Clanlands, Heughan and McTavish

 

Clanlands: Whiskey, warfare, and a Scottish adventure like no other by Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish is supposed to be a fun romp (travelogue?) through Scotland by a couple of friends.

Started: 12/18/2021
Completed: 12/30/2021
Recommendation: Not Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Words for which I sought help:

crinigerous -- having hair

dogsbody -- a person who is given meaningless, boring tasks

dualchas -- cultural inheritance (Gaelic)

Review:

There is some good material in this book, but it is sparse.  I am not a fan of Outlander (never seen it), so the fact that the two who wrote the book are from the series has no meaning for me.  Moreover, their tales of their pasts and the adventures while filming Outlander is only marginally interesting, but takes up a staggeringly large portion of the book.  I think that these two are genuinely friends, but the way that they go at each other is not entertaining for me...it is distracting and bit like trying to referee with 13 year old boys.  Not a fun experience.

The subtitle mentions whiskey, but the most telling whiskey information is about one of the author's own brand (perhaps, also, that the authors drink too much of it).  Other than that, whiskey mentions seem to be focused around what one keeps in a flask in a kilt.  The "warfare" was most of the good material--not that I enjoy warfare, but it was interesting material that kept me engaged.  The "adventure" focused mainly on how uncomfortable they were, though they seemed to look at it in hindsight as a great adventure.  The "great adventure" part, however, was not emphasized.

With a few interesting nuggets, it is not worth the time unless you want to read more about these two actors from Outlander.

Think, Simon Blackburn

 

Think: A compelling introduction to philosophy by Simon Blackburn is a book that was on a reading list to prep for a degree in philosophy.

Started: 6/15/2021
Completed: 12/26/2021
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: A Reading List

Review:

The title call is answered in this book.  Covering thought from the ancient Greeks to contemporary philosophers (not in a timeline), Blackburn provides an overview of thought on a variety of issues.  I like that Blackburn started with Descartes and the basic question of how one knows one exists.  To me, this is a logical starting point for philosophy, although it was assumed for a very long time.  The effort to understand the word outside of the individual is a window into both historical and contemporary thought.  The desire and effort to persuade others of an opinion and, finally, what to do with thinking is a natural progression.  Excellent.

Palmares, Gayl Jones

 

Palmares by Gayl Jones was on a best books of 2021 list from the New York Times.

Started: 12/23/2021
Completed: 12/25/2021 (did not finish)
Recommendation: No Comment
Recommended By: The New York Times

Review:

This book addresses slavery in Brazil as a lived condition.  The book opens with abuse and rape (as well as many of the other common attributes of slavery) and I just could not stomach it.  It is all perceived from the eyes of a 7 year old whose marginal family is torn asunder in the first quarter of the book.  I recognize the need to have such first hand accounts (even fictional), but I just can no longer stomach them.  Thus, I cannot comment reasonably on the quality of the book.

Cutting for Stone, Abraham Verghese

 

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese was recommended by my wife.

Started: 12/11/2021
Completed: 12/23/2021
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: my wife

Review:

This is not an easy book to read.  The book itself is extremely well written which means that each word is precious and this makes it harder to read.  The plots and subplots are complicated, dynamic, and largely unpredictable which makes it harder to read.  The characters are complicated, messy, and true to themselves (nothing is particularly jarring despite several things being surprising) which makes it harder to read.  Many parts of the book are flat-out sad and that makes it hard to read.  For my money, this is an excellent book.  It is worth the effort to read.

The Fated Sky, Mary Robinette Kowal

 

The Fated Sky by Mary Robinette Kowal is the second lady astronaut novel.

Started: 11/15/2021
Completed: 12/19/2021
Recommendation: Mild Recommendation
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

Some parts of this book are excellent (what is the proper way to handle a dead crew member in long distance space travel?).  Others are mostly annoying ("I miss my husband" is both obvious and it just is said over and over).  The end of the novel sort of suggests that there was much more, but the book was getting too long.  Why they chopped up the ending the way that they did is hard to understand.  It seems like there was a huge amount of detail about some of the crew members that was just left empty.  I picked up the next book, but I'm not sure if I will continue the series past that book unless things improve.

The Legend of the Celtic Stone, Michael Phillips

The Legend of the Celtic Stone by Michael Phillips is the first volume of the Caledonia series.  It has been so long, I cannot remember why I picked up this book.  I think it was at a used book store in Mt. Pleasant, SC, but I am not certain.

