Penny's bookshelf: all en-US Sat, 12 Apr 2025 12:23:14 -0700 60 Penny's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Equality: What It Means and Why It Matters]]> 217812221
What can be done at a time of deep political instability and environmental crisis? Piketty and Sandel agree on much: more inclusive investment in health and education, higher progressive taxation, curbing the political power of the rich and the overreach of markets. But how far and how fast can we push? Should we prioritize material or social change? What are the prospects for any change at all with nationalist forces resurgent? How should the left relate to values like patriotism and local solidarity where they collide with the challenges of mass migration and global climate change?

To see Piketty and Sandel grapple with these and other problems is to glimpse new possibilities for change and justice but also the stubborn truth that progress towards greater equality never comes quickly or without deep social conflict and political struggle.]]> 128 Thomas Piketty 1509565507 Penny 0 currently-reading 3.98 2025 Equality: What It Means and Why It Matters
author: Thomas Piketty
name: Penny
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/12
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Cult of Trump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control]]> 43261495
Over the past two years, Trump’s behavior has become both more disturbing and yet increasingly familiar. He relies on phrases like, “fake news,� “build the wall,� and continues to spread the divisive mentality of us-vs.-them. He lies constantly, has no conscience, never admits when he is wrong, and projects all of his shortcomings on to others. He has become more authoritarian, more outrageous, and yet many of his followers remain blindly devoted. Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert and a major Trump supporter, calls him one of the most persuasive people living. His need to squash alternate information and his insistence of constant ego stroking are all characteristics of other famous leaders� cult leaders.

In The Cult of Trump, mind-control and licensed mental health expert Steven Hassan draws parallels between our current president and people like Jim Jones, David Koresh, Ron Hubbard and Sun Myung Moon, arguing that this presidency is in many ways like a destructive cult. He specifically details the ways in which people are influenced through an array of social psychology methods and how they become fiercely loyal and obedient. Hassan was a former “Moonie� himself, and he draws on his forty years of personal and professional experience studying hypnosis and destructive cults, working as a deprogrammer, and a strategic communications interventionist. He emphasizes why it’s crucial that we recognize ways to identify and protect ourselves and our loved ones.

The Cult of Trump is an accessible and in-depth analysis of the president, showing that under the right circumstances, even sane, rational, well-adjusted people can be persuaded to believe the most outrageous ideas. Hassan’s book is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the Trump phenomenon and looking for a way forward.]]> 320 Steven Hassan 1982127333 Penny 5
Steven Hassan, former Moonie and current mental health professional working to deprogram cult members of various persuasions, brings a wealth of personal experience and expertise to his topic. He begins by outlining the characteristics of a cult, how a cult becomes a cult, and the profile of a cult leader, referencing some of the most infamous cult leaders of our time and pinning Trump squarely to that map. Hassan also lays out the reasons why America was ripe for the manipulation that Trump engaged in to secure his power over the members of his own personal cult. He answers some of the Left's most persistent questions: How has Trump managed to be so persuasive? How has much of the media fallen under his sway? Think of sane washing by even the liberal media.

This book is one that becomes even more compelling in its final chapters. Hassan explores the "influencers" that played a role in building the Cult of Trump, including Putin (the infamous visits to Russia), the Christian Right, and Opus Dei. He catalogues and describes the various constituencies that comprise the cult, from Trump's inner circle to Evangelicals to the Republican Party to QAnon, to the Jewish Right, to the Alt Right (White Nationalists), and others. All of these groups have cohered around the cult/mystique of Donald J. Trump.

The final two chapters give some hope for the future. First Hassan provides a detailed protocol for helping members of Trump's cult to step away from it. It's a gentle and respectful approach for friends, family, neighbors. Browbeating and name calling will never work. And he outlines what we might do societally going forward to make our society better able to defeat current and future cults, including the roles the judiciary, mental health professionals, researchers, journalists, and social media platforms among others can and should play both against Trump's cult and future ones that threaten to arise.

Throughout, Hassan tells stories, recalling for us Jim Jones, 1984, Eric Hoffer's The True Believer, and other works we might consult to further our understanding. In the end Hassan leaves us with the reminder that "love is stronger than fear and that truth is stronger than mind control." But he also cautions that we have a lot of work to do in this most dangerous of times.]]> 4.06 2019 The Cult of Trump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control
author: Steven Hassan
name: Penny
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/11
date added: 2025/04/12
shelves:
review:
It's become common for those of us on the Left to refer to MAGAs as members of a cult dedicated to Donald Trump. Images of Trump as Jesus or beloved of Jesus rather prove the point when they are held against Trump's well-documented history of sexual abuse, fraud, adultery, and bearing false witness. Add to that the impossibility of swaying his adherents away from him with liberal doses of facts and rationality, a brick wall many of us have come up against with family members, neighbors, or online commenters.

Steven Hassan, former Moonie and current mental health professional working to deprogram cult members of various persuasions, brings a wealth of personal experience and expertise to his topic. He begins by outlining the characteristics of a cult, how a cult becomes a cult, and the profile of a cult leader, referencing some of the most infamous cult leaders of our time and pinning Trump squarely to that map. Hassan also lays out the reasons why America was ripe for the manipulation that Trump engaged in to secure his power over the members of his own personal cult. He answers some of the Left's most persistent questions: How has Trump managed to be so persuasive? How has much of the media fallen under his sway? Think of sane washing by even the liberal media.

This book is one that becomes even more compelling in its final chapters. Hassan explores the "influencers" that played a role in building the Cult of Trump, including Putin (the infamous visits to Russia), the Christian Right, and Opus Dei. He catalogues and describes the various constituencies that comprise the cult, from Trump's inner circle to Evangelicals to the Republican Party to QAnon, to the Jewish Right, to the Alt Right (White Nationalists), and others. All of these groups have cohered around the cult/mystique of Donald J. Trump.

The final two chapters give some hope for the future. First Hassan provides a detailed protocol for helping members of Trump's cult to step away from it. It's a gentle and respectful approach for friends, family, neighbors. Browbeating and name calling will never work. And he outlines what we might do societally going forward to make our society better able to defeat current and future cults, including the roles the judiciary, mental health professionals, researchers, journalists, and social media platforms among others can and should play both against Trump's cult and future ones that threaten to arise.

Throughout, Hassan tells stories, recalling for us Jim Jones, 1984, Eric Hoffer's The True Believer, and other works we might consult to further our understanding. In the end Hassan leaves us with the reminder that "love is stronger than fear and that truth is stronger than mind control." But he also cautions that we have a lot of work to do in this most dangerous of times.
]]> <![CDATA[Our Malady: Lessons in Liberty from a Hospital Diary]]> 53911858
And that was before the pandemic. We have since watched American hospitals, long understaffed and undersupplied, buckling under waves of coronavirus patients. The federal government made matters worse through willful ignorance, misinformation, and profiteering. Our system of commercial medicine failed the ultimate test, and thousands of Americans died.

In this eye-opening cri de coeur, Snyder traces the societal forces that led us here and outlines the lessons we must learn to survive. In examining some of the darkest moments of recent history and of his own life, Snyder finds glimmers of hope and principles that could lead us out of our current malaise. Only by enshrining healthcare as a human right, elevating the authority of doctors and medical knowledge, and planning for our children's future can we create an America where everyone is truly free.]]> 179 Timothy Snyder 0593238893 Penny 5
Part memoir of an escalating illness that brought him to multiple hospitals abroad and in the U.S., until, near death, he was back home in New Haven at his local hospital, the book is also an indictment of our for profit health care system and our neglect of our children, and again, our slide into authoritarianism and loss of freedom. Health and freedom are conjoined twins.

It also contains a chronicle of the COVID epidemic, its devastating mismanagement by the Trump administration, and the tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths. The chapter "The Truth Will Set Us Free" recounts in detail the timeline of that failure. I had almost forgotten those years, and I suspect I am not alone. And our collective forgetting lead to a second Trump term and more disastrous decision making by a negligent and incompetent tyrant, this time over tariffs and the deconstruction of all of the institutions that made our country safer, freer, and more prosperous. I hope Snyder follows up with a review of our current malaise, as Our Malady was published in 2020.

And finally, it is a book of lessons learned from his illness, lessons derived from the journal he kept while undergoing treatment, to whit: Health care should be a right (as it is in other countries) and should not be based on a profit motive; Doctors should be in charge, not constrained by private equity and other overlords who couldn't care less about patient care; Renewal begins with children, and parents need to be able to spend time and have societal support in bringing children into the world and caring for them, areas we lag way behind other developed nations; And when we are denied truth we lose freedom ... the truth of the pandemic, the dismantling of local newspapers, the hegemony of social media which feeds us what we want to believe rather than what is factual.

To my mind, this is a small masterpiece, an important book, and I urge everyone to read it.]]> 4.19 2020 Our Malady: Lessons in Liberty from a Hospital Diary
author: Timothy Snyder
name: Penny
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/11
date added: 2025/04/11
shelves:
review:
Timothy Snyder has become my favorite author of this fraught time period in American history. His passionate analysis in various media of our slide into authoritarianism coupled with his brilliant analyses of tyranny (On Tyranny) and freedom (On Freedom), two of my favorite recent works, make him the voice of this time. I read his books breathlessly. Our Malady had a similar impact on me. I devoured it.

Part memoir of an escalating illness that brought him to multiple hospitals abroad and in the U.S., until, near death, he was back home in New Haven at his local hospital, the book is also an indictment of our for profit health care system and our neglect of our children, and again, our slide into authoritarianism and loss of freedom. Health and freedom are conjoined twins.

It also contains a chronicle of the COVID epidemic, its devastating mismanagement by the Trump administration, and the tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths. The chapter "The Truth Will Set Us Free" recounts in detail the timeline of that failure. I had almost forgotten those years, and I suspect I am not alone. And our collective forgetting lead to a second Trump term and more disastrous decision making by a negligent and incompetent tyrant, this time over tariffs and the deconstruction of all of the institutions that made our country safer, freer, and more prosperous. I hope Snyder follows up with a review of our current malaise, as Our Malady was published in 2020.

And finally, it is a book of lessons learned from his illness, lessons derived from the journal he kept while undergoing treatment, to whit: Health care should be a right (as it is in other countries) and should not be based on a profit motive; Doctors should be in charge, not constrained by private equity and other overlords who couldn't care less about patient care; Renewal begins with children, and parents need to be able to spend time and have societal support in bringing children into the world and caring for them, areas we lag way behind other developed nations; And when we are denied truth we lose freedom ... the truth of the pandemic, the dismantling of local newspapers, the hegemony of social media which feeds us what we want to believe rather than what is factual.

To my mind, this is a small masterpiece, an important book, and I urge everyone to read it.
]]> <![CDATA[The Brainwashing of My Dad: How the Rise of the Right-Wing Media Changed a Father and Divided Our Nation—And How We Can Fight Back]]> 59164253
This groundbreaking book delves into the personal journey of Jen Senko, whose father fell victim to the insidious influence of media manipulation, leading to a deep divide within their family and our nation.

Through research and personal anecdotes, Senko unveils the tactics employed by right-wing media outlets to shape public opinion, sow discord, and distort reality. From talk radio and cable news to social media platforms, she exposes the mechanisms used to manipulate minds and stoke fear, ultimately leading to the polarization and division plaguing our society.

Key topics covered

The rise of right-wing media and its impact on public discourseTechniques used to manipulate minds and shape public opinionThe personal toll of media brainwashing on families and relationshipsExploring the role of fear and misinformation in the political landscapeStrategies for fostering understanding, empathy, and constructive dialogueRebuilding a united nation through media literacy and civic engagementWith thought-provoking insights and practical advice, Senko empowers readers to recognize and combat the destructive influence of media bias. By sharing strategies for reclaiming critical thinking, fostering constructive dialogue, and rebuilding bridges, The Brainwashing of My Dad offers hope for healing our divided nation.]]> 319 Jen Senko 1728239605 Penny 0 to-read 3.96 The Brainwashing of My Dad: How the Rise of the Right-Wing Media Changed a Father and Divided Our Nation—And How We Can Fight Back
author: Jen Senko
name: Penny
average rating: 3.96
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> On the Road 417058 On the Road. Few books have had as profound an impact on American culture. Pulsating with rhythms of late 1940s/1950s underground America, jazz, sex, illicit drugs, and the mystery and promise of the open road, Kerouac's classic novel of freedom and longing defined what it meant to be "Beat" and has inspired generations of writers, musicians, artists, poets and seekers who cite their discovery of the book as the event "set them free." This hardcover edition commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of the original publication of an American classic.

Based on Kerouac's adventures with Neal Cassady, On the Road tells the story of two friends whose four cross-country road trips are a quest for meaning and true experience. Written with a mixture of sad-eyed naïveté and wild abandon, and imbued with Kerouac's love of America, his compassion for humanity, and his sense of language as jazz, On the Road is the quintessential American vision of freedom and hope, a book that changed American literature and changed anyone who has ever picked it up.]]> 309 Jack Kerouac 0670063266 Penny 4
What I didn't love about this book: Dean Moriarity. For me he was equivalent to the notorious Moriarity of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the villain of the piece. I found his passages grating and can't quite understand Sal's fascination with him, especially after Dean abandons him in Mexico. What a jerk! He spoiled the book for me, hence the lost star. He is also why it took me a month to get through the book. His entrance really slowed me down.

Having said that, I'm glad to have finally read On the Road. It's a classic, and I can see why it inspired so many over the years. However as a role model for young men ... meh! But God, what prose!]]> 3.44 1957 On the Road
author: Jack Kerouac
name: Penny
average rating: 3.44
book published: 1957
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/09
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves:
review:
What I loved about this book: The lyrical prose that reminded me of Thomas Wolfe and F. Scott Fitzgerald only more so. Some sentences are so exquisite that they almost make your heart stop. It's like music or an amazing sunset. I can also jive with the sense of wanderlust, the urge to drive and drive and drive and see everything you haven't seen before and revisit everything you have. I get that feeling in spring ... or rather I did when I was younger. I liked Sal Paradise.

What I didn't love about this book: Dean Moriarity. For me he was equivalent to the notorious Moriarity of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the villain of the piece. I found his passages grating and can't quite understand Sal's fascination with him, especially after Dean abandons him in Mexico. What a jerk! He spoiled the book for me, hence the lost star. He is also why it took me a month to get through the book. His entrance really slowed me down.

Having said that, I'm glad to have finally read On the Road. It's a classic, and I can see why it inspired so many over the years. However as a role model for young men ... meh! But God, what prose!
]]> <![CDATA[Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus]]> 40293 402 Orson Scott Card 0812508645 Penny 0 to-read 3.97 1996 Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus
author: Orson Scott Card
name: Penny
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1996
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism]]> 223436601 An explosive memoir charting one woman’s career at the heart of one of the most influential companies on the planet, Careless People gives you a front-row seat to Facebook, the decisions that have shaped world events in recent decades, and the people who made them.

From trips on private jets and encounters with world leaders to shocking accounts of misogyny and double standards behind the scenes, this searing memoir exposes both the personal and the political fallout when unfettered power and a rotten company culture take hold. In a gripping and often absurd narrative where a few people carelessly hold the world in their hands, this eye-opening memoir reveals what really goes on among the global elite.

Sarah Wynn-Williams tells the wrenching but fun story of Facebook, mapping its rise from stumbling encounters with juntas to Mark Zuckerberg’s reaction when he learned of Facebook’s role in Trump’s election. She experiences the challenges and humiliations of working motherhood within a pressure cooker of a workplace, all while Sheryl Sandberg urges her and others to “lean in.�

Careless People is a deeply personal account of why and how things have gone so horribly wrong in the past decade—told in a sharp, candid, and utterly disarming voice. A deep, unflinching look at the role that social media has assumed in our lives, Careless People reveals the truth about the leaders of Facebook: how the more power they grasp, the less responsible they become and the consequences this has for all of us.]]> 400 Sarah Wynn-Williams 1250391237 Penny 0 to-read 4.33 2025 Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism
author: Sarah Wynn-Williams
name: Penny
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[How We Learn to Be Brave: Decisive Moments in Life and Faith]]> 62121600
The decisive moments in life are those pivot points when we’re called on to push past our fears and act with strength. With How We Learn to Be Brave , Bishop Mariann Budde teaches us to respond with clarity and grace even in the toughest times. Being brave is not a singular occurrence; it’s a journey that we can choose to undertake every day.
Here, Bishop Budde explores the full range of decisive moments, from the most visible and dramatic (the decision to go), to the internal and personal (the decision to stay), to brave choices made with an eye toward the future (the decision to start), those born of suffering (the decision to accept that which we did not choose), and those that come unexpectedly (the decision to step up to the plate). Drawing on examples ranging from Harry Potter to the Gospel According to Luke, she seamlessly weaves together personal experiences with stories from scripture, history, and pop culture to underscore both the universality of these moments and the particular call each one of us must heed when they arrive.
With Bishop Budde’s wisdom, readers will learn to live and to respond according to their true beliefs and in ways that align with their best selves. How We Learn to Be Brave will provide much-needed fortitude and insight to anyone searching for answers in uncertain times.]]> 201 Mariann Edgar Budde 0593539214 Penny 5
She breaks down the process in clearly defined options: deciding to go, deciding to stay, deciding to start, accepting what you do not choose, stepping up to the plate, the inevitable letdown, and the hidden virtue of perseverance, and what might prompt each choice. In response to the oft thought question "Should I stay or should I go?" Budde responds, "It depends." There are times when striking out on your own, leaving your current situation, is the brave, if difficult, thing to do, and times when staying requires more courage but is the right choice. She draws from her own life to illustrate each of the options, and from the lives of Martin Luther King Jr., Eleanor Roosevelt, and Thurgood Marshall, among others, and most importantly, given her calling, from the life of Jesus and other biblical figures.

I love the ecumenical spirit of the book. Budde, an Episcopalian bishop, turns to the writings of St. Ignatius and attends evangelical meetings. She values the mentorship she receives along the way on her journey to become one of the most important religious figures in the United States, bishop and spiritual leader of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington D.C. and the Washington National Cathedral.

We all know how she has spoken from that pulpit to gently but firmly advise President Trump to show mercy to "the least of these." How she courageously stood against his posturing in front of her church during the Black Lives Matter protests. Hers is a gentle, clear, well-reasoned bravery based in a profound faith in God. And she is an exemplary role model for us all in making "good trouble."]]> 4.34 2023 How We Learn to Be Brave: Decisive Moments in Life and Faith
author: Mariann Edgar Budde
name: Penny
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/01
date added: 2025/03/02
shelves:
review:
In clear prose, sharing personal formative experiences, Mariann Budde illustrates how to encourage yourself toward making brave decisions in life, living expansively, and making a positive difference for your fellow citizens.

She breaks down the process in clearly defined options: deciding to go, deciding to stay, deciding to start, accepting what you do not choose, stepping up to the plate, the inevitable letdown, and the hidden virtue of perseverance, and what might prompt each choice. In response to the oft thought question "Should I stay or should I go?" Budde responds, "It depends." There are times when striking out on your own, leaving your current situation, is the brave, if difficult, thing to do, and times when staying requires more courage but is the right choice. She draws from her own life to illustrate each of the options, and from the lives of Martin Luther King Jr., Eleanor Roosevelt, and Thurgood Marshall, among others, and most importantly, given her calling, from the life of Jesus and other biblical figures.

I love the ecumenical spirit of the book. Budde, an Episcopalian bishop, turns to the writings of St. Ignatius and attends evangelical meetings. She values the mentorship she receives along the way on her journey to become one of the most important religious figures in the United States, bishop and spiritual leader of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington D.C. and the Washington National Cathedral.

We all know how she has spoken from that pulpit to gently but firmly advise President Trump to show mercy to "the least of these." How she courageously stood against his posturing in front of her church during the Black Lives Matter protests. Hers is a gentle, clear, well-reasoned bravery based in a profound faith in God. And she is an exemplary role model for us all in making "good trouble."
]]> Schoolgirl 12483882 Schoolgirl gained notoriety for its ironic and inventive use of language. Now it illuminates the prevalent social structures of a lost time, as well as the struggle of the individual against "them" -- a theme that occupied Dazai's life both personally and professionally. This new translation preserves the playful language of the original and offers the reader a new window into the mind of one of the greatest Japanese authors of the 20th century.]]> 103 Osamu Dazai 1935548085 Penny 1
I've read really lovely reviews by very knowledgeable readers, citing chapter and verse, analyzing the central character's musings, her stream of consciousness coming to terms with life as a young schoolgirl on the precipice of womanhoods in prewar Japan. I certainly appreciate those takes on this tale.

And yes, there are poetic passages ... a bit purple for my taste, but that's youth. And there are the typical back and forth wanderings of a young mind trying to discover what it truly believes about itself, others, and life.

But, I didn't like her, the narrator. And she didn't ring true for me as a young female. My dislike formed early in the narrative, when she is responding to two dogs eager for her attention. Jappy she likes, Poo is a stray with a bad leg, and he is desperate for some show of kindness from her, kindness she doesn't extend. Instead she thinks, "Hurry, Poo, go up into the mountains! No one's going to take care of you, so you may as well die."

I do remember my own young girlhood. I remember thinking mostly about other kids, boys and girls. I remember thinking about school, my studies, my teachers, the activity night coming up. This narrator doesn't think very much about typical kid things. I also don't remember the kind of misogyny threading through my thinking that crops up in hers multiple times, but maybe that's because I'm female and not an adult man trying to imagine the thinking of a young girl. There's something off in Dazai's understanding of the female mind, and I can't say that's true of all male writers trying to portray female characters ... Molly Bloom comes to mind.

It's a quick read that I spread out over many days because I kept wanting to give it time to mellow in my thinking. It never did. I just did not like the narrative voice.]]> 4.02 1939 Schoolgirl
author: Osamu Dazai
name: Penny
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1939
rating: 1
read at: 2025/02/15
date added: 2025/02/16
shelves:
review:
I really wanted to like this book, as I'm a fan of Japanese fiction, and have recently gotten back to reading it. However, I just couldn't.

I've read really lovely reviews by very knowledgeable readers, citing chapter and verse, analyzing the central character's musings, her stream of consciousness coming to terms with life as a young schoolgirl on the precipice of womanhoods in prewar Japan. I certainly appreciate those takes on this tale.

And yes, there are poetic passages ... a bit purple for my taste, but that's youth. And there are the typical back and forth wanderings of a young mind trying to discover what it truly believes about itself, others, and life.

But, I didn't like her, the narrator. And she didn't ring true for me as a young female. My dislike formed early in the narrative, when she is responding to two dogs eager for her attention. Jappy she likes, Poo is a stray with a bad leg, and he is desperate for some show of kindness from her, kindness she doesn't extend. Instead she thinks, "Hurry, Poo, go up into the mountains! No one's going to take care of you, so you may as well die."

I do remember my own young girlhood. I remember thinking mostly about other kids, boys and girls. I remember thinking about school, my studies, my teachers, the activity night coming up. This narrator doesn't think very much about typical kid things. I also don't remember the kind of misogyny threading through my thinking that crops up in hers multiple times, but maybe that's because I'm female and not an adult man trying to imagine the thinking of a young girl. There's something off in Dazai's understanding of the female mind, and I can't say that's true of all male writers trying to portray female characters ... Molly Bloom comes to mind.

It's a quick read that I spread out over many days because I kept wanting to give it time to mellow in my thinking. It never did. I just did not like the narrative voice.
]]> <![CDATA[Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America]]> 53056522 From the author of the New York Times bestseller So You Want to Talk About Race, a history of white male America and a scathing indictment of what it has cost us socially, economically, and politically

After the election of Donald Trump, and the escalation of white male rage and increased hostility toward immigrants that came with him, New York Times-bestselling author Ijeoma Oluo found herself in conversation with Americans around the country, pondering one central question: How did we get here?

In this ambitious survey of the last century of American history, Oluo answers that question by pinpointing white men's deliberate efforts to subvert women, people of color, and the disenfranchised. Through research, interviews, and the powerful, personal writing for which she is celebrated, Oluo investigates the backstory of America's growth, from immigrant migration to our national ethos around ingenuity, from the shaping of economic policy to the protection of sociopolitical movements that fortify male power. In the end, she shows how white men have long maintained a stranglehold on leadership and sorely undermined the pursuit of happiness for all.]]> 278 Ijeoma Oluo 1580059511 Penny 0 currently-reading 4.40 2020 Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America
author: Ijeoma Oluo
name: Penny
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/13
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Our Own Worst Enemy: The Assault from within on Modern Democracy]]> 61395620 264 Tom Nichols 019764550X Penny 5
Another point that resonated with me and something I hadn't previously considered is that we are living in pretty secure times. Even those at the lower end of the economic spectrum have a fair amount of security. These are not the worst of times by any stretch of the imagination. And that is even more true for this in the middle class. Nichols points out that the majority of the January 6th insurrectionists are in that fairly comfortable demographic. They own businesses and clearly had the disposable income to make the trip to D.C. on that historic day. So what motivates folks like those to oppose the very democracy and the very government that gave them that measure of security. Boredom. The need for excitement, for drama. An attraction to a reality show host who shows no compassion and wants to fire everyone who displeasures him in any way. Our cable media have built up this expectation for drama, the thrill of going for the jugular, and anyone not in their particular tribe is fair game.

A third idea that resonated with me is Nichols' observation that our community associations have broken down, isolating us from those nearby and thrusting us into virtual relationships, where anonymity is a shield for displaying our worst impulses. We have lost our moral bearings, along with our intellectual curiosity, our desire to learn and to know. I'll be reading Nichols' earlier book, The Death of Expertise to further pursue this aspect of our broken society.

Finally, Nichols speaks of the impact of demographic change, whereby white Christian Americans find themselves facing the prospect of becoming a minority in the country, as a driver of the rejection of democracy in favor of an authoritarianism that promises to keep those others in check ... by deportation, by voter suppression, by denial of services and opportunities.

Nichols' final chapter offers three possibilities for fixing this degradation of our democracy and three nightmare scenarios, if we aren't able to pull back from its destruction. Definitely a great read!]]> 4.00 2021 Our Own Worst Enemy: The Assault from within on Modern Democracy
author: Tom Nichols
name: Penny
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/12
date added: 2025/02/13
shelves:
review:
Tom Nichols' take on how we came to be in our present crisis with respect to the very existence of our democracy is a stunning contribution to understanding that crisis. His prose is engaging, his reasoning solid. He lays blame for our problem in large measure on social media and the persistent flood of negativity and paranoia that have taken up residence there. Every issue now has a national audience, and that leads to people completely unaffected by a crime in New York to assume that crime is rampant in their immediate vicinity, crime that our democracy can't save them from, and so they lose faith in that democracy and hope for a strong man who will make all the scary stuff go away. Enter Trump.

Another point that resonated with me and something I hadn't previously considered is that we are living in pretty secure times. Even those at the lower end of the economic spectrum have a fair amount of security. These are not the worst of times by any stretch of the imagination. And that is even more true for this in the middle class. Nichols points out that the majority of the January 6th insurrectionists are in that fairly comfortable demographic. They own businesses and clearly had the disposable income to make the trip to D.C. on that historic day. So what motivates folks like those to oppose the very democracy and the very government that gave them that measure of security. Boredom. The need for excitement, for drama. An attraction to a reality show host who shows no compassion and wants to fire everyone who displeasures him in any way. Our cable media have built up this expectation for drama, the thrill of going for the jugular, and anyone not in their particular tribe is fair game.

A third idea that resonated with me is Nichols' observation that our community associations have broken down, isolating us from those nearby and thrusting us into virtual relationships, where anonymity is a shield for displaying our worst impulses. We have lost our moral bearings, along with our intellectual curiosity, our desire to learn and to know. I'll be reading Nichols' earlier book, The Death of Expertise to further pursue this aspect of our broken society.

