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

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.