The Shadow of the Gods, John Gwynne

 

The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne is the first book in The Bloodsworn Trilogy

Started: 5/26/2022
Completed: 5/30/2022
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

This book has a bunch of interesting new concepts that I really enjoyed.  It seems to be loosely based on Norse style mythology, but it is not the Norse mythos.  That the gods might have children who carry their blood is a fundamental part of the story, and is also a cool way of identifying blood bonds.  This is sort of an epic adventure in a magical land with interaction with the gods.  It is pretty violent, but, for the most part, Gwynne does not spend a ton of time in blood and gore, although there are violent fight scenes.

Moon Witch Spider King, Marlon James

 

Moon Witch Spider King by Marlon James is the second book in The Dark Star Trilogy.

Started: 5/20/2022
Completed: 5/26/2022
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

Once more, James provides a book that has soooo much sex.  This time the focus is on the vagina, but the sex is unrelenting.  This book does not pick up where the previous book left us, but picks up the backstory from one of the characters introduced in the first book.  The person who reads the book, Bahni Turpin, uses a heavy accent which requires acclimation.  I really enjoy when an author can provide different perspectives on the same events and that happens here.  Truly different perspectives on the same events, not just an argument about the details.   I don't know what the third book will bring, but I wonder if the water sprite will not be the subject--or at least one of the subjects.  I enjoyed this book a little more than the first.  Maybe, in part, because I was ready for the violence or, perhaps, because the violence was not nearly as staccato.  

Jesus and John Wayne, Kristin Kobes Du Mez

 Jesus and John Wayne:  How white evangelicals corrupted a faith and fractured a nation by Kristin Kobes Du Mez is another in my on-going effort to understand how the GOP became so awful.

Started: 5/15/2022
Completed: 5/20/2022
Recommendation: Hard to recommend
Recommended By: Nobody, I couldn't really resist the title

Review:

Just to say up front, I like Veggie Tales.  The nauseating corruption of the Christian faith documented in this book is shocking.  I probably know a bunch of people who have these beliefs (I'm certain that I know at least one).  This is horrible.  It was nauseating to read this book.  It is hard to recommend this book because it is an appalling story.  I certainly didn't like the book.  Instead of understanding, I have walked away from this book hating evangelicals.

Corruptible, Brian Klaas

 

Corruptible:  Who gets power and how it changes us by Brian Klaas is a book my wife heard about on one of her podcasts (The Daily Beans).

Started: 12/30/2021
Completed: 5/16/2021
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: My wife

Review:

This is an interesting look at the classic question of whether power corrupts or the corrupt seek power.  The answer is both.  The book argues that making positions of power representative of those who are not corrupt discourages the corrupt from pursuing positions of power.  In addition, by monitoring those in power, this discourages corruption.  There are various methods of performing both actions described in the book.  The bottom line:  if you anticipate paying a bribe to someone in power then people who want to receive bribes pursue positions of power and if you monitor the actions/bank accounts of those in power, then it is harder to receive bribes.  So, make it clear that you don't want anyone bribing people in power and also make it clear (maybe through randomized tests) that people willing to take a bribe lose their power and this minimizes corruption.  Of course, it is more complicated than that (otherwise a book would not be needed and a paragraph would suffice), but that is the quick and dirty example.  Klaas goes into good detail explaining how the book was researched, why the conclusions were reached, and ways to implement the suggested approaches.  All of this is good reading and excellent background.  My biggest take-away is an example regarding analysis of military aircraft that had survived anti-aircraft fire (additional armor was needed where there were the fewest bullets because the aircraft had survived that damage, but the aircraft that failed to return had probably taken hits in the areas least hit by the surviving aircraft).  This sort of reverse logic appeal to me and will likely stick with me in the long haul.

These Truths, Jill Lepore

 

These Truths:  A history of the United States by Jill Lepore is a retelling of the history of the United States told by a professor of American History at Harvard.

Started: 4/15/2022
Completed: 5/15/2022
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: The National Review

Words for which I sought help:

argot -- the jargon or slang of a particular group or class 

Review:

This is an effort to see the United States History as a coherent whole.  Lepore ties stem to stern issues across the whole history of the US, with the tail end of the book focusing on the presidency.  As advertised, this is a liberal look at history, so it is a comfortable read with the focus on issues that make things better for individual members of the United States and not a focus on business.  Busines is not ignored, but the focus is on keeping business as a producer of freedom, dignity, and happiness for the laborer and not the other way around.  Lepore does a good job of not skirting ugly issues (like FDR's new deal leaving out black Americans and Cinton's Lewinsky scandal), but also does not spend her time focusing on them.  Rather, she points out where the liberal agenda has been helpful, subverted, and starved.

The Atlas Six, Olivie Blake

 

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake is the first book in the Atlas Series.

Started: 5/10/2022
Completed: 5/13/2022
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Not recommended to me so much as I saw it on a list of upcoming books about a year ago.

Review:

This is not a perfect book, but it is a well written book.  I loved the character exploration and how these characters included revelations that explained actions both current and past.  The story unfolded nicely and motivations became apparent in many ways.  The one that sort of left me reeling was the idea that one of the six in any decade was selected with the expectation that that one would not walk away.  There is more here, however, then can be covered in one book and so I will have to wait to understand better the deeper motivations of characters I thought peripheral who were thrust into the spotlight towards the end of the book.

Booth, Karen Joy Fowler

 

Booth by Karen Joy Fowler continues my obsession with Abraham Lincoln.

Started: 5/7/2022
Completed: 5/10/2022
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

Wow.  This is a historical novel that tracks the events of the actual Booth family.  It is fiction because the author jumps inside some of the characters' heads and also provides dialog that was never written down.  It is extremely well written and carries the events that lead from John Wilkes Booth's birth to his death (and Lincoln's in between).  Of course, there is a lot that is made up or assumed from circumstance, but that does not take away from this work as a history.

The Gates of Europe, Serhii Plokhy

 

The Gates of Europe:  A history of Ukraine by Serhii Plokhy is the authoritative study of Ukraine.

Started: 5/2/2022
Completed: 5/7/2022
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Every source I checked

Review:

Going into the details on any country is always interesting.  The back and forth, however, with Poland, Russia, and Ukraine is amazing.  Putin's argument is hewing back to an old line from Russia's period of empire (Putin doesn't really want another SSR like the communists did, he doesn't want a vassal state, he wants Russia to expand its border).  All told, the Ukrainian struggle for self-determination has long been anchored in being a buffer state that can't seem to get out from under.  The line of the Donbas down the middle of the country has often denoted which part of the country is associated with which group.  All-in-all, very interesting and an excellent background.

The Magician, Colm Tóibín

 

The Magician by Colm Tóibín

Started: 4/28/2022
Completed: 5/2/2022
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Words for which I sought help:

slattern -- a dirty, untidy woman

Review:

This book is historical fiction.  It is a loose biography of Thomas Mann.  Tóibín steps into the minds of several of the characters and recounts dialog that was unlikely to have been written down.  The events, however, are truly those of Thomas Mann's life and that of his family.  The details, however, are a tad shocking and I'm not entirely sure to know what is true and what is not.  Mann kept extensive diaries and those clearly figure in the story and offer some insight into his internal mind set.  This was a good read and I enjoyed it.