Started: 6/22/2019

Completed: 12/18/2021 (Did not finish)

Recommendation: Not Recommended

Recommended By:  Nobody

Review:

I started this book, but quickly ran into a slew of names, locations, and actions that I had a hard time keeping in mind.  I have stopped and started it several times over the last few years.  I hit a section that was largely transliterated brogue.  It felt like I was reading As I Lay Dying and I finally flipped ahead randomly in the book to see if this continued and, indeed, it did.  This is just too much effort for what I intended to be a simple, easy nighttime read.  I have put it aside for the last time.

iWoz, Wozniak and Smith

 

iWoz: How I invented the personal computer, co-founded Apple, and had fun doing it by Steve Wozniak and Gina Smith.  I kind of feel like it would be good to know more about this founder of Apple.

Started: 12/11/2021
Completed: 12/11/2021 (Did not finish)
Recommendation:  Not Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

I just could not stand more of this book.  I am no longer interested in this arrogant man.

Last Argument of Kings, Joe Abercrombie

 

Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie is the last book in the First Law trilogy.

Started: 12/5/2021
Completed: 12/11/2021
Recommendation: Mild Recommendation
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

The characters and environments are richly developed, but the level of violence is overwhelming.  I would not normally have continued with this book had I not read the previous ones in the series.  So, mild recommendation.  Less graphic violence and this would be highly recommended, but I get how that would be a challenge.

Peril, Woodward and Costa

 

Peril by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa is the latest from Woodward.  Cannot seem to look away...

Started: 11/29/2021
Completed: 12/5/2021
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

This is an interesting look at the transition and beginning of Biden's presidency.  Trump remains a scary dude and I hope he does not come around to Graham's approach and become a real factor in the 2024 campaign.  I hope he keeps griping about the election being stolen and his relevance gradually disappears as his funds run out.

Dirty Rubles, Greg Olear

 

Dirty Rubles:  An introduction to Trump/Russia by Greg Olear is a book recommended in New Republic.

Started: 11/26/2021
Completed: 12/1/2021
Recommendation: Not Recommended
Recommended By: New Republic

Review:

This book is really dated and its sources are mostly the stuff I already have read.  Nothing surprising, nothing that hadn't already been put together.  Just the timing of when I read it more than anything else.

The Last Graduate, Naomi Novik

 

The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik is the next in the Scholomance series.

Started: 11/26/2021
Completed: 11/29/2021
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

I really enjoyed this coming of age story.  The characters developed well and their odd adaptations to an odd reality was done very well.  The cliff hanger, however, is going to drive me crazy for a year.  ARRRGH!

Matrix, Lauren Groff

 

Matrix by Lauren Groff is a book I'm not entirely sure why I picked up.

Started: 11/25/2021
Completed: 11/26/2021
Recommendation: Highly recommended
Recommended By: National Book Award

Review:

This is an odd book.  The story is rife with character development and the double entendre of "matrix" being a mother, a complicated situation, a way of looking at the labyrinth, and as a reference to the Virgin Mary makes the book rich.  There are interesting perspectives (e.g. man is made of dust, but woman is made from bone) and it is interesting to view the miracles, visions, and church plans from the view of practicality and how these might be used to create a mystique that helps provide a supernatural grandeur to simple practicalities.  I also really like the way that Groff has demonstrated how each character comes into her own and deals with the situations that each character faces becoming oddly religious as a result of their own failings.

Midnight in Washington, Adam Schiff

 

Midnight in Washington: How we almost lost our democracy and still could by Adam Schiff.

Started: 11/18/2021
Completed: 11/25/2021
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

Schiff humanized himself immediately by putting a dad joke in the dedication.  He clearly has a great editor.

This book explains a lot of the behind-the-scenes work on the first impeachment.  It also explains some of the thinking behind how Schiff and others dealt with the former president.  This is not a comprehensive query, but it is a real-time effort by an active participant to start building the historical record and to start identifying what we need to do for the future.

Travels with George, Nathaniel Philbrick

 

Travels with George:  In search of Washington and his legacy by Nathaniel Philbrick.  I like the way Philbrick writes and I also am more interested in understanding Washington as a human being, so this book seemed like a good fit.

Started: 11/14/2021
Completed: 11/19/2021
Recommendation: Not Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

OK, so not really a biography of Washington, though it does sort of stroll through parts of his life.  It seems like I get to know Philbrick's dog better than Washington.  Philbrick even identifies himself as a bore recounting his harrowing sailing story, but he put it in the book.  So, this travelogue is boring and it needs to be enhanced with something.  I'm just not sure it is Philbrick's dog, lovelorn wife, or even his 5th great uncle.  I was hoping this would be more of a book about how Washington's trips brought the country together and while this is addressed, there is no compelling case that says it worked--heck it is unclear that this was Washington's intent (instead of trying to just get away from the daily obligations of governing--Washington seemed happiest on the move).

