Dead Wake, Erik Larson

 

Dead Wake:  The last crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson

Started: 12/24/2022
Completed: 12/29/2022
Recommendation: Mild Recommendation
Recommended By: My mother

Review:

I like the way that Erik Larson writes and that is why this book gets a mild recommendation.  He did a good job of moving perspectives and coalescing disparate stories from the numerous passengers.  The problem, in my eyes, is that he didn't really address the consequence of the Lusitania being sunk.  He addressed the aftermath, but the real story, in my opinion, is how it changed the course of the US entrance into World War I.  Here, it seems almost incidental.  We get details (like Wilson golfing the next day) and a gaffe from the German PR machine, but it isn't clear that the Lusitania mattered.  Maybe it didn't (that is not what was taught in school), but I'm not clear on that score either.  As a result the book is both richly detailed and suffering from a lack of detail.  Ah well. 

Our Missing Hearts, Celeste Ng

 

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng

Started: 12/20/2022
Completed: 12/24/2022
Recommendation: Mild Recommendation
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

The writing is good, but I was not terribly fond of where the plot went.  It is important to understand how the US government has used children to enforce "morality."  This story, however, is largely told from the children's point of view and nobody gets what they want (not the government, not the parents, and surely not the children).  In that sense the book sort of feels like a twisted pile of anxiety.  Nothing seems to work for anyone with an impending sense that there is a general heading toward the authoritarian type of government that shows up in the Handmaid's Tale.  I don't know what to say or think, but I definitely did not find this book uplifting.

The Revolutionary, Stacy Schiff

 

The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams by Stacy Schiff is another biography of a founder.  I find these compelling.

Started: 12/11/2022
Completed: 12/19/2022
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Words for which I sought help:

emendation -- the process of making a revision or a correction to a text.

Review:

I have never read a review of Samuel Adams and, sadly, knew him more for beer.  A three term governor of Massachusetts and signer of the Constitution.  I know a lot about John Adams, but his older cousin has escaped my notice.  This was an interesting biography and I feel like I learned a lot.  In point of fact, however, Schiff has little history with which to work as his papers were largely destroyed (by him and others) and his work was, perforce, under the radar.  I had no awareness of his involvement (purported or otherwise) in the Boston Tea Party or as the owner of the Boston Gazette.

All The Devils Are Here, Louise Penny

 

All The Devils Are Here by Louise Penny is the next book in the Armand Gamash series.

Started: 12/5/2022
Completed: 12/11/2022
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: My Parents

Review:

Once again, Penny delivers.  This book had a little more action then I like.  It also plucked at heart strings which I kind of realized from the start.  Putting Gamash in Paris can only be for some deeper look at Daniel's character.  Yes, Annie is having a baby, but that immediately felt like a pretense.  Penny did pull at heart strings and she plucked rather unendingly leaving me emotionally wrung out by the end.  That isn't all bad.

Servants of the Damned, David Enrich

 

Servants of the Damned:  Giant law firms, Donald Trump, and the corruption of justice by David Enrich

Started: 11/30/2022
Completed: 12/5/2022
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: My wife

Review:

This book made me angry.  It is another example of too much power being concentrated in the hands of a few via monstrous wealth.  It did show me that corporations are a much larger problem then I thought.  It is not simply greed, but the dismantling of our society in the interest of corporations.  Every few minutes, I was astounded by what was being recounted.  Most of this is one law firm, Jones-Day.  It is shocking and unlikely to be typical.  Just takes my breath away and makes my head spin.

Elektra, Jennifer Saint

 

Elektra by Jennifer Saint

Started: 11/27/2022

Completed: 11/30/2022

Recommendation: Highly Recommended

Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

I have never really studied the Iliad.  I knew it only in broad swipes and this book fills in the details in a far less ponderous manner than the original Greek.  I knew nothing of Elektra.  For that matter, I did not realize that Helen was sister to Agamemnon's wife!  This book seems to follow the plot as outlined in Aeschylus' play Agamemnon though I wouldn't know as I have not read the play.   The changing perspectives (there were several narrators) was nice in what is truly a difficult story to wrap one's head around (surely easier in Ancient Greece for those already familiar with the broad strokes).  I think this is kind of like the way that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead relies upon a certain understanding of Macbeth.  I enjoyed the retelling and, therefore, recommend it for those with a passing familiarity with the Iliad.  I did not find the characters to be particularly deep and the only development seemed to be with Clytemnestra, whose fatal flaw seems to be love of her children(?).

The Relentless Moon, Mary Robinette Kowal

 

The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal is the third book in A Lady Astronaut Series.