Finally, Nichols speaks of the impact of demographic change, whereby white Christian Americans find themselves facing the prospect of becoming a minority in the country, as a driver of the rejection of democracy in favor of an authoritarianism that promises to keep those others in check ... by deportation, by voter suppression, by denial of services and opportunities.

Nichols' final chapter offers three possibilities for fixing this degradation of our democracy and three nightmare scenarios, if we aren't able to pull back from its destruction. Definitely a great read!
]]> The Stranger in the Lifeboat 56922594
Albom has written of heaven in the celebrated number one bestsellers "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" and "The First Phone Call from Heaven". Now, for the first time in his fiction, he ponders what we would do if, after crying out for divine help, God actually appeared before us? A fast-paced, compelling novel that makes you ponder your deepest beliefs, "The Stranger in the Lifeboat suggests that answers to our prayers may be found where we least expect them."]]> 271 Mitch Albom 006288834X Penny 0 to-read 4.05 2021 The Stranger in the Lifeboat
author: Mitch Albom
name: Penny
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why It Matters]]> 26720949 As Tom Nichols shows in The Death of Expertise, there are a number of reasons why this has occurred-ranging from easy access to Internet search engines to a customer satisfaction model within higher education. The product of these interrelated trends, Nichols argues, is a pervasive distrust of expertise among the public coinciding with an unfounded belief among non-experts that their opinions should have equal standing with those of the experts. The experts are not always right, of course, and Nichols discusses expert failure. The crucial point is that bad decisions by experts can and have been effectively challenged by other well-informed experts. The issue now is that the democratization of information dissemination has created an army of ill-informed citizens who denounce expertise.

When challenged, non-experts resort to the false argument that the experts are often wrong. Though it may be true, but the solution is not to jettison expertise as an ideal; it is to improve our expertise. Nichols is certainly not opposed to information democratization, but rather the enlightenment people believe they achieve after superficial internet research. He shows in vivid detail the ways in which this impulse is coursing through our culture and body politic, but the larger goal is to explain the benefits that expertise and rigorous learning regimes bestow upon all societies.]]> 272 Thomas M. Nichols 0190469412 Penny 0 to-read 3.76 2017 The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why It Matters
author: Thomas M. Nichols
name: Penny
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Triumph of the Yuppies: America, the Eighties, and the Creation of an Unequal Nation]]> 199523375
By the time their obituary was being written in the late 1980s, Yuppies—the elite, uber‑educated faction of the Baby Boom generation—had become something of a cultural punchline. This was a species that regularly drank white wine spritzers deserved to be mocked. But amidst the Yuppies's preoccupation with money, work, and career success; their colonization of previously working‑class neighborhoods in various American cities; their self‑evident self‑absorption; and their obsession with having just the right status‑signifying stuff, fromBMWs and VCRs to American Express cards and Cuisinarts, there was something serious happening, too, something that continues to have profound ramifications on American culture four decades later.

Based on new interviews with people at the center of the action in the '80s, this book brings to life the ascendance of this Yuppie elite. It chronicles educated Boomers' transformation from idealists in the late 1960s to careerists in the early 1980s, and charts how marketers, the media, and politicians pivoted to appeal to this influential new group. And it shows how Yuppie values impacted the broader culture—from gentrification in cities and an obsession with money and career success to an indulgent materialism. Most significantly, it shows how the me‑first mindset typical of Yuppieness helped created the largest income inequality in a century.

Brimming with lively and nostalgic details (think Jane Fonda, The Sharper Image, and laughable tidbits of Yuppie culture), Triumph of the Yuppies is a portrait of America just as it was beginning to come apart—and the origin story of the America we live in today.]]> 336 Tom McGrath 1538725991 Penny 5
After reading Tom McGrath's well-researched excellent book, I still can't answer that question, but his title says it all with respect to our current time ... the Yuppies have triumphed. The narcissistic sensibility that marked the 80s is still dominant today. The Wall Streetification of American society, at least among the advantaged and therefore powerful, is riding roughshod over the lives of the overwhelming majority of Americans.

Case in point: "The various forces that had been bubbling up over the previous few years -- looking out for number one, new energy around capitalism, new aggressiveness on Wall Street, Ronald Reagan's faith in free enterprise and free markets, young professionals' obsession with success -- were coalescing into something bigger. And among the people creating this new moment, the thing that was being used to measure almost everything was financial success." The seeds of Trumpism, of Elon Musk and the oligarchs, were being planted.

So despite the fact that Yuppies' place in the sun did not last very long and they became more of a joke than a viable movement, all these decades later we see those same questionable principles triumphant in our land. The gap between rich and poor that began accelerating in the 80s is a runaway train in the 2020's. Profit still trumps prosocial values. And there's no end in sight. Excellent analysis of a critical time.]]> 3.90 Triumph of the Yuppies: America, the Eighties, and the Creation of an Unequal Nation
author: Tom McGrath
name: Penny
average rating: 3.90
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/03
date added: 2025/02/11
shelves:
review:
I had been teaching for a decade at a Catholic high school for girls when the 80s hit. Students in the 70s were all about service to others. They aspired to be teachers, nurses, social workers ... women who would make a positive difference in the world. I remember my colleagues and I noticing a big difference between our early 80s classes and those from the previous decade. "They are more about money, about material success, about status." "They all out for number one, can't seem to work together, it's all about competition." Now, they wanted to be lawyers, stock brokers, get MBAs. Those were some of the observations we teachers were making at the time. What turned the empathy/service switch off and the "greed is good"switch on?

After reading Tom McGrath's well-researched excellent book, I still can't answer that question, but his title says it all with respect to our current time ... the Yuppies have triumphed. The narcissistic sensibility that marked the 80s is still dominant today. The Wall Streetification of American society, at least among the advantaged and therefore powerful, is riding roughshod over the lives of the overwhelming majority of Americans.

Case in point: "The various forces that had been bubbling up over the previous few years -- looking out for number one, new energy around capitalism, new aggressiveness on Wall Street, Ronald Reagan's faith in free enterprise and free markets, young professionals' obsession with success -- were coalescing into something bigger. And among the people creating this new moment, the thing that was being used to measure almost everything was financial success." The seeds of Trumpism, of Elon Musk and the oligarchs, were being planted.

So despite the fact that Yuppies' place in the sun did not last very long and they became more of a joke than a viable movement, all these decades later we see those same questionable principles triumphant in our land. The gap between rich and poor that began accelerating in the 80s is a runaway train in the 2020's. Profit still trumps prosocial values. And there's no end in sight. Excellent analysis of a critical time.
]]> <![CDATA[On the Curry Trail: Chasing the Flavor That Seduced the World]]> 60831853

On the Curry Trail is an enlightening journey across Australia, Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas to explore the origins of curry and the signature, essential curries of each region. This diaspora of curry brings alive not only the most iconic, category-defining recipes from these continents, but also the history, lore, anecdotes, and familial remembrances that fashion each dish. It delves into the story of curry—what it was and what it is, the places to which it has traveled and the ways it has evolved en route (whether because of local ingredients, cultural tastes, or other factors)—and embraces the many interpretations and definitions of this beloved dish. It makes the flavors of these scintillating curries accessible to the everyday home cook. On the Curry Trail is at once a mash note and an education—one rich in history and sense of place—that tells the definitive, delectable story of this beguiling dish in 50 irresistible recipes. Illustrations throughout.]]> 208 Raghavan Iyer 1523511214 Penny 5 4.13 2023 On the Curry Trail: Chasing the Flavor That Seduced the World
author: Raghavan Iyer
name: Penny
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/22
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves:
review:
This is the kind of cookbook I love. There are pages and pages of background on the topic, the history of curry from inception to today organized by geographic region, along with lots of cooking tips to both make the authentic recipes or make modifications with ingredients more readily available. I never realized there were so many different manifestations of curry across the planet. Iyer's style is conversational and personal. He also references other books/authors on the topic so the reader can further their exploration of it. Photos of the featured recipes and engaging graphic design make this book a delight to read. I'm so glad I added it to my collection.
]]> <![CDATA[Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, #1)]]> 62047992 The moving international sensation about new beginnings, human connection, and the joy of reading.

Hidden in Jimbocho, Tokyo, is a booklover's paradise. On a quiet corner in an old wooden building lies a shop filled with hundreds of second-hand books.

Twenty-five-year-old Takako has never liked reading, although the Morisaki bookshop has been in her family for three generations. It is the pride and joy of her uncle Satoru, who has devoted his life to the bookshop since his wife Momoko left him five years earlier.

When Takako's boyfriend reveals he's marrying someone else, she reluctantly accepts her eccentric uncle's offer to live rent-free in the tiny room above the shop. Hoping to nurse her broken heart in peace, Takako is surprised to encounter new worlds within the stacks of books lining the Morisaki bookshop.

As summer fades to autumn, Satoru and Takako discover they have more in common than they first thought. The Morisaki bookshop has something to teach them both about life, love, and the healing power of books.]]> 150 Satoshi Yagisawa 0063278677 Penny 4
But then something magical happens. One night she feels strangely agitated and can't sleep. Surrounded by books, she reaches out and grabs one at random, Until the Death of the Girl by Saisei Murō, and begins reading it. Hours later she realizes that something has washed over her, a feeling of peace. Books become important to her, along with the people who love them.

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop is a book for readers, for people whose own lives have been shaped by their love of books, by special books that deeply spoke to them. We meet some of those books in this one, along with bookshop regulars, folks at the local coffee shop, Takako's quirky uncle, his long estranged wife, a potential new love for Takako, and we see Takako's rebirth into a new and better life ... all centered in the Morisaki Bookshop.

The story is told simply as a first person narrative, the voice is calm and questioning. What is this book about? It's about life ... the day to day. Yes, a different culture, but fundamentally the same. Somehow I'm reminded of Thornton Wilder's Our Town, and Emily's realization: “Let's really look at one another!...It goes so fast. We don't have time to look at one another. I didn't realize. So all that was going on and we never noticed... Wait! One more look. Good-bye , Good-bye world. Good-bye, Grover's Corners....Mama and Papa. Good-bye to clocks ticking....and Mama's sunflowers. And food and coffee. And new ironed dresses and hot baths....and sleeping and waking up. Oh, earth, you are too wonderful for anybody to realize you. Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?"

Somehow, Yagasawa captures that same sense of the sacred in everyday things that we barely notice as we live among them: The taste of a really good cup of coffee, the welcoming smell of musty old books, the little flowers along a mountain path, the comfort of a hot bath, the sound of rain, the love of an uncle for his young niece. Good things do come in small packages. A lovely book!

]]> 3.67 2010 Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, #1)
author: Satoshi Yagisawa
name: Penny
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/21
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves:
review:
It's a simple story really, a story about a young woman, strung along by a man she has a crush on who discovers that he is engaged to another woman. That sends Takako into a tailspin. She leaves her job, runs out of money and a place to live so she takes up her uncle's offer to stay at his used bookstore in Jimbocho, a section of Tokyo filled with hundreds of used bookstores. At first her deep depression makes her snappish with him and lost in sleep-filled days, with some helping out at the store to earn her keep.

But then something magical happens. One night she feels strangely agitated and can't sleep. Surrounded by books, she reaches out and grabs one at random, Until the Death of the Girl by Saisei Murō, and begins reading it. Hours later she realizes that something has washed over her, a feeling of peace. Books become important to her, along with the people who love them.

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop is a book for readers, for people whose own lives have been shaped by their love of books, by special books that deeply spoke to them. We meet some of those books in this one, along with bookshop regulars, folks at the local coffee shop, Takako's quirky uncle, his long estranged wife, a potential new love for Takako, and we see Takako's rebirth into a new and better life ... all centered in the Morisaki Bookshop.

The story is told simply as a first person narrative, the voice is calm and questioning. What is this book about? It's about life ... the day to day. Yes, a different culture, but fundamentally the same. Somehow I'm reminded of Thornton Wilder's Our Town, and Emily's realization: “Let's really look at one another!...It goes so fast. We don't have time to look at one another. I didn't realize. So all that was going on and we never noticed... Wait! One more look. Good-bye , Good-bye world. Good-bye, Grover's Corners....Mama and Papa. Good-bye to clocks ticking....and Mama's sunflowers. And food and coffee. And new ironed dresses and hot baths....and sleeping and waking up. Oh, earth, you are too wonderful for anybody to realize you. Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?"

Somehow, Yagasawa captures that same sense of the sacred in everyday things that we barely notice as we live among them: The taste of a really good cup of coffee, the welcoming smell of musty old books, the little flowers along a mountain path, the comfort of a hot bath, the sound of rain, the love of an uncle for his young niece. Good things do come in small packages. A lovely book!


]]> The Giver (The Giver, #1) 3636 208 Lois Lowry 0385732554 Penny 5
Because ... just as the Elders in the community portrayed in The Giver have created a society where nothing is unexpected, there is no pain, no history, no dissonance, individuals and coordinated groups today are trying to impose some of those same "values" on us, on our children. Efforts to white wash dark times in our history by rewriting history books and banning books that in any way challenge the status quo, a benign view of the world and ourselves in it, have rapidly gained progress toward the kind of world depicted by Lowry. We might discuss ways our current society is like/unlike the one depicted in the book.

I know students would identify with the protagonist, Jonas, who strives to follow all the rules until love forces him to break all of them. I know they would wonder about the web of lies the adults have woven to keep the status quo unchallenged. Lies they no longer recognize as such. Just as they can no longer see colors, they can no longer see true right and wrong. We might discuss what a cult is and how it is that people might lose connection to facts and feelings.

I decided to read The Giver right now because it was recently featured on Velshi's Banned Books Club. After I finished, I found myself puzzled as to why anyone would want to ban The Giver, so I Googled it. I found out "The Giver is sometimes banned or challenged because it contains themes considered too mature for young readers, including graphic depictions of violence, particularly related to infanticide (killing of babies with disabilities), suicide, and sexually suggestive content, which some find inappropriate for the age group it is often assigned to."

It's most often assigned to 6th - 8th grade and seems entirely appropriate to me for those grades. The sexuality is vaguely suggested but not explicit, and kids of that age are exposed to much more violence on television or in video games. They are aware of their own budding sexuality, the feelings that arise unbidden, and so can identify with Jonas. The violence is one scene describing a Civil War battlefield ... don't we want kids to know that war is horrible? Don't they already know from other media ... graphic visual media ... rather than simply words?

We might discuss what it would be like to be assigned your life's work at age 12. We might discuss the friendship between Jonas and The Giver and whether or not we have any "givers" in our own lives and what their value might be to ourselves and our society. We might discuss "the Hero's Journey" as a literary/mythological theme and how Jonas exemplified it in his courageous trek across vast expanses of land to find freedom in the end. And then compare Jonas to other heroic characters. And find the heroic in our own lives.

The richness of this book makes it a superb choice for middle school kids. Yes, it's disturbing to think of infanticide ... but fairy tales are disturbing, the Bible is disturbing. Kids will survive and be the better for living in a society that helps them confront the darker aspects of life rather than shielding them from anything that might be remotely upsetting. I'm reminded of Lukianoff and Haidt's The Coddling of the American Mind. It doesn't make us stronger or more resilient to be wrapped in cotton wadding. The Giver manages darkness appropriately for middle school students and would give them an enormous gift of things to ponder in life. It's a gift that would keep on giving for many years ahead. ]]> 4.12 1993 The Giver (The Giver, #1)
author: Lois Lowry
name: Penny
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1993
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/19
date added: 2025/01/19
shelves:
review:
This book came out in 1993, the year after I left the classroom. Were I still teaching, I would use it in a heartbeat and not just because it won the prestigious Newberry Award for the Most Distinguished Contribution to American Literature for Children. The Giver is beautifully written, a compelling read, and one that I know kids would love talking about. There are so many themes ripe for discussion in this book. And it seems even more relevant in 2025 than when it was first published.

Because ... just as the Elders in the community portrayed in The Giver have created a society where nothing is unexpected, there is no pain, no history, no dissonance, individuals and coordinated groups today are trying to impose some of those same "values" on us, on our children. Efforts to white wash dark times in our history by rewriting history books and banning books that in any way challenge the status quo, a benign view of the world and ourselves in it, have rapidly gained progress toward the kind of world depicted by Lowry. We might discuss ways our current society is like/unlike the one depicted in the book.

I know students would identify with the protagonist, Jonas, who strives to follow all the rules until love forces him to break all of them. I know they would wonder about the web of lies the adults have woven to keep the status quo unchallenged. Lies they no longer recognize as such. Just as they can no longer see colors, they can no longer see true right and wrong. We might discuss what a cult is and how it is that people might lose connection to facts and feelings.

I decided to read The Giver right now because it was recently featured on Velshi's Banned Books Club. After I finished, I found myself puzzled as to why anyone would want to ban The Giver, so I Googled it. I found out "The Giver is sometimes banned or challenged because it contains themes considered too mature for young readers, including graphic depictions of violence, particularly related to infanticide (killing of babies with disabilities), suicide, and sexually suggestive content, which some find inappropriate for the age group it is often assigned to."

It's most often assigned to 6th - 8th grade and seems entirely appropriate to me for those grades. The sexuality is vaguely suggested but not explicit, and kids of that age are exposed to much more violence on television or in video games. They are aware of their own budding sexuality, the feelings that arise unbidden, and so can identify with Jonas. The violence is one scene describing a Civil War battlefield ... don't we want kids to know that war is horrible? Don't they already know from other media ... graphic visual media ... rather than simply words?

We might discuss what it would be like to be assigned your life's work at age 12. We might discuss the friendship between Jonas and The Giver and whether or not we have any "givers" in our own lives and what their value might be to ourselves and our society. We might discuss "the Hero's Journey" as a literary/mythological theme and how Jonas exemplified it in his courageous trek across vast expanses of land to find freedom in the end. And then compare Jonas to other heroic characters. And find the heroic in our own lives.

The richness of this book makes it a superb choice for middle school kids. Yes, it's disturbing to think of infanticide ... but fairy tales are disturbing, the Bible is disturbing. Kids will survive and be the better for living in a society that helps them confront the darker aspects of life rather than shielding them from anything that might be remotely upsetting. I'm reminded of Lukianoff and Haidt's The Coddling of the American Mind. It doesn't make us stronger or more resilient to be wrapped in cotton wadding. The Giver manages darkness appropriately for middle school students and would give them an enormous gift of things to ponder in life. It's a gift that would keep on giving for many years ahead.
]]> <![CDATA[Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires]]> 60165391
Five mysterious billionaires summoned theorist Douglas Rushkoff to a desert resort for a private talk. The topic? How to survive the “Event�: the societal catastrophe they know is coming. Rushkoff came to understand that these men were under the influence of The Mindset, a Silicon Valley–style certainty that they and their cohort can break the laws of physics, economics, and morality to escape a disaster of their own making—as long as they have enough money and the right technology.

In Survival of the Richest, Rushkoff traces the origins of The Mindset in science and technology through its current expression in missions to Mars, island bunkers, AI futurism, and the metaverse. In a dozen urgent, electrifying chapters, he confronts tech utopianism, the datafication of all human interaction, and the exploitation of that data by corporations. Through fascinating characters—master programmers who want to remake the world from scratch as if redesigning a video game and bankers who return from Burning Man convinced that incentivized capitalism is the solution to environmental disasters—Rushkoff explains why those with the most power to change our current trajectory have no interest in doing so. And he shows how recent forms of anti-mainstream rebellion—QAnon, for example, or meme stocks—reinforce the same destructive order.

This mind-blowing work of social analysis shows us how to transcend the landscape The Mindset created—a world alive with algorithms and intelligences actively rewarding our most selfish tendencies—and rediscover community, mutual aid, and human interdependency. In a thundering conclusion, Survival of the Richest argues that the only way to survive the coming catastrophe is to ensure it doesn’t happen in the first place.]]> 224 Douglas Rushkoff 0393881067 Penny 5
Quoting Cory Doctorow, Rushkoff drives home the point that even the more benign tech bros feel entitled to reign. "despite his cuddly reputation as a philanthropist, Gates has always pursued the ideology that the world should be guarded over by monopolist kings, dependent on their largesse (guided by their superhuman judgment) for progress." Rushkoff then recounts Gates' pressure on Biden to prevent poorer countries from making their own COVID vaccines through patent waivers using formulas developed in the U.S., preferring that we sell our vaccines to them so that our drug companies would make a profit. Thankfully, Biden didn't listen to Gates, and poorer nations were granted those waivers and able to make their own vaccines faster and cheaper than buying them from the developed world, thus saving millions of life.

Rushkoff's book is chock full of stories like these that make it abundantly clear what we mere mortals are up against: an entitled, petulant, frightened, arrogant, powerful group of individuals who exercise more control over our lives than their small numbers might suggest.

I said "frightened," because a sizable portion of the book traces the escape fantasies of the tech billionaires (note the subtitle.). Recognizing that climate change is a threat and that their enormous wealth could make them a target of a deprived, desperate populace, the uber wealthy have built themselves bunkers, hired private armies, and engaged in other survivalist strategies to be the last men standing ... to hell with everyone else. There is a conspiracist streak in many of them ... note Elon Musk ... and a desire to escape the bonds of body, time, and earth through technologies of one sort or another.

Overall, this is a dark book, very readable, fascinating, but dark. To whit: "When we get to apparent impasses -- like the ones we're facing today -- we try to innovate our way through to the other side, or transcend to some new level. Eventually this catches up to us. We've never seen a society avoid fascism when it gets to this stage of economic inequality, or a civilization avoid collapse when it has taxed its physical environment to this extent." The book is the proverbial canary in a coal mine. It issues a dire warning that we must heed or suffer the consequences of our failure to do so. Much of Rushkoff's text is focused on the environmental toll of the tech billionaires' extractive technologies that give them obscene wealth at the expense of a livable planet for everyone else.

But in the final chapter, he offers some ways we might fight back, regain our equilibrium. Frankly, those means don't seem equal to the task, given the formidable force arrayed against us "just plain folks." We are up against what Rushkoff calls "The Mindset." Stated simply that's the "belief that with enough money and technology, wealthy men can live as gods and transcend the calamities that befall everyone else."

So our only hope is to not buy in, to resist. "We can stop supporting their companies and the way of life that they're pushing. We can actually do less, consume less, travel less -- and make ourselves happier and less stressed in the process. Buy local, engage in mutual aid, and support cooperatives. Use monopoly law to break up anticompetitive behemoths, environmental regulation to limit waste, and organized labor to promote the rights of gig workers. Reverse tax policy so that those receiving passive capital gains on their wealth pay higher rates than those actively working for their income."

All good. But therein lies the rub. Some of these things we can do as individuals, but many require legislators, courts, and a president that will exercise their power to protect the vast mass of humanity and our home planet. And so far we aren't seeing that they are willing to do so or are likely to over the next four years.

Excellent book. I highly recommend it.

]]> 3.83 2022 Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires
author: Douglas Rushkoff
name: Penny
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/13
date added: 2025/01/19
shelves:
review:
Shelley famously opined, "Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world." I think we are far past that era, but the quotation is still useful if you replace "poets" with "tech bros." That was one of my takeaways from Rushkoff's excellent book. If they aren't already in the driver's seat, and arguably they are, then they have a burning desire to be so, and the upcoming administration seems inclined to let them.

Quoting Cory Doctorow, Rushkoff drives home the point that even the more benign tech bros feel entitled to reign. "despite his cuddly reputation as a philanthropist, Gates has always pursued the ideology that the world should be guarded over by monopolist kings, dependent on their largesse (guided by their superhuman judgment) for progress." Rushkoff then recounts Gates' pressure on Biden to prevent poorer countries from making their own COVID vaccines through patent waivers using formulas developed in the U.S., preferring that we sell our vaccines to them so that our drug companies would make a profit. Thankfully, Biden didn't listen to Gates, and poorer nations were granted those waivers and able to make their own vaccines faster and cheaper than buying them from the developed world, thus saving millions of life.

Rushkoff's book is chock full of stories like these that make it abundantly clear what we mere mortals are up against: an entitled, petulant, frightened, arrogant, powerful group of individuals who exercise more control over our lives than their small numbers might suggest.

I said "frightened," because a sizable portion of the book traces the escape fantasies of the tech billionaires (note the subtitle.). Recognizing that climate change is a threat and that their enormous wealth could make them a target of a deprived, desperate populace, the uber wealthy have built themselves bunkers, hired private armies, and engaged in other survivalist strategies to be the last men standing ... to hell with everyone else. There is a conspiracist streak in many of them ... note Elon Musk ... and a desire to escape the bonds of body, time, and earth through technologies of one sort or another.

Overall, this is a dark book, very readable, fascinating, but dark. To whit: "When we get to apparent impasses -- like the ones we're facing today -- we try to innovate our way through to the other side, or transcend to some new level. Eventually this catches up to us. We've never seen a society avoid fascism when it gets to this stage of economic inequality, or a civilization avoid collapse when it has taxed its physical environment to this extent." The book is the proverbial canary in a coal mine. It issues a dire warning that we must heed or suffer the consequences of our failure to do so. Much of Rushkoff's text is focused on the environmental toll of the tech billionaires' extractive technologies that give them obscene wealth at the expense of a livable planet for everyone else.

But in the final chapter, he offers some ways we might fight back, regain our equilibrium. Frankly, those means don't seem equal to the task, given the formidable force arrayed against us "just plain folks." We are up against what Rushkoff calls "The Mindset." Stated simply that's the "belief that with enough money and technology, wealthy men can live as gods and transcend the calamities that befall everyone else."

So our only hope is to not buy in, to resist. "We can stop supporting their companies and the way of life that they're pushing. We can actually do less, consume less, travel less -- and make ourselves happier and less stressed in the process. Buy local, engage in mutual aid, and support cooperatives. Use monopoly law to break up anticompetitive behemoths, environmental regulation to limit waste, and organized labor to promote the rights of gig workers. Reverse tax policy so that those receiving passive capital gains on their wealth pay higher rates than those actively working for their income."

All good. But therein lies the rub. Some of these things we can do as individuals, but many require legislators, courts, and a president that will exercise their power to protect the vast mass of humanity and our home planet. And so far we aren't seeing that they are willing to do so or are likely to over the next four years.

Excellent book. I highly recommend it.


]]> On Freedom 203956715 A brilliant exploration of freedom—what it is, how it’s been misunderstood, and why it’s our only chance for survival—by the acclaimed Yale historian and author of the #1 New York Times bestseller On TyrannyTimothy Snyder has been called “the leading interpreter of our dark times.� As a historian, he has given us startling reinterpretations of political collapse and mass killing. As a public intellectual, he has turned that knowledge toward counsel and prediction, working against authoritarianism here and abroad. His book On Tyranny has inspired millions around the world to fight for freedom. Now, in this tour de force of political philosophy, he helps us see exactly what we’re fighting for.Freedom is the great American commitment, but as Snyder argues, we have lost sight of what it means—and this is leading us into crisis. Too many of us look at freedom as the absence of state We think we're free if we can do and say as we please, and protect ourselves from government overreach. But true freedom isn’t so much freedom from, as freedom to—the freedom to thrive, to take risks for futures we choose by working together. Freedom is the value that makes all other values possible.On Freedom takes us on a thrilling intellectual journey. Drawing on the work of philosophers and political dissidents, conversations with contemporary thinkers, and his own experiences coming of age in a time of American exceptionalism, Snyder identifies the practices and attitudes—the habits of mind—that will allow us to design a government in which we and future generations can flourish. We come to appreciate the importance of traditions (championed by the right) but also the role of institutions (the purview of the left). Intimate yet ambitious, this book helps forge a new consensus rooted in a politics of abundance, generosity, and grace.]]> 368 Timothy Snyder 0593728726 Penny 5
I can't praise On Freedom highly enough. Snyder's writing is poetry in prose, and his vignettes are just the right length for reading and then reflecting on these perilous times. A mix of memoir, history, philosophy, political science, and storytelling, the book is replete with classical and literary allusions. Snyder's breadth of knowledge is stunning! He weaves several narratives together seamlessly ... his childhood on the farm, his time teaching in a prison and what he learned from the prisoners about freedom, his many trips to Ukraine and conversations with Zelensky, his university teaching and writing ... all of it draped on a structure aligned with how each individual human being (ideally) grows through life: Sovereignty, Unpredictability, Mobility, Factuality, Solidarity.

