Shop Class as Soulcraft by Matthew B. Crawford

Written by a guy with a PhD in political philosophy who now owns a motorcycle repair shop, this book is a deep, analytical look at the value of getting your hands dirty. The author discusses the loss of blue-collar job training in our schools, and ponders the general unhappiness of much of our country's white-collar workers.

It's an interesting topic and there are a lot of chewy bits that I find myself pondering and working over. It's extremely thought-provoking, especially for those who do enjoy working with their hands and their heads.

But I found the book heavy - it is written much like a doctoral thesis and I found the point was sometimes lost and bogged down by the scholarly analysis.