Making the Presidency, Lindsay M. Chervinsky

 

Making the Presidency:  John Adams and the precedents that forged the republic by Lindsay M. Chervinsky

Started: October 27, 2024
Completed: November 3, 2024
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody...I am pretty alert to books about John Adams

Review:

I feel like John Adams left us a rich legacy.  I have several books about him on my shelves, several on the wish list at the library, and even  more sitting on my Kobo.  I find his story compelling and I especially like "perspectives" which take a single angle on the man and then dive deeply into that.  This book focuses on Adam's presidency which is nice because it is often dusted off, briefly addressed as though everyone knows the details, and then put down.  Just like Abigail.  This book, however, dives into the intrigue, the decision making, and provides a fresh perspective.  I really appreciated it, particularly in the throws of both Trump and the Broadway show that celebrates "the little general."   This book does not take on the complicated relationship he had with Jefferson in particular detail, but focuses largely on Adams as president.

The Political Brain, Drew Westen

 

The Political Brain:  The role of emotion in deciding the fate of the Nation by Drew Westen

Started: December 29, 2023
Completed: DNF
Recommendation: Dated
Recommended By: I read an article in which this book was referenced.

Review:

I spent a year trying to listen to this book in the car (it is on CD).  It just never worked out.  I was not in the car as often as I have been in the past, but every time I went to turn on the radio I had a reason not to listen to this book.  I had another book that I was trying to finish and I'd plug in my phone.  Somehow the CD had lost its place and I'd spend most of the trip trying to find my spot.  In the end, this book is boring because it is so dated.  It is not wrong and I'm sure that it has relevance, but I just couldn't fight through the Bush and Clinton references to get there.

Children of Ruin, Adrian Tchaikovsky

 

Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky is the second book in the Children of Time series.

Started: October 24, 2024
Completed: October 27, 2024
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Words for which I sought help:

oleaginous -- rich in, covered with, or producing oil

Review:

This series really looks a different ways to see intelligence.  It is really quite amazing and Tchaikovsky does a really good job of showing how things might look dramatically different to different forms of intelligence.  I have really enjoyed this series.

Black Earth, Timothy Snyder

 

Black Earth:  The holocaust as history and warning by Timothy Snyder

Started: October 17, 2024
Completed: October 24, 2024
Recommendation: Highly recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

This brings the lessons of Hitler's Germany to the future.  It makes some of the moves of the Russians into Ukraine more understandable.  Snyder argues that it is anarchy that results in mass killing--the elimination of the state as a protector of the minority results in the attack on the minority.  Russia is pursuing this strategy with the gay community particularly in Ukraine.  Israel is using Hezbollah as a means to destroy the state of Palestine and, presumably, occupy that land to prevent its return. Trump is talking about "the enemy within" as a reference to his political opponents as did Stalin.  Snyder does a good job of identifying and referring to the parallels.  May God help us not repeat them. 

How Wars End, Dan Reiter

 

How Wars End by Dan Reiter

Started: July 30, 2024
Completed: DNF
Recommendation: Not recommended
Recommended By: Nobody, but I think I saw a summary in a Chicago Press email

Review:

I got through 60 pages.  This is hard, academic reading.  I thought that maybe it would be uplifting and it would be optimistic about how wars could end.  Instead, it is a book about leverage and negotiation.  This book works on the tipping points where a peace deal is possible while identifying that the tipping points must be sufficiently small that both combatants agree it is basically a stalemate and the "loser" is at least relatively confident that the "victor" will not just turn around and attack again.  While this is eminently practical and surely how the mechanics of peace actually work, for me, it was just depressing.  I could not keep reading (which is a reflection of my thoughts on Ukraine and Palestine and not a reflection of the quality of the book).

The Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda

 

The Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda

Started: 11/5/2023
Completed: 10/19/2024
Recommendation: mild recommendation
Recommended By: A coworker, Srini

Words for which I sought help:

caravanserai -- a group of people travelling together

cataleptical -- affected by a characteristic of catalepsy

chiaroscuro -- an effect of contrasted light and color

circumambient -- surrounding

clabber -- curdle or cause to curdle

clavis -- a pair of hardwood sticks used to make a hollow sound when struck together

delectation -- pleasure and delight

effulgence -- full of bright radiance

empyrean -- relating to heaven or the sky

halcyon -- denoting a period of time in the past that was idyllically happy and peaceful

illimitable -- without limits or end

inutile -- useless; pointless

irrefragable -- not able to be refuted or disproved

Kali -- the most terrifying goddess wife of Shiva, often identified with Durga and in her benevolent aspect with Parvati.  She is typically depicted as dark-skinned, naked, old, and hideous

laconic -- using very few words

landau -- a horse-drawn four-wheeled enclosed carriage with a removable front cover and a back cover that can be raised and lowered

lugubrious -- looking or sounding sad and dismal

martinet -- a person who demands complete obedience; a strict disciplinarian

maya -- the supernatural power wielded by gods and demons

pauciloquy -- economical speech; the use of few words when speaking; laconism

perspicacious -- having a ready insight into and understanding of things

prolixity -- the act of using too many words to convey a point, making it difficult to understand

proselyter -- a person who converts others from one opinion, religion, or party to another

puissant -- having great power or influence

quiddity -- the inherent nature or essence of someone or something

refulgent -- shining very brightly

sepulchral -- relating to a tomb or interment

supernal -- of exceptional quality or extent

umbrageous -- providing shade

unction -- the action of anointing someone with oil or ointment as a religious rite or as a symbol of investiture as a monarch

vatic -- describing or predicting what will happen in the future

veracious -- speaking or representing the truth

verity -- a true principle or belief, especially one of fundamental importance

Review:

It is challenging to accept this book on face value.  The idea of people materializing here and there (sort of a religious Star Trek) is exceedingly hard to believe, but is a fundamental component of this book.  This book, like other books about saints, is full of miracles that strain the imagination.  I guess I am just a skeptic.

The Bookshop, Evan Friss

 

The Bookshop:  A history of the American bookstore by Evan Friss

Started: October 14, 2024
Completed: October 17, 2024
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

This is an easy read with multiple venues (book shops and former book shops, apparently bookstore is not preferred) described.  Friss has visited these places and provides a certain sense of the space.  When that is not possible he has looked for reviews, reminiscences, and interviews to provide a feeling for the place.  Friss also tracks the development of book stores (ironically both real and fictional--Parnassus is both) and book sellers (not always collocated).  Not exactly interesting, but worth reviewing and remembering.