Reality, Jan Westerhoff

Reality:  A Very Short Introduction by Jan Westerhoff is a book that I read about in a scientific publication (I can't remember which).  This is part of the "very short introduction" series from Oxford University Press.

Started:  February 6, 2019

Completed: February 8, 2019

Recommendation: Mildly Recommended

Recommended By:  Nobody

Review:

This is a quick look against that idea that things are real.  Basically, you are a figment of my imagination and there is no real way for you to prove you are not.  The arguments re much more developed and carefully thought out.  It is a good pocket reference.

Fear, Bob Woodward

Fear:  Trump in the White House by Bob Woodward is a book I could not miss.

Started: September 11, 2018

Completed: February 6, 2019

Recommendation: Recommended

Recommended By: Everyone

Review:

This book validates everything I thought of the Trump administration.  Everything.  It ends with Dowd not being able to tell his client the truth:  "You're a fucking liar."  Read this book.

Barracoon, Zora Hurston

Barracoon:  The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" by Zora Neale Hurston is the story of the last living man who was made a slave after travelling on the last slave ship as told in his own words to a researcher in the United States.

Started: 1/8/2019

Completed: 1/31/2019

Recommendation: Highly Recommended

Recommended By:  Nobody

Review:

A wonderful book telling the horrible and horrifying true tale of a man made slave in his own words.  I listened to this book and you can truly imaging him speaking and telling his own tale.  This man had a hard life and he suffered through death on a scale unimaginable to most modern Americans.  Read it.

The President is Missing, Clinton and Patterson

The President is Missing by Bill Clinton and James Patterson is a book that intrigued me when I saw an interview with the authors on "The Late Show."  I think I have read a Patterson mystery in the past and it wasn't awful.  Lots of people enjoy his books.  Clinton is really smart.  Who knows?

Started:  12/19/2018

Completed: 1/7/2019

Recommendation: Not worth it

Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

I am not fond of the genre.  This was one stereotype after another with things left half said and the appropriate outrage at the death of a loved one.  I got half way through.  I just couldn't waste my time any more.  Don't waste your time.

Elon Musk, Ashlee Vance

Elon Musk:  Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance is a biography of a young man.  I have been intrigued about his current story for a little while.

Started: 11/13/2018

Completed: 12/19/2018

Recommendation: Recommended

Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

This is not a "tell all."  It is very pro Musk.  After reading it, it is hard not to simply want to buy everything Musk and ride to the promised land.  It also points out that Musk's desire and drive outstrip anyone's capabilities.  This means that Musk's predictions are laughably inaccurate in time.  They are staggeringly accurate in resolve, intent, and completion.  I will be paying attention anytime he predicts something.  I will ignore the time frame.  This is a good if pandering read.  It told me a lot more about someone who is interesting because he does stuff.  That is pretty cool.

Dark Money, Jane Mayer

Dark Money:  The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right by Jane Mayer is the story behind the hard right.

Started: 10/22/2018

Completed: 11/19/2018

Recommendation: Highly Recommended

Recommended By:  Nobody

Review:

Oh my God.  It is staggering how such a small community of the ultimate tiny percent of Americans controlling and taking over the Republican party.  Simply unbelievable.  Thank you so much for this book.  It is a book that will become part of my reference library.  Such great research.  So well put together.  Wonderful read.  Sickening conclusion.  Everyone in America should read this book.

Mayflower, Nathaniel Philbrick

Mayflower:  A Story of Courage, Community, and War by Nathaniel Philbrick is the story of the Mayflower that brought the pilgrims to the New World.  I bought this book when a friend of my wife's came to visit.  Before it rose to the top of my unread books, I had passed it onto my mother-in-law to enjoy and she felt it was excellent.

Started:  1/11/2017

Completed: 10/22/2018

Recommendation: Recommended

Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

An interesting story that tells me a lot I did not know about the journey itself.  I also learned a ton about King Phillip's war.  For some reason I thought that King Phillip must have been an English king.  I was completely wrong, King Phillip was an Indian.  The story ends well into the 1800s, so it is much more than the story of the Mayflower itself.  It took me a long time to get through because I was listening on audio and I had to return the CDs to the library.  Recently, I was able to get them out once more and finished the last few.

This book is not a page turner.  This book is a rather slow read largely because the topics discussed are so discordant from the taught history.  I have to agree with Philbrick that I went quickly from the pilgrims to the civil war without really considering what came in between.