What is Washington's legacy, the purported purpose of this book?  Maybe Washington, DC...that is about the best conclusion I could reach from what I had read.  I knew that Washington did not travel with a dog.  I knew that the president had a number of myths around his life (e.g. the "just a man" statements) and that he had taken a difficult journey while trying to stay at taverns (so that it did not seem like a trip taken by a king to his court members' houses).  But of his legacy?  Little.  I cannot recommend this book in any way.

The Calculating Stars, Mary Robinette Kowal

 

The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal is sort of an alternate history science fiction novel and is the first "A Lady Astronaut Novel."

Started: 10/16/2021
Completed: 11/15/2021
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: The author of this series is up for a Hugo with the most recent book in the series, so I wanted to read the series (and maybe go to the conference this winter where I could vote)

Review:

The premise is a good one.  As a result of events described early in the book, the "calculators" are women (just like in the early part of NASA) and not machines.  This wedge is used to leverage women into the space program.  The book is well written and it looks at the issues of all kinds of biases.  The romance seems, well, 1950ish, but I wasn't in it for the romance anyway!

All The Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr

 

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr just has so many good reviews, I had to read it.

Started: 11/7/2021
Completed: 11/14/2021
Recommendation: Mild recommendation
Recommended By: Pulitzer

Review:

The story of the stone is an odd red herring throughout the novel.  I don't really think it helps tell the story beyond an encounter toward the end of World War II.  I found it to be a non-innocent addition to the story as though it is much more meaningful then it is.

There is an odd repeated sense of decimation and loss (odd because it seems that there is no bottom).  It seems that horror and loss are components required for a Pulitzer prize.  I had not wanted to read this book partly for that reason.  There is little doubt that Doerr is gifted and builds characters, places, and addresses issues of large moment artfully.  It would be nice, however, if that could all be done without the fear of imminent death.  Maybe, also, I'm a little tired of coming of age stories.

Under the Whispering Door, TJ Klune

 

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune is the latest from Klune.  I like the way that this author writes.

Started: 11/3/2021
Completed: 11/7/2021
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

Some of the ideas that Klune addresses are truly novel.  This take on ghosts is really wonderful and I enjoyed the new ideas that are brought out.  The look at the nature of death--as the ending of one step in a journey and the beginning of another is comforting.  Frankly, such an approach is part of why so many religions do what they do.  This take on change and finding one's self is really quite good and well explained.  The book is good and I enjoyed it.

Sword Stone Table, Krishna and Northington

 

Sword Stone Table: Old legends new voices edited by Swapna Krishna and Jenn Northington is a new take on King Arthur.

Started: 10/28/2021
Completed: Did not finish
Recommendation: Not Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

These were interesting stories, but they all depended upon the reader already knowing the story of King Arthur.  Fair enough.  The problem, however, is that characters tend to end up in ruts.  Maybe that isn't a fair critique, but it is mine.  I just couldn't finish it.

Bury Your Dead, Louise Penny

 

Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny is the next Inspector Gamash novel.

Started: 10/22/2021
Completed: 10/28/2021
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: My Parents

Review:

I liked this book better than the last, which had me worried.  The idea of Gamash as an action hero is a little hard to wrap my head around and I don't think Penny intended that, but it comes off that way (of course contrasted repeatedly with his fear of heights).  The mystery in this novel was many fold and it is nice that this novel was layered among several characters, several subplots, and several locations.  As the book began I was worried that Three Pines would be abandoned, but that did not happen and familiar characters returned.

The Ship, Antonia Honeywell

 

The Ship by Antonia Honeywell is a book about a dystopian future.  I have largely given up these books, but this one has been in the stacks to read for a long time, so I must have purchased it at a time when I still read this type of stuff.

Started: 10/17/2021
Completed: 10/22/2021
Recommendation: Not Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

This story is modelled on a traditional coming of age story.  It seems like a petty, small story of a petty, small main character in a horrid situation.  I did not enjoy any of it.

The Giants of Irish Literature, George O'Brien

 

The Giants of Irish Literature: Wilde, Yeats, Joyce, and Beckett by George O'Brien is a series of lectures by a Georgetown expert on Irish literature.

