Tag: writing

Book Review: How to be Old

April 11, 2026
Book: How to be Old

I stumbled upon How to be Old recently on the website where I buy most of my books. (Confession: because I am doing another master’s degree, I am buying a lot of books. Therefore, I’m logging in almost daily to my go-to site where I order books – either looking for school-related books, ordering books, and/or watch tracking of the books I’ve ordered. If you are interested in good book-buying resources, check out my book-resources blog post).

I don’t recall just now what type of book algorythm resulted in the book site suggesting How to be Old, but it proved to be one of those occasional books that I order on-the-spot and site-unseen. I’m now nearly half-way through the book and I’m glad to be reading the book. When I’m done reading it, the book has a permanent home on the “pop culture” section of my bookshelves (do you also have some kind of personalized dewey decimal system for organizing books on your bookshelves?). Lyn Slater – the author of How to be Old – uses fashion to express herself; my bookshelves are similarly a personal form of self-expression. When I moved last time, I told my realtor that “I need a residence that has enough wall space for my bookshelves.” When I have guests over, I – as a book afficianado – want my guests to see what types of books I read; my bookshelves give my guests insight into who-I-am-based-on-what-I-read (e-books are not for me!). Okay, this self-explanation/description is actually in keeping with the writing style used by Lyn Slater in writing How to be Old.

How to be Old is proving to be the feel-good book I was hoping for when I stumbled upon it. Lyn Slater, as she describes in her book, insists on being present in her own life. She is doing what she wants to do and insists on persuing her life without fear in a way that brings her value. She writes of all of this in her own style – a style that makes her perspective accessible. I was thrilled to discover in this book that she – like me – refuses to be afraid of the darker counters of society, choosing instead to go explore those contours (I grew up “on the margins” and then volunteered in the prison system for twenty years – she also “goes to the darker contours”).

This book is accesssible, readable, and is a pragmatic pick-me-up. stumbled upon How to be Old recently on the website where I buy most of my books. (Confession: because I am doing another master’s degree, I am buying a lot of books. Therefore, I’m logging in almost daily to my go-to site where I order books – either looking for school-related books, ordering books, and/or watch tracking of the books I’ve ordered. If you are interested in good book-buying resources, check out my book-resources blog post).

I don’t recall just now what type of book algorythm resulted in the book site suggesting How to be Old, but it proved to be one of those occasional books that I order on-the-spot and site-unseen. I’m now nearly half-way through the book and I’m glad to be reading the book. When I’m done reading it, the book has a permanent home on the “pop culture” section of my bookshelves (do you also have some kind of personalized dewey decimal system for organizing books on your bookshelves?). Lyn Slater – the author of How to be Old – uses fashion to express herself; my bookshelves are similarly a personal form of self-expression. When I moved last time, I told my realtor that “I need a residence that has enough wall space for my bookshelves.” When I have guests over, I – as a book afficianado – want my guests to see what types of books I read; my bookshelves give my guests insight into who-I-am-based-on-what-I-read (e-books are not for me!). Okay, this self-explanation/description is actually in keeping with the writing style used by Lyn Slater in writing How to be Old.

How to be Old is proving to be the feel-good book I was hoping for when I stumbled upon it. Lyn Slater, as she describes in her book, insists on being present in her own life. She is doing what she wants to do and insists on persuing her life without fear in a way that brings her value. She writes of all of this in her own style – a style that makes her perspective accessible. I was thrilled to discover in this book that she – like me – refuses to be afraid of the darker counters of society, choosing instead to go explore those contours (I grew up “on the margins” and then volunteered in the prison system for twenty years – she also “goes to the darker contours”).

Lyn Slater’s book is accessible, readable, practical. Hers is not a psycho-babble pick-me-up, but a pragmatic life-honestly-lived look at living well. If Anne Lamott were writing about being a fashion-blogger in New York who insists on navigating life in a personally meaningful way, this type of book (How to be Old) could possible be the result.

Bibliophile and would-be-antiquarian Kim Burkhardt reviews books at The Books of the Ages and at The Hermitage Within. If you are a new visitor, it would be great to have you follow this blog (thank you!). If you know someone who would like this blog, please share it with them (thank you!). FYI, you can $$ support this blog by clicking here here to do your Amazon shopping (if you click here before you start your Amazon shopping, Amazon pays us a commission when you shop via the link provided – thank you).

Book Review: Coming Up Short by Robert Reich

March 9, 2026
Book: Coming Up Short

I started reading Robert Reich’s blog a year or two ago based on the recommendation of a friend (more specifically, the blog arrives in my email in-box daily. Some days I open it up and read it…..).

When I read Robert Reich, I always look forward to his self-deprecating “short jokes.” I am one inch taller than Robert Reich, so I understand the challenges of being a small adult (I don’t know if he has his clothes tailored or if he found a niche place to buy clothes, but my height – or lack thereof – is one of the reasons I own a sewing machine. I alter some of the clothes I buy retail. I also make some of my own clothes so that I get clothes that I like AND that fit…..) In the same vein as his choice of photos for this book’s cover, I carry around a photo of me standing next to a relative who is 6′ 11″. When Robert Reich’s latest book came out – Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America – I decided, partly because of the play-on-words title, that I’m “up” for reading it.

When I got my copy of the book arrived, I had every expectation that this book is going to be worth reading. I started with the promotional quotes on the back cover; one of the blurbs started with, “Being bullied as a child helped Robert Reich become a champion for the little guy.” Books that are informative and provide us with personal value are doubly – more than doubly – valuable; it’s taken me until recently to see aspects of my life that “add value” to what I bring to the table….

Okay, enough about how and why I am personally drawn to this book.

Reading clear-eyed memoirs by national leaders have an opportunity to contribute to thoughtful citizenship. The last book I reviewed – Angela Merkel’s “Freedom” memoir – offered the insights of a political figure who I admire for both her politics and her gender. In the case of Robert Reich, he speaks of national matters with clarity.

In Coming Up Short, Reich writes on topics that resonate with everyday Americans. He does so by starting his book – in the first chapter – by talking about the bullies he encountered growing up. In getting broadly to topics affecting every day Americans, the blurb on the inside cover indicates that Reich will write how America can “reclaim a sense of community.” A friend mentioned to me a couple years ago that “The U.S. today isn’t the U.S. I remember growing up” – I got the sense from what he said that a loss of community was part of what he has seen disappear. More recently, I saw a guy walking down the street wearing a shirt that read “I miss the America that I grew up in” – ditto. I am looking forward to getting to the part of Coming Up Short that discusses rebuilding community.

Beginning with the early pages of Coming Up Short, Robert Reich alternates between two useful types of insight: generating hope in what American can be and writing in a way that resonates – with frank insight – about what’s going wrong in America and how those errors have come to be in recent decades. Now that I have started reading this book, I appreciate having it for my evening reading.

Bibliophile and would-be-antiquarian Kim Burkhardt reviews books at The Books of the Ages and at The Hermitage Within. If you are a new visitor, it would be great to have you follow this blog (thank you!). If you know someone who would like this blog, please share it with them (thank you!).