I won't try to explain Snyder's concept of freedom ... what it is and what it isn't, because it really deserves the kind of time and care Snyder takes in defining it ... the point of the book. But there are several things I will share that struck me as particularly brilliant in his analysis of our current political situation. Think of this as a teaser.

Snyder coins a term "sadopopulism," which captures perfectly the form populism has taken in the U.S. "Populism offers some redistribution, something to the people from the state; sadopopulism offers only the spectacle of others being still more deprived. Sadopopulism salves the pain of immobility (not being to get anywhere in the world) by directing attention to others who suffer more. One group is reassured that, thanks to its resilience, it will do less poorly than another from government paralysis. Sadopopulism bargains, in other words, not by offering resources but by offering relative degrees of pain and permission to enjoy the suffering of others.

Donald Trump proved to be a compelling sadopopulist, teaching his supporters contempt for others during his campaigns, then declining to build infrastructure as president -- precisely because it would have helped people. When sadopopulism works, the majority is satisfied with what is, never asking for sensible things like roads or railroads. My roads are bad, but yours are worse. I am trapped in my social class, but you are trapped in a ghetto."

Brilliant! This had never occurred to more, nor had so much of the rest of the case Snyder makes for a better America, where freedom means "freedom to" not "freedom from" and everyone has a shot at the American Dream.

His final chapter "Conclusion: Government" offers ways that the reader can work toward greater freedom for themselves and for all. I plan to follow some of his suggestions going forward because "young Americans need a renewed American Dream." It's our duty to provide them with that.]]> 4.29 2024 On Freedom
author: Timothy Snyder
name: Penny
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/07
date added: 2025/01/08
shelves:
review:
Can I give this book six stars? Please?

I can't praise On Freedom highly enough. Snyder's writing is poetry in prose, and his vignettes are just the right length for reading and then reflecting on these perilous times. A mix of memoir, history, philosophy, political science, and storytelling, the book is replete with classical and literary allusions. Snyder's breadth of knowledge is stunning! He weaves several narratives together seamlessly ... his childhood on the farm, his time teaching in a prison and what he learned from the prisoners about freedom, his many trips to Ukraine and conversations with Zelensky, his university teaching and writing ... all of it draped on a structure aligned with how each individual human being (ideally) grows through life: Sovereignty, Unpredictability, Mobility, Factuality, Solidarity.

I won't try to explain Snyder's concept of freedom ... what it is and what it isn't, because it really deserves the kind of time and care Snyder takes in defining it ... the point of the book. But there are several things I will share that struck me as particularly brilliant in his analysis of our current political situation. Think of this as a teaser.

Snyder coins a term "sadopopulism," which captures perfectly the form populism has taken in the U.S. "Populism offers some redistribution, something to the people from the state; sadopopulism offers only the spectacle of others being still more deprived. Sadopopulism salves the pain of immobility (not being to get anywhere in the world) by directing attention to others who suffer more. One group is reassured that, thanks to its resilience, it will do less poorly than another from government paralysis. Sadopopulism bargains, in other words, not by offering resources but by offering relative degrees of pain and permission to enjoy the suffering of others.

Donald Trump proved to be a compelling sadopopulist, teaching his supporters contempt for others during his campaigns, then declining to build infrastructure as president -- precisely because it would have helped people. When sadopopulism works, the majority is satisfied with what is, never asking for sensible things like roads or railroads. My roads are bad, but yours are worse. I am trapped in my social class, but you are trapped in a ghetto."

Brilliant! This had never occurred to more, nor had so much of the rest of the case Snyder makes for a better America, where freedom means "freedom to" not "freedom from" and everyone has a shot at the American Dream.

His final chapter "Conclusion: Government" offers ways that the reader can work toward greater freedom for themselves and for all. I plan to follow some of his suggestions going forward because "young Americans need a renewed American Dream." It's our duty to provide them with that.
]]> <![CDATA[The Discreet Charm of the Big Bad Wolf (Detective Varg, #4)]]> 63878868 In the new Detective Varg novel, Ulf Varg's future with the Department of Sensitive Crimes is put to the test, but in the face of upheaval he must forge ahead with the latest delicate case that will take him out of the streets of Malmö and into the great forests of Sweden.

The Department of Sensitive Crimes has been asked to downsize in light of a recent downturn of sensitive crime, and staff members are wondering who among them will be transferred elsewhere. As the bickering between colleagues intensifies, Ulf tries his best to stay above the fray.

In the midst of all this, Ulf embarks on an important inquiry: a wealthy businessman's holiday cabin has mysteriously disappeared from its spot in the woods and Ulf is tasked with finding out what happened. How exactly does one steal a house? And, more to the point, how does one track down a stolen house? Meanwhile, a promising veterinary treatment for deafness in dogs has been announced, and Ulf's dog, Martin, might be the perfect patient.

This latest novel is another masterful, farcical installment in the series that defines the genre that Alexander McCall Smith is singlehandedly championing: Scandi blanc.]]> 241 Alexander McCall Smith 1039008208 Penny 4
I recently read Good People: Stories from the Best of Humanity, the purpose of which was to put before readers examples of kindness in the real world. I get a bigger taste of that in McCall Smith's fiction, which shows his central characters calling on their own better angels when they lapse into something less than kindness or empathy, even in thought. Their interior wrestling back from that cliff of unkindness is what makes his writing so powerful as an example of how to be in the world. None of us is perfect, but we can all try to be better, do better by each other.

Ulf Varg, his protagonist in this series, is no different. One of his colleagues, Blomquist, gets on everyone's nerves because he rattles on and on about topics he's enamored of ... healthy eating, being a big one. Varg has the same issues everyone else has but he sees Blomquist's intelligence and his basic good nature and treats him with decency and respect other colleagues deny him. And he calls others to do the same. He makes everyone better, more compassionate. And that is Smith at his very best and why I love his books so much. He makes me better too.

The crime at the center of this book is a stolen house ... yes, a house. Don't ask. Just read the book. You'll meet all kinds of Good People, like Varg. "Be kind was his motto. It was a simple and unambiguous rule by which to go through life: be kind to other people."]]> 3.93 2023 The Discreet Charm of the Big Bad Wolf (Detective Varg, #4)
author: Alexander McCall Smith
name: Penny
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/04
date added: 2025/01/04
shelves:
review:
I'm a huge fan of Alexander McCall Smith. Reading his books always makes me feel like I'm becoming better ... as in kinder, more empathetic, less judgmental ... because his characters model those traits in their thoughts and actions and Smith always cleaves to our better angels. This series is not my favorite of his, but nonetheless exhibits the qualities I admire in his writing: kindness, gentle humor, intelligence, a breadth of knowledge, and wisdom.

I recently read Good People: Stories from the Best of Humanity, the purpose of which was to put before readers examples of kindness in the real world. I get a bigger taste of that in McCall Smith's fiction, which shows his central characters calling on their own better angels when they lapse into something less than kindness or empathy, even in thought. Their interior wrestling back from that cliff of unkindness is what makes his writing so powerful as an example of how to be in the world. None of us is perfect, but we can all try to be better, do better by each other.

Ulf Varg, his protagonist in this series, is no different. One of his colleagues, Blomquist, gets on everyone's nerves because he rattles on and on about topics he's enamored of ... healthy eating, being a big one. Varg has the same issues everyone else has but he sees Blomquist's intelligence and his basic good nature and treats him with decency and respect other colleagues deny him. And he calls others to do the same. He makes everyone better, more compassionate. And that is Smith at his very best and why I love his books so much. He makes me better too.

The crime at the center of this book is a stolen house ... yes, a house. Don't ask. Just read the book. You'll meet all kinds of Good People, like Varg. "Be kind was his motto. It was a simple and unambiguous rule by which to go through life: be kind to other people."
]]> <![CDATA[Good People: Stories From the Best of Humanity]]> 205309541
This heartening book from Upworthy, the kindest place on the internet, offers respite to everyone navigating an increasingly turbulent world, both online and off. Filled with personal stories handpicked from millions of the brand’s impassioned followers, it reinforces the notion that humanity is fundamentally good.

Rippling with emotion, humor, and honesty, the tales collected here are mined from the community’s comment section in response to such questions as: What’s the kindest thing a stranger has ever done for you? Who’s the teacher who changed your life? When did the “little things� make a difference? Who was there for you when you needed it most? Each chapter is anchored by intimate long-form stories punctuated with lighthearted anecdotes and whimsical line drawings. Together, they provide a stirring testament to the complexity and resilience of the human spirit.

An inspiring counterbalance to today’s daunting news cycle, this timely book is a go-to resource for comfort and joy.]]> 320 Gabriel Reilich 1426223463 Penny 3
Having said all that, I still recommend the book as a light reading reminder of all the goodness in the world and the lasting impact of simple acts of kindness ... they do reverberate through the years. We can never have enough reminders of the kindness of others to inspire our own. As Blanche DuBois said, "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." Don't we all?]]> 4.20 Good People: Stories From the Best of Humanity
author: Gabriel Reilich
name: Penny
average rating: 4.20
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/03
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves:
review:
My plan was to read a story a day to brighten what promises to be a challenging new year with lots to be sad about in this old world. What is it Robert Burns said? “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.� Seems appropriate with Burns Night fast approaching. So I barreled through ... a response to the fact that as affirming and charming as most of these stories are, there's not much meat on the bones. After a while, it struck me that I was reading the same voice, same person, over and over again. While there is some cleverness in the writing, the voice is that of an editor, rather than the actual person whose story it is. I missed what Brenda Ueland called and encouraged ... the authentic voice (If You Want to Write). The editors would have done well to keep her good advice on writing in mind and maintained the voice of the tellers, minus some of the most egregious spelling and grammatical errors, of course. That would have added substance, weight, and style to this collection.

Having said all that, I still recommend the book as a light reading reminder of all the goodness in the world and the lasting impact of simple acts of kindness ... they do reverberate through the years. We can never have enough reminders of the kindness of others to inspire our own. As Blanche DuBois said, "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." Don't we all?
]]> Breathe 56755557 A NOVEL OF LOVE AND LOSS FROM BESTSELLING AND PRIZEWINNING AUTHOR JOYCE CAROL OATES

Amid a starkly beautiful but uncanny landscape in New Mexico, a married couple from Cambridge, MA takes residency at a distinguished academic institute. When the husband is stricken with a mysterious illness, misdiagnosed at first, their lives are uprooted and husband and wife each embarks upon a nightmare journey. At thirty-seven, Michaela faces the terrifying prospect of widowhood - and the loss of Gerard, whose identity has greatly shaped her own.

In vividly depicted scenes of escalating suspense, Michaela cares desperately for Gerard in his final days as she comes to realize that her love for her husband, however fierce and selfless, is not enough to save him and that his death is beyond her comprehension. A love that refuses to be surrendered at death—is this the blessing of a unique married love, or a curse that must be exorcized?

Part intimately detailed love story, part horror story rooted in real life, BREATHE is an exploration of hauntedness rooted in the domesticity of marital love, as well as our determination both to be faithful to the beloved and to survive the trauma of loss.]]> 384 Joyce Carol Oates 006308547X Penny 4 Breathe. My husband died just over seven years ago, and like Micaela, the main character of this book, my husband also died of cancer. I was looking for remembrance of those hard days, for a shared experience of a husband's illness, decline, and death. The false hope a couple exists on, fueled in part by the medical profession, is present. And so is the brutal end. In Breathe, I found that remembrance, and I found also a form of solace. So many of the details of life at the hospital, of dealing with a husband's loss of interest in food, his gradual weakening, rang true for me. Strangely, it helped to read and while reading, remember. There is a helplessness that only someone who has gone through a similar experience can fully understand. And survivor's guilt. And a sense that he can't possibly be gone ... he will still need his clothing, his tools, his stuff of life. I must be the steward of all that was his, including his reputation, his work. If I close my eyes, I can still imagine him just downstairs, or spending time in his man cave, the garage, listening to blues music.

The bulk of this novel rings true in many ways. I like the style of using parentheses to suggest multiple meanings from benign to charged. Some of the writing is just plain gorgeous. Michaela's wanting to finish things that she and Gerard planned ... visiting sites in the local area, new to them. I've been there. I know that desire and have acted on it.

But as I neared the end of the novel, it rang less true and more gothic and grotesque. Several scenes ... did they really happen? And isn't this wife, this widow, a bit over the top? I'm still not certain what happened at the end ... but to avoid dropping a spoiler, I'll leave it at that.

I'm glad I read Breathe>. Like I said, it was time, and it was somewhat cathartic.]]> 2.94 2021 Breathe
author: Joyce Carol Oates
name: Penny
average rating: 2.94
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2022/07/21
date added: 2024/10/15
shelves:
review:
It was time for me to read Breathe. My husband died just over seven years ago, and like Micaela, the main character of this book, my husband also died of cancer. I was looking for remembrance of those hard days, for a shared experience of a husband's illness, decline, and death. The false hope a couple exists on, fueled in part by the medical profession, is present. And so is the brutal end. In Breathe, I found that remembrance, and I found also a form of solace. So many of the details of life at the hospital, of dealing with a husband's loss of interest in food, his gradual weakening, rang true for me. Strangely, it helped to read and while reading, remember. There is a helplessness that only someone who has gone through a similar experience can fully understand. And survivor's guilt. And a sense that he can't possibly be gone ... he will still need his clothing, his tools, his stuff of life. I must be the steward of all that was his, including his reputation, his work. If I close my eyes, I can still imagine him just downstairs, or spending time in his man cave, the garage, listening to blues music.

The bulk of this novel rings true in many ways. I like the style of using parentheses to suggest multiple meanings from benign to charged. Some of the writing is just plain gorgeous. Michaela's wanting to finish things that she and Gerard planned ... visiting sites in the local area, new to them. I've been there. I know that desire and have acted on it.

But as I neared the end of the novel, it rang less true and more gothic and grotesque. Several scenes ... did they really happen? And isn't this wife, this widow, a bit over the top? I'm still not certain what happened at the end ... but to avoid dropping a spoiler, I'll leave it at that.

I'm glad I read Breathe>. Like I said, it was time, and it was somewhat cathartic.
]]> Savushun 83256 Daneshvar's style is both sensitive and imaginative, while following cultural themes and metaphors. Within basic Iranian paradigms, the characters play out the roles inherent in their personalities. While Savushun is a unique piece of literature that transcends the boundaries of the historical community in which it was written, it is also the best single work for understanding modern Iran. Although written prior to the Islamic Revolution, it brilliantly portrays the social and historical forces that gave pre-revolutionary Iran its characteristic hopelessness and emerging desperation so inadequately understood by outsiders.

]]> 322 Simin Daneshvar 0934211310 Penny 0 to-read 3.89 1969 Savushun
author: Simin Daneshvar
name: Penny
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1969
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Blue Zones Kitchen: 100 Recipes to Live to 100]]> 44656800 Best-selling author Dan Buettner debuts his first cookbook, filled with 100 longevity recipes inspired by the Blue Zones locations around the world, where people live the longest.

Building on decades of research, longevity expert Dan Buettner has gathered 100 recipes inspired by the Blue Zones, home to the healthiest and happiest communities in the world. Each dish--for example, Sardinian Herbed Lentil Minestrone; Costa Rican Hearts of Palm Ceviche; Cornmeal Waffles from Loma Linda, California; and Okinawan Sweet Potatoes--uses ingredients and cooking methods proven to increase longevity, wellness, and mental health. Complemented by mouthwatering photography, the recipes also include lifestyle tips (including the best times to eat dinner and proper portion sizes), all gleaned from countries as far away as Japan and as near as Blue Zones project cities in Texas. Innovative, easy to follow, and delicious, these healthy living recipes make the Blue Zones lifestyle even more attainable, thereby improving your health, extending your life, and filling your kitchen with happiness.]]> 303 Dan Buettner 1426220146 Penny 5 3.93 2019 The Blue Zones Kitchen: 100 Recipes to Live to 100
author: Dan Buettner
name: Penny
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2023/06/27
date added: 2024/02/11
shelves:
review:
What an inspiring book! I enjoy reading cookbooks when there is a narrative to accompany the recipes. This book focused in turn on the lifestyles and foods of Sardinia, Okinawa, Nicola, Ikaria, and Loma Linda, where many people live to be 100. The recipes are easily doable, and the photos are gorgeous. Quite and inspiration to replicate the diets and more of these centenarians.
]]> Dessert with Buddha 123192483
Along the way, they meet an array of intriguing characters—from a former NBA star to a Holocaust survivor, from an A.M.E. preacher to a hedge fund executive, from a Syrian refugee to a homeless North Carolinian—tour some famous American sights, and enjoy the kinds of conversations about spirituality that have engrossed hundreds of thousands of readers from China to Turkey to Croatia, and in every U.S. state.

Otto's sister, Cecelia, his daughter Natasha, son Anthony, and niece Shelsa, all have small but important roles in the story, as the famous duo pilots a hybrid pickup along back roads and superhighways, toward the series' climactic finish.

"I wrote Dessert ," Merullo says "so that it can be enjoyed as a standalone, or after having read the other three novels. I wanted this one to be a testament to the kind of generosity I grew up with, a full-souled selflessness, an antidote to greed."

Dessert with Buddha enhances the series the way a delicious dish of ice cream or slice of homemade pie enhances a great meal. Enjoy the trip!]]> 276 Roland Merullo Penny 5 4.53 Dessert with Buddha
author: Roland Merullo
name: Penny
average rating: 4.53
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2023/08/26
date added: 2024/02/11
shelves:
review:

]]> The Midnight Library 52578297
When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, she has a chance to make things right. Up until now, her life has been full of misery and regret. She feels she has let everyone down, including herself. But things are about to change.

The books in the Midnight Library enable Nora to live as if she had done things differently. With the help of an old friend, she can now undo every one of her regrets as she tries to work out her perfect life. But things aren't always what she imagined they'd be, and soon her choices place the library and herself in extreme danger.

Before time runs out, she must answer the ultimate question: what is the best way to live?]]> 288 Matt Haig 0525559477 Penny 5 3.96 2020 The Midnight Library
author: Matt Haig
name: Penny
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2024/02/11
date added: 2024/02/11
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Hot October: An autobiographical story]]> 3924431 239 Lauris Dorothy Edmond 0046140158 Penny 0 to-read 4.11 1989 Hot October: An autobiographical story
author: Lauris Dorothy Edmond
name: Penny
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1989
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/02/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Lauris Edmond: An Autobiography]]> 1738254 And then Lauris Edmond's 'second life' began, when she became an award-winning poet of international standing - a life that she describes, however, as no more real nor more important than that earlier one.]]> 410 Lauris Dorothy Edmond 1877242225 Penny 0 to-read 4.50 Lauris Edmond: An Autobiography
author: Lauris Dorothy Edmond
name: Penny
average rating: 4.50
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/02/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Bonfires in the rain 1738255 241 Lauris Dorothy Edmond 0908912005 Penny 0 to-read 4.50 1991 Bonfires in the rain
author: Lauris Dorothy Edmond
name: Penny
average rating: 4.50
book published: 1991
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/02/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Imagine If . . .: Creating a Future for Us All]]> 60528570 A call to action that pulls together all of Sir Ken Robinson’s key messages and philosophies, and that challenges and empowers readers to re-imagine our world, and our systems, for the better.Sir Ken Robinson changed the lives of millions of people. The embodiment of the prestigious TED conference, his TED Talks are watched an average of 17,000 times a day--a figure that Chris Anderson, Head of TED, says is the equivalent of selling out the Millennium Dome every night for fifteen consecutive years. A New York Times bestselling author, Sir Ken’s books have been translated into twenty four languages.In his final years, Sir Ken was working on a book that would serve as his manifesto. This book was being written for both new and dedicated audiences alike as a coherent overview of the arguments that he dedicated his life to, and as a pivotal piece of literature for the education revolution he began. When Sir Ken received his cancer prognosis in August 2020 he asked his daughter and collaborator, Kate Robinson, to finish writing this manifesto and continue his work.At its core, Sir Ken’s work is a love letter to human potential--a celebration of what we as a species are capable of doing, and of being, if we create the right conditions. It is a rallying cry to revolutionize our systems of education, and the ways in which we run our businesses and structure our social systems, so that they bring out the best in each and every person. Sir Ken often observed that what separates us from the rest of life on Earth is our power of the ability to bring to mind things that are not present to our senses. It is imagination that allows us to create the world in which we live, rather than just exist in it. It also gives us the power to recreate it.]]> 144 Ken Robinson Penny 4 4.34 Imagine If . . .: Creating a Future for Us All
author: Ken Robinson
name: Penny
average rating: 4.34
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2022/03/07
date added: 2024/01/14
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Loss: Poems to better weather the many waves of grief]]> 61875729 192 Donna Ashworth 1785304429 Penny 3 4.46 Loss: Poems to better weather the many waves of grief
author: Donna Ashworth
name: Penny
average rating: 4.46
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2023/11/01
date added: 2023/12/30
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Enigma of Garlic (44 Scotland Street, #16)]]> 63210995
It's the most anticipated event of the Big Lou and Fat Bob's wedding and everyone is invited! After a wonderful day, Big Lou crashes back down to earth and finds that she is a victim of her own success. The lure of those famous bacon rolls is preventing her from leaving hungry customers without their daily dose of deliciousness - even to go for a long-awaited honeymoon. Will Big Lou find the happiness she so richly deserves? Everyone in Scotland Street hopes so, but, as Burns warned, the best laid plans...

The relative peace and tranquillity of 44 Scotland Street is about to be disrupted. Irene is to return for a two-month stay, consigning Bertie to a summer camp. Not satisfied with that, she somehow manages to come between the enigmatic nun, Sister Maria-Fiore dei Fiori di Montagna, and her friend, the hagiographer, Antonia Collie.

Can a person really change, even after being struck by lightning? Bruce's metamorphosis and new-found outlook on life is put to the test as he prepares to leave his creature comforts for the monastic simplicity of Pluscarden Abbey. His house sitter, meanwhile, gets a little too comfortable in his new life and discovers that the talented Bruce Anderson's shoes are all too easy to slip into. With great taste comes great responsibility.

Come and discover The Enigma of Garlic and join the delightful denizens of Edinburgh's most famous address. This latest instalment of the much-loved 44 Scotland Street series is wise, witty, and full of warmth.]]> 276 Alexander McCall Smith 0349145679 Penny 5 3.99 2022 The Enigma of Garlic (44 Scotland Street, #16)
author: Alexander McCall Smith
name: Penny
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2023/11/03
date added: 2023/12/30
shelves:
review:

]]> Hemingway's Chair 272169 Filled with Michael Palin's trademark wit and good humor, this novel is for anyone who has ever dreamed of triumphing over the technocrats and backstabbers of the world. Hilarious, touching, and ultimately inspirational, Hemingway's Chair will make readers stand up and cheer.]]> 288 Michael Palin 0312205503 Penny 3 3.36 1995 Hemingway's Chair
author: Michael Palin
name: Penny
average rating: 3.36
book published: 1995
rating: 3
read at: 2023/11/20
date added: 2023/12/30
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[American Poison: How Racial Hostility Destroyed Our Promise]]> 53103810 A sweeping examination of how American racism has broken the country's social compact, eroded America's common goods, and damaged the lives of every American--and a heartfelt look at how these deep wounds might begin to heal.

Compared to other industrialized nations, the United States is losing ground across nearly every indicator of social health. Its race problem, argues Eduardo Porter, is largely to blame.

In American Poison, the New York Times veteran shows how racial animus has stunted the development of nearly every institution crucial for a healthy society, including organized labor, public education, and the social safety net. The consequences are profound and are only growing graver with time. Leading us through history and across America--from FDR's New Deal through Bill Clinton's welfare reform to Donald Trump's retrograde and divisive policies--Porter pieces together how racial hostility has blocked American social cohesion at every turn, producing a nation that fails not only its black and brown citizens but white Americans as well.

American Poison is at once a broad, rigorous argument, and a profound cri de coeur. Even as it uncovers our most tenacious national pathology, it points the way toward hope, illuminating the ways in which, as the nation becomes increasingly diverse, it may well be possible to construct a new understanding of racial identity--and a more cohesive society on top of it.]]> 272 Eduardo Porter 0451494881 Penny 5 3.94 2020 American Poison: How Racial Hostility Destroyed Our Promise
author: Eduardo Porter
name: Penny
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2023/11/23
date added: 2023/12/30
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Farmer's Wife: My Life in Days]]> 108519232
As dawn breaks on the farm, Helen Rebanks makes a mug of tea, relishing the few minutes of quiet before the house stirs. Within the hour the sounds of her husband, James, and their four children will fill the kitchen. There are also six sheepdogs, two ponies, 20 chickens, 50 cattle and 500 sheep to care for. Helen is a farmer's wife. Hers is a story that is rarely told, despite being one we think we know.

Weaving past and present, Helen shares the days that have shaped her. This is the truth of those days: from steering the family through the Beast from the East and the local authority planning committee, to finding the quiet strength to keep going, when supper is yet to be started, another delivery man has assumed he needs to speak to the 'man of the house', and she would rather punch a cushion than plump it.

This beautifully-illustrated memoir, which takes place across one day at the farm, offers a chance to think about where our food comes from and who puts it on the table. Helen's recipes, lists and gentle wisdom helps us to get through our days, whatever they throw at us.]]> 319 Helen Rebanks 0571370586 Penny 3 3.76 2023 The Farmer's Wife: My Life in Days
author: Helen Rebanks
name: Penny
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2023/12/30
date added: 2023/12/30
shelves:
review:
I bought this book immediately after hearing author Helen Rebanks interviewed on NPR. I wound up finding it a mixed bag ... some nice simple recipes, a glimpse into a life very different from mine ... but a tendency to jump around a bit temporally in ways that were not particularly artful and way too much mundane detail. For example, "The hens come clucking and running to me at lightening speed when they see me with a pan in my hand. I scrape out the leftover rice from supper onto the grass with a spoon and they peck around my feet. Back inside, I wipe the table, put the last two glasses in the dishwasher, tip out the water jug and rinse it. I bend down to get a detergent tablet from under the sink and put it in the dishwasher. My back is aching. The kids have made a good enough job of tidying the meal up"... and so on and so one. Is this really material worth sharing with the world? Reading it became tedious after a while. The book started out promising, but as the author's life and marriage became more mundane the narrative followed suit. That early promise was gone.
]]> <![CDATA[The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward]]> 58446721 From the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of When and Drive, a new book about the transforming power of our most misunderstood yet potentially most valuable emotion: regret.

Everybody has regrets, Daniel H. Pink explains in The Power of Regret. They're a universal and healthy part of being human. And understanding how regret works can help us make smarter decisions, perform better at work and school, and bring greater meaning to our lives.

Drawing on research in social psychology, neuroscience, and biology, Pink debunks the myth of the "no regrets" philosophy of life. And using the largest sampling of American attitudes about regret ever conducted as well as his own World Regret Survey--which has collected regrets from more than 15,000 people in 105 countries--he lays out the four core regrets that each of us has. These deep regrets offer compelling insights into how we live and how we can find a better path forward.