Started: 10/3/2021
Completed: 10/21/2021
Recommendation: Not Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

The material itself is interesting, but the absolutely horrible delivery by O'Brien makes it almost impossible to listen to these lectures.  I literally used them to help me fall asleep on those days when I found sleep challenging.  The only reason I was able to complete this set of lectures at all was a strong desire to try to understand more about Irish literature.  I cannot recommend these lectures to anyone ever.

The Lincoln Highway, Amor Towles

 

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles is the most recent book by Amor Towles.

Started: 10/12/2021
Completed: 10/17/2021
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

Towles has a way with words and his characters are vivid.  The book leaves no string neatly tied.  Every story line is some sort of unlimited possibility and only one character's story has an ending.  I found the change of character from chapter to chapter enticing and the indication that one of the characters in the book wrote it (though that seems quite impossible--it remains yet another tantalizing possibility).  The book is quite compelling and each character seems to explore a fundamental flaw, though none completely.  This is well worth the time for any reader, but particularly for those who enjoy classical philosophy.

Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Thomas Piketty

 

Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty has been hailed by a bunch of people as the key to current economics.

Started: 7/8/2021
Completed: 10/15/2021
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By:  Nobody in particular...keeps showing up in articles I read

Words for which I sought Help:

lacuna -- an unfilled space or interval; a gap

Review:

"When the rate of return on capital exceeds the rate of growth of output and income...capitalism automatically generates arbitrary and unsustainable inequalities that radically undermine the meritocratic values on which democratic societies are based."

This book explains, in good detail, how capitalism can destroy democracy and how democracy can bring capitalism in line.  Of course, the risk is serious and imminent.  The book is about 10 years old, but still holds up well.  I would really like to see more about how the most recent changes in the economy effect what Piketty says.

Democracy in America, Alexis De Tocqueville

 

Democracy in America by Alexis De Tocqueville is so important to any student of the revolution that I thought it was important to read it.

Started: 10/10/2021
Completed: 10/12/2021
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

I understand, now, why this book is referenced with reverence.  It contains amazing insights and accurately reasoned conclusions.  It is not all gold, but the mining to retrieve excellent material is trivial.  In particular, the argument for the division of labor between men and women which leaves women constrained to the home is, at best, simplistic.  It seems that when confronting bias, Tocqueville sort of went with his gut and the concept of women having a constrained life aligned with that gut.  It did so to the point of willful ignorance (claiming that women did not toil in the fields when most, if not all, did at least at harvest--surely the slaves he observed included women in the fields).  In any case, I benefited highly from the book and will keep in mind some of the insights--particularly those gleaned from the observation of the desire for equality and for freedom.

Time and Again, Jack Finney

 

Time and Again by Jack Finney is a book that later served as the basis for a movie.  I read a little about the movie and it got mediocre reviews, but it gave me enough to interest me in the book.  Finney is better known for Invasion of the Body Snatchers.  There is a sequel to this book published just before Finney's death.

Started: 10/9/2021
Completed: 10/10/2021
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

This is a decent story, but not terribly compelling.  Part of this might be because I have read so many of the time travel genre that the miracle of time travel does not draw my attention as it might once have.  Thus, the method of time travel is more interesting and the impact of time travel was also interesting.  This is a unique form of time travel and it seems that the consequences are brutal.

Charged, Emily Bazelon

 

Charged: The new movement to transform American prosecution and end mass incarceration by Emily Bazelon has been on my list for a while and, when I acquired it, it moved to my "must read" pile.  It was subsequently buried by a ton of other "must read" books as I tried to understand the Trump administration.

Started: 10/3/2021
Completed: 10/9/2021
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

I now understand two sides of what keeps people incarcerated.  I learned about how fees tie people down in A Pound of Flesh and now I understand how prosecutors use heavy charges in order to force guilty pleas.  Through jury duty, I have learned how little evidence is required in some cases and how much evidence in others in order to go to trial.  Through the Innocence Project and Just Mercy I have learned about truly wrongful convictions.  Through books like The Sum of Us, A Peculiar Indifference, and Golden Gates I have come to understand how people are stuck in positions from which they cannot possibly unstick themselves.  People (like James Comey and Sonya Sotomayor) who understand and operate within the system have concluded that it is broken in profound ways and the books I have read explain that in great detail.

This book looks at two people in order to illustrate the nature of problems in the justice system.  Both look at ways of dealing with crime.  The first is a case of divergence--giving someone a way other than jail to deal with criminal activity--and the second is a case of wrongful conviction and withholding evidence from the defense.  Both cases aptly described the broader issues in micro that the whole book addresses in macro.  The book is very well written and extremely compelling.  It would be good for everyone to read this book.

the Empress of Salt and Fortune, Nghi Vo

 

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo is one of the Hugo award finalists.  It is the first book in the Singing Hills Cycle.