Started: 7/6/2022
Completed: 11/27/2022
Recommendation: Mild Recommendation
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

I did not like the change in narrator for this book.  I have consistently found this character off-putting and truly did not find her less so inside her own head.  Some of the details revealed helped explain why she was able to cope with the astronaut program (and, oddly, other details made it clear she should not have done well).  The "fog of war" approach to different aspects of the astronaut corps not really knowing what other parts were doing as well as sketch communications worked, but it just made me yearn for the smaller scope books which focused on one person and her effort to do one thing--be an astronaut--instead of the narrator for this book who seemed to be doing, well, almost everything.  Being one of the first exploring the moon did not jive very well with the concept of the women being after thoughts in the astronaut corps as a whole and so was a little too convenient.

Worse Than Nothing, Erwin Chemerinsky

 

Worse Than Nothing:  The dangerous fallacy of originalism by Erwin Chemerinsky

Started: 11/20/2022
Completed: 11/27/2022
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: The library

Review:

I have felt that  "originalism" leads to too much potential for "both sides" analysis.  I think it also risks keeping the country mired in the past.  This book charts a pretty dangerous future where individual states can have a state religion and sponsor religious activities.  The whole concept of treating individuals equally can be lost as religious exceptions pile in.  Moreover, there is no merit in thinking that the structure of originalism offers a consistent, even handed approach for judges.  It serves, instead, as a cloak to hide individual judges' prejudices under the gauze of someone else's (a founder or some such) prejudices.  Kind of scary book.

The World We Make, N.K. Jemisin

 

The World We Make by N. K. Jemisin is the second book in the Great Cities Trilogy.

Started: 11/13/22
Completed: 11/20/22
Recommendation: Highly Recommended, especially the audio version
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

For starters, the audio version is simply wonderful with all the nuanced accents.  The story is excellent and the growth from the first book progresses well.  The characters (both large and small) make strides and come to a better understanding of themselves and each other.  I really enjoyed this insight into others who are so different from one-another but find common ground (literally) in New York city.  Jemisin does an excellent job of tying everything together which switching back and forth between perspectives and ways of thought.  It is a rich and enjoyable read.

The Atlas Paradox, Olivie Blake

 

The Atlas Pardox by Olivie Blake is the next book in the Atlas Series.

Started: 11/05/22
Completed: 11/13/22
Recommendation: Not Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

The first in this series was good.  The second was not as good.  This is a stinker.  The constant verbal assaults between main characters was wearing.  The actor who did Parisa was nauseating--may have been well done, but I almost stopped listening to the book during her first appearance and she kept coming back for long segments.  The desire may have been to have an annoying character and if that was the intent, then it really, really worked.  I had previously seen Parisa as sultry and sexy (if not my kind of sexy), but this was neither when it lasted for so long.

The whole sub-plot with Elin seemed completely unnecessary and showed Libby to be far worse then her character had been in previous books.  I just really did not enjoy this book.  From minor inconsistencies (like a mind reader who didn't hear other people's thoughts when out of the room, but could identify whether or not a person was on the planet) to more major flaws (like creating a wormhole that was always present in the second book, but apparently the next wormhole--much bigger--was not always present).  If another book is published in this series, I will miss it.  Cannot spend my valuable time in this story again.

Justice on the Brink, Linda Greenhouse

 

Justice on the Brink: The death of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, the rise of Amy Coney Barrett, and twelve months that transformed the Supreme Court by Linda Greenhouse was found at a local book store and the title just grabbed me.

Started: 5/16/2022
Completed: 11/11/2022
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Words for which I sought help:

protean -- tending or able to change frequently or easily

Review:

Greenhouse is a master of both the Supreme Court itself and it's rulings.  She set the scene well, drove me through the congressional hearings and then leapt onto the decisions.  Her analysis of the decisions was lucid, useful, and insightful.  I have to admit that I have always looked at the Court as addressing each case on its own merits.  Greenhouse, however, makes a compelling case that often Justices use one case to set the stage for another and that Justices have an agenda which they nudge along case-by-case building up case law so that their desired outcome appears both consistent with historical judgements and inevitable.  I think that this book will serve as a reference for me out into the future.

A Better Man, Louise Penny

 

A Better Man by Louise Penny is the next Armand Gamash book.

Started: 10/31/2022
Completed: 11/5/2022
Recommendation: Highly recommended
Recommended By: My parents

Review:

Gamash is no longer crushing corruption, but that doesn't mean all is well in the ranks.  Somehow Penny has brought these characters to life and the shocking number of deaths in Three Pines continues to demonstrate it is "the murder capital of Canada" (as my father says).  Fortunately Gamash is on hand and those who commit the dastardly deed will not hide for long.  I have long ago given up trying to figure out the mystery (in my opinion it is simply impossible in this book).  This lets me enjoy the book as a story rather than constantly trying to distinguish between red herrings (plentiful) and actual clues (few and so well disguised as to be indistinguishable).  I also don't obsess over missing details (like, what was the phone number?).  This lets me enjoy the book itself and relish in character development.

