Africa
    • 317 General statistics Of North America
    • 318 General statistics Of South America
    • 319 General statistics Of other parts of the world

    Man… some slim pickin’s here. Besides the series of World Almanacs that go a few years back, literally the only other books my library has are the two other ones featured below. (Not even the Grays Sports Almanac? C’mon library!) On the one hand, this reveals the woeful lack of interest in statistics, which are fundamental tools for understanding our world. On the other hand, statistics are super boring (if you aren’t a Nate Silver acolyte at least), so I’m hardly weeping here.

    Does anyone else’s library have a paucity of statistical representation in the stacks? And does anyone care? I’m not trying to be flippant here; public libraries have a obligation to the reading habits and desires of their local citizenry and not necessarily to a completist’s quest for ALL THE INFORMATION. So if that means, skimping on the stats, then so be it. More room for cooler stuff like history and… really anything that isn’t statistics.

    The Dew3:

    The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 2014
    By Sarah Janssen
    Dewey: 310
    Random Sentence: “Illinois electricity use/cost: 770 kWh, $90.80.“

    America’s Ranking Among Nations: A Global Perspective of the United States in Graphic Detail
    By Michael Dulberger
    Dewey: 317.3
    Random Sentence: “In 2011, India had 12 times the population density (persons per square mile) as the United States.”

    The Unofficial U.S. Census: Things the Official U.S. Census Doesn’t Tell You About America
    By Les Krantz
    Dewey: 317.3
    Random Sentence: “But in the end, even Stephen Hawking says time travel is probably not going to happen.”

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  • DDC 300-309: Welcome to the Human Jungle

    A Teach Me How To Dewey production

    This Is How We Dewey:

    • 300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology
    • 301 Sociology & anthropology
    • 302 Social interaction
    • 303 Social processes
    • 304 Factors affecting social behavior
    • 305 Social groups
    • 306 Culture & institutions
    • 307 Communities
    • 308 No longer used—formerly Polygraphy
    • 309 No longer used—formerly History of sociology

    Welcome to the 300s! Officially designated for the social sciences, I’m calling it the Human Jungle because it gets into the thick of stuff about people and cultures. I don’t know about yours, but in my library this section went on for sooooo long. Understandably so, since the subjects are so big and broadly defined, with new research and ideas coming out of them all the time. But I was pleased to see just how diverse the books were as I walked down the aisles.

    Though I had very little academic experience in sociology (English and history all the way, y’all), I’m fascinated by how people influence culture and vice versa. Though much of what we know about that becomes outdated as time goes by and new information surfaces, I like to see the variety of books in the 300s as documentation of the evolution of humans’ understanding of humanity. Such a thing has been and always will be incomplete, but that won’t be for lack of trying.

    The Dew3:

    Sticks and Stones: Defeating the Culture of Bullying and Rediscovering the Power of Character and Empathy
    By Emily Bazelon
    Dewey: 302.34
    Random Sentence: “I don’t know what else I can do to protect my son.”

    Race Matters
    By Cornel West
    Dewey: 305.800973
    Random Sentence: “Black anti-Semitism and Jewish antiblack racism are real, and both are as profoundly American as cherry pie.”

    American Nerd: The Story of My People
    By Benjamin Nugent
    Dewey: 305.9085
    Random Sentence: “The newt impulse exists among sci-fi fans, but in a much subtler way.”

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  • DDC 290-299: Like the ending of LOST

    A Teach Me How To Dewey production

    This Is How We Dewey:

    • 290 Other & comparative religions
    • 291 Comparative religion
    • 292 Classical (Greek & Roman) religion
    • 293 Germanic religion
    • 294 Religions of Indian origin
    • 295 Zoroastrianism (Mazdaism, Parseeism)
    • 296 Judaism
    • 297 Islam, Bábism & Bahá’í Faith
    • 298 No longer used—formerly Mormonism
    • 299 Other religions

    As acknowledged back in DDC 220-229, the 200s have been overwhelmingly biased toward Christianity. But don’t fear, every other religious person reading this: your time has come! The Lords of Dewey have deigned the 290s the “Oh Crap We Forgot All The Other Religions” section. Hence Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and every other possible religious -ism bunched together in the caboose for a SparkNotes tour through ancient and modern religion and spirituality. Certainly not adequate space for the plethora of writing out there, but it’s the best Dewey is willing to do at this point.

    Time for an #OccupyDewey campaign? Only the people can decide. Meanwhile, we’ve concluded what has to be the most contentious section in all of Dewey. (What’s that? The 320s are Political Science?)