Started: 10/3/2021
Completed: 10/3/2021
Recommendation: Mild Recommendation
Recommended By: Hugo Awards

Review:

This story is told through a series of found objects.  The narrator seems to be a collector of stories and the subject is at the end of life telling the stories of her life.  It helps that these stories, literally, define a kingdom.  I did not find the stories themselves particularly compelling.  I did, however, really enjoy the ending.

Network Effect, Martha Wells

 

Network Effect by Martha Wells is in the Murderbot Diaries series, but I read it without the rest of the series due to the Hugo Award nomination.

Started: 9/30/2021

Completed: 10/3/2021

Recommendation: Recommended

Recommended By: Hugo Awards

Review:

I like the way that this story is told.  Trying to see the point of view of a "construct" (more machine then human, so cyborg doesn't seem right).  I enjoyed the book and would recommend it.  Having multiple copies of the "construct" made things odd and throwing in the addition of an alien life form brought a lot of complexity.  I probably would have done better with this book if I had read the beginning of the series so that the numerous "new" things wouldn't have seemed so new.

Upright Women Wanted, Sarah Gailey

 

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey is a novel that was nominated for the Hugo Awards.

Started: 9/29/2021
Completed: 9/30/2021
Recommendation: Not Recommended
Recommended By: Hugo Awards

Review:

At base, this is a puppy love story.  The story opens, however, with a hanging of the protagonist's girlfriend.  The hanging leads to the protagonist running off to be a librarian (that part was funny and clever) in a dystopian future that looks kind of like the 1830s.  Beyond that, the hanging largely loses its significance and the protagonist falls in love with the next lesbian (non-gender binary, so, I don't pretend to know the correct term, but I went with lesbian to indicate that "they" are a "she" when in town) she meets.  I just didn't buy it and found it hard to be caught by any of the characters.  I think it would have been a stronger book as an 1830s Western with an odd group of all female cowboys/vigilantes.  Aside from the initial laugh, I'm not sure that the whole librarian concept brought much to the game (of course, the librarians are hugely subversive under a façade of "uprightness").

Riot Baby, Tochi Onyebuchi

 

Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi is one of the Hugo Award books.

Started: 09/28/2021
Completed: 9/29/2021
Recommendation: Not Recommended
Recommended By: Hugo Awards

Review:

I just did not understand where this story was going.  It felt hard to get to know the characters as the story switched perspectives a lot for a short story.  It kind of felt to me like Onyebuchi had a story that was written and then he was told to make one of the characters a witch and then he switched around what had been flashbacks from yet another character perspective into readings by the witch.  I dunno, didn't catch me the right way.  The start was really good...probably would have been a better story if the story had developed more directly from there.

Shorefall, Robert Jackson Bennett

 

Shorefall by Robert Jackson Bennett is the next book in The Founder's Trilogy.

Started: 9/23/2021
Completed: 9/28/2021
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

I really like the underlying concepts explored in this book.  I disliked that near the end the concept of twinning seems to not apply like it should, but it is truly a remarkable concept.  I really  like that the focus of a lesbian relationship is love and not sex.  It would be easy for Bennett to slip into some sort of voyeurism that the story line does not need and, instead, let the story focus on a loving, supportive relationship.  This book felt like the trilogy writ small as there is an early climax about midway through that sets up the rest of the book and leaves the reader breathless through the end.  I have a feeling that the trilogy will do the same with this book as the early climax. 

Nightmare Scenario, Abutaleb and Paletta

 

Nightmare Scenario:  Inside the Trump administration's response to the pandemic that changed history by Yasmeen Abutaleb and Damian Paletta came up in the Washington Post's book review.

Started: 9/18/2021
Completed: 9/23/2021
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: The Washington Post

Review:

I have come to realize that, for the most part, journalists treat a chapter in a book the same way that they treat a column in a paper.  Maybe an extended column.  This means that major players are reintroduced repeatedly at the beginning of each chapter.  Some exceptions are made (Trump, for example, is not reintroduced as President), but I have read enough books written by journalists that I have come to realize this as a consistent behavior.  In addition, "background" information is provided at the front of each chapter which serves as a rehash of material provided in previous chapters.  This makes it feel like the book spends half of its time repeating itself and sometimes it does this repetition multiple times.  It is frustrating to read a book like this.  Several times I went forward and backward in the audio thinking that I had mistakenly pushed a button and jumped back.  On the bright side, it makes it much easier to fall asleep when listening (though much harder to find your place when you wake up).