The Dead Romantics, Ashley Poston

 

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston

Started: 10/28/2022
Completed: 10/31/2022
Recommendation: Not Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

Every now and then I try to stretch my borders and read something outside my comfort zone.  This one slapped me right back.  I did not find the romance very compelling, spoilers below here.  Woman who sees ghosts.  She sees a ghost and falls in love, but not to be because, well, he is a ghost.  Man turns out to be in a coma.  Happily every after when he wakes up and remembers being a ghost.  Poston posits that this was a ghost story.  It isn't.  It isn't even really supernatural...just sort of corny to use her own word.  Poston seems to be aware that this is all rather corny.  Then in a sappy author's note she hopes that this is the book for the reader.  If not, maybe another one will be.  I dunno, but I stepped out of my comfort zone for a romance and got a poorly written ghost story.  Dang.

Kingdom of the Blind, Louise Penny

 

Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny is the next book in the Armand Gamash series

Started: 10/23/2022
Completed: 10/28/2022
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: My parents

Review:

This was a book of secrets and it is a spoiler to reveal any.  I liked the ending with Ruth which was pleasant (so little of Ruth is pleasant).  In addition this book continued with the on-going theme of corruption and I hope, truly, it was the last.  I long ago gave up trying to identify the murderer and this book was no exception.  In hindsight, I find it all but impossible to imagine that anyone could have figured it out.  The sub-plot with Amelia was really interesting and captivated me from beginning to end.

Glass Houses, Louise Penny

 

Glass Houses by Louise Penny is the next book in the Armand Gamash series.

Started: 10/19/2022
Completed: 10/23/2022
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: My parents

Review:

This book fits well in the series and once more takes us to Three Pines which, despite being a tiny town, is a hub for unlawful activity.  Ruth was fleshed out some more and the comforting presence of many of the other denizens of Three Pines made itself known.  I really like that Gamash lives in Three Pines now and I really like the idea of a "conscience."  The concept of conscience, responsibility, guilt, and punishment are all examined in this book and there is no doubt about the fundamental components of the characters which shine through in new and surprising ways in this book.  Gamash seems so very real to me at times, that I have to remind myself that this is a work of fiction.

The Golden Enclaves, Naomi Novik

 The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik is the third book in The Scholomance.

Started: 10/16/2022
Completed: 10/19/2022
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Words for which I sought help:

numpty -- a stupid or ineffectual person

Review:

True to it's predecessors, this book was a quick read.  Novik takes you to another world, immerses you in characters who grow and change as the books develop, and unceremoniously dumps you at the end, hungry for more.  This book was a little more predictable then the previous ones, but that is fine, it is not a mystery.  I could swiftly drop back into this series if Novik decides to create another.

Nona The Ninth, Tamsyn Muir

 

Nona The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir is the next book in the Locked Tomb Trilogy.  It looks like this was originally planned as a trilogy, but has now become a series.  Because I'm not good at editing tags, I'll probably leave it at trilogy, but, who knows.

Started: 10/10/2022
Completed: 10/16/2022
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

I love the richness of the characters and environment that Muir brings to the game.  After book after book of characters you basically love to hate, Nona is quite refreshing.  As usual there was a bit of muddle at the beginning, but fairly quickly it is possible to get your bearings.  There is a bunch of violence once more, but I have to say that it was pretty well done in this book with just enough of the violence made clear to establish life (not "and death" as Nona would say) situations and then address the arduous return.  There is a lot more exposure of John and I have to say that it was far enough from the previous book that I'd forgotten who John was, so take a minute and refresh yourself before picking this book up.  I really enjoyed it.

Bad Lawyer, Anna Dorn

Bad Lawyer:  A memoir of law and disorder by Anna Dorn

Started: 10/9/2022
Completed: 10/10/2022
Recommendation: Not Recommended
Recommended By: Cannot Remember

Review:

This book literally left a bad taste in my mouth.  Dorn mostly sucks.  She sleeps around, takes drugs, and parties on her parents' dime.  At the time of writing this memoir, she is still behaving like a child--she throws tantrums, she ignores the work for which she is being paid as though it is her due, and she is incredibly shallow.  Yeah, she points out some serious problems with the legal profession, but she also participates in actively making those problems worse and then sort of laughs at all of us for paying her to do anything.  She gave me little to like about her and her contrarian attitude (while potentially valuable for a legal career) leaves her spewing at all those around her.  Her friends seem both short term and casual.  I hope she turns things around, finds her passion, and takes a deeper look at those around her.  I have a feeling she has talent and can turn her life into something more than it currently is, but maybe not.  The world has a place for intelligent slackers and she is lazily filling it.

