The Jakarta Method, Vincent Bevins

 

The Jakarta Method:  Washington's anticommunist crusade and the mass murder program that shaped our world by Vincent Bevins

Started: 8/19/2023
Completed: 8/25/2023
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

This is not an easy read.  The anticommunist movement is more than just McCarthy--it destroyed lives and arguably countries the world over.  This is a look at how the US was so intently focused on anticommunism that it lost sight of almost everything else and helped foster some of the worst human right abuses in the world including genocide.  If you have the stomach, this is worth the time.

The Madness of Crowds, Louise Penny

 

The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny

Started: 8/11/2023
Completed: 8/19/2023
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended by: My parents

Review:

Gamache is back in the murder capitol of Canada and this is a very twisty novel.  I think that Lacoste really comes into her own in this book and the next novel, I think will start to show Gamache moving to the background.

T-Minus AI, Michael Kanaan

 

T-Minus AI:  Humanity's countdown to artificial intelligence and the new pursuit of global power by Michael Kanaan

Started: 7/13/2023
Completed: 8/13/2023
Recommendation: Not recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

I cannot recommend this book.  Over half of it is discussing history (literally dinosaurs).  If you know anything about computers, this book is non-revealing.  If you know nothing about computers, this book may help you, but I am not that person.

The Third Man, Graham Greene

 

The Third Man by Graham Greene

Started: 8/9/2023

Completed:  8/11/2023

Recommendation: Highly Recommended

Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

This was an interesting sort of displaced mystery.  The mystery was not clear until near the latter third of the book at which point it became more of a thriller.  By modern standards, I think that this book would probably considered a little slow, but it was great for me.

The Psycho-Cultural Underpinnings of Everyday Fascism, Marcia Tiburi

 

The Psycho-Cultural Underpinnings of Everyday Fascism:  Dialog as resistance by Marcia Tiburi was written before Bolsonaro was elected Prime Minister of Brazil.

Started: 8/5/2023
Completed: Did Not Finish
Recommendation: Not Recommended
Recommended By: I am not sure, I cannot remember how I came across this book even though it was rather recent.

Review:

I wish that I could read Portuguese.  There is little doubt in my mind that this book has not been translated well.  Tortured sentences like, "Fascism is the appropriate name to speak about the right-wing extremists that returned from the underground of history to our days," are constantly present.  Even sentences that I think I could reword, "We can define as fascism the phenomenon involving the rise of Jair Bolsonaro," into "Jair Bolsonaro's rise is the very definition of fascism," seem to lose something.  I, unfortunately, cannot parse the language used by the translator.

Freedom Isn't Free, Markos Kounalakis

 

Freedom Isn't Free:  The price of world order by Markos Kounalakis

Started: 8/4/2023
Completed: 8/5/2023
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

This is a great collection of columns.  The columns are brief, to the point, and organized by topic rather than by time.  The introduction  before each column sets the stage and the coda afterwards offers context after the column was written.  This was a quick read for me as I was very familiar with the context of all of these and I really enjoyed going through them.  Well Done!

City of Last Chances, Adrian Tchaikovsky

 

City of Last Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Started: 07/27/2023
Completed: 8/3/2023
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

This is a rich collection of characters against the backdrop of invasion.  It is hard to say that there has been a loss of way of life, but there has certainly been an overwhelming change.  A motley crew of characters tries to navigate the changes and, at least slightly, to fight back.  This is not a book of revolt, but is much more a book of character development in a rich tapestry of life.  Of course, this is not a life that any of us would recognize so there is a fair amount of world building that goes into it.  Really enjoyable and rich.  Well worth the time.

Mapping Mass Mobilization, Olga Onuch

 

Mapping Mass Mobilization:  Understanding revolutionary moments in Argentina and Ukraine by Olga Onuch is actually a text book, but I was struggling to understand how so much of the populace rose up to defend Ukraine and this book was recommended.

Started: 2/4/2023
Completed: Did Not Finish
Recommendation: Not Recommended
Recommended By:  I'm not entirely sure.  I was wandering around a bunch of websites and this book kept coming up under "further reading."

Review:

This is remarkably dry and assumes a ton about people and places I can hardly identify.  Way too in depth for me and after six months I had to call it quits.