As he did in his bestsellers Drive, When, and A Whole New Mind, Pink lays out a dynamic new way of thinking about regret and frames his ideas in ways that are clear, accessible, and pragmatic. Packed with true stories of people's regrets as well as practical takeaways for reimagining regret as a positive force, The Power of Regret shows how we can live richer, more engaged lives.]]> 239 Daniel H. Pink 0735210659 Penny 5 3.80 2022 The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward
author: Daniel H. Pink
name: Penny
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2023/10/10
date added: 2023/12/30
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[How to Sleep: The New Science-Based Solutions for Sleeping Through the Night]]> 49151007 —Matthew Walker, PhD, bestselling author of Why We Sleep

A MindBodyGreen Health & Well-Being Book for Your 2021 Reading List

Anyone having trouble sleeping has heard all the old “sleep hygiene� Don’t drink caffeine after 2:00 p.m., use the bedroom only for sleeping, put down your screens an hour before going to bed. But as the millions suffering from poor sleep can attest, just following these overly simplistic, one-size-fits-all directives doesn’t work. How to Sleep is here to rewrite the rules and help you get to sleep—and stay asleep—each and every night.

Dr. Rafael Pelayo, an expert sleep clinician and professor at the world-renowned Sleep Medicine Clinic at Stanford University, offers a medically comprehensive and holistic approach to the myriad issues that might be affecting your sleep. He begins by grounding us in the biology of sleep including the extremely reassuring fact that no one actually sleeps through the night—we naturally wake up every ninety minutes. Dr. Pelayo then tackles the major sleep issues one by one, such as snoring and its causes; the difference between transient and chronic insomnia, and how to treat each; strategies to combat jet lag; how lifestyle choices affect your sleep, including exercise (even ten minutes helps), meditation (try it right before bed), and food and drink (alcohol is a double-edged sword—it may help you fall asleep faster, but it often interferes with staying asleep).

There’s advice for the bedroom—on white noise machines, ambient temperature, what to look for in a pillow—and answers to our most pressing questions, from when to see a sleep medicine specialist to how aging affects our sleep. All in all, it’s a sure prescription to help you sleep better, wake up refreshed, and live a healthier life.]]> 160 Rafael Pelayo MD 1579659578 Penny 5
My biggest takeaway was the common sense, thoroughly spelled out nightly ritual he prescribes for preparing for a night of better sleep. I've been following his ritual for several weeks now, and my average hours of sleep per night has risen, along with the quality of that sleep ... more REM and Deep. Dr. Pelayo says it takes six to eight weeks for these new sleep habits to take hold, and I'm going to test that out. One part of the system is to shut off all media at a certain time each night and journal anything that might be troubling your mind and might thereby prevent you from falling asleep or returning to sleep if you wake up during the night. It seems helpful.

So, if sleep is your focus, you might want to check out this book. I got mine at my local library.]]> 3.42 How to Sleep: The New Science-Based Solutions for Sleeping Through the Night
author: Rafael Pelayo MD
name: Penny
average rating: 3.42
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/17
date added: 2023/09/26
shelves:
review:
Because I've been focusing this year on improving the quality and quantity of my sleep, I've read several books about sleep. This one happens to be the best. In simple, straightforward language, Dr. Pelayo explains alls aspects of sleep across the age spectrum and how to help yourself get more of it.

My biggest takeaway was the common sense, thoroughly spelled out nightly ritual he prescribes for preparing for a night of better sleep. I've been following his ritual for several weeks now, and my average hours of sleep per night has risen, along with the quality of that sleep ... more REM and Deep. Dr. Pelayo says it takes six to eight weeks for these new sleep habits to take hold, and I'm going to test that out. One part of the system is to shut off all media at a certain time each night and journal anything that might be troubling your mind and might thereby prevent you from falling asleep or returning to sleep if you wake up during the night. It seems helpful.

So, if sleep is your focus, you might want to check out this book. I got mine at my local library.
]]> <![CDATA[Healing the Divide: Poems of Kindness and Connection]]> 42632468 150 James Crews 1732743452 Penny 5
This is a book I'll be keeping close by to reread poems as the need arises, and I'm sure it will arise. These poems are a pleasant reminder of how decent people can be to each other and to their fellow creatures and that love, actually, is all around us. ]]> 4.37 Healing the Divide: Poems of Kindness and Connection
author: James Crews
name: Penny
average rating: 4.37
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2023/01/15
date added: 2023/09/15
shelves:
review:
I've never been one for anthologies, but this one has changed my mind. A thoughtfully curated collection of modern poets who have each captured moments of kindness and connection in daily life ... and there are some beautiful works in this collection ... this book provides an antidote for the malaise, the anger, the hate speech, and the cruelty that tend to dominate our airwaves, our social media, and our political discourse.

This is a book I'll be keeping close by to reread poems as the need arises, and I'm sure it will arise. These poems are a pleasant reminder of how decent people can be to each other and to their fellow creatures and that love, actually, is all around us.
]]> <![CDATA[The Finnish Way: Finding Courage, Wellness, and Happiness Through the Power of Sisu]]> 60205718
Forget hygge--it's time to blow out the candles and get out into the world! Journalist Katja Pantzar did just that, taking the huge leap to move to the remote Nordic country of Finland. What she discovered there transformed her body, mind and spirit. In this engaging and practical guide, she shows readers how to embrace the "keep it simple and sensible" daily practices that make Finns one of the happiest populations in the world, year after year.

Topics include:

Movement as medicine: How walking, biking and swimming every day are good for what ails us--and best done outside the confines of a gym
Natural mood boosters: Cold water swimming, steamy saunas, and other ways to alleviate stress, anxiety, insomnia, and depression
Forest therapy: Why there's no substitute for getting out into nature on a regular basis
Healthy eating: What the Nordic diet can teach us all about feeding body, mind and soul
The gift of sisu: Why Finns embrace a special form of courage, grit and determination as a national virtue - and how anyone can dig deeper to survive and thrive through tough times.

If you've ever wondered if there's a better, simpler way to find happiness and good heath, look no further. The Finns have a word for that, and this empowering book shows us how to achieve it.]]> 272 Katja Pantzar Penny 4
First of all, it's a very personal book. The author recounts her battle with depression and the ways in which adopting a more Finnish lifestyle helped her take better care of herself and lead a more satisfying and healthy life.

I especially enjoyed the chapters on education, childrearing, and healing in nature. I loved the emphasis on minimalist living, on buying from thrift stores and living less materialistically. And I loved learning more about Finland and the Finnish people. I spent a week there in 2016 visiting schools and learning about their world class education system, and I've been a fan ever since. This book made me want to return.

I can definitely recommend this delightful book.]]> 3.65 2018 The Finnish Way: Finding Courage, Wellness, and Happiness Through the Power of Sisu
author: Katja Pantzar
name: Penny
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2023/01/18
date added: 2023/08/12
shelves:
review:
I really enjoyed this book. My chiropractor recommended it; she does winter swimming. I probably never will, but I found so much of value in this book that that's of no matter.

First of all, it's a very personal book. The author recounts her battle with depression and the ways in which adopting a more Finnish lifestyle helped her take better care of herself and lead a more satisfying and healthy life.

I especially enjoyed the chapters on education, childrearing, and healing in nature. I loved the emphasis on minimalist living, on buying from thrift stores and living less materialistically. And I loved learning more about Finland and the Finnish people. I spent a week there in 2016 visiting schools and learning about their world class education system, and I've been a fan ever since. This book made me want to return.

I can definitely recommend this delightful book.
]]> <![CDATA[Poetry Notebook: Reflections on the Intensity of Language]]> 22273085 256 Clive James 1631490273 Penny 5
Clive James does exactly that in Poetry Notebook: Reflections on the Intensity of Language. His essays on various (mostly) modern (mostly) male poets and their works are rich in their consideration of what makes a poem great or not so great. He realizes and makes clear nuances I never imaged, ways that language is mined for the greatest possible wealth, layers on layers of meaning from structure to syntax to phoneme to the way a line scans in reading. His focus is primarily on American and British poets, with a fairly large offering of his Australian compatriots. In his pages, I encountered old favorites of mine, to be sure, but mostly I was introduced to poets who were new to me, prompting many breaks in reading to Google their names and read the full poems of which James quoted a few lines or a stanza. I expect to continue mining this book for more in the coming year. And I've already ordered an anthology that accompanied him in his youth from his native Australia to England, The Penguin Book of Contemporary Verse.

The writing is wonderful, sometimes poetic and sometimes laugh out loud funny. The fact that James was himself a poet and seems to have memorized hundreds of poems also gives this collection a great deal of its power. What took him years to accumulate seems to be offered effortlessly, coming trippingly off the tongue, so to speak. What a wealth of knowledge and insight!

Sadly, James was curating this collection of his published essays and writing the Interludes that introduced each of them as he was dying, and that fact also informs this book, particularly at the end. Of course I Googled and learned that he wrote a farewell poem "Japanese Maple." I suggest that you Google it for yourself. It's beautiful. His book is in fact a love letter to poetry, an encomium to poetry and to life.

]]> 3.88 2014 Poetry Notebook: Reflections on the Intensity of Language
author: Clive James
name: Penny
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2022/12/14
date added: 2023/06/14
shelves:
review:
I was required to take a class called Literary Criticism as part of my English major at university. It was one of my favorite classes. In it we both read examples of various schools of literary criticism and produced some of our own. I haven't read much literary criticism since, however, but one of the things I learned in another class "Cervantes, Dickens, Tolstoy, Proust, and Mann" came from reading Miguel de Unamuno's superb piece of literary criticism, "Meditations on Quixote," is that great critical writing expands the work it is considering; it adds something precious and essential to it, helping us gain more from the experience of reading that work.

Clive James does exactly that in Poetry Notebook: Reflections on the Intensity of Language. His essays on various (mostly) modern (mostly) male poets and their works are rich in their consideration of what makes a poem great or not so great. He realizes and makes clear nuances I never imaged, ways that language is mined for the greatest possible wealth, layers on layers of meaning from structure to syntax to phoneme to the way a line scans in reading. His focus is primarily on American and British poets, with a fairly large offering of his Australian compatriots. In his pages, I encountered old favorites of mine, to be sure, but mostly I was introduced to poets who were new to me, prompting many breaks in reading to Google their names and read the full poems of which James quoted a few lines or a stanza. I expect to continue mining this book for more in the coming year. And I've already ordered an anthology that accompanied him in his youth from his native Australia to England, The Penguin Book of Contemporary Verse.

The writing is wonderful, sometimes poetic and sometimes laugh out loud funny. The fact that James was himself a poet and seems to have memorized hundreds of poems also gives this collection a great deal of its power. What took him years to accumulate seems to be offered effortlessly, coming trippingly off the tongue, so to speak. What a wealth of knowledge and insight!

Sadly, James was curating this collection of his published essays and writing the Interludes that introduced each of them as he was dying, and that fact also informs this book, particularly at the end. Of course I Googled and learned that he wrote a farewell poem "Japanese Maple." I suggest that you Google it for yourself. It's beautiful. His book is in fact a love letter to poetry, an encomium to poetry and to life.


]]> <![CDATA[Artistic Licence (Lost and Found Book 1)]]> 63909825 ‘An engaging insight into art, obsession and 20th century history� An entertaining, picaresque thriller which will reward many a reader.� Thomas Waugh.


London, 1964.

The artist Sam Gaskell, womaniser and drunk, but not without charm or fame, looks back on his life during a BBC radio interview.

Relived memories include the murder of his father by his mother and her lover, his schoolboy infatuation with art before the First World War, friendships forged in the trenches with the likes of Hemingway, his rivalry with Picasso, and his unintentional killing of the German artist, Franz Marc.

Art school follows, along with mistresses, his first marriage � and the creation of his first major painting, which he parts with before he realises that it isn't, in his mind, finished.

This starts a quest to retrieve the lost masterwork, in the course of which Gaskell will stop at nothing. The artist becomes obsessed.

Meanwhile, his wife conducts an unexpected affair � and that's not the least of his worries, as his memory merges with real life.

Anton Gill’s notable credits include The Journey Back From Hell (conversations with concentration camp survivors), A Dance Between Flames (cultural history of Berlin between the Wars) and An Honourable Defeat (a history of the German resistance). He is also the author of three detective novels set in Ancient Egypt. Anton Gill lives in London.

Praise for Anton
‘Immensely informative and readable...Gill fills in the political history of Berlin between the wars with brilliantly evocative passages describing the cultural scene in theatre, opera, cinema, architecture, cafés and clubs.� Stephen Spender in The Times. (The Journey Back from Hell)

'Resounds with authenticity ... a wonderful tale.' Charles Spencer, Mail on Sunday. (The Great Escape)

'Both a gripping thriller and a warning from history.' Richard Foreman. (Into Darkness)]]> 221 Anton Gill Penny 5
It doesn't disappoint!

The book has an itinerant quality that I found very engaging. Gill skillfully weaves a story over many decades and geographical spaces, ranging back and forth over time without losing the reader. His central character Sam Gaskell is a painter, a lover of many women, obsessed with one in particular, a killer (in war), and an inveterate name dropper. Taken together, these traits, both positive and generally accounted negative, make for a fascinating read. At the end of a long career, Gaskell is interviewed by a young journalist, to whom he recounts his WWI experiences in the trenches and takes responsibility for the killing of Gaudier-Brezska, the French sculptor. And that's page one of this thriller cum sexual memoir cum chronicle of the early twentieth century's artistic elite as they are part of the protagonist's life. You'll meet Picasso, Matisse, Brecht, Peggy Guggenheim, Eddie Cummings, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and my personal jaw-dropping favorite, Eric Blore, Sam's good friend. You remember Eric Blore ... the unctuous valet in Top Hat? What a trip!

All this by way of saying that the research that went into this book is more than the author's reading a baker's dozen of books about the period it covers. Rather, Gill is deeply steeped in this time, as evidenced by his many non-fiction books, including a biography of Peggy Guggenheim. And that gives Artistic Licence the feel, not of fiction, but as an actual artist's biography in the making. The effect is stunning, the verisimilitude impressive!

And I haven't even gone into Sam Gaskill's many love affairs with remarkable women and one man. Again the details make the story. Here's a tempting morsel. Sam meets Olga, a fellow artist at a cocktail party. "Do you like my scent? ... One of Guerlain's latest. He's called it Shalimar. Perhaps he thinks it will inspire the same kind of love as Mumtaz inspired in Shahjahan." "Now four months later they fell apart for the fourth time. The scent of Shalimar filled the bed, but it scarcely masked the other smells, the ones with more vigor and bite." It's details like this that create an almost immersive experience for the reader, providing an authentic historical context for the deeply intimate.

I'm ordering the next two books of this trilogy, post haste, as they say. And big thanks to David Downie for introducing me to this author.

]]> 4.00 Artistic Licence (Lost and Found Book 1)
author: Anton Gill
name: Penny
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2023/05/12
date added: 2023/05/15
shelves:
review:
I have author David Downie to thank for finding this fascinating book. He was so enamored of it that he posted a recommendation on his Facebook page.

It doesn't disappoint!

The book has an itinerant quality that I found very engaging. Gill skillfully weaves a story over many decades and geographical spaces, ranging back and forth over time without losing the reader. His central character Sam Gaskell is a painter, a lover of many women, obsessed with one in particular, a killer (in war), and an inveterate name dropper. Taken together, these traits, both positive and generally accounted negative, make for a fascinating read. At the end of a long career, Gaskell is interviewed by a young journalist, to whom he recounts his WWI experiences in the trenches and takes responsibility for the killing of Gaudier-Brezska, the French sculptor. And that's page one of this thriller cum sexual memoir cum chronicle of the early twentieth century's artistic elite as they are part of the protagonist's life. You'll meet Picasso, Matisse, Brecht, Peggy Guggenheim, Eddie Cummings, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and my personal jaw-dropping favorite, Eric Blore, Sam's good friend. You remember Eric Blore ... the unctuous valet in Top Hat? What a trip!

All this by way of saying that the research that went into this book is more than the author's reading a baker's dozen of books about the period it covers. Rather, Gill is deeply steeped in this time, as evidenced by his many non-fiction books, including a biography of Peggy Guggenheim. And that gives Artistic Licence the feel, not of fiction, but as an actual artist's biography in the making. The effect is stunning, the verisimilitude impressive!

And I haven't even gone into Sam Gaskill's many love affairs with remarkable women and one man. Again the details make the story. Here's a tempting morsel. Sam meets Olga, a fellow artist at a cocktail party. "Do you like my scent? ... One of Guerlain's latest. He's called it Shalimar. Perhaps he thinks it will inspire the same kind of love as Mumtaz inspired in Shahjahan." "Now four months later they fell apart for the fourth time. The scent of Shalimar filled the bed, but it scarcely masked the other smells, the ones with more vigor and bite." It's details like this that create an almost immersive experience for the reader, providing an authentic historical context for the deeply intimate.

I'm ordering the next two books of this trilogy, post haste, as they say. And big thanks to David Downie for introducing me to this author.


]]> Arcadia 384597 Arcadia takes us back and forth between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, ranging over the nature of truth and time, the difference between the Classical and the Romantic temperament, and the disruptive influence of sex on our orbits in life. Focusing on the mysteries--romantic, scientific, literary--that engage the minds and hearts of characters whose passions and lives intersect across scientific planes and centuries, it is "Stoppard's richest, most ravishing comedy to date, a play of wit, intellect, language, brio and... emotion. It's like a dream of levitation: you're instantaneously aloft, soaring, banking, doing loop-the-loops and then, when you think you're about to plummet to earth, swooping to a gentle touchdown of not easily described sweetness and sorrow... Exhilarating" (Vincent Canby, The New York Times).]]> 144 Tom Stoppard 0571169341 Penny 5
Arcadia is set in one room of a large country house (Sidley Park) in two time periods, 1809 (and three years later) and the present, and at points the characters from each time period are on the stage at the same time. They also use the same objects. A sleepy tortoise appears in both time periods ... likely the same animal. Favorite character: Thomasina Coverly, a very smart 13 (later 16) year old who's a mathematical genius.

At the heart of the story is a philosophical question about time and the nature of the universe (chaos theory), and it revels in mathematics, but it also concerns a possible scandal involving Lord Byron and other things of a carnal nature. At times I laughed out loud at the cleverness; it's very smart writing. Knowing a bit about the Romantic period helps add to the enjoyment. Stoppard pokes fun at some of its more dubious landscaping notions, like rent-a-hermit for the picturesque hovel you build on your property in emulation of the popular Gothic novels of the day. One of the modern characters is doing research on the hermit who lived at Sidley Park at the beginning the the nineteenth century. Another is knee deep in a Bryon investigation, the details of which are resolved by the end, much to his chagrin.

Very entertaining. Very intelligent. I would love to see this on the stage.
]]> 4.13 1993 Arcadia
author: Tom Stoppard
name: Penny
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1993
rating: 5
read at: 2023/04/30
date added: 2023/04/30
shelves:
review:
This was just plain fun to read and imagine the stage set and actor's movements. Stoppard gives very specific directions and paints a detailed picture of the stage.

Arcadia is set in one room of a large country house (Sidley Park) in two time periods, 1809 (and three years later) and the present, and at points the characters from each time period are on the stage at the same time. They also use the same objects. A sleepy tortoise appears in both time periods ... likely the same animal. Favorite character: Thomasina Coverly, a very smart 13 (later 16) year old who's a mathematical genius.

At the heart of the story is a philosophical question about time and the nature of the universe (chaos theory), and it revels in mathematics, but it also concerns a possible scandal involving Lord Byron and other things of a carnal nature. At times I laughed out loud at the cleverness; it's very smart writing. Knowing a bit about the Romantic period helps add to the enjoyment. Stoppard pokes fun at some of its more dubious landscaping notions, like rent-a-hermit for the picturesque hovel you build on your property in emulation of the popular Gothic novels of the day. One of the modern characters is doing research on the hermit who lived at Sidley Park at the beginning the the nineteenth century. Another is knee deep in a Bryon investigation, the details of which are resolved by the end, much to his chagrin.

Very entertaining. Very intelligent. I would love to see this on the stage.

]]> <![CDATA[Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (Penguin Classics)]]> 18079821 An updated edition of a classic African American autobiography, with new supplementary materials

The preeminent American slave narrative first published in 1845, Frederick Douglass’s Narrative powerfully details the life of the abolitionist from his birth into slavery in 1818 to his escape to the North in 1838, how he endured the daily physical and spiritual brutalities of his owners and driver, how he learned to read and write, and how he grew into a man who could only live free or die. In addition to Douglass’s classic autobiography, this new edition also includes his most famous speech “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?� and his only known work of fiction, The Heroic Slave, which was written, in part, as a response to Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin.]]> 224 Frederick Douglass 0143107305 Penny 5
This book does that and should be required reading for every high school student in the United States! It gives us slavery from the inside, not from an abstract, academic perspective.

What struck me viscerally, and that I may not have reckoned with before this current time, had I read the book say in the Sixties or Eighties, before the resurgence of white nationalism and evangelical Christianity, before the internet and the re-emergence of a political force straight out of the old slave-holding South, is how timely this book is right now. Now is the perfect time to read Douglass's classic. Or to reread it if you've read it before.

Reading it I realized that the South has risen again, has come roaring back. The descendants of the cruel slave-owners, the violent overseers, the hate-filled farmers who rented slaves from the wealthier landowners, are living today and their culture of racism, of contempt for black people, is as strong as it ever was. And they have highjacked our politics, fighting for dear life to hold on to their vile tradition of keeping others down. That culture has gone nowhere. If anything, it has metastasized into the hatred and oppression of other groups ... gay, transgender, Asian, Latino. It's a cultural thang, from father to son, mother to daughter, down through generations.

Douglass's account curdles the blood ... at least of any decent person. It is a powerful account of the brutality he witnessed and experienced personally, and in his quest to learn to read ... something denied him by virtue of his skin color and to keep him down ... and his thirst for freedom, it is clear that he is a better human being than those who oppressed him.

The appendix, in which he excoriates the hypocritical Christians who claim they follow Christ while brutalizing their fellow man, could be addressed to far too many so-called Christians today. The contempt he feels for them is something I've been feeling myself for some time now.

And the deep and abiding lesson of this little book for me echoes these words from Matthew 25:

42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.�

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?�

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.�"

Required reading!

]]> 4.32 1845 Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (Penguin Classics)
author: Frederick Douglass
name: Penny
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1845
rating: 5
read at: 2023/04/29
date added: 2023/04/29
shelves:
review:
I'm ashamed to say that I am only now reading this deeply moving, tragically important book. I completed my elementary and high school education before the Civil Rights movement, and my history textbooks were sterile on the subject of slavery. We learned about the Civil War, the Abolitionist cause, the Underground Railroad, but received a very sanitized version of slavery, soon overwritten by the re-release of the film Gone with the Wind and the romance of the novel itself. The concept of slavery was vile, and I felt that. One person buying and selling another, owning another was wrong. But the reality was never sketched in, fleshed out.

This book does that and should be required reading for every high school student in the United States! It gives us slavery from the inside, not from an abstract, academic perspective.

What struck me viscerally, and that I may not have reckoned with before this current time, had I read the book say in the Sixties or Eighties, before the resurgence of white nationalism and evangelical Christianity, before the internet and the re-emergence of a political force straight out of the old slave-holding South, is how timely this book is right now. Now is the perfect time to read Douglass's classic. Or to reread it if you've read it before.

Reading it I realized that the South has risen again, has come roaring back. The descendants of the cruel slave-owners, the violent overseers, the hate-filled farmers who rented slaves from the wealthier landowners, are living today and their culture of racism, of contempt for black people, is as strong as it ever was. And they have highjacked our politics, fighting for dear life to hold on to their vile tradition of keeping others down. That culture has gone nowhere. If anything, it has metastasized into the hatred and oppression of other groups ... gay, transgender, Asian, Latino. It's a cultural thang, from father to son, mother to daughter, down through generations.

Douglass's account curdles the blood ... at least of any decent person. It is a powerful account of the brutality he witnessed and experienced personally, and in his quest to learn to read ... something denied him by virtue of his skin color and to keep him down ... and his thirst for freedom, it is clear that he is a better human being than those who oppressed him.

The appendix, in which he excoriates the hypocritical Christians who claim they follow Christ while brutalizing their fellow man, could be addressed to far too many so-called Christians today. The contempt he feels for them is something I've been feeling myself for some time now.

And the deep and abiding lesson of this little book for me echoes these words from Matthew 25:

42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.�

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?�

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.�"

Required reading!


]]> <![CDATA[The Five People You Meet in Heaven]]> 3431
Eddie is a wounded war veteran, an old man who has lived, in his mind, an uninspired life. His job is fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. On his 83rd birthday, a tragic accident kills him as he tries to save a little girl from a falling cart. He awakes in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a destination. It's a place where your life is explained to you by five people, some of whom you knew, others who may have been strangers. One by one, from childhood to soldier to old age, Eddie's five people revisit their connections to him on earth, illuminating the mysteries of his "meaningless" life, and revealing the haunting secret behind the eternal question: "Why was I here?"]]> 196 Mitch Albom 0786868716 Penny 5
The five people ... are people whose lives interacted at some point with Eddie, the 83-year old man who dies at the beginning of the book while trying to rescue a child from a falling carnival ride. Each gives him insights into his life, revealing things that were just beyond his ken, and each teaches him a lesson that will help him come to terms with his life and with the man he was. I won't share those lessons because for this book they would be spoilers, but they are wise, incredibly healing (for Eddie and for this reader), and universal.

Despite myself, I was reduced to sobbing through the last several chapters of the book. I haven't cried so deeply in years. It hit me that hard.

A profoundly wise and beautifully written book that I can't recommend highly enough. I usually don't pay much mind to this sort of best seller, but I wish I had read this sooner.
]]> 4.00 2003 The Five People You Meet in Heaven
author: Mitch Albom
name: Penny
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at: 2023/04/27
date added: 2023/04/27
shelves:
review:
This book is It's a Wonderful Life on steroids.

The five people ... are people whose lives interacted at some point with Eddie, the 83-year old man who dies at the beginning of the book while trying to rescue a child from a falling carnival ride. Each gives him insights into his life, revealing things that were just beyond his ken, and each teaches him a lesson that will help him come to terms with his life and with the man he was. I won't share those lessons because for this book they would be spoilers, but they are wise, incredibly healing (for Eddie and for this reader), and universal.

Despite myself, I was reduced to sobbing through the last several chapters of the book. I haven't cried so deeply in years. It hit me that hard.

A profoundly wise and beautifully written book that I can't recommend highly enough. I usually don't pay much mind to this sort of best seller, but I wish I had read this sooner.

]]> The Dream Lover 22716467
George Sand was a 19th century French novelist known not only for her novels but even more for her scandalous behavior. After leaving her estranged husband, Sand moved to Paris where she wrote, wore men’s clothing, smoked cigars, and had love affairs with famous men and an actress named Marie. In an era of incredible artistic talent, Sand was the most famous female writer of her time. Her lovers and friends included Frederic Chopin, Gustave Flaubert, Franz Liszt, Eugene Delacroix, Victor Hugo, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and more. In a major departure, Elizabeth Berg has created a gorgeous novel about the life of George Sand, written in luminous prose, with exquisite insight into the heart and mind of a woman who was considered the most passionate and gifted genius of her time.]]> 368 Elizabeth Berg 0812993152 Penny 4
A first person narrative and clearly well researched, this novelization of Sand's life takes her from birth to after death, recounting her childhood, the tragic death of her father, her wild woman of a mother, her marriage, her relationships with various lovers, male and female, and her relationships with her two children. What I did enjoy enormously is the glimpse into the French avant garde represented by her various friends and lovers, the descriptions of her writing process (she was far more prolific than I realized), and the narrative structure which moved effortlessly from present to past, skillfully interweaving those threads of an extraordinary life. It was a significant undertaking for a writer, but Berg is definitely a skilled writer.

This is definitely a book for francophiles.