The Blacktongue Thief, Christopher Buehlman

 

The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman is the first book in the Blacktongue trilogy.

Started: 10/5/2022
Completed: 10/9/2022
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By:  Kobo Books

Review:

This book was both funny and a good story.  I cannot recommend the audio version strongly enough as it included both a wonderful reading and music.  Buehlman did a simply wonderful job of reading his own book and I truly cannot wait for the next.  The world building is pretty good, but Buehlman had a hard time describing things in the new world often resorting to phrases like, "you would gag the first several times you smelled it, and gag again thereafter" or "you cannot imagine what it is like to see one for the first time, nor the second either."  These semi-descriptions took the reader out of the book--it didn't feel like the protagonist at a loss for words, it felt like the author.  I'm not sure what the answer is, but, then again, I'm not an author!  I did like the way that plot lines intersected and the use of tattoos as a part of magic was pretty unique.

The Stardust Thief, Chelsea Abdullah

 

The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah is the first book in The Sandsea Trilogy

Started: 10/2/2022
Completed: 10/5/2022
Recommendation: Highly recommended
Recommended By: Kobo suggested reading list

Words for which I sought help:

palimpsest -- a manuscript of piece of writing material on which the original writing has been effaced to make room for later writing but of which traces remain.

Review:

The plot is fun.  There is a bit much violence for my taste, but the story calls for it.  The characters develop in even a short period of time and the introduction to the world being built is magnificent.  I look forward to the next book.

This sort of extends the concept of Scheherazade and looks at what happens after she is eventually killed.  The magic of her stories suffuses the environment of this story.  It is fun and consistent.  Abdullah is clever and interweaves the stories of Scheherazade with the story being told well so that it feels like a consistent narrative. 

Locklands, Robert Jackson Bennett

 

Locklands by Robert Jackson Bennett is the third book in The Founder's Trilogy.

Started: 9/25/2022
Completed: 10/2/2022
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

Again, this is a cool story and it takes you into characters that had not received adequate treatment.  There is a gap between this book and the one before, but it is a reasonable gap.  It also allows for some flashbacks to update what has happened in between.  The cosmic fight is, of course, more complicated than that.  I truly love that the access to magic is through study and finding the fundamental ways in which things work (even if those details are left to the imagination through the use of the term "sigil").  I also like that there is a sense of security to the world, that permissions are needed (even if they can be coopted).  Throughout the trilogy there is a theme of the redemptive quality of love and that carries on this last book.  I also like that things are very messy, there are no easy answers and the right answer for some is not necessarily the right answer for all.  This is a really creative world and I'm sorry to see it go, but sure enjoyed the trip.

Tree Thieves, Lyndsie Bourgon

 

Tree Thieves:  Crime and survival in North America's woods by Lyndsie Bourgon

Started: 9/24/2022
Completed: 9/25/2022
Recommendation: Mild Recommendation
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

This is an effort to provide an even handed look at those who fell trees (or parts of them) in National Forests without permits.  This is a worldwide problem and is even becoming part of the crime syndicate's operations.  The simple--people without jobs literally live next to forests with thousands in profit for a couple of night's work.  The more complex--these people are stealing from all of us and destroying something that simply cannot be replaced, but they need a way to feed themselves and their families.  This is sort a repeat of what is happening in coal country.  People become dependent on an extractive industry and then that industry (and/or the resource) dries up.  It is the reason that there are ghost towns in the West.  The deal is, however, modern constraints have made it very hard for people to up and leave coupled with low self-esteem from not being able to work creating a drug problem.  Now you have people with few options, in need of quick money, right next to a source of quick money.  Bourgon does a good job of looking at the nature of the problem from all sides.  No suggestions, really, on how to fix any of it.

The Destructionists, Dana Milbank

 

The Destructionists:  The twenty-five year crack-up of the Republican party by Dana Milbank

Started: 9/20/2022
Completed: 9/24/2022
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: My Wife

Review:

This is an amazing analysis.  Unlike many other books by journalists, this is not a collection of stories.   This is an in-depth, continuous story that tracks from start to finish furthering the thesis that the Republican Party's destructive force started under Gingrich.  The book is both well researched and provides a wealth of personal anecdotes as this was history Milbank lived in real-time.  The argument--that Trump was neither the starting point, nor pinnacle of destructive politics--is well developed, articulately argued, and spiced with numerous samples along the way that provide an evidentiary scaffolding.  This book is also well-written.  There are few repeats as Millbank assumes the reader does not need to be constantly reminded of what was just said.  I cannot begin to hold in my hand the vast number of references to individual speeches, particular talking points, and repeated examples of scurrilous hypocrisy.  Trump is not an outgrowth of any of this, he is the nodule of cancer that develops when the environment is right.  We have an entire political party which did not develop, but grew up on, positions untethered to facts.  This does not bode well for the future and points out how impossible it is to "negotiate" with people who simply ignore reality.

