About Inquiry

What is an Anti-Library?

An anti-library are all the books you have not read.  The current unread books, and books yet to be written.  There are far more books that have not been read or even written, than those which a reader has read.  This anti-library is dedicated to helping readers find books to add to their library. 

Readers make the books their own by embedding their lessons and values within themselves.  Books open up alternate ways of thinking.  While the books already read are already with the reader, the unread books provide access to more understandings and ways of thinking.   

The goal of the review is to let you know about the book before you read it or not to read the book as it is not the type you are looking for.  

My hope is that within this blog, you can find a book that is right for you. 


What to Expect in Each Post?

Reviews Process

Each book has knowledge to offer.  The review provides a snippet of that knowledge.  A way for me to go over what I learned in the book, and share the lessons with everyone.  Drawbacks and limitations of the book are usually included in the review. 

No book is ever complete partly because more information can always be found and partly because the reader imposes their own ideas unto the book.  The reviews focus on what the book contains, rather than interpretations.  Interpretations are inevitable, but they try to fit with the books' perspective.


Rating Explanation

Caveat 1: Ratings are subjective, but as I am rating them and read a lot more of non-fiction books than of fiction books, the ratings on non-fiction books are more credible than those of the fiction books.  

Caveat 2: As every book has something to offer, it is hard for me to give very low ratings, or rather, it is easy to rationalize a higher rating. To get a low rating, the book generally has to work very hard to attain it.  To get higher ratings is easier because no book is every perfect, which means that minor issues will not hold down the ratings.  When the issues become problematic for reading and learning from the book does the ratings come down.  


The rating system is out of 5, the higher the better.

Readability: The prose of the book.  The ability of the book to present the ideas.  The ease at which the ideas are accessible.  Some books are hard to read because they require a lot of background knowledge in very precise areas.  Some books are easy to read because the narrative is sympathetic to the reader.  


Content: How well the author describes the ideas.  The supporting and unconfirming arguments with their related evidence and ideas.  Misrepresenting opposition reduces the value of the content.  


Overall:   Considers the general value of the book.  Readability and content ratings influence the overall rating, but the overall rating considers the value the book.  The more the book has to offer in terms of passing information for posterity, the better the ratings.