Those are the faults.  On the bright side, there is a lot of information in the book and I had not heard all of it before.  It helps that the information is all in one place on one topic rather than the scatter of news that comes in daily.  It helped focus my attention on the issues being presented.  Learning how the Trump response was a failure despite genuine efforts to get things done helps point out why having people in high places who do not understand governing in general is a bad idea.

Ring Shout, P. Djèlí Clark

 

Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark is a finalist for the Hugo Award.

Started: 9/17/2021
Completed: 9/18/2021
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Hugo Award

Review:

What a great book.  Clark puts together an excellent story line that suggests the KKK has been infiltrated by aliens (?) and puts a group of black women at the center of the fight against the aliens.  The way that Clark makes it clear there is little respect for the human members of the KKK is excellent.  The heroes of this story carry you with them and the battle is fantastic.  After reading the book, you notice the teeth in the eyeholes of the cover.  Really great detail.

Finna, Nino Cipri

 

Finna by Nino Cipri is a book nominated for a Hugo, so I want to read it before voting.

Started: 9/17/2021
Completed: 9/17/2021
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: Hugo Awards

Review:

This was a good and well written story.  The use of they/them pronouns threw me several times as I thought on some occasions that the reference was to a plurality and not and individual.  When I took the position that the author was going to have to make it clear to me when it was a plurality ("they both" or "they all" or something like that), I had a much easier time.  The way that the metaverses work was coherent and sensible.  It was worth the read.

Kill Switch, Adam Jentleson

 

Kill Switch:  The rise of the modern senate and the crippling of American democracy by Adam Jentleson came up in a magazine I read, but I cannot remember which one.  It spells out how the filibuster is a huge problem.

Started: 9/2/2021
Completed: 9/17/2021
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

It seems that the filibuster is largely a tool of the white South.  It has been used to its fullest extent by the Republicans and one might argue that is because, as the author puts it, conservatives "stand astride the river of time and yell, 'Stop!'"  It should be a no-brainer for Democrats to kill the filibuster--it is a tool that does not serve them well.  Jentleson suggests that concomitant with the death of the filibuster should come a requirement that senators spend 5 hours on the floor daily.  I cannot imagine that happening, but do think it would be a good move.  Meanwhile, with the death of the filibuster should come statehood for DC (which would help Democrats now) and probably Puerto Rico if they want it.

This book does have an interesting look at the history of the filibuster and the Dixicrats role in its creation.

The Brutal Telling, Louise Penny

 

The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny is the latest in the Armand Gamash series.

Started: 8/29/2021
Completed: 9/2/2021
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: My parents

Review:

I did not enjoy this book as much as the others in the series so far.  It plodded and, in hindsight, the omniscient author decidedly withheld important information.  More facts were revealed about the little world of Three Pines and my heart broke for Ruth--something I never anticipated.  Though it has been teased, after this book, I wonder if the Gamash family could reasonably find a place in Three Pines.  My respect for Peter has increased (overall) over the course of the books and I wonder if that will continue.  He always seems to find a way to make the path to full respectability bumpy.

The Color Of Magic, Terry Pratchett

 

The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett was recommended by a friend, John.  He has a good sense of humor and said it was one of the funniest books he had read.  I have a feeling I've read a book in the Discworld series before, but I'm not certain.

Started: 8/19/2021

Completed: 8/31/2021

Recommendation: Not Recommended

Recommended By: John W.

Words for which I sought Help:

barquentine -- a sailing ship similar to a barque but with only the foremast square-rigged and the remaining masts rigged fore and aft

baulk -- (noun) a roughly squared timber beam

echinoderm -- a marine invertebrate of the phylum Echinodermata, such as a starfish, sea urchin, or sea cucumber

eyot -- a small island in a river

ganef -- a dishonest or unscrupulous person

hamadryad -- a nymph who lives in a tree and dies when the tree dies

obloquy -- strong public condemnation

rota -- a list showing when each of a number of people has to do a particular job

treacle -- a thick, sticky dark syrup made from partly refined sugar; molasses

Review:

This book is silly rather than comical.  There were a few good one-liners and the personification of death was exceedingly well done.  For the most part, however, this felt like a series of disjoint stories that hinged on outrageous descriptions of unbelievable things.  Not my cup of tea.

Unmaking the Presidency, Susan Hennessey and Benjamin Wittes

 

Unmaking the Presidency: Donald Trump's war on the world's most powerful office by Susan Hennessey and Benjamin Wittes is another Trump book.  I cannot remember why I have put it on my list.