The Grace of Kings, Ken Liu

 

The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu

Started: 9/13/2022
Completed: 9/21/2022
Recommendation: Not Recommended
Recommended By: The Nebula list

Review:

This book had its moments.  It is difficult to tell which of the characters is thought to be heroic.  It feels to me like simply none of them were.  Throughout the book, the characters basically held to the same broad stereotype with which they were painted from the start.  It did not feel to me like any of the characters learned from the life-changing experiences that littered the novel during the timeline of the novel.  Status changes happened and then the characters did not adjust, but continued to operate in the same manner in the new status.  This happened over and over.  Maybe this is an effort to demonstrate fundamental character flaws, but the characters rarely grappled with these flaws.  I had the impression that this book was something like Neil Gaiman's American Gods, but I see only passing similarities.  Finally the references to different positions of sitting and bowing are surely rife with meaning to someone familiar with Chinese culture, but, to me, these were just labels put on positions I could not envisage.  Moreover, these various positions were certainly intended by the author to indicate levels of comfort and respect that I found it quite challenging to distinguish.  I'm not sure how that could have easily been fixed without creating a tripping point over and over in the story, but it did not help me understand the novel and actually distracted from it as I had to go back over in my head what each position meant.

The Measure, Nikki Erlick

 

The Measure by Nikki Erlick

Started: 9/9/2022
Completed: 9/13/2022
Recommendation: Not Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

Almost immediately the book reveals that there is now a string that each person has which identifies the length of that person's life.  The book sort of ripples out to look at how that changes society via several main characters.  This wasn't done well.  The characters were basically all from New York, so it was a particularly New York view of the world.  There were lots of coincidences in the interactions of these characters and a slew of minor characters.  It really felt like the author felt it necessary that every character introduced had to interact with more than one other character.  As a side-effect, the entire story seems remarkably contrived and though there is a token recognition that there is a broader society, the covey of main characters really only interact with the larger society via one other character.  This means that the book is too short (the main characters don't all have real lives--generally just stereotypes) and too long (oh, look, another chance encounter).  Finally, a pet peeve of mine is having male characters ask anyone, "Are you sure?"  It is a tiny group of men who ask that question and only after extensive training.  I just did not enjoy this book and was glad when it wrapped up all neatly in a bow.

Children of Time, Adrian Tchaikovsky

 

Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky the first book in the Children of Time series

Started: 7/29/2022
Completed: 9/10/2022
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Arthur C. Clarke Award

Review:

I listened to this book in the car and it was bad because I kept wanting to find a reason to go out to the car and listen to it.  If sentient spiders aren't your thing, then this is probably not the book for you--just sayin.  I really enjoyed the pace, timing, and novelty of this book.  The flipping back and forth between the humans and the spiders was excellent.  I did not see the end coming, although there are plenty of hints.  This was really a good book.

This book was richer because I also happened to be listening to An Immense World at the same time.  This helped me understand how different animals view the world differently from humans and the information both books meshed really well.

Fellowship Point, Alice Elliott Dark

 

Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark

Started: 9/3/2022
Completed: 9/9/2022
Recommendation: Not Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Words for which I sought help:

abnegation -- The act of renouncing or rejecting something

Review:

This book was well written:  "The wind took all but single words and tossed them overboard."  Unfortunately, the plot was all potential that became a soap opera plot.  I was so disappointed.  I cannot, in good faith, recommend this book although I definitely laughed out loud on some occasions and I did enjoy the occasional witty turn of phrase.

Raising Lazarus, Beth Macy

Raising Lazarus: Hope, justice, and the future of America's overdose crisis by Beth Macy is the sequel to Dopesick

Started: 8/30/2022

Completed: 9/3/2022

Recommendation: Mild recommendation

Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

Dopesick left me sad.  I felt it was important to read to understand the impact of the Sackler family on individuals.  This book touted hope, but it really didn't deliver.  While this book spent time looking at those who help the dopesick rather than those who are or are dying, I really didn't walk away with hope or justice.  The judicial system continues to be suspect.  The political system continues to fail to deliver.  The NIMBY people continue to prevent urgent care from getting to those who need it.  I just did not walk away feeling better about the problem and was convinced that it is still getting worse.

An Immense World, Ed Yong

 

An Immense World:  How animal senses reveal the hidden realms around us by Ed Yong

Started: 8/24/2022
Completed: 8/30/2022
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By:  I cannot remember, but I think it was an article in Philosophy Now!  It is equally likely that I saw something in The Atlantic.