    The Dew3:

    Buddha or Bust: In Search of Truth, Meaning, Happiness and the Man Who Found Them All
    By Perry Garfinkel
    Dewey: 294.3
    Random Sentence: “Like any tourist, I was eager to visit what has been dubbed the Disneyland of Buddhist monasteries.”

    Bring Me the Rhinoceros: And Other Zen Koans That Will Save Your Life
    By John Tarrant
    Dewey: 294.34432
    Random Sentence: “Why can’t clear-eyed Bodhisattvas sever the red thread?”

    Heaven on Earth: A Journey Through Shari’a Law From the Deserts of Ancient Arabia to the Streets of the Modern Muslim World
    By Sadakat Kadri
    Dewey: 297
    Random Sentence: “Shafi’i’s vision, as amplified by later generations of students, was destined to prevail.”

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  • DDC 280-289: The denomination is in the details

    A Teach Me How To Dewey production

    This Is How We Dewey:

    • 280 Christian denominations & sects
    • 281 Early church & Eastern churches
    • 282 Roman Catholic Church
    • 283 Anglican churches
    • 284 Protestants of Continental origin
    • 285 Presbyterian, Reformed, Congregational
    • 286 Baptist, Disciples of Christ, Adventist
    • 287 Methodist & related churches
    • 288 No longer used—formerly Unitarian
    • 289 Other denominations & sects

    Outside of being Protestant, I don’t have a specific denominational background. In spite (or because?) of that, I find other denominations, sects, and congregational interpretations fascinating. As a non-participant in the holy wars between Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterian, and of course Catholics, I watch with equal parts confusion and admiration for the dedication each section holds for their specific ways. Though all housed under the “Christian” umbrella, their adherents have found many ways to diverge from each other since the very beginning of the faith. (Only those in the culture can appreciate/disdain the irony of “no longer used” being paired with Unitarianism.) Despite the division, there is much to be gained historically, sociologically, and theologically from reading about how each of these parts interact with each other and with the whole of the faith.

    Or, if you’re sick of Christianity, you can just wait for the 290s.

    The Dew3:

    Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint
    By Nadia Bolz-Weber
    Dewey: 284.135
    Random Sentence: “I’m not certain of the exact origins of the idea, but I’m guessing it was a biopic about Jim Morrison.”

    Living the Quaker Way: Timeless Wisdom for A Better Life Today
    By Philip Gulley
    Dewey: 289.6
    Random Sentence: “We spend much time yoked to the very devices we hoped would liberate us.”

    Rumspringa: To Be or Not to Be Amish
    By Tom Shachtman
    Dewey: 289.73
    Random Sentence: “She counters with an additional demand for fenders on the wheels.”

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  • DDC 270-279: Persecution junction

    A Teach Me How To Dewey production

    This Is How We Dewey:

    • 270 Christian church history
    • 271 Religious orders in church history
    • 272 Persecutions in church history
    • 273 Heresies in church history
    • 274 Christian church in Europe
    • 275 Christian church in Asia
    • 276 Christian church in Africa
    • 277 Christian church in North America
    • 278 Christian church in South America
    • 279 Christian church in other areas

    As with any honest historical assessment, this section’s books take on the good, the bad, and the ugly of Christianity’s past. 272 Persecutions could fill up an entire library. But many forget that though the Catholic Church has been responsible for some pretty heinous persecution over the years, the Christian church in general were also persecuted themselves for a long time. And even though Western Christianity (and religion in general) is fairly protected from persecution, there are places in the Middle East and Asia where being a Christian can get you killed. That’s what makes books like The Irresistible Revolution (see below)—which call for radical, countercultural living—get real real fast. In whatever time or place, people who really take their faith to heart will face the consequences of it, good and bad. And that makes one hell of a story.

    The Dew3:

    The Irresistible Revolution: Living as An Ordinary Radical
    By Shane Claiborne
    Dewey: 277.3
    Random Sentence: “I’m not sure the Christian Gospel always draws a crowd.”

    The Habit: A History of the Clothing of Catholic Nuns
    By Elizabeth Kuhns
    Dewey: 271.9
    Random Sentence: “Walking was to be accomplished in a calm, demure manner–hurrying was discouraged.”

    The Grand Inquisitor’s Manual: A History of Terror in the Name of God
    By Jonathan Kirsch
    Dewey: 272.2
    Random Sentence: “The old authoritarian impulse was still fully alive.”

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  • DDC 260-269: Fred Phelps would hate this

    A Teach Me How To Dewey production

    This Is How We Dewey:

    • 260 Christian social theology
    • 261 Social theology
    • 262 Ecclesiology
    • 263 Times, places of religious observance
    • 264 Public worship
    • 265 Sacraments, other rites & acts
    • 266 Missions
    • 267 Associations for religious work
    • 268 Religious education
    • 269 Spiritual renewal

    Is Christianity cool? Starting with this section through the next few, a lot of the books would give you some proof in the affirmative and in the negative. Obvious examples include the first book featured below, which explicitly asks that question, but also the books that don’t overtly make a claim yet by merely existing make a case.