]]> 3.22 2015 The Dream Lover
author: Elizabeth Berg
name: Penny
average rating: 3.22
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2023/04/03
date added: 2023/04/27
shelves:
review:
I wanted to (and expected to) like this book more than I did. I've always been intrigued by George Sand with her flaunting of 19th century mores, her famous lovers, and her impact on French literature and culture. Of course, in my head she looked like Merle Oberon and the love of her life was the tubercular Frederic Chopin (Cornel Wilde), so maybe the reality of their affair and of her life fell short of those romantic expectations.

A first person narrative and clearly well researched, this novelization of Sand's life takes her from birth to after death, recounting her childhood, the tragic death of her father, her wild woman of a mother, her marriage, her relationships with various lovers, male and female, and her relationships with her two children. What I did enjoy enormously is the glimpse into the French avant garde represented by her various friends and lovers, the descriptions of her writing process (she was far more prolific than I realized), and the narrative structure which moved effortlessly from present to past, skillfully interweaving those threads of an extraordinary life. It was a significant undertaking for a writer, but Berg is definitely a skilled writer.

This is definitely a book for francophiles.


]]> Open House 5190 Samantha's husband has left her, and after a spree of overcharging at Tiffany's, she settles down to reconstruct a life for herself and her eleven-year-old son. Her eccentric mother tries to help by fixing her up with dates, but a more pressing problem is money. To meet her mortgage payments, Sam decides to take in boarders. The first is an older woman who offers sage advice and sorely needed comfort; the second, a maladjusted student, is not quite so helpful. A new friend, King, an untraditional man, suggests that Samantha get out, get going, get work. But her real work is this: In order to emerge from grief and the past, she has to learn how to make her own happiness. In order to really see people, she has to look within her heart. And in order to know who she is, she has to remember--and reclaim--the person she used to be, long before she became someone else in an effort to save her marriage. Open House is a love story about what can blossom between a man and a woman, and within a woman herself.]]> 272 Elizabeth Berg 0345435168 Penny 5
Stumbling, like thinking of Martha Stewart as her domestic icon. Will Travis appreciate the napkin ring encircling the cloth napkin by his breakfast plate? Can $12,000 worth of silver, china and a bracelet from Tiffany's change anything? The things we do to assuage our pain!

The book essentially recounts a journey of self-discovery, Sam's realization that she has the strength to carry on and redefine herself, sans the husband who can no longer "endure" their marriage.

I loved two of her solutions in particular to "what next?". Renting a room to a total stranger, which she did three times, brought fresh ideas into her life, an opening to possibilities, a realization of her own courage, and an opportunity for learning. And taking random jobs, from working at a call center to construction, allows her to discover inner resources she didn't realize she had, while learning new skills.

And then there is King, the moving man who was hired to bring in the furniture of Sam's first boarder, the kind of man one would hope to meet in Sam's position, deeply decent.

This book made me want to read more by Elizabeth Berg. ]]> 3.70 2000 Open House
author: Elizabeth Berg
name: Penny
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at: 2023/03/17
date added: 2023/04/27
shelves:
review:
"He is gone before he is gone." Samantha faces a life without the man she still loves. David walked out, leaving her and their eleven year old son Travis to fend for themselves. And in the end she does, but not without some necessary stumbling on the way to creating that new identify, that new life. Her story feels real and it's well-told, while still inhabiting romcom territory.

Stumbling, like thinking of Martha Stewart as her domestic icon. Will Travis appreciate the napkin ring encircling the cloth napkin by his breakfast plate? Can $12,000 worth of silver, china and a bracelet from Tiffany's change anything? The things we do to assuage our pain!

The book essentially recounts a journey of self-discovery, Sam's realization that she has the strength to carry on and redefine herself, sans the husband who can no longer "endure" their marriage.

I loved two of her solutions in particular to "what next?". Renting a room to a total stranger, which she did three times, brought fresh ideas into her life, an opening to possibilities, a realization of her own courage, and an opportunity for learning. And taking random jobs, from working at a call center to construction, allows her to discover inner resources she didn't realize she had, while learning new skills.

And then there is King, the moving man who was hired to bring in the furniture of Sam's first boarder, the kind of man one would hope to meet in Sam's position, deeply decent.

This book made me want to read more by Elizabeth Berg.
]]> <![CDATA[The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time]]> 1618 226 Mark Haddon 1400032717 Penny 5
Christopher Boone is the fifteen year old narrator. He is smart as paint and suffers from a psychological disorder on the Autism spectrum, finding it difficult to be around other people, to be touched even by those close to him, to understand what others are thinking and feeling. But he knows every country in the world and can do complicated math problems in his head. The book is Christopher's account of his investigation of the murder of a neighbor's dog; he proudly plays detective. The chapters are numbered idiosyncratically according to prime number progression ... 1, 3, 5, 7, 11 through chapter 233, a number greater than the page count of the novel. The appendix is Christopher's solution of a complicated math problem from earlier in the book, in case the reader might be interested. And throughout, there are Christopher's drawings, lists, observations of the world around him, and reflections on life, his philosophy, if you will. This is a fully realized character; we experience how his very unique mind works.

Plot wise, the initial crime is resolved well before the end of the book with a surprising confession, but that confession is so unsettling that Christopher embarks on, for him, a difficult and courageous journey. I couldn't help but fear for him as he left his comfort zone for the wider world with only his wits to protect him. His investigation uncovers a dark secret from his own past, and more than one mystery is solved.

Highly recommended!



]]> 3.89 2003 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
author: Mark Haddon
name: Penny
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at: 2023/04/21
date added: 2023/04/24
shelves:
review:
Brilliant! Haddon takes the reader into the mind of a boy who thinks differently, and he expertly reveals that world with sharpness, clarity, and compassion, precisely as his narrator experiences it. I felt my mind blown many times while reading the book. This is the best narrative voice I've encountered since Faulkner's Benjy Compson and Salinger's Holden Caulfield. Shades of tv detective Adrian Monk.

Christopher Boone is the fifteen year old narrator. He is smart as paint and suffers from a psychological disorder on the Autism spectrum, finding it difficult to be around other people, to be touched even by those close to him, to understand what others are thinking and feeling. But he knows every country in the world and can do complicated math problems in his head. The book is Christopher's account of his investigation of the murder of a neighbor's dog; he proudly plays detective. The chapters are numbered idiosyncratically according to prime number progression ... 1, 3, 5, 7, 11 through chapter 233, a number greater than the page count of the novel. The appendix is Christopher's solution of a complicated math problem from earlier in the book, in case the reader might be interested. And throughout, there are Christopher's drawings, lists, observations of the world around him, and reflections on life, his philosophy, if you will. This is a fully realized character; we experience how his very unique mind works.

Plot wise, the initial crime is resolved well before the end of the book with a surprising confession, but that confession is so unsettling that Christopher embarks on, for him, a difficult and courageous journey. I couldn't help but fear for him as he left his comfort zone for the wider world with only his wits to protect him. His investigation uncovers a dark secret from his own past, and more than one mystery is solved.

Highly recommended!




]]> <![CDATA[Everyday Sisu: Tapping into Finnish Fortitude for a Happier, More Resilient Life]]> 58082234
Sisu is a powerful mindset that makes Finland one of the happiest countries in the world, despite long winters, social isolation, and a history of challenging times.

In Everyday Sisu , journalist Katja Pantzar explores the simple practices that make Finnish life so stable, sustainable, and healthy for body and mind, even when life doesn’t go as planned. You’ll discover ways to boost your mental and physical resilience to face life’s challenges head-on,


� connecting with nature
� strengthening community
� using what you have
� reframing what you can’t control
� adopting a solutions mindset
� finding strength in the struggle

Featuring insights from Finnish experts in mental health, wellness, sustainability, social justice, and more, this practical and empowering guide presents a road map for overcoming what you thought you couldn’t—and finding hope and tools to create a brighter way forward.]]> 224 Katja Pantzar 059341926X Penny 4
Particularly interesting in the book are the author's discussions of the Finn's connection to nature as part of building sisu. Time in nature, forest bathing, ice bathing, build good health and a sense of well-being. Pantzar also connects sisu to Finland's world-renowned education system. And she explores the way Finnish society builds a sense of community and stewardship for the earth. Having a largely plant-based diet, up cycling clothing, and walking or bicycling rather than driving are highly valued practices in Finland. Throughout she introduces Finnish practitioners, researchers, and authors who demonstrate aspects of sisu.

A final chapter gives ten practices for everyday sisu, including ways to manage your energy, become a more conscious consumer, and build compassion for self and others.

Light reading filled with interesting snippets of Finnish life.]]> 3.53 Everyday Sisu: Tapping into Finnish Fortitude for a Happier, More Resilient Life
author: Katja Pantzar
name: Penny
average rating: 3.53
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2023/03/29
date added: 2023/04/23
shelves:
review:
Katja Pantzar continues her journey exploring the Finnish practice of sisu, which one practitioner described as "embodied fortitude." Sisu is about transcending limitations, about developing grit and determination, and it is a way of marshaling one's mental and physical resources to lead a happier life. Remember the Finns have been found to be the happiest people on earth. Sisu is part of the reason why.

Particularly interesting in the book are the author's discussions of the Finn's connection to nature as part of building sisu. Time in nature, forest bathing, ice bathing, build good health and a sense of well-being. Pantzar also connects sisu to Finland's world-renowned education system. And she explores the way Finnish society builds a sense of community and stewardship for the earth. Having a largely plant-based diet, up cycling clothing, and walking or bicycling rather than driving are highly valued practices in Finland. Throughout she introduces Finnish practitioners, researchers, and authors who demonstrate aspects of sisu.

A final chapter gives ten practices for everyday sisu, including ways to manage your energy, become a more conscious consumer, and build compassion for self and others.

Light reading filled with interesting snippets of Finnish life.
]]> <![CDATA[Why We Meditate: The Science and Practice of Clarity and Compassion]]> 60321457
We all experience negative emotions from time to time. But in a world with as much frenzy and pressure as ours, it’s incredibly easy for these same emotions to become destructive. Now, by blending Eastern tradition with Western science, Why We Meditate effortlessly helps you embrace and understand meditation as never before.

With accessible and eye-opening advice based on groundbreaking neuroscience, this guidebook helps you not only break free from negative patterns of thought and behavior but radically embrace your very being. Revolutionize your health, relationships, and soul with this book that is perfect for both serious meditators and those new to the practice.]]> 224 Daniel Goleman 1982178450 Penny 4
Each chapter begins with a reflection by Tsoknyi Rinpoche, a Tibetan master, on the traditions and practices of Eastern meditation with things one can practice, starting with simple activities like using a mantra and working with the breath, then advancing to deeper and more spiritual exercises. Rinpoche also recounts his personal journey, learning from his father, becoming a teacher himself, expanding his practice beyond Tibet to the West. But what is most profound is explanation of the Buddhist philosophy underlying meditation. The later chapters on developing compassion were particularly resonant for me.

Each chapter ends with a reflection by Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence, and former science reporter for the New York Times. Goleman shares his personal journey in meditation and what he learned as a student of Rinpoche. And he provides the science that explains why we meditate, the benefits to ourselves and others of the practice. Research demonstrates that meditation is a profoundly prosocial act. And frankly, in this troubled time, we could use more meditators, more people cultivating compassion and love for others.

This is a book I will keep and work through again.


]]> 3.89 Why We Meditate: The Science and Practice of Clarity and Compassion
author: Daniel Goleman
name: Penny
average rating: 3.89
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2023/04/15
date added: 2023/04/23
shelves:
review:
This dual approach to an examination of meditation ... from the perspectives of a meditation master and a scientist ... offers a great deal to the medicurious.

Each chapter begins with a reflection by Tsoknyi Rinpoche, a Tibetan master, on the traditions and practices of Eastern meditation with things one can practice, starting with simple activities like using a mantra and working with the breath, then advancing to deeper and more spiritual exercises. Rinpoche also recounts his personal journey, learning from his father, becoming a teacher himself, expanding his practice beyond Tibet to the West. But what is most profound is explanation of the Buddhist philosophy underlying meditation. The later chapters on developing compassion were particularly resonant for me.

Each chapter ends with a reflection by Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence, and former science reporter for the New York Times. Goleman shares his personal journey in meditation and what he learned as a student of Rinpoche. And he provides the science that explains why we meditate, the benefits to ourselves and others of the practice. Research demonstrates that meditation is a profoundly prosocial act. And frankly, in this troubled time, we could use more meditators, more people cultivating compassion and love for others.

This is a book I will keep and work through again.



]]> Turtle Island 40795 Turtle Island is "the old/new name for the continent, based on many creation myths of the people who have been here for millennia, and reapplied by some of them to 'North America' in recent years." The nearly five dozen poems in the book range from the lucid, lyrical, almost mystical to the mytho-biotic, while a few are frankly political. All, however, share a common vision: a rediscovery of this land, and the ways by which we might become natives of the place, ceasing to think and act (after all these centuries) as newcomers and invaders.

Of particular interest is the full text of the ever more relevant "Four Changes," Snyder's seminal manifesto for environmental awareness.]]> 112 Gary Snyder 0811205460 Penny 5
On our first trip to Colorado his home state, my late husband drove me past a place where a mountain had once stood. All that was left was a badly gouged flat expanse of earth with mine tailings, a dystopian landscape.

Some of the poems in this book speak to that willful devastation of the earth. They speak of chain saws and strip mines. Of the cancer we've brought to a once pristine wilderness. Poems about his children, about Washington D.C., about hunting, and truck driving, and the Dharma (compared to an avocado), about places he's traveled to and places he's lived make this a rich and exciting collection.

This edition, however, includes several essays written over fifty years ago that could have been written yesterday, so little have we learned, so little have we changed our ways. "Four Changes" speaks of the destruction of the planet, takes on the fossil fuel industry, our over-population of the earth, pesticides, pollution, our careless use of resources, our destruction of species ... yes, in 1969. It offers an assessment of the situation and suggests what our goals should be and actions we might take to arrive at a more sustainable place. Why didn't we listen?

The essays and poems draw from both Native American and Buddhist philosophy. Live gently on the earth. Respect all life. I'm reminded of Bill Plotkin's works, another visionary. ]]> 4.09 1974 Turtle Island
author: Gary Snyder
name: Penny
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1974
rating: 5
read at: 2023/03/03
date added: 2023/03/03
shelves:
review:
Reading Gary Snyder is a spiritual experience. His deep feelings for the natural world, a profound empathy for our fellow creatures and a sense of outrage at the way our civilization has ravaged that world, infuse the poems in this Pulitzer prize winning collection.

On our first trip to Colorado his home state, my late husband drove me past a place where a mountain had once stood. All that was left was a badly gouged flat expanse of earth with mine tailings, a dystopian landscape.

Some of the poems in this book speak to that willful devastation of the earth. They speak of chain saws and strip mines. Of the cancer we've brought to a once pristine wilderness. Poems about his children, about Washington D.C., about hunting, and truck driving, and the Dharma (compared to an avocado), about places he's traveled to and places he's lived make this a rich and exciting collection.

This edition, however, includes several essays written over fifty years ago that could have been written yesterday, so little have we learned, so little have we changed our ways. "Four Changes" speaks of the destruction of the planet, takes on the fossil fuel industry, our over-population of the earth, pesticides, pollution, our careless use of resources, our destruction of species ... yes, in 1969. It offers an assessment of the situation and suggests what our goals should be and actions we might take to arrive at a more sustainable place. Why didn't we listen?

The essays and poems draw from both Native American and Buddhist philosophy. Live gently on the earth. Respect all life. I'm reminded of Bill Plotkin's works, another visionary.
]]> <![CDATA[This Present Moment: New Poems]]> 23281518 That lives on

To become

Long ago."

For his first collection of new poems since his celebrated Danger on Peaks , published in 2004, Gary Snyder finds himself ranging over the planet. Journeys to the Dolomites, to the north shore of Lake Tahoe, from Paris and Tuscany to the shrine at Delphi, from Santa Fe to Sella Pass, Snyder lays out these poems as a map of the last decade. Placed side-by-side, they become a path and a trail of complexity and lyrical regard, a sort of riprap of the poet’s eighth decade. And in the mix are some of the most beautiful domestic poems of his great career, poems about his work as a homesteader and householder, as a father and husband, as a friend and neighbor. A centerpiece in this collection is a long poem about the death of his beloved, Carole Koda, a rich poem of grief and sorrow, rare in its steady resolved focus on a dying wife, of a power unequaled in American poetry.

As a friend is quoted in one of these new

"I met the other lately in the far back of a bar,
musicians playing near the window and he
sweetly told me “listen to that music.

The self we hold so dear will soon be gone.�"

Gary Snyder is one of the greatest American poets of the last century, and This Present Moment shows his command, his broad range, and his remarkable courage.]]> 88 Gary Snyder 1619025248 Penny 5
The poems are filled with fellow-feeling for all creatures, a love of our Mother Earth. It's the stuff of hippies and communes and living an earth centered life, eschewing our Western dissociation from nature and love of acquiring lots of things for which we willingly, gleefully, arrogantly, plunder and destroy the only home we have.

"Go Now," the final poem in the collection left me shaken. It is easily the most moving poem I've ever read about love and death. It's tender and raw. The poet warned, "You don't want to read this, reader, be warned, turn back from the darkness, go now." But I didn't turn back. "Worth it. Easily worth it." ]]> 4.06 2015 This Present Moment: New Poems
author: Gary Snyder
name: Penny
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2023/03/01
date added: 2023/03/03
shelves:
review:
I've finally discovered Gary Snyder. I wish it had been sooner. What a visionary! His poems take you places he has been and in generally brief glimpses shares what his eyes saw, what his body experienced. I'm reminded of Wordsworth's "emotion recollected in tranquility." The poet's powerful emotions in the moment are translated into words so that the reader can almost experience the same intensity of feeling.

The poems are filled with fellow-feeling for all creatures, a love of our Mother Earth. It's the stuff of hippies and communes and living an earth centered life, eschewing our Western dissociation from nature and love of acquiring lots of things for which we willingly, gleefully, arrogantly, plunder and destroy the only home we have.

"Go Now," the final poem in the collection left me shaken. It is easily the most moving poem I've ever read about love and death. It's tender and raw. The poet warned, "You don't want to read this, reader, be warned, turn back from the darkness, go now." But I didn't turn back. "Worth it. Easily worth it."
]]> <![CDATA[The Courage to Be Disliked: The Japanese Phenomenon That Shows You How to Change Your Life and Achieve Real Happiness]]> 36622739 The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up for the mind, The Courage to Be Disliked is the Japanese phenomenon that shows you how to free yourself from the shackles of past experiences and others� expectations to achieve real happiness.

The Courage to Be Disliked, already an enormous bestseller in Asia with more than 3.5 million copies sold, demonstrates how to unlock the power within yourself to be the person you truly want to be.

Using the theories of Alfred Adler, one of the three giants of twentieth century psychology, this book follows an illuminating conversation between a philosopher and a young man. The philosopher explains to his pupil how each of us is able to determine our own life, free from the shackles of past experiences, doubts, and the expectations of others. It’s a way of thinking that is deeply liberating, allowing us to develop the courage to change, and to ignore the limitations that we and those around us have placed on ourselves. The result is a book that is both highly accessible and profound in its importance. Millions have already read and benefitted from its wisdom.

This is a truly special book in the vein of Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up but for the mind. Those ready to embrace the insights and liberation promised by The Courage to Be Disliked will come to a deeper understanding of themselves and others, and find the inspiration to take the reins of their own life.]]> 288 Ichiro Kishimi 1501197274 Penny 5
For one, I was recognizing what I now consider errors of reasoning on my part and on the part of others I've known. How often we tend to blame the past, our parents for sins of omission or commission, teachers, former employers for whatever current circumstance we feel mired in. We feel stuck but have that past experience to blame for our not moving on.

Adler, as articulated by Ichiro Kishimi (the Philosopher) and Fumitake Koga (the Youth) through a Platonic style dialogue, says that we first choose that stuck place and then find the justification for it in our past. Life requires courage, and everyone can change. But we have to actively choose to change.

Several ideas really resonated with me. The first was the notion that we have to separate our tasks from the tasks of others. We work on ours and they work on theirs. We aren't responsible for working on the tasks of others.

A second is the idea of building horizontal relationships, relationships of true equality, a kind of free to be you and me ethos.

And the concept that it is in being useful to others that we come to feel our own value and self-worth, abandoning any feelings of inferiority, is an idea to live a life by and attain authentic happiness. It is in contribution to the common good, building a sense of community feeling, seeing others as comrades that we can start to live that happier and freer life.

I can't explain it here beyond these simple insights, because one has to read the dialogues to garner and mull over all the supportive reasoning, but I'll be reading The Courage to be Happy very soon and moving on to reading Adler. ]]> 4.02 2013 The Courage to Be Disliked: The Japanese Phenomenon That Shows You How to Change Your Life and Achieve Real Happiness
author: Ichiro Kishimi
name: Penny
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2023/02/28
date added: 2023/03/03
shelves:
review:
This is a book I will share with others. I'm thinking of several I love for whom it could be life-changing. Alfred Adler deserves much more recognition than he currently has because his philosophy is incredibly powerful and life affirming. I had several "the scales fell from my eyes" moments while reading it.

For one, I was recognizing what I now consider errors of reasoning on my part and on the part of others I've known. How often we tend to blame the past, our parents for sins of omission or commission, teachers, former employers for whatever current circumstance we feel mired in. We feel stuck but have that past experience to blame for our not moving on.

Adler, as articulated by Ichiro Kishimi (the Philosopher) and Fumitake Koga (the Youth) through a Platonic style dialogue, says that we first choose that stuck place and then find the justification for it in our past. Life requires courage, and everyone can change. But we have to actively choose to change.

Several ideas really resonated with me. The first was the notion that we have to separate our tasks from the tasks of others. We work on ours and they work on theirs. We aren't responsible for working on the tasks of others.

A second is the idea of building horizontal relationships, relationships of true equality, a kind of free to be you and me ethos.

And the concept that it is in being useful to others that we come to feel our own value and self-worth, abandoning any feelings of inferiority, is an idea to live a life by and attain authentic happiness. It is in contribution to the common good, building a sense of community feeling, seeing others as comrades that we can start to live that happier and freer life.

I can't explain it here beyond these simple insights, because one has to read the dialogues to garner and mull over all the supportive reasoning, but I'll be reading The Courage to be Happy very soon and moving on to reading Adler.
]]> Mountain Interval 10991311 80 Robert Frost Penny 4
There were several poems in this collection I genuinely loved: "The Road Not Taken" of course; "Birches" goes without saying. "Out, Out �" is chilling and tragic as is "The Vanishing Red," and well-worth reading the collection for.

But others left me a bit confused, the language seeming forced to fit a rhyme scheme, an experiment not entirely successful in other cases. One longer narrative poem was not always clear as to speaker.

Perhaps I should reread the book, give Frost a second chance. There are those four I mentioned that are powerful and perfect. But I can understand why anthologies serve so well. The best works of a poet are presented, the less successful poems not.]]> 3.90 Mountain Interval
author: Robert Frost
name: Penny
average rating: 3.90
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2023/02/20
date added: 2023/02/21
shelves:
review:
I'm guessing from this initial experience of reading a book of Robert Frost's that I'm not likely to love him as much as many others have over the decades. His name is holy in some quarters.

There were several poems in this collection I genuinely loved: "The Road Not Taken" of course; "Birches" goes without saying. "Out, Out �" is chilling and tragic as is "The Vanishing Red," and well-worth reading the collection for.

But others left me a bit confused, the language seeming forced to fit a rhyme scheme, an experiment not entirely successful in other cases. One longer narrative poem was not always clear as to speaker.

Perhaps I should reread the book, give Frost a second chance. There are those four I mentioned that are powerful and perfect. But I can understand why anthologies serve so well. The best works of a poet are presented, the less successful poems not.
]]> <![CDATA[Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World]]> 41795733
Plenty of experts argue that anyone who wants to develop a skill, play an instrument, or lead their field should start early, focus intensely, and rack up as many hours of deliberate practice as possible. If you dabble or delay, you'll never catch up to the people who got a head start. But a closer look at research on the world's top performers, from professional athletes to Nobel laureates, shows that early specialization is the exception, not the rule.

David Epstein examined the world's most successful athletes, artists, musicians, inventors, forecasters and scientists. He discovered that in most fields--especially those that are complex and unpredictable--generalists, not specialists, are primed to excel. Generalists often find their path late, and they juggle many interests rather than focusing on one. They're also more creative, more agile, and able to make connections their more specialized peers can't see.

Provocative, rigorous, and engrossing, Range makes a compelling case for actively cultivating inefficiency. Failing a test is the best way to learn. Frequent quitters end up with the most fulfilling careers. The most impactful inventors cross domains rather than deepening their knowledge in a single area. As experts silo themselves further while computers master more of the skills once reserved for highly focused humans, people who think broadly and embrace diverse experiences and perspectives will increasingly thrive.]]> 339 David Epstein 0735214484 Penny 5
The premise of the book is that specialization, while being important and necessary in certain instances, should not be entered into too early nor promoted as a goal of education. Asking children, for example, to choose what they want to be when they grow up and well before they have any idea of the wide range of possibilities in life and their own interests and talents, can set them on a course that won't be to their best advantage in the long term.

Epstein is a science writer, and he cites multiple studies that demonstrate that generalists are more likely to produce breakthroughs than those who are narrowly specialized. But his great strength lies in the stories he shares of those generalists who followed a more circuitous path to ultimate success in their careers. Sampling is essential. Trying on a lot of different things (fields, skills, avocations, jobs etc.) creates an individual with a broader perspective who is more likely to be able to link seemingly disparate things into something novel and helpful.

That premise was also behind a book that had a powerful influence on my thinking and life, a book I read when I was just starting out. A.E. Van Vogt's Voyage of the Space Beagle (1950) concerns one Dr. Elliott Grosvenor, the only Nexialist (a new discipline depicted as taking an actively generalist approach towards science) on board a space ship exploring the galaxy. "It is Grosvenor's training and application of Nexialism rather than the more narrow-minded approaches of the individual scientific and military minds of his other shipmates that consistently prove more effective against the hostile encounters both from outside and within the Space Beagle."

Yet, we seem to educate less broadly than we did decades ago, dropping disciplines, sidelining the arts, social studies and science, driven by what is tested and by a mistaken notion that kids better start young becoming experts in one specific thing ... a sport, a musical instrument, a particular job.

In the afterward to the paperback edition, Epstein tells one of his best stories, that of MacArthur genius, artist Titus Kaphar, and at the end quotes Kaphar describing a junior college class that he took on a lark that changed the entire trajectory of his life, "I realized that I had a visual intelligence that no one had ever asked me to use." How many Kaphars do we fail in our schools by not giving them broad experiences, a full range of possibilities in which to find themselves?

Sampling more of what's out there is akin to eating all of the colors ... the reds, the oranges, the yellows, the purples, the greens ... it's the variety that ensures we get everything we need for optimum health. That's exactly what we need in our schools and in our own lives.

A very hopeful, well-researched, inspiring read!]]> 4.12 2019 Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
author: David Epstein
name: Penny
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2023/02/21
date added: 2023/02/21
shelves:
review:
I can't recommend this book highly enough. It has important implications for child rearing and education that we can't afford to ignore.

The premise of the book is that specialization, while being important and necessary in certain instances, should not be entered into too early nor promoted as a goal of education. Asking children, for example, to choose what they want to be when they grow up and well before they have any idea of the wide range of possibilities in life and their own interests and talents, can set them on a course that won't be to their best advantage in the long term.

Epstein is a science writer, and he cites multiple studies that demonstrate that generalists are more likely to produce breakthroughs than those who are narrowly specialized. But his great strength lies in the stories he shares of those generalists who followed a more circuitous path to ultimate success in their careers. Sampling is essential. Trying on a lot of different things (fields, skills, avocations, jobs etc.) creates an individual with a broader perspective who is more likely to be able to link seemingly disparate things into something novel and helpful.