Review:

This is an adventure book.  It is an adventure into the world of animals through their senses.  It is intriguing to think about how each different animal uses its senses and how senses that we would not normally consider (e.g. touch-taste) are fundamental to the way that certain animals view the world.  This information and the deep dive into it is, itself, interesting.  The further considerations of things like how we are polluting the world through senses that we either do not have, do not consider important, or have to a much smaller extent (e.g. echo location is possible for humans, but it is nothing like a bat's form of echo location) is draw dropping.  It seems like the human impact on the world is brutal any way you look (touch, taste, feel, etc.) at it.  I enjoyed the perspective and hope that the concepts of viewing the world literally through another creature's eyes is a concept that stays with me.

The War of the Poor, Éric Vuillard

 

The War of the Poor by Éric Vuillard

Started: 8/21/2022

Completed: 8/25/2022

Recommendation: Not recommended

Recommended By: Not sure...I thought that this book was mentioned by Thomas Picketty, but maybe it was the Man Booker prize listing

Review:

This is an eloquent and smoothly generated tale of a series of efforts over hundreds of years for the poor to overcome the rich.  Hint:  It still has not worked.  Vuillard is eloquent, but the story is sad and the links between tales thin.  I really did not enjoy it and will soon forget these men and what they tried (valiantly) and failed to do.

The Scandalous Hamiltons, Bill Shaffer

 

The Scandalous Hamiltons: A gilded age grifter a founding father's disgraced descendant, and a trial at the dawn of tabloid journalism by Bill Shaffer

Started: 8/22/2022
Completed: 8/24/2022
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody, just saw that it was coming out

Review:

What an interesting book.  It is amazing how much goes on behind the scenes where you least expect it.  In many ways a retrospective on interrelated lives always has a certain amount of interest, but it is easy to see how this became tabloid fare.  Shaffer did an excellent job of weaving the narrative through the connections (both loose and intense) and respectfully hid details when it appeared appropriate.  A good read and worth the time.

Notes From The Burning Age, Claire North

 

Notes From the Burning Age by Claire North.  Claire North is the pen name for Catherine Webb.

Started: 8/19/2022
Completed: 8/22/2022
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody, just enjoyed another book of hers, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August.

Review:

I felt like this book was basically a romance from the start.  It is.  It is much more complex than that and there are some very interesting philosophical points addressed (e.g., do the gods care about man, is war ever appropriate, why do we think that the information we have is important, etc.)  There is also some espionage.  And, of course, it takes place in a dystopian future.  This book, thus, defies categorization.  Having said that, it is a romance.  I did enjoy the layers and I really liked the way that characters developed from well explained beginnings.  This book was enjoyable for the rich experience of reading.  The various plots and their meandering through basically flawed people were far from uplifting.

The Indigo Girl, Natasha Boyd

 

The Indigo Girl by Natasha Boyd is fiction based on a true story.

Started: 8/14/2022

Completed: 8/18/2022

Recommendation: Recommended

Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

So, it turns out that the Indigo Girl is a relative (I am related through one of her sons).  Others in my family were able to tell me that she is the reason your blue jeans are blue!  This is a good story and it really portrays an interesting time in South Carolina.  Yes, there are slaves and this book is not going to make you feel good about it.  Though the main character is sympathetic, she is not the Southern propagandist raising heathens into civilization.  There is a decent argument for the reverse, but she is truly coming of age during this story largely without family support.  This does address the misogyny that was a fundamental part of everyday life for most of humanity and also represents some of the struggle against it.  It is a good read, but it isn't going to make you feel good about the South in the time before the revolution. 

Such a Fun Age, Kiley Reid

 

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Started: 8/11/2022
Completed: 8/14/2022
Recommendation: Not recommended
Recommended By: New York Time Best Seller

Review:

I had trouble relating to the characters in this book.  The vague loss of direction, sort of finding one's self, is not something I really understand and it is not explained in this book.  It is expected, however, that one understands these characters as they search for themselves without really looking.  Maybe the story is that the characters were just shallow.  Anyway, I did not enjoy this book.

The Sewing Girl's Tale, John Wood Sweet

 

The Sewing Girl's Tale: A story of crime and consequences in revolutionary America by John Wood Sweet.  This is a true crime story written by a professor of history at the University of North Carolina who also specializes in sexual studies.  This story started around the first recorded rape trial in the United States.

Started: 8/5/2022
Completed: 8/11/2022
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

This is non-fiction, so I'm not sure that *SPOILER* is the correct title, but if you don't want to know the outcome, please don't read further.

The fact that we only know the protagonist from her time in the court room is both emblematic of how women's stories are lost and symptomatic of a paternalistic society.  Lana was raped.  The story of her rape, its outcome, the trials, the mobs, and the aftermath are all about the men in Lana's life, but not about Lana herself.  It is amazing how much Sweet has discovered and shocking how little of it involves Lana herself.