    Sadly, much of what people see on cable news is the worst of so-called Christian social theology, propagated for clicks and viewers but not based in the day-to-day reality of living out the biggest religion on earth. If you love history or tradition, there is a lot of interesting stuff to explore in Christianity’s past that conveniently also has 0% to do with Westboro Baptist.

    The Dew3:

    Hipster Christianity: When Church and Cool Collide
    By Brett McCracken
    Dewey: 261.1
    Random Sentence: “For some pastors, this means they include references to Paris Hilton and The Hills in their sermons.”

    On Heaven and Earth: Pope Francis on Faith, Family, and the Church in the Twenty-First Century
    By Jorge Bergoglio
    Dewey: 261.83
    Random Sentence: “Christianity condemns both Communism and wild capitalism with the same vigor.”

    Rest: Living in Sabbath Simplicity
    By Keri Wyatt Kent
    Dewey: 263.2
    Random Sentence: “In play, we shed the shackles of schedule, efficiency, even purpose.”

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  • DDC 250-259: Parish Administration: The Movie

    A Teach Me How To Dewey production

    This Is How We Dewey:

    • 250 Christian orders & local church
    • 251 Preaching (Homiletics)
    • 252 Texts of sermons
    • 253 Pastoral office (Pastoral theology)
    • 254 Parish government & administration
    • 255 Religious congregations & orders
    • 256 No longer used—formerly Religious societies
    • 257 No longer used—formerly Parochial schools, libraries, etc.
    • 258 No longer used—formerly Parochial medicine
    • 259 Activities of the local church

    Are you ready for the explosive, blockbuster, wham-bang awesomeness that is 254 Parish government & administration? Can’t wait for a movie to be made out of books in that section. Meanwhile, I was surprised to find a lot of interesting material here. It ranged (as is evident below) from silly to sincere, with some strange mixed in too. I think it’s very important for any subculture to be able to make fun of itself, and there’s a good amount of evidence for that within Christianity, whether by current or former adherents. Of course, as a old religion it has its more rigid types, but we all need to laugh, especially when things are funny. Sounds obvious, but it’s easy to get trapped in the thinking that all sacred things must also be serious and earnest. Sometimes serious things are funny.

    The Dew3:

    Nuns Having Fun
    By Maureen Kelly
    Dewey: 255.9
    Random Sentence: “Protect us, O Lord, for we are upright women–at least for now.”

    Church Signs Across America
    By Steve Paulson
    Dewey: 254.4
    Random Sentence: “A good angle to approach any problem is the ‘try’-angle.”

    Strength to Love
    By Martin Luther King
    Dewey: 252
    Random Sentence: “We can master fear through one of the supreme virtues known to man: courage.”

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  • DDC 240-249: Ain’t your mama’s Christian writing

    A Teach Me How To Dewey production

    This Is How We Dewey:

    • 240 Christian moral & devotional theology
    • 241 Moral theology
    • 242 Devotional literature
    • 243 Evangelistic writings for individuals
    • 244 No longer used—formerly Religious fiction
    • 245 No longer used—formerly Hymnology
    • 246 Use of art in Christianity
    • 247 Church furnishings & articles
    • 248 Christian experience, practice, life
    • 249 Christian observances in family life

    The thing I like about sections like this is how it surprises. Even though (or perhaps because) I grew up in the Christian world and am very familiar with its tropes, biases, and tendencies, I love when I find new things—perspectives that challenge conventional wisdom or allow for greater nuance and a rich, learning experience.

    Anne Lamott (featured below) is a good example of this: though she is a Christian writer, she could hardly be more unconventional or irreverent in her approach and writing style. People who have either struggled with religiously oriented literature or written it off entirely would be pleasantly surprised by writers like her who, as the saying goes, ain’t your mama’s Christian writer. This is just one example of how Dewey, and really libraries in general, can surprise you if you take the time to browse and let serendipity be your guide.

    The Dew3:

    Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God’s Will
    By Kevin DeYoung
    Dewey: 248.4
    Random Sentence: “Wisdom sounds good but how does it work?”

    Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith
    By Anne Lamott
    Dewey: 248.4
    Random Sentence: “I was an out-of-control alcoholic then–but in a good way, I had thought.”

    Sin Bravely: A Joyful Alternative to A Purpose-Driven Life
    By Mark Ellingsen
    Dewey: 248.4
    Random Sentence: “Such a diminution of sin is what the American public wants.”

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