Started: 8/28/2021
Completed: Did not finish
Recommendation: Not Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Words for which I sought Help:

mendacious -- not telling the truth; lying

Review:

I just could not finish another book categorizing how big a liar Trump is.  I have read/heard all of this before and the conclusions were speculative when written part way through Trump's term in office.  Maybe if I had read it when it was published, I would have finished it, but, at this point, I have heard enough of how awful Trump is.

Come Tumbling Down, Seanan McGuire

 

Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire is the 5th book in the Wayward Children series.  I do not normally jump into the middle of a series, but this book is part of the Hugo Awards and I don't know if I will have time to read the whole series before I should vote.

Started: 8/27/2021
Completed: 8/28/2021
Recommendation: Not Recommended
Recommended By: Hugo Nomination

Review:

There is an overlap between science fiction/fantasy and horror.  Tamsyn Muir is able to cross back and forth across this overlap without losing me.  McGuire lost me on the horror side.  I did not enjoy this book.

The Hidden Palace, Helene Wecker

 

The Hidden Palace:  A novel of the golem and the jinni by Helene Wecker.  This book is a follow-up to The Golem and the Jinni.

Started: 8/23/2021
Completed: 8/27/2021
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

This book picks up cleanly from the previous and we learn more about the nature of a Golem and the nature of a Jinni.  New characters are introduced and old characters are revisited.  What a fabulous tale!  I enjoyed every minute and the rich background of WWI helped create a non-dominating, but familiar background.  Well done!

Warriors of the Storm, Bernard Cornwell

 

Warriors of the Storm by Bernard Cornwell is the next book in the Last Kingdom Series.

Started: 8/20/2021
Completed: 8/23/2021
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

The series continues to hold up!  Enjoyed this one and despite it being a bloody book, it was much less than usual and that was, frankly, welcome.

I Alone Can Fix It, Carol Leonning and Philip Rucker

 

I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year by Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker is another Trump book.  My cousin read this and recommended it.

Started: 8/13/2021
Completed: 8/20/2021
Recommendation: Mild Recommendation
Recommended By: Cousin Charles

Review:

I have to admit, I picked up this book with trepidation.  I really just have had enough reading about the former guy and have no particular desire to hear even more how horrible he was.  This kind of information is destabilizing in my life and A Very Stable Genius reinforced numerous things that I thought might be true.  So, everything you thought might be happening with Trump in his final year was.

This book is not comprehensive (so much crap was happening), but it hits the highlights and focuses on  Trump's obsession with falsehoods that benefit him.  I'm really tired of him.

Piranesi, Susanna Clarke

 

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke is a book I picked up so that I would be ready to vote on the Hugo awards this year.  I had a hard time with Jonathan Strange and Dr. Norrell before I finally gave up.  I was not planning to read this book, but I decided to attend DisCon III virtually and a benefit of attending the conference is that I can vote on the Hugo awards, so I thought I should read the nominees.

Started: 8/13/2021
Completed: 8/20/2021
Recommendation: Not Recommended
Recommended By: Hugo Awards

Review:

I dislike being lost and I was still lost half way through the book (arguably until the appearance of The Prophet).  Even at the end, I was still lost.  I disliked this book although the world was vivid and the characters were complex, I couldn't bring myself to like any of the characters in any way.

Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From the Beaten Track, Richard Feynman

 

Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From the Beaten Track:  The Letters of Richard P. Feynman by Richard P. Feynman is another book about my favorite physicist.

Started: 8/9/2021
Completed: 8/13/2021
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

I am quite certain that Dr. Feynman would have had no interest in me, but he is one person I wish I had met and gotten to know.  At this point, it will remain forever one-sided.  The last letter addresses, at least to some degree, what it might have been like.  I shared the concerns expressed by the parent and was comforted by the response from Feynman though the time for decisions/actions had passed by the time I read this, I was comforted by the thought that I had acted as Feynman advised this other parent.  It created an artificial relationship.  Really glad I chose to read another account of Feynman.

Inventing a Nation, Gore Vidal

 

Inventing a Nation:  Washington, Adams, Jefferson by Gore Vidal is a take on the creation of the United States that I didn't realize I had missed.