It is easy to forget that in revolutionary times, New York was what we would call a small town now (20-40K inhabitants, depending on the time frame).  That means that plenty of people we think of as notables (such as Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton) were well known and even related to people in this story.  If you were overwhelmed by the city and didn't want to go "into the country" you would go to Philadelphia for a break (an even smaller city) and "only" a day away.  It is also easy to forget that Broadway was mostly homes for the middle to lower class at this time and had no sidewalks.  It was common place for people to die under the wheels of a cart or at the mercy of a "crazy" horse.  With no air conditioning and the enormous stench of night soil (feces) as well as all that horse manure, people would go out in the evenings for a walk along the river (which offered a fresh breeze in those times).

It is also hard to remember that sexual mores were undergoing change and that, in the long run, only those who had the most isolated existence would begin to meet what was considered properly chaste.  Women and girls who had to work, however, were out among the people and thus subject to men's inappropriate address almost constantly.  I cannot imagine a world in which people simply could not survive without marriage and where death of a spouse had to result in an immediate search for a replacement.  This is just the way things were at the time and doubly so for women who were underpaid (as they still are) and could not reasonably support a family without a husband and, in many cases, without children working for the family as well.  Finally, the age of consent was 10.  Good Lord.

A Brief History of Equality by Thomas Piketty

 

A Brief History of Equality by Thomas Piketty is an economist I truly respect.

Started: 8/2/2022
Completed: 8/5/2022
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

This is a briefer version  of Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century with a little addition for Trump's reign.  I enjoyed this tight read, but it was largely a recap for me.  Highly recommended for anyone who finds a 1,000 page tome a little daunting.

How to Read the Air, Dinaw Mengestu

 

How to Read the Air by Dinaw Mangestu

Started: 7/31/2022
Completed: 8/2/2022
Recommendation: Not Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

To begin with, this is a study of deeply flawed characters.  I find none of them compelling.  It is a look at enormous narcissism and reframes everything into personal benefit for all of the characters.  The characters lie, hit, and even try to kill one another.  It looks like each character perceives the world from self-interest and denies almost anything that threatens to intrude on that self-interest.  The narrator seems to twist and invent the story he is telling as he tells it, so one wonders if this isn't some amount of projection from the narrator, but regardless it is a deeply unhappy tale. 

There Are Places in the World Where Rules Are Less Important Than Kindness, Carlo Rovelli

 

There Are Places in the World Where Rules Are Less Important than Kindness and Other Thoughts on Physics, Philosophy, and the World by Carlo Rovelli

Started: 7/29/2022
Completed: 7/31/2022
Recommendation: Mild Recommendation
Recommended By: Nobody

Words for which I sought help:

Polyphemus -- the name of the cyclops killed by Odysseus

Review:

This is sort of mishmash of topics.  It is a collection of a series of articles.  The thoughts are broad and one must keep in mind that this is a physicist who is trying to understand the world.  This venture into other areas has some hits and some misses.  Rovelli is a rather complex thinking and articulates his thoughts well.  These articles are not meant to be convincing (I think), but seem more like ideas thrown out on the tide of humanity for us to consider.  For that purpose, I can recommend the book.

The Ardent Swarm, Yamen Manai

 

The Ardent Swarm by Yamen Manai hit my eye when I was looking at books by non-American authors.

Started: 7/13/2022
Completed: 7/29/2022
Recommendation: Mild Recommendation
Recommended By: A list of non-English speaking authors whose books were being translated into English

Review:

Pretty much everything is unresolved in this book.  This is a sort of slice of pastoral life in an imagined village in Africa.  The contrast between the "city folk" and the "country folk" seems to have a little bit of "city mouse, country mouse" in it, but it is also a contrast between styles of religious adherence.   As a slice of life, I don't feel like I understand what it is like to live in North Africa any better, but that may be too large a task.  There is supposed to be an allegorical component of the story, but I am too thick to see it except in its most basic forms.  I cannot say I enjoyed it particularly, but there are parts that are compelling and the life of Sidi is certainly interesting.

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry, Fredrik Backman

 

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman

Started: 7/26/2022
Completed: 7/29/2022
Recommendation: Mild Recommendation
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

This book requires one to completely abandon reality in any sense.  Though it appears rooted in reality, the precocious 7 year-old is simply brilliant.  She has read the 8 Harry Potter books in excess of 20 times and reads at a pace that is beyond her very literate father.  Her abilities (she claims to have driven a car) are far outside the ability of a 7 year-old and that makes the book difficult for me.  What's more, everything hinges on the genius of this child, so it is critical to the book that you believe she is this way.  She has also learned a second "secret" language from her grandmother in which she can speak fluently.

