Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood is a book I found on a list of the best fiction.  I'm a bit leery of Atwood because the Handsmaid's stuff is so uneven.  The title seems like something from Neil Gaiman.  Who knows.

Started: 12/24/2019

Completed: 12/26/2019

Recommendation: Not Recommended

Recommended By: A list

Review:

WARNING:  This book discusses child pornography from the child's perspective as a flash back.  This could be a trigger issue for some people.  Just unpleasant for the rest of us.

I hate being dumped into a dystopian future with no reference points.  Margaret Atwood does that fairly consistently.  I should know better.

The book is well written.  The plot is pretty basic, but there is plenty of nuance.  The way the plot developed was frustrating for me.  There is a lot of flashback and parallel story lines.  The book is interesting, but it felt to me that there was no character development--at best some sort of character revealing.

The premise does not carry the wait of the disorientation that is Atwood's hallmark.

Empire of the Summer Moon, S. C. Gwynne

Empire of the Summer Moon:  Quanah Parker and the rise and fall of the Comanches the most powerful Indian tribe in American history by S. C. Gwynne.  This book was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

Started: 12/21/2019

Completed: 12/24/2019

Recommendation: Recommended

Recommended By:  Nobody

Words for which I sought help:

priapic -- relating to male sexuality and sexual activity

Review:

Easily half the book is about the state of the Comanches before Quanah.  This is all very interesting, but kind of caught me off-guard.  I think it was necessary to establish the nature of the Comanche way of life and also to provide some perspective on how his mother (a white woman) came to the tribe and her perspective on Comanches in general.  The book is really interesting if you can get by how terribly bloody things were.  It seems to me that Quanah could have had a book that focused more purely on him, but I have a feeling that the author wanted to have more than just that.

Proof of Conspiracy, Seth Abramson

Poof of Conspiracy:  How Trump's international collusion is threatening American democracy by Seth Abramson is the sequel to Proof of Collusion.

Started: 12/10/2019

Completed: 12/21/2019

Recommendation: Highly recommended

Recommended By: Nobody

Words and phrases for which I sought help:

sub rosa lobbying -- Literally "under the rose" this is lobbying that is done in secret.

Review:

So this is a huge take down on Trump and his clan.  It is amazing in its detail, focus, and rigorous sources.  Must read for anyone who wants to know what our President has been doing and how bad it is for the USA.

The Blade Itself, Joe Abercrombie

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie was on a list of recommended books in the Washington Post that my mother-in-law had cut out and recommended to me.  I think that this was in the year the book was published, 2006.  It took a long time to buy a copy as it did not show up in used book stores and I eventually took it out of the library.

Started: 12/6/2019

Completed: 12/10/2019

Recommendation: Mild recommendation

Recommended By:  The Washington Post

Review:

Some of the descriptions were really good: "...silence but for the wind fumbling across the dark stones...."  Others, however, such as long battle scenes were just kind of gross.  Maybe they were needed, it will take the subsequent books to know for sure.  This is, however, a book that was written in need of a sequel.  We shall see.  For now, however, I can offer a mild recommendation.

Exhalation, Ted Chiang

Exhalation by Ted Chiang is a collection of science fiction short stories.  This book shows up on numerous lists of good science fiction books to read.

Started: 12/2/2019

Completed: 12/6/2019

Recommendation: Highly recommended

Recommended By: A list of some sort

Review:

I am not big on collections of short stories, but this is a pretty cool collection.

"Skill at debate is not the same as maturity."  This is an excellent and fundamental insight.  I find it hard to distinguish them myself.  The story in which this insight appeared did a good job of explaining what was happening.

These are great stories that address lots of cool issues.  The time was well spent and I really enjoyed these carefully crafted stories.

A Warning, Anonymous

A Warning by Anonymous is a book I could not miss.

Started: 11/30/2019

Completed: 12/2/2019

Recommendation: Mildly Recommended

Recommended By: Cousin Charles

Review:

"He is out of his mind."  'nuff said.

Then he said this, "Given enough time and space, Donald J. Trump, will seek to abuse any power he is given."  Wow.

The Education of Brett Kavanaugh, Pogrebin and Kelly

The Education of Brett Kavanah:  An investigation by Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly is a book for which I was interviewed.

Started: 11/27/2019

Completed: 11/28/2019

Recommendation:  Recommended

Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

This well researched book follows the education of Justice Kavanaugh.