The Finish, Mark Bowden

The Finish:  The Killing of Osama bin Laden by Mark Bowden read by James Lurie is an audio book that I picked up at the library book store because the librarian thought "I'd definitely like it."  It came free with another audio book that I actually wanted.  It has been sitting in my pile of audio books until it is the only one on hand.

Started: 11/31/2016

Completed: 12/9/2016

Recommendation: Highly Recommended

Recommended By:  a nearby librarian

Review:

OK, the librarian was right.  I don't know what I expected--I guess gratuitous violence.  This book was a great balance between the logistics, the decision making, and the actual events.  It offered analysis, resolution of conflicting accounts, and mechanical details of the whole operation over the course of many years.  It was remarkably well written and I am glad that I heard it.  Anyone wondering what decisions were made or how the operation was accomplished would be interested in this book.  There is enough detail to make the description complete without so much detail as to make the work boring or nauseating.  It is probably worth every American reading.

The Evolution of Useful Things, Henry Petroski

The Evolution of Useful Things:  How everyday artifacts--from forks and pins to paper clips and zippers--came to be as they are by Henry Petroski struck me as just the collection of eclectic things all wrapped together that might be interesting.

Started: 11/18/2016

Completed: 12/8/2016

Recommendation: Recommended

Recommended By:  Nobody

Review:

FORM DOES NOT FOLLOW FUNCTION argues this author at every turn.  Petroski offers seemingly endless examples of how inventors seek to fix the flaws in previous inventions or solve some shortcoming in life.  Petroski demonstrates that solutions do not arrive fully formed and are almost always an incremental step from something that came before.  The argument is compelling.  The story of the invention of seemingly every day things (like the paper clip) is interesting on its own even if the narrative is frequently interrupted to restate the author's thesis.  The interruption becomes annoying over time, but the case is not lost on me.  This book is a good read and offers some insight into how inventors go about their lives for those of us who are not inventors.

The Silmarillion, J.R.R Tolkein

The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien is read by Martin Shaw.  I read this as a young man and saw this audio collection at the Greenbelt Labor Day Festival--I felt it was worth the listen to and from work.

Started:  10/25/2016

Completed: 11/30/2016

Recommendation: Only to die-hard Tolkien fans

Recommended By:  Nobody

Review:

The book itself is as remarkably boring as I remember.  It is the scale of the work and the attempt to tell such a "history" that is impressive.  The sonorous voice of Martin Shaw lends a gravitas to the work that goes well with some of the archaic phrases (e.g. in that hour, on that day).  I remember fighting my way through this book around the same time I was trying to read the Bible cover to cover and, so, I drew many parallels that probably were actually there.

I had forgotten that the Dark Elves were not evil, simply that they had not journeyed to the light with their other kin.  I had also forgotten that the Orcs were likely bread from tortured elves (and, thus, immortal as well), which is even more horrifying then believing that they are simply evil.  There are lots of stories that were referenced in the War of the Ring, that I had long forgotten and even forgotten the references.

There were some enlightening things about Sauron that I had forgotten.

Hearing, as opposed to reading, this work was worth it.

The End of Work, Jeremy Rifkin

The End of Work:  The Decline of the Global Labor Force and the Dawn of the Post-Market Era by Jeremy Rifkin.   This book was recommended to me by a friend who heard I was interested in trying to work on poverty.

Started:  08/06/2016

Completed: 11/18/2016

Recommendation: N/A

Recommended By:  Dr. Amen

Review:

I have been struggling to read this book, but I have been frustrated with the claims and it just seems like, in light of the recent election, it is simply unrealistic.  I'm not saying it is fantasy, but trying to implement the reforms this book recommends seem so incredibly unlikely as to convince me that we will need to derive a different solution then that proposed.

Lucifer: Book One, Mike Carey

Lucifer: Book One by Mike Carey is a graphic novel which continues the story of Lucifer (the fallen angel) who leaves Hell behind in Neil Gaiman's Sandman comics.  This series of comics is the inspiration for the Lucifer television series.  I was surprised to see that a comic book series was the inspiration, but I felt that if I was ever going to make a foray into graphic novels, this was a good place to start.

Started:  09/09/2016

Completed: 10/30/2016

Recommendation: Not Recommended

Recommended By:  Nobody

Review:

So, I picked up the comic because I enjoyed the television series.  The two have little in common.  The wit and humor that suffuses the television series is darkly lacking from the comic book.  It was uncomfortable to have so many conflicting pantheons of gods, goddesses, and creatures interacting.  The idea of angels "waging war" just doesn't meet my concept of what angels do.  The part of the television series that I really enjoy is seeing how surprising Lucifer can be.  In this comic book I found no such surprises.  In short, it wasn't my thing.  I also missed thought bubbles.  There is no way to get inside the heads of these characters, all you see is what they say or do.  There is no sense of communion with them and their inner worlds are opaque.

About Time, Adam Frank

About Time:  Cosmology, Time, and Culture at the Twilight of the Big Bang by Adam Frank read by David Drummond is a book about the first moments of time.  I don't know why I chose this audio book, nor do I remember from where I got it.  

Started:  10/11/2016

Completed: 10/24/2016

Recommendation: Mild Recommendation

Recommended By:  Nobody

Review:

The first half of the book is a cosmologist lecturing on all of human history (basically stone age forward).  It was almost entirely old hat to me and seemed wildly inappropriate in a book about cosmology.  The central thesis for the author, however, is that time and culture are "braided" together.  He took a long time developing this thesis and concluded that we would only come to understand our cosmology in general in terms of our own cultural development (ranging from relatively new theories to doom and gloom accompanying peak oil and climate change).  The author felt comfortable, from this vantage, offering morality lessons.  The only reason for the recommendation is that the second half of the book is a pretty good, fairly complete, introduction to cosmological thinking and analysis.  It isn't terribly detailed, but it does a good job of putting things together for the lay audience (no math).  I found the description of pocket universes particularly lucid and helpful to me.

Perlmann's Silence, Pascal Mercier

Perlmann's Silence by Pascal Mercier (pseudonym for Pete Bieri) is an audio book read by Mel Foster. This is a book originally published in German and is a study in character by a modern philosopher disguised as a novel.

Started:  9/11/2016

Completed: 10/10/2016

Recommendation: Not Recommended

Recommended By: Nobody

Words and Phrases for which I needed help:

mendacity -- untruthfulness

Review:

In order for a novelization of philosophical principals to be meaningful, the characters in the novel need to be compelling.  These characters are not.  At no point does one feel inclined toward the protagonist and his bizarre series of behaviors are not terribly understandable.  One might be inclined to say the same of Kafka and I think that is a fair critique, but the guise is much thinner with Kafka and mercifully shorter.  I did not get a lot from the book.  The characters left me cold.  The tendency to leave dialog half undone (while stylistic) is maddening--particularly in the audio version.  I just cannot recommend this book to anyone.