Viewing the world through the lens of a fairy tale, however, seems like a good twist.  It just requires this genius child due to the circumstances and a wealth of fairy tells that the child has somehow memorized (while reading all that Harry Potter, and that is not the only book she has read well above her reading level) is just very difficult to believe.  It is necessary to the story, but it keeps dragging me out.  So, I enjoyed the premise of viewing the world through a fairy tale.  I also liked how the child interacts only with adults which makes it much easier to read through the dialog (though that is somewhat stilted on occasion).  The child is the narrator, but the author also describes things the child could not, so there are times when the child-as-narrator slips away.  So there are some big lapses, but this book does get a mild recommendation from me on the basis of the premise.

We Should All Be Feminists, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

 

We  Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Started: 7/26/2022
Completed: 7/26/2022
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

What a great book!  Quick read as it is really short.  This is a compelling argument for being a feminist.

A Great Reckoning, Louise Penny

 

A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny is the next Armand Gamache novel.

Started: 7/19/2022
Completed: 7/26/2022
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: My Parents

Review:

This book returns to Three Pines and provides the explanation for the three trees that gave the village it's name.  That part is pretty wonderful.  The rest, well, I dunno.  I would not really call this book a mystery (though it is), it is more an examination of loss and abuse.  This sounds more unpleasant then it actually is, but be prepared--the road is bumpy.  I can only barely recommend this book as it was hard for me to enjoy significant portions of it.  I truly hope that this is the end of Gamache trying to deal with the corruption he is constantly trying to root out of everywhere he goes.  Unlikely.

Zorrie, Laird Hunt

 

Zorrie by Laird Hunt

Started: 7/18/2022
Completed: 7/19/2022
Recommendation: Mild Recommendation
Recommended By: The New York Times

Review:

The writing is excellent.  The story is humble.  I never built a connection with Zorrie.  It seemed that she was disconnected from herself for most of her life.  This is odd because the NYT reviewer saw this book as a look at connections and community.  I would disagree.  I think that this is a look at someone who does not expect much from life and gets what she expects.  She dodges some bullets and catches others full on, but seems to plod on lonely and alone over so much of the canvas of her life.  I definitely did not enjoy this peek into country life and it doesn't reflect any experience I had in Indiana, so it is truly hard for me to relate.  Hunt does not give one much to grab onto in Zorrie's life experiences or in her perception of the world.  The writing, though, is masterful.

The Nature of the Beast, Louise Penny

 

The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny is the next in the Armand Gamash books.

Started: 7/14/2022
Completed: 7/18/2022
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended by: my parents

Review:

Opening with the death of a child was rather horrifying.  In general, however, this was a very interesting novel and brought back some of the joy of the characters of three pines that came from earlier in the series.  There were moments towards the end when I was worried that the whole plot had been lost, but there was a graceful recovery.  In general, I enjoyed the read and found myself smiling at the Tolkien references.

Seven Games, Oliver Roeder

Seven Games:  A human history by Oliver Roeder is an intriguing look at human history through the lens of seven games.

Started: 7/11/2022
Completed: 7/14/2022
Recommendation: Only if you know nothing about these games
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

This is not a human history.  The history component was largely, "before the twentieth century some games were invented and you will get a little bit about that, but mostly we are going to talk about the current or recent champions."  On the other hand, Roeder records his "bingo" words in a Scrabble championship.  All of them.  He also provides all the "bingo" words from the tournament.  Good Lord.  I learned precious little from this book.

Silent Invasion, Deborah Birx

 

Silent Invasion:  The untold story of the Trump administration, Covid-19, and preventing the next pandemic before it's too late by Dr. Deborah Birx

Started: 7/6/2022

Completed: 7/11/2022

Recommendation: Mild Recommendation

Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

It is nice to hear that someone cared about data in the Trump administration.  Birx definitely pushed the limits of what she was "allowed" to do.  She also seems to be an excellent epidemiologist and definitely has a handle on what the right thing to do is.  The "bleach" press conference was well explained and I appreciated being able to think more of Birx.  She is definitely a Republican and she reached out to Republican governors more than anything else.  She refers to the middle of the country as the, "heartland."  I really appreciate what she tried to do.  I'm sad that she couldn't do more. 

The Republic For Which It Stands, Richard White

 

The Republic for Which It Stands:  The United States during reconstruction and the gilded age, 1865-1869 by Richard White is part of the Oxford History of the United States.  I have ready one other in the series and these are remarkably thorough.

Started: 12/20/2021
Completed: 7/10/2022
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

For a book that reviews a little over 30 years, it kind of felt like a history in real time.  The level of detail is immense.  The sweeping conclusions reasonable (for the time period).  It is nice to have a history of the USA coming from across the pond where perspectives are different.  This book delivers on detail, the establishment of general themes, and a comprehensive look at the time period.  I really enjoyed this book and even though it took me a long time to read (it was in the player in my car), it was enjoyable and very thought provoking.