The Truth Has Changed, Josh Fox

The Truth Has Changed by Josh Fox is a book that I thought I read about in the Nation.  It is the book version of a one man show.

Started: 2/8/2019

Completed: 2/9/2019

Recommendation: Highly Recommended

Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

"Because at two degrees of warming, which is right around the corner, we bring about an unstoppable process...everything changes...forests become deserts. Extreme drought. Extreme flood.  Extreme weather becomes something that is just every other day.  Ecosystems collapse.  Fifty percent of animals go extinct.  That's a lot of goodbyes."

This guy has been everywhere since 9/11.  This book follows those travels and the sadness and joys that come with being at the epicenter of so many things.  He was a representative appointed by Bernie at the Democratic Convention.  He was at Standing Rock.

I marched in DC in support of Standing Rock.  I saw Bernie speak at the end of the march and he walked by me on his way to his care while I was trying to figure out where the nearest metro station was.  I wasn't there when the police fired water cannons.  I wasn't there when the water defenders bravely supported non-violence.  Josh was.  He told his story.  It is moving.  It is scary.  Greta Thunberg gets it.  She is autistic.  How can so few others?

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.