Started: 8/8/2021
Completed:
Recommendation:
Recommended By:

Words for which I Sought Help:

etiolate -- to deprive of natural vigor; to make feeble

hypergamous -- marriage into a higher caste or group

Lady Potiphar syndrome -- This appears to be a term coined by Vidal.  Potiphar was a minor figure in the Bible and his wife was said to have accused Joseph (at the time a Hebrew slave boy) of untoward advances.  This resulted in Joseph being put in jail.  Later Jewish analysis, suggests that Joseph was attractive to all the women in court and that Lady Potiphar's wife probably wanted to be with him like everyone else, but could not be.  Within context, it appears that Vidal appears this to mean that one is looking at a situation through a lens of love and, perhaps, that this results in a false accusation.  In the book, Vidal uses it to refer to Mrs. Adams who speaks poorly of Mr. Hamilton to Mr. Adams (who is himself inclined to believe that Hamilton is dastardly).  Thus, Mrs. Adams (Lady Potiphar) speaks poorly of Mr. Hamilton (Joseph), though she does not love Mr. Hamilton (or at least, Vidal does not make this case), her love is for Mr. Adams.  To me, this is a tortured reference and perhaps Vidal was simply inclined to create a new term, but strained to do so within the context of this book.

lapidary -- relating to stone and gems and the work involved in engraving, cutting, or polishing

lubricious -- offensively displaying or intended to arouse sexual desire

Review:

I did not realize that Gore Vidal and JFK hung out.  I also did not realize how strongly Vidal disliked Bush's policies--heck, Republicans in general.  This book is an excellent overview of the three founding fathers and a brief history of how they interacted and effected one-another.  Hamilton haunts the narrative.  I enjoyed this quick read.

There There, Tommy Orange

 

There There by Tommy Orange is a book about the genocide of the Indian in the United States.

Started: 8/7/2021
Completed: 8/8/2021
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: None

Review:

This book tracks a whole bunch (10?) of characters leading up to a pow-wow.  The characters are interwoven through community and native American interests.  Their personal stories mirror some of the larger stories in native American history.  This book is well written and the stories are quite complex.  It is worth the read.

Dear Committee Members, Julie Schumacher

 

Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher is a book recommended in The Week.  I need to have some more books with a little bit of humor in them to read just before I go to sleep in an effort to fight the negative thoughts that go with jury duty.

Started: 8/5/2021
Completed: 8/7/2021
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: The Week

Words for which I sought Help:

aphasia -- inability (or impaired ability) to understand or produce speech, as a result of brain damage

auto-da-fé -- the burning of a heretic by the Spanish Inquisition

divagate -- stray or digress

dybbuk -- a malevolent wandering spirit that enters and possesses the body of a living person until exorcised

fanfaronade -- arrogant or boastful talk

mephitic -- foul-smelling; noxious

panegyric -- a public speech or published text in praise of someone or something

yclept -- by the name of

Review:

Basically a fun, easy read.  This series of letters from an English professor of dubious character who seems to genuinely believe in his field of study and good students is an entertaining walk through the agony of letters of referral.  A few moments of laughing out loud punctuated by a smile.

The Deep, Rivers Solomon

 

The Deep by Rivers Solomon is a book I think I read about in the Washington Post, then my wife later mentioned it to me as something I might be interested in reading.

Started: 8/6/2021
Completed: 8/7/2021
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: The Washington Post and my wife

Review:

This is a very odd book and that is part of its charm.  The idea that a people could desire to live without knowledge of their history and yet crave that history is one of many perplexing contradictions that litter this little book.  That this is tied to a song and an album adds layers without explanation and provides another layer of complexity.  I'm not entirely sure what to do with all of it.  It does make me think and Solomon does a great job of making a compelling story.  I think it is the reading done by Diggs that makes the story a story of a people and not a scream.  This story is also riffled with making lemonade from lemons with the understanding is that lemonade is both bitter and sweet.  For such a little book, there is a lot "beneath the surface."

The Return of Depression Economics, Paul Krugman

 

The Return of Depression Economics and The Crisis of 2008 by Paul Krugman was a Nobel prize winner, so it is good to pay attention.

Started: 8/3/2021
Completed: 8/6/2021
Recommendation: Recommended (but realize it is dated)
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

The basic economic theory remains good and the analysis of how the currency was manipulated was fantastic.  I especially enjoyed the how Krugman explains how Supply Side economics got muddled by the time it got to policy.

A Rule Against Murder, Louise Penny

 

A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny is the next in the Amand Gamash books.

Started: 7/29/2021
Completed: 8/3/2021
Recommendation: Highly recommended
Recommended By: My parents

Review:

I really enjoy Louise Penny.  Such a fantastic author who builds a rich story line and still leaves parts uninvestigated...maybe for a future book?  The visit to the mansion on the lake in this book was really enjoyable and I called the sugar from the start--though I mostly get these murder mysteries wrong.