Long Island, Colm Tóibín

 

Long Island by Colm Tóibín is the sequel to Brooklyn and is read by Jessie Buckley

Started: August 26, 2024
Completed: August 29, 2024
Recommendation: Mild Recommendation
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

Tóibín is pretty amazing.  This book is very well written, but it was hard for me to come to like any of these characters.  They all are fundamentally flawed--I guess, like Shakespeare;  nobody really likes Hamlet.  Having said that, also like Shakespeare, these characters all suffer from a fundamental character flaw that then moves the story forward.  At the end of the book, Buckley comments that the most important part is what is not said and that all these characters seem to get in their own way.  That is characteristic of the Irish.  I don't really know what to think about that, but there is no doubt that reading this is kind of like watching a slow-motion boat capsize.  I looked Brooklyn better and should there be a sequel to Long Island, I'm not sure I'd want to go back into the swamp of character flaws to read more.

The Death of Truth, Steven Brill

 

The Death of Truth:  How social media and the internet gave snake oil salesman and demagogues the weapons they needed to destroy truth and polarize the world--and what we can do about it by Steven Brill

Started: August 23, 2024
Completed: August 26, 2024
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

A fair portion of this book is Brill defending his company.  That is less than satisfying.  It seems like it is a decent company with good intent.  It also seems like the company is having a hard time finding customers in an environment where it should probably have lots of customers.  OK.  Tell me once.  It also seems like the GOP has tried to eliminate the non-partisan company.  That completely sucks.  Tell me once.

The idea that there should be a single objective truth, is not controversial.  Brill makes the argument well, that everyone wants "their truth" instead of "the truth."  He argues this on several levels and the arguments are compelling.  Understanding at least a little bit about what people are able to accept helps guides his methods to fixing this problem.  I have to admit that I don't think that the fixes he offers are going to work, but clearly I'm not the expert.

Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here, Jonathan Blitzer

 

Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here:  The United States, Central America, and the making of a crisis by Jonathan Blitzer

Started: August 21, 2024
Completed: DNF
Recommendation: None
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

I have read too many books recently that document the horribleness of American foreign policy in very personal terms.  I just don't have it in me to read another.

Long Island Compromise, Taffy Brodesser-Akner

 

 Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner

Started: August 18, 2024
Completed: August 21, 2024
Recommendation: Not recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

This book is well written.  The characters undergo major development.  There are even lines that are truly funny, "Noel was a repressed Presbyterian, or just a Presbyterian."  There are scenes that are truly repulsive.  None of the characters are likeable.  I found none relatable.  I simply did not enjoy this book and cannot recommend it.

Say More, Jen Psaki

 

Say More:  Lessons from work, the white house, and the world by Jen Psaki

Started: August 16, 2024
Completed: August 18, 2024
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody, I really enjoyed her press conferences

Review:

Psaki was such a breath of fresh air in the White House briefing room, I simply cannot describe how important her appearance there was.  In addition, her deft handling of Steve Doocy was wonderful.  I was so very impressed that when I read she had a book coming, I immediately put in for it at the library (after about 45 other people had already had the same idea).  Her quick little book is approachable and focuses on communications strategy using vignettes from her time at the white house, state department, and home.  I enjoyed it though I have no plans to become an interviewer or do press relations. 

Language Myths, Bauer and Trudgill

 

Language Myths edited by Laurie Bauer and Peter Trudgill is a book I picked up when I was trying to better understand how language worked and has slowly worked its way to the top of the pile.

Started: July 31, 2024
Completed: DNF
Recommendation: Not Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

This has nothing to do with how language works.  It seems to be a collection of essays by language experts who are slamming people who have bad opinions.  Nothing wrong with that in principal, I kind of like hearing what experts consider silliness.  I'm just not that into language.  I don't care if people say French is more "logical" than any other language.  I don't care if a language is considered "dying" because it does not support words for technical physics.  None of what they were talking about mattered to me, so I stopped reading it.

Autocracy, Inc., Anne Applebaum

 

Autocracy, Inc.:  The dictators who want to run the world by Anne Applebaum

Started: August 15, 2024
Completed: August 16, 2024
Recommendation: Highly recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

This is a quick wallow into the world of autocrats.  It is, as one might imagine, slimy.  Autocrats do not hide in the shadows.  They are big, bold, and literally attacking democracies on many fronts.  This quick read offers a good flavor of autocratic behavior without getting caught up in the details of each dictator.  Rather, the book looks at what they have in common, how they support one another, and what democracies can do to defend and go on the offensive.  The steps are pretty obvious and can be summed up with:  Do Not Tolerate Corruption.  That goes a long way and it is amazing the many little ways that democracies do, indeed, tolerate corruption.  We must stop!

The Demon of Unrest, Erik Larson

 

The Demon of Unrest:  A saga of hubris, heartbreak, and heroism at the dawn of the civil war by Erik Larson

Started: August 10, 2024

Completed: August 15, 2024

Recommendation: Recommended

Recommended By: My mother

Review:

I do enjoy the way that Larson tells a tale.  I also thought I had a good understanding of the start of the Civil War.  I did not.  I thought I had a thorough understanding of Lincoln's cabinet.  I still learned more.  Larson does a good job of building a vision through a character and then extending that vision to other characters.  Rusk is an excellent example whose life truly follows the story arc.  Having visited the batteries that play a prominent role in this book throughout my childhood (to include a visit to the library now in Fort Moultrie, I could see through my memory the sites described in the book.

Service Model, Adrian Tchaikovsky

 

Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Started: August 8, 2024
Completed: August 10, 2024
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

What a great book!  Future dystopia, but from the robot's perspective.  Pretty darn awesome.  I love how quickly Tchaikovsky got me to believe that something which was clearly a robot was also sentient.  Dystopia bad.  Robot perspective, excellent!

Swift River, Essie Chambers

 

Swift River by Essie Chambers

Started: August 4, 2024
Completed: August 8, 2024
Recommendation: Not Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

This is a sort of "day in the life" though it is more than a day.  I did not enjoy the subject matter.  I did not enjoy the characters.  The experience of reading the book felt like being "stuck in the mud."  It just did not make sense to me.

Limitarianism, Ingrid Robeyns

 

Limitarianism: The case against extreme wealth by Ingrid Robeyns

Started: July 31, 2024
Completed: August 4, 2024
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: I read an interview with the author in Current Affairs

Review:

C'mon, it isn't even socialism.  This is about putting rails on capitalism.  It is also about trying to maintain "clean money."  There are some really good ideas in this book and Robeyns is no slouch in presenting them.  Basically, the super-rich have too much.  It is likely that the very rich have too much.  Society giveth and society needs to boundeth.  Well worth the read.