That premise was also behind a book that had a powerful influence on my thinking and life, a book I read when I was just starting out. A.E. Van Vogt's Voyage of the Space Beagle (1950) concerns one Dr. Elliott Grosvenor, the only Nexialist (a new discipline depicted as taking an actively generalist approach towards science) on board a space ship exploring the galaxy. "It is Grosvenor's training and application of Nexialism rather than the more narrow-minded approaches of the individual scientific and military minds of his other shipmates that consistently prove more effective against the hostile encounters both from outside and within the Space Beagle."

Yet, we seem to educate less broadly than we did decades ago, dropping disciplines, sidelining the arts, social studies and science, driven by what is tested and by a mistaken notion that kids better start young becoming experts in one specific thing ... a sport, a musical instrument, a particular job.

In the afterward to the paperback edition, Epstein tells one of his best stories, that of MacArthur genius, artist Titus Kaphar, and at the end quotes Kaphar describing a junior college class that he took on a lark that changed the entire trajectory of his life, "I realized that I had a visual intelligence that no one had ever asked me to use." How many Kaphars do we fail in our schools by not giving them broad experiences, a full range of possibilities in which to find themselves?

Sampling more of what's out there is akin to eating all of the colors ... the reds, the oranges, the yellows, the purples, the greens ... it's the variety that ensures we get everything we need for optimum health. That's exactly what we need in our schools and in our own lives.

A very hopeful, well-researched, inspiring read!
]]> <![CDATA[Sleep: 50 mindfulness exercises for a restful night's sleep]]> 29482308 160 Arlene Unger 1845436407 Penny 4
I especially like the forgiving nature of the counsel offered, removing a sense of failure if good sleep escapes one and offering possible remedies through easy exercises. It's a great little book to keep by the bedside. ]]> 3.49 Sleep: 50 mindfulness exercises for a restful night's sleep
author: Arlene Unger
name: Penny
average rating: 3.49
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2023/02/18
date added: 2023/02/19
shelves:
review:
One focus of mine for 2023 is to get better at sleep, to understand its nature and how to overcome obstacles to getting a good night's sleep more nights than not. This book has some good ideas to help with that, mostly meditations and visualizations that can quiet the mind, prepare for sleeping and for returning to sleep if awakened mid night.

I especially like the forgiving nature of the counsel offered, removing a sense of failure if good sleep escapes one and offering possible remedies through easy exercises. It's a great little book to keep by the bedside.
]]> <![CDATA[The Sleep Solution: Why Your Sleep is Broken and How to Fix It]]> 33275151 With cutting-edge sleep science and time-tested techniques, The Sleep Solution will help anyone achieve healthy sleep and eliminate pills, pain, and fatigue.

If you want to fix your sleep problems, Internet tips and tricks aren’t going to do it for you. You need to really understand what’s going on with your sleep—both what your problems are and how to solve them.

The Sleep Solution is an exciting journey of sleep self-discovery and understanding that will help you custom design specific interventions to fit your lifestyle. Drawing on his twenty-four years of experience within the field, neurologist and sleep expert W. Chris Winter will help you�

* Understand how sleep works and the ways in which food, light, and other activities act to help or hurt the process

* Learn why sleeping pills are so often misunderstood and used incorrectly—and how you can achieve your best sleep without them

* Incorporate sleep and napping into your life—whether you are a shift worker, student, or overcommitted parent

* Think outside the box to better understand ways to treat a multitude of
conditions—from insomnia to sleep apnea to restless leg syndrome and circadian sleep disorders

* Wade through the ever-changing sea of sleep technology and understand its value as it relates to your own sleep struggles

Dubbed the “Sleep Whisperer� by Arianna Huffington, Dr. Winter is an international expert on sleep and has helped more than 10,000 patients rest better at night, including countless professional athletes. Now, he’s bringing his experiences out from under the covers—redefining what it means to have optimal sleep and get the ZZZs you really need�

INCLUDES TIPS, TRICKS, EXERCISES, AND ILLUSTRATIONS


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 266 W. Chris Winter 0399583629 Penny 5
1. Buy Halo wrist band to track sleep. Check

2. Read The Sleep Solution: Why Your Sleep is Broken and How to Fix it. Check

Follow 1 and 2 for a year and evaluate results. Pending.

I loved this book! I've already recommended it to friends. First of all, Winter provides an easy to understand scientific explanation of sleep, how it works, what drives and impedes it, and how we improve our own. He also demythologizes sleep. How often I've lamented, "I didn't sleep at all last night. How can I possibly function today? Driving is out. So is almost anything else requiring a functioning brain." Well, truth be told, I now understand that in all likelihood I did sleep, and Halo is confirming that. I just don't consistently sleep for as many hours or get as much deep and REM sleep as is optimal for me. And Winter has given me the tools to begin working to change that sad fact.

But here's why I love this book. Along with being practical, based on science, and grounded in the author's many years as a sleep doctor with all the appropriate board certifications and then some, it is frequently laugh out loud funny. Heavens, even the footnotes are funny! Winter's style relies on introducing incongruities, the unexpected, often at the end of a series. Apparently we can thank Kant, Schopenhauer, and Kierkegaard, that gleesome threesome, for identifying this aspect of humor. "This theory holds that humor results when our brains perceive 2 things as coexisting in a manner that does not at first appear to make logical sense and that laughter or humor occurs when the discomfort caused by this incongruity is resolved in some way." Winter is master of this, and that makes for a very entertaining read on a very serious subject indeed.

And somehow in reading this book, I already feel calmer about sleep. One of Winter's important points is that "Insomnia is Fear." And I'm getting that. I've also found it helpful to have a word for when my brain refuses to turn off at night, "Vigilence." According to sleep science, we are either sleepy or vigilant, and being vigilant during the day is exactly right but doesn't work so well when sleep is in order. Just having the appropriate language is helping me deal with this aspect of not sleeping well enough. Winter gives the reader a reframing of sleep that offers the possibility of a fresh start once some work has been done. As with anything we want to get better at, learning more about the subject and practicing best practices (provided in the book) should lead to improvement. So in the coming year, I'll be exercising my sleep muscle and cherishing the expectation that it will get stronger over time.

Thank you Dr. Winter. ]]> 4.13 2017 The Sleep Solution: Why Your Sleep is Broken and How to Fix It
author: W. Chris Winter
name: Penny
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2023/01/29
date added: 2023/01/29
shelves:
review:
New Year's Resolution: Get better as sleep.

1. Buy Halo wrist band to track sleep. Check

2. Read The Sleep Solution: Why Your Sleep is Broken and How to Fix it. Check

Follow 1 and 2 for a year and evaluate results. Pending.

I loved this book! I've already recommended it to friends. First of all, Winter provides an easy to understand scientific explanation of sleep, how it works, what drives and impedes it, and how we improve our own. He also demythologizes sleep. How often I've lamented, "I didn't sleep at all last night. How can I possibly function today? Driving is out. So is almost anything else requiring a functioning brain." Well, truth be told, I now understand that in all likelihood I did sleep, and Halo is confirming that. I just don't consistently sleep for as many hours or get as much deep and REM sleep as is optimal for me. And Winter has given me the tools to begin working to change that sad fact.

But here's why I love this book. Along with being practical, based on science, and grounded in the author's many years as a sleep doctor with all the appropriate board certifications and then some, it is frequently laugh out loud funny. Heavens, even the footnotes are funny! Winter's style relies on introducing incongruities, the unexpected, often at the end of a series. Apparently we can thank Kant, Schopenhauer, and Kierkegaard, that gleesome threesome, for identifying this aspect of humor. "This theory holds that humor results when our brains perceive 2 things as coexisting in a manner that does not at first appear to make logical sense and that laughter or humor occurs when the discomfort caused by this incongruity is resolved in some way." Winter is master of this, and that makes for a very entertaining read on a very serious subject indeed.

And somehow in reading this book, I already feel calmer about sleep. One of Winter's important points is that "Insomnia is Fear." And I'm getting that. I've also found it helpful to have a word for when my brain refuses to turn off at night, "Vigilence." According to sleep science, we are either sleepy or vigilant, and being vigilant during the day is exactly right but doesn't work so well when sleep is in order. Just having the appropriate language is helping me deal with this aspect of not sleeping well enough. Winter gives the reader a reframing of sleep that offers the possibility of a fresh start once some work has been done. As with anything we want to get better at, learning more about the subject and practicing best practices (provided in the book) should lead to improvement. So in the coming year, I'll be exercising my sleep muscle and cherishing the expectation that it will get stronger over time.

Thank you Dr. Winter.
]]> Slaughterhouse-Five 4981 Slaughterhouse-Five, an American classic, is one of the world’s great antiwar books. Centering on the infamous World War II firebombing of Dresden, the novel is the result of what Kurt Vonnegut described as a twenty-three-year struggle to write a book about what he had witnessed as an American prisoner of war. It combines historical fiction, science fiction, autobiography, and satire in an account of the life of Billy Pilgrim, a barber’s son turned draftee turned optometrist turned alien abductee. As Vonnegut had, Billy experiences the destruction of Dresden as a POW. Unlike Vonnegut, he experiences time travel, or coming “unstuck in time.�

An instant bestseller, Slaughterhouse-Five made Kurt Vonnegut a cult hero in American literature, a reputation that only strengthened over time, despite his being banned and censored by some libraries and schools for content and language. But it was precisely those elements of Vonnegut’s writing—the political edginess, the genre-bending inventiveness, the frank violence, the transgressive wit—that have inspired generations of readers not just to look differently at the world around them but to find the confidence to say something about it.

Fifty years after its initial publication at the height of the Vietnam War, Vonnegut's portrayal of political disillusionment, PTSD, and postwar anxiety feels as relevant, darkly humorous, and profoundly affecting as ever, an enduring beacon through our own era’s uncertainties.]]> 275 Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Penny 5
To say the novel is quirky is an understatement, quirky and compelling. The story builds bit by little bit, traipsing back and forth in time and even migrating to another universe from time to time. The main character Billy Pilgrim had somehow become "unstuck in time," allowing for these adventures back and forth. Yet for all the quirkiness, it's based on the hard core reality of war and particularly on the horrific bombing of Dresden by the Allies at the cost of over 130,000 civilian lives and the destruction of one of Europe's most beautiful cities, irreplaceable art. It's grounded in Vonnegut's own experience as a prisoner of war who survived the bombing of Dresden by hiding out in a meat locker at Slaughterhouse-Five and who was part of the work brigades exhuming and burning the thousands of corpses the bombing created. How could one every forget?

The senselessness of war depicted in this satiric novel is all the more timely today than it was in 1969, so perhaps waiting to read it worked out for me after all. As the novel built to its devastating conclusion, images of the Russian bombing of civilian targets in Ukraine kept coming to mind. Will humankind never learn? Dresden and Ukraine ... the only difference being that Germany was the aggressor and Ukraine was not. But the scale of death when you count all of the Russian and Ukrainian soldiers seems on par. And the destruction ... all the incredible destruction of homes and schools and hospitals and historic building and art.

Yet, despite it all, Vonnegut never goes for gratuitous violence or wallows in despair. There is a hopeful quality to the book in the theme that there is no death. But that is counterbalanced by the fact that humanity never learns and is condemned to repeat mistakes over and over ad infinitum. At least that's what I took away. And so it goes. ]]> 4.10 1969 Slaughterhouse-Five
author: Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
name: Penny
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1969
rating: 5
read at: 2023/01/28
date added: 2023/01/29
shelves:
review:
It took me decades to get around to this book, and I have no idea why I waited so long. It's pure genius! I see what all the shouting was about back in the day and how Vonnegut came reside in the pantheon of "the greatest twentieth century writers."

To say the novel is quirky is an understatement, quirky and compelling. The story builds bit by little bit, traipsing back and forth in time and even migrating to another universe from time to time. The main character Billy Pilgrim had somehow become "unstuck in time," allowing for these adventures back and forth. Yet for all the quirkiness, it's based on the hard core reality of war and particularly on the horrific bombing of Dresden by the Allies at the cost of over 130,000 civilian lives and the destruction of one of Europe's most beautiful cities, irreplaceable art. It's grounded in Vonnegut's own experience as a prisoner of war who survived the bombing of Dresden by hiding out in a meat locker at Slaughterhouse-Five and who was part of the work brigades exhuming and burning the thousands of corpses the bombing created. How could one every forget?

The senselessness of war depicted in this satiric novel is all the more timely today than it was in 1969, so perhaps waiting to read it worked out for me after all. As the novel built to its devastating conclusion, images of the Russian bombing of civilian targets in Ukraine kept coming to mind. Will humankind never learn? Dresden and Ukraine ... the only difference being that Germany was the aggressor and Ukraine was not. But the scale of death when you count all of the Russian and Ukrainian soldiers seems on par. And the destruction ... all the incredible destruction of homes and schools and hospitals and historic building and art.

Yet, despite it all, Vonnegut never goes for gratuitous violence or wallows in despair. There is a hopeful quality to the book in the theme that there is no death. But that is counterbalanced by the fact that humanity never learns and is condemned to repeat mistakes over and over ad infinitum. At least that's what I took away. And so it goes.
]]> <![CDATA[The Mind-Gut Connection: How the Astonishing Dialogue Taking Place in Our Bodies Impacts Health, Weight, and Mood]]> 24700355 256 Emeran Mayer 0062376594 Penny 0 to-read 3.70 2015 The Mind-Gut Connection: How the Astonishing Dialogue Taking Place in Our Bodies Impacts Health, Weight, and Mood
author: Emeran Mayer
name: Penny
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/01/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Perseus in the Wind 1404205 Perseus in the Wind 169 Freya Stark 0719513251 Penny 3
Several things kept me from rating it more highly. First, while I love the fact that each essay begins with half a dozen or so quotations from books Stark appears to know intimately (she didn't Google quotations on [insert topic]), one would have to read French, German, Italian, Latin, and old English to understand them. The book would benefit from more extensive notes at the back for those of us who don't have that facility. And many of the quotations themselves are phrases that don't clearly connect with the topic they purport to prepare us for. The connection is clearly in Stark's mind but didn't often translate to this reader's understanding. For example: leading the chapter on "Happiness" is, among others, a quotation from Yeats' "The Two Trees," "The surety of its hidden root has planted quiet in the night." Now reading that poem, the one tree being referred to is the holy tree of joy, and the poet counsels paying attention to that aspect of life rather than focusing on the negative. However, there are better lines from that poem to possibly connect to the theme of "happiness." Or this from the chapter on "Sorrow" ... "... the vast shadow of the temple still stood between him and the sun ... ". That would be George Santayana Character and Opinion in the USA. Talk about opaque! Or this from St. Jerome heading the essay on "Love," "Dye your wool once purple and what water will cleanse it of that stain?" Say what??? And I could make a similar analysis for literally several dozen of the quotations heading the essays. The connections are so deeply personal that one would have to be a mind reader to ascertain what triggered Stark to include them so prominently. They certainly don't shed light on the topic they purport to. So the quotations and some of her observations about humankind seem to be coming from a place of disdain for mere mortals.

Stark tends to be very judgmental and quite self-assured in her judgments. My jaw dropped open at "Men being on the whole more intelligent than women ..." This from a woman who made the world her home, who traveled widely, who engaged in causes, who commanded a vast amount of knowledge. So in Stark we have yet another woman who sees herself as exceptional and her sisters not so much. And she has equal disdain, apparently, for introverts, for those who choose to pull back from society; she considers such mingling essential before anyone can have much of anything of value to contribute. All I could think of while reading that chapter ("The Artist") was Emily Dickinson, who produced some of our greatest poetry, including "The Soul selects her own Society � The � shuts the Door". So, I find Stark rather arrogant and sometimes condescending to others.

And finally, I wasn't persuaded by her reasoning which was so often couched in such turgid prose that her meanings are unclear. Would it really be worth it to devote hours upon hours teasing them out, along with typing quotations into Google Translate and locating the fragments of quotations within the larger works to try to understand why she thought to include them. Is this book worth a concordance or exegesis? I think not. Not for the few wonderful insights buried in the rest. Frankly the best parts of this book for me were her more down to earth accounts of her family life, her autobiography as it were, and finishing it.]]> 3.70 1948 Perseus in the Wind
author: Freya Stark
name: Penny
average rating: 3.70
book published: 1948
rating: 3
read at: 2023/01/10
date added: 2023/01/12
shelves:
review:
I wanted to love this book, and thought I would. Some of the language is exquisite, images layer on images, particularly when she is describing her experiences in nature. It truly is poetry in the guise of prose and possibly bears rereading for the joy of the language alone. Possibly The book is a series of essays on philosophical topics: Happiness, Death, Beauty, Education, Travel, Old Age, and so forth. And the essays are very personal, reflecting a lifetime of travel, of advantage, of adventure, and clearly of reading the classics.

Several things kept me from rating it more highly. First, while I love the fact that each essay begins with half a dozen or so quotations from books Stark appears to know intimately (she didn't Google quotations on [insert topic]), one would have to read French, German, Italian, Latin, and old English to understand them. The book would benefit from more extensive notes at the back for those of us who don't have that facility. And many of the quotations themselves are phrases that don't clearly connect with the topic they purport to prepare us for. The connection is clearly in Stark's mind but didn't often translate to this reader's understanding. For example: leading the chapter on "Happiness" is, among others, a quotation from Yeats' "The Two Trees," "The surety of its hidden root has planted quiet in the night." Now reading that poem, the one tree being referred to is the holy tree of joy, and the poet counsels paying attention to that aspect of life rather than focusing on the negative. However, there are better lines from that poem to possibly connect to the theme of "happiness." Or this from the chapter on "Sorrow" ... "... the vast shadow of the temple still stood between him and the sun ... ". That would be George Santayana Character and Opinion in the USA. Talk about opaque! Or this from St. Jerome heading the essay on "Love," "Dye your wool once purple and what water will cleanse it of that stain?" Say what??? And I could make a similar analysis for literally several dozen of the quotations heading the essays. The connections are so deeply personal that one would have to be a mind reader to ascertain what triggered Stark to include them so prominently. They certainly don't shed light on the topic they purport to. So the quotations and some of her observations about humankind seem to be coming from a place of disdain for mere mortals.

Stark tends to be very judgmental and quite self-assured in her judgments. My jaw dropped open at "Men being on the whole more intelligent than women ..." This from a woman who made the world her home, who traveled widely, who engaged in causes, who commanded a vast amount of knowledge. So in Stark we have yet another woman who sees herself as exceptional and her sisters not so much. And she has equal disdain, apparently, for introverts, for those who choose to pull back from society; she considers such mingling essential before anyone can have much of anything of value to contribute. All I could think of while reading that chapter ("The Artist") was Emily Dickinson, who produced some of our greatest poetry, including "The Soul selects her own Society � The � shuts the Door". So, I find Stark rather arrogant and sometimes condescending to others.

And finally, I wasn't persuaded by her reasoning which was so often couched in such turgid prose that her meanings are unclear. Would it really be worth it to devote hours upon hours teasing them out, along with typing quotations into Google Translate and locating the fragments of quotations within the larger works to try to understand why she thought to include them. Is this book worth a concordance or exegesis? I think not. Not for the few wonderful insights buried in the rest. Frankly the best parts of this book for me were her more down to earth accounts of her family life, her autobiography as it were, and finishing it.
]]> <![CDATA[The Man with the Silver Saab (Detective Varg, #3)]]> 55783558 Perplexing, unfathomable, and perhaps unimportant, the cases that Malmö’s Department of Sensitive Crimes take on will test them to their limits.

Life—and crime—is not always as it seems for Ulf Varg and the other fearless detectives in Malmö's Department of Sensitive Crimes. There are always surprising new cases to take on, and the latest batch is no exception. And that's not to mention Ulf's struggle to contain his feelings for his colleague Anna Bengsdotter. All in all, things are distinctly difficult in Malmö, and it seems up to Ulf and the Department to set them right.]]> 256 Alexander McCall Smith 1039000150 Penny 5
Detective Ulf Varg is the head of the Department of Sensitive Crimes in Malmo, Sweden. He's single, lives with his dog Martin (victim of a vicious squirrel), and drives a silver Saab. The telling is lightly humorous and several of the characters are positively Dickensian. I'm thinking of Blomquist, one of the men in Varg's department and a challenge to Varg's patience with his garrulous chattering on about nutrition and herbal remedies ... among other topics. Linguistically, the character is very well drawn, and through him we see Varg's struggle to remain kind, patient, and decent.

The crux of this story is the apparent switching of an original painting for a poor copy, which was then sent to an auction house, possibly to discredit the appraiser the auction house hired to authenticate the work. The question is did the appraiser make a big mistake in his estimation of the work or is someone really out to get him, and if so, who might that be? So while it's a mystery, it's of the lighter variety in which no small children are in danger and the only blood is from Martin's mangled nose.

In this age of delight in cruelty and terrible crimes against humanity, McCall Smith shows us a world that could be, one where kindness is the touchstone for each person's behavior toward others. I am grateful that this author is so prolific, and I can't wait to read my next Alexander McCall Smith. ]]> 3.84 2021 The Man with the Silver Saab (Detective Varg, #3)
author: Alexander McCall Smith
name: Penny
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2023/01/04
date added: 2023/01/05
shelves:
review:
I consider the books of Alexander McCall Smith to be a real blessing in my life. I'm struck each time by the kindness the central characters display, while still being believable human beings. And as I come to the end of each book, I feel that I've become just a little more conscious of being kind. His books have made me a better person. This one is no different.

Detective Ulf Varg is the head of the Department of Sensitive Crimes in Malmo, Sweden. He's single, lives with his dog Martin (victim of a vicious squirrel), and drives a silver Saab. The telling is lightly humorous and several of the characters are positively Dickensian. I'm thinking of Blomquist, one of the men in Varg's department and a challenge to Varg's patience with his garrulous chattering on about nutrition and herbal remedies ... among other topics. Linguistically, the character is very well drawn, and through him we see Varg's struggle to remain kind, patient, and decent.

The crux of this story is the apparent switching of an original painting for a poor copy, which was then sent to an auction house, possibly to discredit the appraiser the auction house hired to authenticate the work. The question is did the appraiser make a big mistake in his estimation of the work or is someone really out to get him, and if so, who might that be? So while it's a mystery, it's of the lighter variety in which no small children are in danger and the only blood is from Martin's mangled nose.

In this age of delight in cruelty and terrible crimes against humanity, McCall Smith shows us a world that could be, one where kindness is the touchstone for each person's behavior toward others. I am grateful that this author is so prolific, and I can't wait to read my next Alexander McCall Smith.
]]> <![CDATA[Native Guard: Poems: A Pulitzer Prize Winner]]> 97409 64 Natasha Trethewey 0618872655 Penny 5
The images are haunting and the story of the poet's mother, which forms the backbone of the collection is chilling. From miscegenation and cross burning to murderous abuse to a simple grave in a Mississippi cemetery, Gwendolyn Ann Turnbough is the heart of the book. And her daughter does her proud. Poet laureate, Pulitzer Prize winner, Northwestern University professor, Natasha Trethewey is a stunning poet.

I must read more ... ]]> 4.20 2006 Native Guard: Poems: A Pulitzer Prize Winner
author: Natasha Trethewey
name: Penny
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2022/12/31
date added: 2022/12/31
shelves:
review:
This is a collection of powerful poems evoking the racism permeating the South during and after the Civil War, with deep roots in the personal history of the poet.

The images are haunting and the story of the poet's mother, which forms the backbone of the collection is chilling. From miscegenation and cross burning to murderous abuse to a simple grave in a Mississippi cemetery, Gwendolyn Ann Turnbough is the heart of the book. And her daughter does her proud. Poet laureate, Pulitzer Prize winner, Northwestern University professor, Natasha Trethewey is a stunning poet.

I must read more ...
]]> <![CDATA[The Yellow House: Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Nine Turbulent Weeks in Arles]]> 101407 352 Martin Gayford 0316769010 Penny 4
The book is also a portrait of a time and a region and the impact each had on these two artists. Van Gogh had a dream to create an artistic renaissance in the south of France, and Gauguin was his sometimes reluctant partner for a time ... while yearning to do the same but somewhere in the tropics. The book captures their creative partnership and describes both the appearance and significance of the images they created. The one drawback, is that for two artists who reveled in color and saw it symbolically and emotionally, there are no color plates in the book ... easily remedied by Googling, but still.

I learned a lot ... there are extensive notes at the end of the book detailing sources, but the narrative isn't broken by footnotes, a plus. I hadn't realized how many places each man had traveled to before winding up in Arles. I had never recognized the symbolism or some of the personal iconography in works I thought I knew well ... and Gayford points out both and weaves in the writing of each man, whether letters or diaries or stories as well as the books they were reading, to tease out the symbolism and iconography, deepening my appreciation of the paintings. He also details some of the technical aspects of the work. But the greatest takeaway for me was finally understanding what Van Gogh suffered from, for clearly he suffered. Gayford's analysis is fascinating, but going into it here is spoiler territory, so I won't venture there. ]]> 3.97 2006 The Yellow House: Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Nine Turbulent Weeks in Arles
author: Martin Gayford
name: Penny
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2022/12/30
date added: 2022/12/30
shelves:
review:
There is an intensity in this book born of the story it portrays of the three months Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin shared Van Gogh's house in Arles in the south of France. Neither artist was famous at the time, and their collaboration was meant to foster their individual growth as artists, along with their creative output. Gayford skillfully shows the influence each had on the other and how their lives and art became intertwined for that brief but crucial time, during which each man produced some of his best work.

The book is also a portrait of a time and a region and the impact each had on these two artists. Van Gogh had a dream to create an artistic renaissance in the south of France, and Gauguin was his sometimes reluctant partner for a time ... while yearning to do the same but somewhere in the tropics. The book captures their creative partnership and describes both the appearance and significance of the images they created. The one drawback, is that for two artists who reveled in color and saw it symbolically and emotionally, there are no color plates in the book ... easily remedied by Googling, but still.

I learned a lot ... there are extensive notes at the end of the book detailing sources, but the narrative isn't broken by footnotes, a plus. I hadn't realized how many places each man had traveled to before winding up in Arles. I had never recognized the symbolism or some of the personal iconography in works I thought I knew well ... and Gayford points out both and weaves in the writing of each man, whether letters or diaries or stories as well as the books they were reading, to tease out the symbolism and iconography, deepening my appreciation of the paintings. He also details some of the technical aspects of the work. But the greatest takeaway for me was finally understanding what Van Gogh suffered from, for clearly he suffered. Gayford's analysis is fascinating, but going into it here is spoiler territory, so I won't venture there.
]]> A Man Called Ove 18774964
Meet Ove. He's a curmudgeon, the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him the bitter neighbor from hell, but must Ove be bitter just because he doesn't walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time?

Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove's mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents' association to their very foundations.]]> 337 Fredrik Backman 1476738017 Penny 5
Stylistically, I loved the way the story built going back and forth in time, helping us understand what formed a man called Ove as people encounter him in the present. Backman is a master of analogy, most from Ove's point of view and many of them both strikingly perceptive and funny. The novel is replete with ripostes, often attacking individuals who represent mindless bureaucracy, some of those clever comebacks residing solely in Ove's head.

I'm now looking forward to watching both movies. The novel is cinematic, so I suspect both films capture it well. ]]> 4.35 2012 A Man Called Ove
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Penny
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2022/12/21
date added: 2022/12/21
shelves:
review:
I loved this book! It's just perfect. And so different from so many others that I've read, although the "curmudgeon with a heart of gold" motif is rampant in literature and film. Take A Christmas Carol, for example, and Scrooge's change by the end of the story through the intercessions of the ghosts. Ove starts out better than Scrooge, but he undergoes a similar transformation through his encounters with the very pregnant Iranian woman Parvanah, a stray cat, some irrepressible neighbors, and the spirit of his dead wife Sonja, a beloved teacher and adoring wife. I'm trying to avoid spoilers, so I'll not say more about the particulars of the novel.

