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.

The Heavens, Sandra Newman

 

The Heavens by Sandra Newman is a book that I saw reviewed in The Week.

Started: 7/26/2021
Completed: Did not finish
Recommendation: I HATED THIS BOOK
Recommended By: The Week

Review:

I could not stand the way this author went and grabbed the thesaurus at every opportunity.  The plot manipulations were transparent and useless.  I will never read another book by this author.