The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wouden

 

The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wouden

Started: July 14, 2024
Completed: July 16, 2024
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: This just kept showing up in my feed, so I had to give it a look

Review:

The symbolism of the pear on the front cover is going to be lost until about half way through this book.  After that, it is s a pretty cool cover.  I am having trouble classifying this book as either literature or romance.  This is not a Harlequin romance, more of a Bronte romance, but it feels like the romance is so central to the book that to not include it is a bad idea.  Van Der Wouden uses some of the basic tools of a romance (a diary for example), but tips in enough of the dramatic (the huge dramatic piece is a spoiler, but it is so obvious when it arrives as a large part of the dramatic element, that anyone who reads this book will instantly pick it up) to make it less of a romance and more of a drama.  I dunno.  Still kind of stumped as to how to look at it.  Back to the romance side of things, the sex is pretty explicit so if that is an issue for you, then this book is not for you.  I enjoyed the book and whipped through it, but it is worth noting that there is plenty of depth, with characters seeming to be slippery and morphing on the page.  At no point was this book humorous.

The Worlds I see, Dr. Fei-Fei Li

The Worlds I See: Curiosity, exploration, and discovery at the dawn of AI by Dr. Fei-Fei Li

Started: July 10, 2025
Completed: July 14, 2025
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By:  Nobody

Review:

It is interesting to see how people perceive themselves and, for me, it is particularly interesting to hear how scientists see themselves.  Dr. Li is a compelling figure on her own, but the coincidence of her career with the most recent explosion in computer technology is interesting.  I particularly enjoyed her view of the future.  It was very interesting the stark difference between Dr. Li’s appearance before congress (addressing the ethical risks of AI) and Dr. Ford’s appearance (addressing the ethical risks of the judiciary itself).  It feels like Dr. Li is still naive about the risks of AI, but seeing where her thinking has been and where it is going is exceedingly compelling.

Tinkers, Paul Harding

 

Tinkers by Paul Harding

Started: July 3, 2024
Completed: July 11, 2024
Recommendation: Mild recommendation
Recommended By: I think I found this on the Pulitzer list

Words for which I sought help:

Claptrap — absurd or nonsense talk or ideas

Clepsydra — an ancient time-measuring device worked by a flow of water

Craquelure — a network of fine cracks in the paint or varnish of a painting

Creel — a wicker basket for carrying fish

Vesation — a renewal or purification through the burning away or destruction of evil attributes

Review:

This is a very odd book.  The closest I can come to some sort of analogy is Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, yet this is much more approachable (it is in plain English).  All the same, it is a series of vignettes that are disjoint with intermittent sort of poetry definitions.  Very odd.  The descriptive writing is very good, but the narrative is so broken up that it requires concentration to follow.  I still cannot decide what I fully think of this book and I think it will haunt me.

Plunder, Brendan Ballou

 

Plunder:  Private equity’s plan to pillage America by Brendan Ballou

Started: July 7, 2024
Completed: July 10, 2024
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By:  New York Times

Review:

This book will annoy you and may inflame you.  It is pretty awful what the private equity companies are doing and what is required to stop it.  I have seen companies (like Toys R Us) collapse when it seems they should not.  I’ve also heard about prisoners being mistreated with food and with telephone calls.  The behaviors of private equity are pretty horrible and surely immoral.

Night Flyer, Tiya Miles

 

Night Flyer:  Harriet Tubman and the faith dreams of a free people by Tiya Miles

Started: July 6, 2024
Completed: July 7, 2024
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: a New York Times list of upcoming books

Review:

I knew the outlines of Tubman’s story, but I knew neither the details nor the context.  This book offers both and is an interesting and approachable introduction to Harriet Tubman.  It is not thorough (surely there are other biographies for that), but it is complete and it focuses on Tubman’s active life bringing people to freedom.

Power and Progress, Acemoglu and Johnson

 

Power and Progress:  Our 1000-year struggle over technology and prosperity by Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson

Started: 6/29/2024
Completed: 7/6/2024
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: I am not certain, but I think I read a review

Review:

The first half of this book is pretty harrowing describing the life and death struggle between technical progress and the underclasses.  I almost stopped reading it.  I was growing weary of hearing how poorly humans treat one-another.  It is enough to say it happens and perhaps offer an example or two, but the endless litany was deadening.  Fortunately we hit Malthus.  I absolutely hate Malthus.  These guys agree and demonstrated how wrong Malthus was and how harmful his concepts were to society in general (not to mention twentieth century debaters).  I have to admit that I kind of reveled.  Not a lot.  Definitely some.  That saved this book and kept me reading.  The back portions of the book are pretty harrowing as well (they address Chinese monitoring and control policies that are terrible).  At this point, though, they did not go into detailed examples and it was possible to accept without vomiting.  The last few chapters offer some thoughts on where to go with progress so as not to destroy society including a discussion of UBI (which they, broadly, do not support).  Interesting stuff that is a tad dated, but definitely not outdated.

The Wisdom of No Escape, Pema Chödrön

 

The Wisdom of No Escape: And the path of loving kindness by Pema Chödrön

Started: June 21, 2024
Completed: July 3, 2024
Recommendation: Mild Recommendation
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

I have not really studied Buddhism well.  I thought that this was going to be more of a book about meditation than it was.  I find some of the terms familiar (e.g., dharma) and others very unfamiliar.  There is a certain assumption that these terms are at least familiar and, at best, well understood.  I’m not sure that I will ever study Buddhism sufficiently well to find the terms needed to truly appreciate this book sufficiently well understood.