Stylistically, I loved the way the story built going back and forth in time, helping us understand what formed a man called Ove as people encounter him in the present. Backman is a master of analogy, most from Ove's point of view and many of them both strikingly perceptive and funny. The novel is replete with ripostes, often attacking individuals who represent mindless bureaucracy, some of those clever comebacks residing solely in Ove's head.

I'm now looking forward to watching both movies. The novel is cinematic, so I suspect both films capture it well.
]]> <![CDATA[South to America: A Journey Below the Mason Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation]]> 55276620
We all think we know the South. Even those who have never lived there can rattle off a list of signifiers: the Civil War, Gone with the Wind, the Ku Klux Klan, plantations, football, Jim Crow, slavery. But the idiosyncrasies, dispositions, and habits of the region are stranger and more complex than much of the country tends to acknowledge. In South to America, Imani Perry shows that the meaning of American is inextricably linked with the South, and that our understanding of its history and culture is the key to understanding the nation as a whole.

This is the story of a Black woman and native Alabaman returning to the region she has always called home and considering it with fresh eyes. Her journey is full of detours, deep dives, and surprising encounters with places and people. She renders Southerners from all walks of life with sensitivity and honesty, sharing her thoughts about a troubling history and the ritual humiliations and joys that characterize so much of Southern life.

Weaving together stories of immigrant communities, contemporary artists, exploitative opportunists, enslaved peoples, unsung heroes, her own ancestors, and her lived experiences, Imani Perry crafts a tapestry unlike any other. With uncommon insight and breathtaking clarity, South to America offers an assertion that if we want to build a more humane future for the United States, we must center our concern below the Mason-Dixon Line.]]> 410 Imani Perry 0062977407 Penny 0 to-read 3.96 2022 South to America: A Journey Below the Mason Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation
author: Imani Perry
name: Penny
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Crying of Lot 49 2794 The Crying of Lot 49 opens as Oedipa Maas discovers that she has been made executrix of a former lover's estate. The performance of her duties sets her on a strange trail of detection, in which bizarre characters crowd in to help or confuse her. But gradually, death, drugs, madness, and marriage combine to leave Oedipa in isolation on the threshold of revelation, awaiting the Crying of Lot 49.]]> 152 Thomas Pynchon 006091307X Penny 4
Reading him now, I am struck by a timeliness I hadn't expected. Take the scene in San Narcisco, where our protagonist Oedipa Maas encounters an army surplus dealer who fancies selling Nazi armbands and uniforms as high end fashion and who does a steady business. Or the fact that a theme of conspiracy theories and their accompanying paranoia threads its way through the novel infecting the central characters. And one of the most fundamental of government services, the postal system, is rejected by a counter culture that favors a private and underground system of mail distribution. The seeds of our current malaise, our cultural rifts, are present in this 1966 work.

In a nutshell, the protagonist Oedipa Maas is charged with being co-executor of the estate of a former lover, Pierce Inverarity (rarity?), a 1960s Elon Musk, wealthy beyond measure and with a penchant for creating novelty and buying everything in sight. Her attempt to execute this task takes her into a labyrinth of mysterious allusions and deaths and into the underbelly of the city of San Narcisco, California. And the book ends in media res. Pynchon creates an alternate universe and builds tension until the very last page.

Stylistically, I was drawn to Pynchon's deft use of language and to his play within the novel, but not so much to the sentence fragments ... the phrases that stand alone gratuitously (to my mind) and the rather bizarre character names ... Mike Fallopian ... seriously?? And Dr. Hillarius, the Freudian psychoanalyst.

To be honest, I much prefer Nabokov and Updike.
]]> 3.70 1966 The Crying of Lot 49
author: Thomas Pynchon
name: Penny
average rating: 3.70
book published: 1966
rating: 4
read at: 2022/12/13
date added: 2022/12/13
shelves:
review:
Whew! This little book packs a wallop! I've seen Pynchon on "best books of" lists since my college days decades ago but even as I was reading his contemporaries ... Nabokov and Updike, for example, I never picked up Pynchon.

Reading him now, I am struck by a timeliness I hadn't expected. Take the scene in San Narcisco, where our protagonist Oedipa Maas encounters an army surplus dealer who fancies selling Nazi armbands and uniforms as high end fashion and who does a steady business. Or the fact that a theme of conspiracy theories and their accompanying paranoia threads its way through the novel infecting the central characters. And one of the most fundamental of government services, the postal system, is rejected by a counter culture that favors a private and underground system of mail distribution. The seeds of our current malaise, our cultural rifts, are present in this 1966 work.

In a nutshell, the protagonist Oedipa Maas is charged with being co-executor of the estate of a former lover, Pierce Inverarity (rarity?), a 1960s Elon Musk, wealthy beyond measure and with a penchant for creating novelty and buying everything in sight. Her attempt to execute this task takes her into a labyrinth of mysterious allusions and deaths and into the underbelly of the city of San Narcisco, California. And the book ends in media res. Pynchon creates an alternate universe and builds tension until the very last page.

Stylistically, I was drawn to Pynchon's deft use of language and to his play within the novel, but not so much to the sentence fragments ... the phrases that stand alone gratuitously (to my mind) and the rather bizarre character names ... Mike Fallopian ... seriously?? And Dr. Hillarius, the Freudian psychoanalyst.

To be honest, I much prefer Nabokov and Updike.

]]> <![CDATA[Introvert Power: Why Your Inner Life Is Your Hidden Strength]]> 3260326 EMBRACE THE POWER INSIDE YOU
Are you an introvert? Psychologist and introvert Laurie Helgoe reveals that more than half of all Americans are. Introverts gain energy and power through reflection and solitude. Our culture, however, is geared toward the extrovert. The pressure to enjoy parties, chatter, and interactions can lead people to think that an inward orientation is a problem instead of an opportunity.

Helgoe shows that the exact opposite is true: Introverts can capitalize on this inner source of power. INTROVERT POWER is a groundbreaking call for an introvert renaissance, a blueprint for how introverts can take full advantage of this hidden strength in daily life. Supplemented by the voices of several introverts, Helgoe presents a startling look at introvert numbers, influence, and economic might.

Revolutionary and invaluable, INTROVERT POWER includes ideas for how introverts can learn to:

Claim private space
Carve out time to think
Bring a slower tempo into daily life
Create breaks in conversation and relationships
Deal effectively with parties, interruptions, and crowds

QUIET IS MIGHT. SOLITUDE IS STRENGTH. INTROVERSION IS POWER.

]]> 256 Laurie A. Helgoe 1402211171 Penny 4
The best part of the book resides in the listing of ways introverts can deal effectively and honestly with extraverts and project the value of our qualities and protect and value and protect our needs. Her short lists in various chapters of what introverts can do will be helpful to some readers, perhaps those considering their own or a partner's introversion for the first time.

In any case, this is a great and was an early addition to the literature on introversion. Along with Susan Cain's Quiet, it's must reading for those interested in the topic.

]]> 3.83 2008 Introvert Power: Why Your Inner Life Is Your Hidden Strength
author: Laurie A. Helgoe
name: Penny
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2022/12/11
date added: 2022/12/12
shelves:
review:
This was fun to read. As an introvert, I love books that describe and validate my own experience and preferences ... for alone time and to not have to attend large social gatherings, i.e., parties. Helgo spends a lot of time referencing parties and, frankly, I found some of it to be repetitive and unnecessarily dismissive of extraverts. Perhaps she proves that we introverts understand them about as well as they understand us, which in many cases is not well at all. And one gets the impression from her that only introverts are artists, creators, thoughtful human beings. I'm not convinced and find that a rather chauvinistic view. For example, Dave Stewart of Eurythmics is a total extravert ... but you'd be hard pressed to find a more creative musician, and his extraversion has resulted in some pretty outstanding musical collaborations.

The best part of the book resides in the listing of ways introverts can deal effectively and honestly with extraverts and project the value of our qualities and protect and value and protect our needs. Her short lists in various chapters of what introverts can do will be helpful to some readers, perhaps those considering their own or a partner's introversion for the first time.

In any case, this is a great and was an early addition to the literature on introversion. Along with Susan Cain's Quiet, it's must reading for those interested in the topic.


]]> Loitering with Intent 58677 224 Muriel Spark 0811214745 Penny 3
Fleur is successful writer looking back on the time when she was simply aspiring, and was working a secretarial job to support herself while she wrote her first novel, Warrender Chase. Her employer Sir Quentin Oliver has assembled a diverse group of people who want to write their autobiographies, and Fleur is charged with livening them up. However, it soon becomes clear to her that there is something dark afoot, that Sir Quentin's motives are not entirely benign. What follows is a theft, a suicide, and other events that seem predicted within the pages of the novel Fleur has finished writing. And Fleur must cleverly figure out what Sir Quentin's game is. She is aided by among others Sir Quentin's eccentric mother, Edwina, by far my favorite character in the book. In the process, she learns who among her friends and acquaintances she can trust and who not.

I don't feel the book gives that full a glimpse of the writing process, and it isn't quite your typical mystery, but it was a pleasant enough read that grew on me by the end, and while not my favorite Muriel Spark, perhaps as I reflect on it further I will see some of the deeper meaning and the humor that others have found and I didn't. ]]> 3.81 1981 Loitering with Intent
author: Muriel Spark
name: Penny
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1981
rating: 3
read at: 2022/12/05
date added: 2022/12/06
shelves:
review:
Unusual, a provocative look at the interrelationship between real life and fiction, although, of course the real life depicted is fiction as well. I picked up Loitering with Intent because it was mentioned favorably in Reading Lolita in Tehran.

Fleur is successful writer looking back on the time when she was simply aspiring, and was working a secretarial job to support herself while she wrote her first novel, Warrender Chase. Her employer Sir Quentin Oliver has assembled a diverse group of people who want to write their autobiographies, and Fleur is charged with livening them up. However, it soon becomes clear to her that there is something dark afoot, that Sir Quentin's motives are not entirely benign. What follows is a theft, a suicide, and other events that seem predicted within the pages of the novel Fleur has finished writing. And Fleur must cleverly figure out what Sir Quentin's game is. She is aided by among others Sir Quentin's eccentric mother, Edwina, by far my favorite character in the book. In the process, she learns who among her friends and acquaintances she can trust and who not.

I don't feel the book gives that full a glimpse of the writing process, and it isn't quite your typical mystery, but it was a pleasant enough read that grew on me by the end, and while not my favorite Muriel Spark, perhaps as I reflect on it further I will see some of the deeper meaning and the humor that others have found and I didn't.
]]> <![CDATA[Bon Appetit!: Travels With Knife, Fork & Corkscrew Through France]]> 39903637 240 Peter Mayle Penny 4 3.77 2001 Bon Appetit!: Travels With Knife, Fork & Corkscrew Through France
author: Peter Mayle
name: Penny
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at: 2020/03/17
date added: 2022/12/03
shelves:
review:
Another enjoyable journey through (mainly) the south of France with the bon vivant and overall Francophile, Peter Mayle. From truffles to frogs legs, Mayle explores some of France's culinary and vinicultural specialties. His writing is witty and easy to read, and reading this book and others of Mayle's is a nice escape at this time of restricted travel ... much less the food and wine festivals he describes.
]]> <![CDATA[Demystifying the French: How to Love Them, And Make Them Love You]]> 43491796 108 Janet Hulstrand 1543953522 Penny 4
And, bingo! Some new insights, plus reacquaintance with American expat writers I've enjoyed before on the topic. Harriet Welty Rochefort, David Downie, and Adrian Leeds, to be specific. Janet Hulstrand queried each of them and several others for their reasons for admiring the French and their own best advice for Americans visiting the country and wanting to be consonant with French values and customs.

In fact, for its succinctness and its excellent advice, this would be the book I would recommend travelers to France, especially new ones, tuck into their carryons to read on the plane over. The size is perfect and Hulstrands first section discussing the 5 essential tips for Americans in Paris: Always say, "Bonjour," ask "Parlez-vous Anglais?," before going on to ask anything, apologize for interrupting them from their day, attend to your appearance (don't be a slob), and keep the volume down when speaking. All absolutely true. The French value politeness and will return yours with theirs.

The second section of the book goes into more depth about French culture, and particularly about conversing with the French ... what topics to engage in and which to avoid like the plague. Section 3 contains a very useful glossary and an appendix suggests other books you might enjoy on the topic.

A delightful addition to the works on understanding the French.

]]> 3.98 Demystifying the French: How to Love Them, And Make Them Love You
author: Janet Hulstrand
name: Penny
average rating: 3.98
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2022/11/27
date added: 2022/11/27
shelves:
review:
Being a confirmed Francophile, I couldn't resist picking up this little volume to see if it would provide me with any new insights about the people and country I've grown to love. I've read perhaps a dozen other similar books, so I wasn't sure I would find anything new ... especially as the book weighs in at a tad over 100 pages. Still ...

And, bingo! Some new insights, plus reacquaintance with American expat writers I've enjoyed before on the topic. Harriet Welty Rochefort, David Downie, and Adrian Leeds, to be specific. Janet Hulstrand queried each of them and several others for their reasons for admiring the French and their own best advice for Americans visiting the country and wanting to be consonant with French values and customs.

In fact, for its succinctness and its excellent advice, this would be the book I would recommend travelers to France, especially new ones, tuck into their carryons to read on the plane over. The size is perfect and Hulstrands first section discussing the 5 essential tips for Americans in Paris: Always say, "Bonjour," ask "Parlez-vous Anglais?," before going on to ask anything, apologize for interrupting them from their day, attend to your appearance (don't be a slob), and keep the volume down when speaking. All absolutely true. The French value politeness and will return yours with theirs.

The second section of the book goes into more depth about French culture, and particularly about conversing with the French ... what topics to engage in and which to avoid like the plague. Section 3 contains a very useful glossary and an appendix suggests other books you might enjoy on the topic.

A delightful addition to the works on understanding the French.


]]> <![CDATA[The Microbiome Diet Reset: A Practical Guide to Restore and Protect a Healthy Microbiome]]> 53913843
Cultivating a healthy gut is the key to better overall health and well-being. The Microbiome Diet Reset will get you on the right path with easy, affordable recipes you can make in minutes as well as practical recommendations to rehabilitate and maintain a well-balanced microbiome.

From sour ‘n� spicy Kimchi to hearty Four Bean Chili, this combined cookbook and meal plan delivers everything you need to kick-start a bacteria-friendly microbiome diet. You’ll boost your metabolism and your immune system while enjoying more fresh vegetables, fermented foods, beans, and whole grains. Reset with this microbiome diet—your gut will love you for it!

The Microbiome Diet Reset features:

Restorative recipes—Discover dozens of delicious prebiotic-packed and probiotic-friendly microbiome diet options.
Meal planning—Explore two weekly menus, including one for regular eaters and one that’s FODMAP-friendly for those with sensitive stomachs.
Essential extras—Get a brief overview of your microbiome, time-saving tips and tricks, sample shopping lists, and more.
Boost immunity and improve digestion with The Microbiome Diet Reset.]]> 226 Mary Purdy 1641525339 Penny 4
The book contains an easy explanation of how our gut biome works (not too academic, but confirmed by research I've read in other books), an eating plan (not too detailed), some recipes worth trying, and not just for meals, but also for fermented foods ... the catsup sounds wonderful and no sugar!, for cleaning products, and for natural remedies for mild health issues, from the common cold to relieving aches and pains.

I bought this as a Kindle Edition to get it quickly, but I might wind up with a paperback, which I find easier to use for reference.]]> 4.12 The Microbiome Diet Reset: A Practical Guide to Restore and Protect a Healthy Microbiome
author: Mary Purdy
name: Penny
average rating: 4.12
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2022/11/26
date added: 2022/11/26
shelves:
review:
On my quest to rebuilding my gut microbiome after an antibiotic series, I ran across this on Amazon. The reviews were good, and made special note of the author's humorous style. She's a lovely writer, bright, breezy, funny ... but dead serious when it comes to gut health, despite also being forgiving of the occasional transgression and individual circumstances. I had several laugh out loud moments at her phrasing or observations, and a lot of food for thought (pun intended) while reading.

The book contains an easy explanation of how our gut biome works (not too academic, but confirmed by research I've read in other books), an eating plan (not too detailed), some recipes worth trying, and not just for meals, but also for fermented foods ... the catsup sounds wonderful and no sugar!, for cleaning products, and for natural remedies for mild health issues, from the common cold to relieving aches and pains.

I bought this as a Kindle Edition to get it quickly, but I might wind up with a paperback, which I find easier to use for reference.
]]> <![CDATA[The Miss Dennis School of Writing: And Other Lessons from a Woman's Life]]> 756660 307 Alice Steinbach 0963124625 Penny 4
The writing makes for easy reading ... it is accessible and has a certain loveliness. She won a Pulitzer for her journalism, and it shows. I did, however, enjoy Educating Alice and Without Reservations more. ]]> 3.84 1996 The Miss Dennis School of Writing: And Other Lessons from a Woman's Life
author: Alice Steinbach
name: Penny
average rating: 3.84
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at: 2022/11/25
date added: 2022/11/26
shelves:
review:
After reading her two other books, which I found inspiring, I figured I would dive right into the last of her books, which was the first published. This is a collection of essays originally published in the Baltimore Sun, now arranged according to topics: "Women and Men," "A Matter of Appearance," "Raising Children," "The Solo Life," and so on. The essays reveal a woman who treasures family and nature, the dominant themes through the book. The entire book is a tribute to her teacher Miss Dennis. who taught her how to write. It tracks the course of her lifetime with the last chapters poignantly facing aging and death. Particularly moving was the longer essay on the death of the author's mother. She writes frequently about her two sons, but never mentions their father ... she is quite about that phase of her life.

The writing makes for easy reading ... it is accessible and has a certain loveliness. She won a Pulitzer for her journalism, and it shows. I did, however, enjoy Educating Alice and Without Reservations more.
]]> The Misalliance 2006653 191 Anita Brookner 0060971347 Penny 3
There are ways in which I can identify with Blanche Vernon. I became alone when my husband passed away, and I well know the struggle of being alone after years of feeling part of a couple, sharing all the big and little things of life. I deeply felt her desire to maintain for the world a semblance of well-being. She dressed up each day and went out and about, visiting the National Gallery, volunteering in the local hospital. I made meals for myself that I posted on Facebook, to suggest to friends that I was definitely taking care of myself. But some of Blanche's musings seemed opaque to me. The contrast between the sacred and the profane ... with her leaning toward the sacred side of things and longing to be more on the profane side of things ... well, I didn't resonate quite so much with that.

Brookner is a skilled writer, but not my particular cup of tea.]]> 3.72 1986 The Misalliance
author: Anita Brookner
name: Penny
average rating: 3.72
book published: 1986
rating: 3
read at: 2022/11/12
date added: 2022/11/12
shelves:
review:
I suspect I will never been a Brookner fan, though she has passionate ones. While I found much good in this novel ... a lovely interweaving of art and life represented by the archaic smile, a phase that echoes through the novel ... and shouldn't ... and the protagonist's spending of time contemplating the paintings in the National Gallery ... the divine contrasted with the profane, and the focus on the musings of a woman, lonely since her husband left her for a younger and much sillier woman ... overall, I think there are much better out there. I puzzled over some of the language, the descriptions. What, for example, are "moist good looks" and is that a good or bad thing?

There are ways in which I can identify with Blanche Vernon. I became alone when my husband passed away, and I well know the struggle of being alone after years of feeling part of a couple, sharing all the big and little things of life. I deeply felt her desire to maintain for the world a semblance of well-being. She dressed up each day and went out and about, visiting the National Gallery, volunteering in the local hospital. I made meals for myself that I posted on Facebook, to suggest to friends that I was definitely taking care of myself. But some of Blanche's musings seemed opaque to me. The contrast between the sacred and the profane ... with her leaning toward the sacred side of things and longing to be more on the profane side of things ... well, I didn't resonate quite so much with that.

Brookner is a skilled writer, but not my particular cup of tea.
]]> <![CDATA[Roman Roulette: A Daria Vinci Investigation (Daria Vinci Investigations)]]> 60182748 250 David Downie 1942892322 Penny 5
Daria Vinci is a police commissioner with DIGOS, Italy's FBI, and she got where she is through brilliance and singleminded pursuit of justice. She is back home in Rome for a visit and to attend the annual mid-summer fundraising gala of the Institute of America in Rome, on whose board her late father once and now her brother serves. The symphony being performed is cacophonous, and Daria is regretting being there, until she hears what experience tells her is a gun shot, and the chase is on ... through macabre catacombs and the Protestant Cemetery, and the grounds of the Institute's Villa Nerone and surroundings ... this is definitely a Rome Adventure. I won't say more as I am studiously avoiding spoilers, but the novel is political, rooted in Italian politics past (WWII) and present, while also being a character study of Rome. It's a timely read, given our own concerns over fascism.

While I have never been to Rome, that didn't matter. Downie's descriptions of the Eternal City are so exquisitely detailed that the city came alive in my mind. I imagine that people who have been to Rome will find this an even more fascinating read as their memories are sparked by references to historic Roman sites.

I also love the author's imaginative use of language. In describing a "cat lady," an elderly woman who feeds and protects a colony of feral cats, Downie writes, "Aurelia stroked her sharking cats." I won't soon forget that striking image. What fresh language! Anyone who knows cats, knows how they can circle and circle a source of food, just like sharks do in the water. Readers who value adept use of language, will enjoy reading David Downie.

As another character says to Daria Vinci near the end of the book, "Go on. I am more and more astonished and intrigued by your imagination." I can say the same of David Downie. I can't wait for the next Daria Vinci Investigation.]]> 3.67 Roman Roulette: A Daria Vinci Investigation (Daria Vinci Investigations)
author: David Downie
name: Penny
average rating: 3.67
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2022/11/06
date added: 2022/11/08
shelves:
review:
"A real page turner!" Roman Roulette defines that oft used phrase in spades. Riveting from Chapter 1 through Chapter 20, this second book in the Daria Vinci series didn't lose my interest for a second. It's fast-paced, the clock ticking every moment, and the action taking place over a very few jam-packed days. And the details of the resolution are incredibly imaginative. I put down the book wondering how its author ever thought of those things?

Daria Vinci is a police commissioner with DIGOS, Italy's FBI, and she got where she is through brilliance and singleminded pursuit of justice. She is back home in Rome for a visit and to attend the annual mid-summer fundraising gala of the Institute of America in Rome, on whose board her late father once and now her brother serves. The symphony being performed is cacophonous, and Daria is regretting being there, until she hears what experience tells her is a gun shot, and the chase is on ... through macabre catacombs and the Protestant Cemetery, and the grounds of the Institute's Villa Nerone and surroundings ... this is definitely a Rome Adventure. I won't say more as I am studiously avoiding spoilers, but the novel is political, rooted in Italian politics past (WWII) and present, while also being a character study of Rome. It's a timely read, given our own concerns over fascism.

While I have never been to Rome, that didn't matter. Downie's descriptions of the Eternal City are so exquisitely detailed that the city came alive in my mind. I imagine that people who have been to Rome will find this an even more fascinating read as their memories are sparked by references to historic Roman sites.

I also love the author's imaginative use of language. In describing a "cat lady," an elderly woman who feeds and protects a colony of feral cats, Downie writes, "Aurelia stroked her sharking cats." I won't soon forget that striking image. What fresh language! Anyone who knows cats, knows how they can circle and circle a source of food, just like sharks do in the water. Readers who value adept use of language, will enjoy reading David Downie.

As another character says to Daria Vinci near the end of the book, "Go on. I am more and more astonished and intrigued by your imagination." I can say the same of David Downie. I can't wait for the next Daria Vinci Investigation.
]]> <![CDATA[Without Reservations: The Travels of an Independent Woman]]> 524878
Beautifully illustrated with postcards from Steinbach’s journeys, this revealing and witty book transports you into a fascinating inner and outer journey, an unforgettable voyage of discovery.]]> 295 Alice Steinbach 0375758453 Penny 5
Alice Steinbach was a reporter, the mother of two now grown sons, a divorcee who was not attached and content in that, when she decided she needed to find herself again, absent all those other definers. How better to do so than to take a leave of absence from work, bid goodbye to her cat and daily routine, and take off for Paris? Of course, I was hooked. She had me at Paris. Followed by England (London, Oxford). Followed by Italy (Milan, Rome, Venice, Asolo). Her journey around Europe and more deeply into herself resonated with me and my own sense of needing to personally regroup after the pandemic.

What I particularly loved about this book, aside from the nuggets of wisdom it contains and the wonderful descriptions of place, is her chance encounters with strangers, sharing part of her journey with them. She demonstrates the possibilities travel contains for joyous serendipity and surprising synchronicities. I want that!

One of the women she meets tells her of a British female explorer, and Steinbach visits a bookstore and loads up on books by and about Freya Stark. Freya Stark thereafter becomes an inspiration to Steinbach when the going gets rough, and toward the end of her trip she makes a pilgrimage to Asolo, the town where Stark spent her final years. I want that ... at least to read a Freya Stark book. And maybe even to visit Asolo.

Speaking from experience, traveling alone as a woman is a mix of excitement, peace, fear, and wonder ... Steinbach shows how to do it well and how to personalize travel and suck the marrow out of every moment ... even the rain, even the scary bits, even the everydayness of breakfast, even the joyful meeting with a new love. Sets one to dreaming. ]]> 3.81 2000 Without Reservations: The Travels of an Independent Woman
author: Alice Steinbach
name: Penny
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at: 2022/11/08
date added: 2022/11/08
shelves:
review:
This book set me to dreaming. Like its author, I've been too settled into my life for these past few years, yearning for an adventure. I loved reading about hers, imagining myself taking off for months of peripatetic travel, choosing to have those special moments all to myself in beautiful places ... and who knows ... maybe meeting strangers who become friends and fellow travelers for a time.

Alice Steinbach was a reporter, the mother of two now grown sons, a divorcee who was not attached and content in that, when she decided she needed to find herself again, absent all those other definers. How better to do so than to take a leave of absence from work, bid goodbye to her cat and daily routine, and take off for Paris? Of course, I was hooked. She had me at Paris. Followed by England (London, Oxford). Followed by Italy (Milan, Rome, Venice, Asolo). Her journey around Europe and more deeply into herself resonated with me and my own sense of needing to personally regroup after the pandemic.

What I particularly loved about this book, aside from the nuggets of wisdom it contains and the wonderful descriptions of place, is her chance encounters with strangers, sharing part of her journey with them. She demonstrates the possibilities travel contains for joyous serendipity and surprising synchronicities. I want that!

One of the women she meets tells her of a British female explorer, and Steinbach visits a bookstore and loads up on books by and about Freya Stark. Freya Stark thereafter becomes an inspiration to Steinbach when the going gets rough, and toward the end of her trip she makes a pilgrimage to Asolo, the town where Stark spent her final years. I want that ... at least to read a Freya Stark book. And maybe even to visit Asolo.

Speaking from experience, traveling alone as a woman is a mix of excitement, peace, fear, and wonder ... Steinbach shows how to do it well and how to personalize travel and suck the marrow out of every moment ... even the rain, even the scary bits, even the everydayness of breakfast, even the joyful meeting with a new love. Sets one to dreaming.
]]> <![CDATA[23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism]]> 8913542 Thing 4: The washing machine has changed the world more than the Internet.
Thing 5: Assume the worst about people, and you get the worst.
Thing 13: Making rich people richer doesn't make the rest of us richer.

If you've wondered how we did not see the economic collapse coming, Ha-Joon Chang knows the answer: We didn't ask what they didn't tell us about capitalism. This is a lighthearted book with a serious purpose: to question the assumptions behind the dogma and sheer hype that the dominant school of neoliberal economists - the apostles of the freemarket - have spun since the Age of Reagan.

Chang, the author of the international best seller Bad Samaritans, is one of the world's most respected economists, a voice of sanity - and wit - in the tradition of John Kenneth Galbraith and Joseph Stiglitz.

23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism equips listeners with an understanding of how global capitalism works - and doesn't. In his final chapter, "How to Rebuild the World", Chang offers a vision of how we can shape capitalism to humane ends, instead of becoming slaves of the market.

Ha-Joon Chang teaches in the Faculty of Economics at the University of Cambridge. His books include the best-selling Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism. His Kicking Away the Ladder received the 2003 Myrdal Prize, and, in 2005, Chang was awarded the Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought.

©2011 Ha-Joon Chang; (P)2011 Audible, Inc.]]> 286 Ha-Joon Chang 1608191664 Penny 0 to-read 3.96 2010 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism
author: Ha-Joon Chang
name: Penny
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/11/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Acceptance: A Legendary Guidance Counselor Helps Seven Kids Find the Right Colleges—and Find Themselves]]> 6434807 A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist spends a year with a legendary high school guidance counselor who gets kids into the right colleges by focusing on self-discovery rather than test scores, grades, and the other traditional tools of the trade

Gwyeth Smith, known as Smitty, has made a national reputation by flouting the conventions of the college application ritual. He often steers kids from the SAT to the ACT, which he considers a more straightforward test that produces higher scores. He urges parents to home in on hidden bargains, scour the country for scholarships, and challenge financial aid offices rather than take out large loans. He will sometimes talk a seeming shoo-in candidate out of setting her sights on the prestigious Ivy League while goading another long-shot student into aiming for that same Ivy League school. His unorthodox approach is grounded on the principle that getting into college shouldn't just be about getting in; it should be a kid's first great moment of self-discovery.

David L. Marcus, a Pulitzer Prize-winning former education writer for "U.S. News & World Report," follows Smitty and "his" kids around Oyster Bay High, a diverse public school in Long Island, New York, as he works his unique magic on their applications and their lives. Smitty's kids run the gamut from the sweet but pathologically disorganized boy next door to the valedictorian who applies to twenty-eight schools. As the year unfolds, Smitty deals in his own ingenious way with almost every complication that can bedevil the applications process. What about the kid who doesn't test well? The kid who plunges into depression after being rejected by Columbia? The overachieving Korean American boy worried about reverse discrimination? Smitty has answers for all of them.

While Smitty excels at easing the pressure of the college hunt, his success comes from imposing a different-and deeper-challenge. He makes kids articulate (orally and in writing) their profoundest fears, their drawbacks, their secret hopes. In short, he makes them figure out who they are. Along the way, he uses his savant's knowledge of America's thirty-six hundred colleges and universities to pair each student with the right one. He sidesteps the applications industrial complex, with its slick Web sites, private essay coaches, and obsessive focus on metrics. He brings to the college search counterintuitive insight and even wisdom-attributes that thousands of students and their parents, frustrated with the excesses of the process, will find useful and inspiring.]]> 272 David L. Marcus 1594202141 Penny 0 to-read 3.94 2009 Acceptance: A Legendary Guidance Counselor Helps Seven Kids Find the Right Colleges—and Find Themselves
author: David L. Marcus
name: Penny
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/11/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Bigger Table, Expanded Edition with Study Guide: Building Messy, Authentic, and Hopeful Spiritual Community]]> 55742647
This new edition includes a small-group study guide complete with ideas for exploring A Bigger Table in a congregation-wide sermon series and program along with a new foreword by Jacqui Lewis and new afterword by the author to explore the challenges of living out the bigger table when voices of hate and exclusion seem stronger and louder than ever.]]> 245 John Pavlovitz 1646980034 Penny 0 to-read 4.51 2017 A Bigger Table, Expanded Edition with Study Guide: Building Messy, Authentic, and Hopeful Spiritual Community
author: John Pavlovitz
name: Penny
average rating: 4.51
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/11/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Cruelty Is the Point: The Past, Present, and Future of Trump's America]]> 55873263 "Trump summoned the most treacherous forces in American history and conducted them with the ease of a grand maestro."

Like many of us, Adam Serwer didn't know that Donald Trump would win the 2016 election. But over the four years that followed, the Atlantic staff writer became one of our most astute analysts of the Trump presidency and the volatile powers it harnessed. The shock that greeted Trump's victory, and the subsequent cruelty of his presidency, represented a failure to confront elements of the American past long thought vanquished.

In this searing collection, Serwer chronicles the Trump administration not as an aberration but as an outgrowth of the inequalities the United States was founded on. Serwer is less interested in the presidential spectacle than in the ideological and structural currents behind Trump's rise--including a media that was often blindsided by the ugly realities of what the administration represented and how it came to be.

While deeply engaged with the moment, Serwer's writing is also haunted by ghosts of an unresolved American past, a past that torments the present. In bracing new essays and previously published works, he explores white nationalism, myths about migration, the political power of police unions, and the many faces of anti-Semitism. For all the dynamics he examines, cruelty is the glue, the binding agent of a movement fueled by fear and exclusion. Serwer argues that rather than pretending these four years didn't happen or dismissing them as a brief moment of madness, we must face what made them possible. Without acknowledging and confronting these toxic legacies, the fragile dream of American multiracial democracy will remain vulnerable to another ambitious demagogue.]]> 358 Adam Serwer 0593230809 Penny 4
Several days ago Paul Pelosi, the 82-year old husband of the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, was the victim of a life threatening assault by and individual who believed the conspiracy theories rampant on the internet, not the least of which is the Big Lie promoted by Donald Trump that the election was stolen. I finished this book as this story was unfolding and as responses from the Right were surfacing on the internet. That incident and those responses alone confirmed the truth of Serwer's powerful observation, "The cruelty IS the point." Millions of our fellow Americans subscribe to a cult of cruelty, take delight in the suffering of others ... of immigrants, of LBGTQ persons, of rape victims, of people of color and now of Paul and Nancy Pelosi. A candidate for governor make a joke of that attack, an attack that could have cost a life. And ugly conspiracy theories flooded the internet almost immediately.

That makes this a very timely and troubling book indeed. The title of each essay introduction captures the breadth of the problem: The cruelties of Backlash, The Lost Cause, The Lies We Tell Ourselves, Reconciliation, the Mob, Nativists, Stephen Millers, Conspiracy, Exclusion, Philo-Semitism, the COVID Contract, The Code of Silence, and the President. Embrace of cruelty is endemic in American history and in our current politics on the Right.

How I wish this book came with some path forward, a way out of this morass. But at least Serwer lays out the problem with stark specificity, embedded in our history with side excursions into the history of Nazi Germany, where it turns out Hitler was influenced by us, by our racism, by our thinkers, and lawmakers. Fast forward, our 45th president was influenced by Hitler. Cruelty in the quest for power comes full circle.]]> 4.22 2021 The Cruelty Is the Point: The Past, Present, and Future of Trump's America
author: Adam Serwer
name: Penny
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2022/11/01
date added: 2022/11/02
shelves:
review:
This collection of previously published opinion pieces Adam Serwer did for the Atlantic, each introduced by a further reflection on its topic, is well worth reading. The title of his most famous essay is the title of the collection: The Cruelty is the Point.

Several days ago Paul Pelosi, the 82-year old husband of the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, was the victim of a life threatening assault by and individual who believed the conspiracy theories rampant on the internet, not the least of which is the Big Lie promoted by Donald Trump that the election was stolen. I finished this book as this story was unfolding and as responses from the Right were surfacing on the internet. That incident and those responses alone confirmed the truth of Serwer's powerful observation, "The cruelty IS the point." Millions of our fellow Americans subscribe to a cult of cruelty, take delight in the suffering of others ... of immigrants, of LBGTQ persons, of rape victims, of people of color and now of Paul and Nancy Pelosi. A candidate for governor make a joke of that attack, an attack that could have cost a life. And ugly conspiracy theories flooded the internet almost immediately.

That makes this a very timely and troubling book indeed. The title of each essay introduction captures the breadth of the problem: The cruelties of Backlash, The Lost Cause, The Lies We Tell Ourselves, Reconciliation, the Mob, Nativists, Stephen Millers, Conspiracy, Exclusion, Philo-Semitism, the COVID Contract, The Code of Silence, and the President. Embrace of cruelty is endemic in American history and in our current politics on the Right.

How I wish this book came with some path forward, a way out of this morass. But at least Serwer lays out the problem with stark specificity, embedded in our history with side excursions into the history of Nazi Germany, where it turns out Hitler was influenced by us, by our racism, by our thinkers, and lawmakers. Fast forward, our 45th president was influenced by Hitler. Cruelty in the quest for power comes full circle.
]]> <![CDATA[Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books]]> 7603 Every Thursday morning for two years in the Islamic Republic of Iran, a bold and inspired teacher named Azar Nafisi secretly gathered seven of her most committed female students to read forbidden Western classics. As Islamic morality squads staged arbitrary raids in Tehran, fundamentalists seized hold of the universities, and a blind censor stifled artistic expression, the girls in Azar Nafisi's living room risked removing their veils and immersed themselves in the worlds of Jane Austen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James, and Vladimir Nabokov. In this extraordinary memoir, their stories become intertwined with the ones they are reading. Reading Lolita in Tehran is a remarkable exploration of resilience in the face of tyranny and a celebration of the liberating power of literature.

]]> 356 Azar Nafisi 081297106X Penny 5
Nafisi paints a startling portrait of life in the Islamic Republic, particularly life for women, who are subject to the most heinous constraints on their freedom to simply be themselves. Reading this book now put the current protests into sharp perspective for me and, particularly in Chapter 6 of Part IV "Austen," gave me a horrified sense of what could happen here if we aren't careful to protect our democracy and with that our freedoms, particularly as women.

The book has a peripatetic quality. It sets out to share the experience of the author in conduction a private seminar type class in her own home with a handful of her former female students, a seminar that would be focused on four authors, and their names or the names of specific works title the four parts of the book: Lolita, Gatsby, James, and Austen. However, it wanders the city of Tehran, stopping in cafés, at the apartment of her mentor "the Magician," the universities where she taught, the homes of friends, and points in between, while it also wanders through time, retracing how she came to be in Iran after spending years in the United States, her days teaching university classes, her leaving public teaching for her private class/reading group, and how she (and her husband) finally arrived at their decision to leave Iran and return to the United States, where she currently resides.

I can't say enough about the depth and power of the writing, the author's skillful interweaving of literature with her life and those of her students, the intelligence and beauty of her prose, the clarity of her insights into the politics and lives of Iranians. But one sentence struck me in particular as encapsulating the plight of Iranian women after the Islamic Revolution put into place so many constraints on their freedoms, reinforced by terrorist attacks on their liberty, their health, and their lives through imprisonment, beatings, torture, and execution. There have been many Mahsa Amini's since the radical right's takeover of what had been a secular country, one with separation of church and state. This sentence pretty much summed up for me what happened there: "Living in the Islamic Republic is like having sex with a man you loathe."

This book is must reading for American women, particularly now. ]]> 3.64 2003 Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books
author: Azar Nafisi
name: Penny
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at: 2022/10/31
date added: 2022/10/31
shelves:
review:
I'm a bit late to the party, but I'm glad I waited to read this exceptional book, which is even more timely today than when it was first published in 2003, before Christian nationalism had gained such strength in the U.S. and before dissatisfaction in Iran had erupted into weeks long, often violent protests following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died on September 16 after being detained by “morality police� and taken to a “re-education center,� allegedly for not abiding by the country’s conservative dress code.

Nafisi paints a startling portrait of life in the Islamic Republic, particularly life for women, who are subject to the most heinous constraints on their freedom to simply be themselves. Reading this book now put the current protests into sharp perspective for me and, particularly in Chapter 6 of Part IV "Austen," gave me a horrified sense of what could happen here if we aren't careful to protect our democracy and with that our freedoms, particularly as women.

The book has a peripatetic quality. It sets out to share the experience of the author in conduction a private seminar type class in her own home with a handful of her former female students, a seminar that would be focused on four authors, and their names or the names of specific works title the four parts of the book: Lolita, Gatsby, James, and Austen. However, it wanders the city of Tehran, stopping in cafés, at the apartment of her mentor "the Magician," the universities where she taught, the homes of friends, and points in between, while it also wanders through time, retracing how she came to be in Iran after spending years in the United States, her days teaching university classes, her leaving public teaching for her private class/reading group, and how she (and her husband) finally arrived at their decision to leave Iran and return to the United States, where she currently resides.

I can't say enough about the depth and power of the writing, the author's skillful interweaving of literature with her life and those of her students, the intelligence and beauty of her prose, the clarity of her insights into the politics and lives of Iranians. But one sentence struck me in particular as encapsulating the plight of Iranian women after the Islamic Revolution put into place so many constraints on their freedoms, reinforced by terrorist attacks on their liberty, their health, and their lives through imprisonment, beatings, torture, and execution. There have been many Mahsa Amini's since the radical right's takeover of what had been a secular country, one with separation of church and state. This sentence pretty much summed up for me what happened there: "Living in the Islamic Republic is like having sex with a man you loathe."

This book is must reading for American women, particularly now.
]]> <![CDATA[Living Between Worlds: Finding Personal Resilience in Changing Times]]> 52079343 What guides us when our world is changing? Discover the path to deeper meaning and purpose through depth psychology and classical thought.

How did we get to this crossroads in history? And will we make it through—individually and as a species? “We all assumed that learning, rationality, and good intentions would prove enough to bring us to the promised land,� says James Hollis. “But they haven’t and won’t. Yet what we also do not recognize sufficiently is that this human animal is equipped for survival. In time, as we have seen of life’s other insolubles, we grow large enough to contain what threatened to destroy us.�

Dr. Hollis’s readers know him as a penetrating thinker who brings profound insight and sophistication to the inner journey. In Living Between Worlds, he broadens his lens to encompass the relationship between our inner struggles and the rapidly shifting realities of modern human existence. You will learn to invoke the tools of depth psychology, classical literature, philosophy, dream work, and myth, to gain access to the resources that supported our ancestors through their darkest hours. Through these paths of inner exploration, you will access your “locus of knowing”—an inner wellspring of deep resilience beyond the ego, always available to guide you back to the imperatives of your soul.

Though many of the challenges of our times are unique, the path through for us personally and collectively will always rely on our measureless capacity for creativity, wisdom, and connection to a reality larger than ourselves. Here you will find no easy answers or pat reassurances. Yet within the pages of Living Between Worlds, you will encounter causes for hope. “We can find what supports us when nothing supports us,� Hollis teaches. “By bearing the unbearable, we go through the desert to arrive at a nurturing oasis we did not know was there.”]]> 184 James Hollis 1683645618 Penny 5
You can take all the self-help books offered on Amazon and shove them aside. The wisdom contained in these pages trumps them all. There are no quick fixes, no ten easy steps to happiness, fulfillment, serenity, whatever, although this book is a tremendous help on the journey. "The journey is our home." As I came to the end of the book, I realized so much about relationships, especially with our partners in life, and particularly in grief, that I feel a great sense of peace and a new found hope in the future, my own and humanity's.

Hollis brilliantly interweaves ideas (quotations) of Jung and those of other psychologists, poets, writers, philosophers with his own experiences with clients and his own growth. His analyses of Antigone, Hamlet, and Prufrock added a lot to my understanding. It is a succinct and perfect little book. Hollis has a command of the language that is second to none. I always learn new words reading him. And he confirms something that feels more and more true for me over time ... Ram Dass's insight that "we are all just walking each other home." It is a very forgiving idea and one that fosters the most beautiful virtue of all ... kindness.

10 stars from me!]]> 4.29 2020 Living Between Worlds: Finding Personal Resilience in Changing Times
author: James Hollis
name: Penny
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2022/10/16
date added: 2022/10/16
shelves:
review:
James Hollis is my favorite Jungian writer/analyst. I've read most of his books and was delighted to find this new one, which is likely to be one I reread each year, at least the final two chapters. What a brilliant summation of Jungian thought and the nature and point of our journey through life!

You can take all the self-help books offered on Amazon and shove them aside. The wisdom contained in these pages trumps them all. There are no quick fixes, no ten easy steps to happiness, fulfillment, serenity, whatever, although this book is a tremendous help on the journey. "The journey is our home." As I came to the end of the book, I realized so much about relationships, especially with our partners in life, and particularly in grief, that I feel a great sense of peace and a new found hope in the future, my own and humanity's.

Hollis brilliantly interweaves ideas (quotations) of Jung and those of other psychologists, poets, writers, philosophers with his own experiences with clients and his own growth. His analyses of Antigone, Hamlet, and Prufrock added a lot to my understanding. It is a succinct and perfect little book. Hollis has a command of the language that is second to none. I always learn new words reading him. And he confirms something that feels more and more true for me over time ... Ram Dass's insight that "we are all just walking each other home." It is a very forgiving idea and one that fosters the most beautiful virtue of all ... kindness.

10 stars from me!
]]> <![CDATA[Sweet Dreams Are Made of This: A Life In Music]]> 25614516
Dave Stewart's life has been a wild ride-one filled with music, constant reinvention, and the never-ending drive to create. Growing up in industrial northern England, he left home for the gritty London streets of the seventies, where he began collaborating and performing with various musicians, including a young waitress named Annie Lennox.

The chemistry between Stewart and Lennox was undeniable, and an intense romance developed. While their passion proved too much offstage, they thrived musically and developed their own sound. They called themselves Eurythmics and launched into global stardom with the massively popular album Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).

For the first time, Stewart shares the incredible, high-octane stories of his life in music-the drug-fueled adventures, the A-list collaborations and relationships, and the creative process that brought us blockbusters from Eurythmics like " Here Comes the Rain Again" and "Would I Lie to You" as well as Tom Petty's "Don't Come Around Here No More," No Doubt's "Underneath It All," Golden Globe winner "Old Habits Die Hard" with Mick Jagger, and many more.

From great friendships and creative partnerships including the group SuperHeavy along with Jagger, Joss Stone, Damian Marley, and A. R. Rahman, to inspired performances and intimate moments in the studio-Stewart highlights the musicians he admires and calls friends, from Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks, Elton John, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr to Bono, Bon Jovi, and Katy Perry.

With a behind-the-scenes look at Stewart's innovative endeavors that keep him on the cutting-edge of the music business, Sweet Dreams Are Made of This is a one-of-a-kind portrait of the creative heart of one of its most gifted and enterprising contributors.]]> 336 Dave Stewart 0451477685 Penny 5
Of course, there's a lot of name dropping, but it's essential in this chronicle and completely authentic. Annie Lennox, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Joss Stone, Stevie Nicks, Martina McBride, Shiobhan Fahey, Mick Jagger, Bryan Ferry, Celine Dion, Bob Geldof, Daryl Hall and so many more are woven into this remarkable and fully lived life. If I were asked to describe the author, the words that come to mind are creative (genius), collaborative, appreciative (of others' work and talent), upbeat, curious, optimistic, open, courageous, hard-working, and smart.

There is a youthful quality that pervades the book. Dave seems almost awe struck by his great good fortune in life, like he can hardly believe it himself, but those mile a minute ideas that just pop into his head and that he acts on with focused abandon are qualities that explain that success. I learned of projects of his, from the musical Ghost to award winning songs he wrote with and for others, movie soundtracks, photography exhibitions, film projects, and so much more. It's inspiring and exhausting and enormous fun, because every bit of it was done without a bit of mean spirit, jealousy, or scandal.

In short, I needed this book. In a world where every day brings people putting others down, even to the point of murder, and failures to creatively solve problems that face ourselves and the planet, this book was a breath of fresh air. This is a bootstraps story of a boy from the north of England who turned adversity into Platinum, and did so consistently throughout life. He never met a lemon he wouldn't joyfully turn into lemonade.

We need more people like David A. Stewart in this world.]]> 3.80 2016 Sweet Dreams Are Made of This: A Life In Music
author: Dave Stewart
name: Penny
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2022/10/10
shelves:
review:
A truly uplifting and positive book that chronicles both the rise of Eurythmics and the numerous projects Dave Stewart, one half of the duo, collaborated on and/or instigated with other musicians and artists, famous and emerging, from the Eighties to the present. This is a real insider's look at the music scene over the last four decades and one of the most delightful books I've read this year.

Of course, there's a lot of name dropping, but it's essential in this chronicle and completely authentic. Annie Lennox, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Joss Stone, Stevie Nicks, Martina McBride, Shiobhan Fahey, Mick Jagger, Bryan Ferry, Celine Dion, Bob Geldof, Daryl Hall and so many more are woven into this remarkable and fully lived life. If I were asked to describe the author, the words that come to mind are creative (genius), collaborative, appreciative (of others' work and talent), upbeat, curious, optimistic, open, courageous, hard-working, and smart.

There is a youthful quality that pervades the book. Dave seems almost awe struck by his great good fortune in life, like he can hardly believe it himself, but those mile a minute ideas that just pop into his head and that he acts on with focused abandon are qualities that explain that success. I learned of projects of his, from the musical Ghost to award winning songs he wrote with and for others, movie soundtracks, photography exhibitions, film projects, and so much more. It's inspiring and exhausting and enormous fun, because every bit of it was done without a bit of mean spirit, jealousy, or scandal.

In short, I needed this book. In a world where every day brings people putting others down, even to the point of murder, and failures to creatively solve problems that face ourselves and the planet, this book was a breath of fresh air. This is a bootstraps story of a boy from the north of England who turned adversity into Platinum, and did so consistently throughout life. He never met a lemon he wouldn't joyfully turn into lemonade.

We need more people like David A. Stewart in this world.
]]> <![CDATA[Sweet Dreams Are Made of This: A Life In Music]]> 25691888 A no-holds-barred look into the remarkable life and career of the prolific musician, songwriter, and producer behind Eurythmics and dozens of pop hits.

Dave Stewart’s life has been a wild ride—one filled with music, constant reinvention, and the never-ending drive to create. Growing up outside of London, he turned to music after an injury ended his football career, and left his idyllic home for the gritty London streets of the �70s, where he began collaborating and performing with various musicians, including a young waitress named Annie Lennox.

The chemistry between Stewart and Lennox was undeniable, and an intense romance developed. While their passion proved too much off-stage, they thrived musically and developed their own sound. They called themselves Eurythmics, and launched into global stardom with the massively popular album, “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).�

For the first time, Stewart shares the never-before-told stories of his life in music—the drugs and the parties, the A-list collaborations and relationships, and the creative process that brought us blockbusters like Tom Petty’s “Don’t Come Around Here No More,� Bon Jovi’s “Midnight in Chelsea,� Celine Dion’s “Taking Chance,� and many more. From great friendships and creative partnerships including the group SuperHeavy with Mick Jagger, Joss Stone, Damian Marley, and A.R. Rahmanm, to intimate moments in the studio, Stewart highlights the musicians that he admires and calls friends, from Bono and Bon Jovi to Stevie Nicks and Katie Perry.

With a behind-the-scenes look at Stewart’s innovative endeavors that keep him on the cutting-edge of the music business, Sweet Dreams Are Made of This is a one-of-a-kind look into the creative heart of one of its most gifted and enterprising contributors.




From the Hardcover edition.]]> 357 Dave Stewart 0698411048 Penny 5
Of course, there's a lot of name dropping, but it's essential in this chronicle and completely authentic. Annie Lennox, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Joss Stone, Stevie Nicks, Martina McBride, Shiobhan Fahey, Mick Jagger, Bryan Ferry, Celine Dion, Bob Geldof, Daryl Hall and so many more are woven into this remarkable and fully lived life. If I were asked to describe the author, the words that come to mind are creative (genius), collaborative, appreciative (of others' work and talent), upbeat, curious, optimistic, open, courageous, hard-working, and smart.

There is a youthful quality that pervades the book. Dave seems almost awe struck by his great good fortune in life, like he can hardly believe it himself, but those mile a minute ideas that just pop into his head and that he acts on with focused abandon are qualities that explain that success. I learned of projects of his, from the musical Ghost to award winning songs he wrote with and for others, movie soundtracks, photography exhibitions, film projects, and so much more. It's inspiring and exhausting and enormous fun, because every bit of it was done without a bit of mean spirit, jealousy, or scandal.

In short, I needed this book. In a world where every day brings people putting others down, even to the point of murder, and failures to creatively solve problems that face ourselves and the planet, this book was a breath of fresh air. This is a bootstraps story of a boy from the north of England who turned adversity into Platinum, and did so consistently throughout life. He never met a lemon he wouldn't joyfully turn into lemonade.

We need more people like David A. Stewart in this world. ]]> 3.64 2016 Sweet Dreams Are Made of This: A Life In Music
author: Dave Stewart
name: Penny
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2022/10/09
date added: 2022/10/10
shelves:
review:
A truly uplifting and positive book that chronicles both the rise of Eurythmics and the numerous projects Dave Stewart, one half of the duo, collaborated on and/or instigated with other musicians and artists, famous and emerging, from the Eighties to the present. This is a real insider's look at the music scene over the last four decades and one of the most delightful books I've read this year.

Of course, there's a lot of name dropping, but it's essential in this chronicle and completely authentic. Annie Lennox, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Joss Stone, Stevie Nicks, Martina McBride, Shiobhan Fahey, Mick Jagger, Bryan Ferry, Celine Dion, Bob Geldof, Daryl Hall and so many more are woven into this remarkable and fully lived life. If I were asked to describe the author, the words that come to mind are creative (genius), collaborative, appreciative (of others' work and talent), upbeat, curious, optimistic, open, courageous, hard-working, and smart.

There is a youthful quality that pervades the book. Dave seems almost awe struck by his great good fortune in life, like he can hardly believe it himself, but those mile a minute ideas that just pop into his head and that he acts on with focused abandon are qualities that explain that success. I learned of projects of his, from the musical Ghost to award winning songs he wrote with and for others, movie soundtracks, photography exhibitions, film projects, and so much more. It's inspiring and exhausting and enormous fun, because every bit of it was done without a bit of mean spirit, jealousy, or scandal.

In short, I needed this book. In a world where every day brings people putting others down, even to the point of murder, and failures to creatively solve problems that face ourselves and the planet, this book was a breath of fresh air. This is a bootstraps story of a boy from the north of England who turned adversity into Platinum, and did so consistently throughout life. He never met a lemon he wouldn't joyfully turn into lemonade.

We need more people like David A. Stewart in this world.
]]> <![CDATA[A Writer's Notebook: Unlocking the Writer Within You]]> 24095 138 Ralph Fletcher 0380784300 Penny 5
Fletcher provides lots of tips for how to keep a writer's notebook to capture the experiences, images, questions, and observations that could become the seeds of a piece of writing. And he cites excerpts from his own writer's notebook and those of other writers, including very young writers from first grade through sixth grade and some of the poems and prose passages that emerged from those jottings.

What a delight!

I will pass this along to a local school or Little Free Library in the hope that a young budding writer will happen upon it, just as I did, and find it both inspiring and practical, just as I did. It's never too late to start something new. Or too early!]]> 4.06 1996 A Writer's Notebook: Unlocking the Writer Within You
author: Ralph Fletcher
name: Penny
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1996
rating: 5
read at: 2022/10/02
date added: 2022/10/02
shelves:
review:
Good things come in small packages. I happened on this slim volume in a box of books a friend brought over for me to look through, and despite it being for ages 8-12, the former teacher in me couldn't resist turning a few pages, and then rapidly finishing the book.

Fletcher provides lots of tips for how to keep a writer's notebook to capture the experiences, images, questions, and observations that could become the seeds of a piece of writing. And he cites excerpts from his own writer's notebook and those of other writers, including very young writers from first grade through sixth grade and some of the poems and prose passages that emerged from those jottings.

What a delight!

I will pass this along to a local school or Little Free Library in the hope that a young budding writer will happen upon it, just as I did, and find it both inspiring and practical, just as I did. It's never too late to start something new. Or too early!
]]> The Doll Factory 38591165 The Doll Factory, the debut novel by Elizabeth Macneal, is an intoxicating story of art, obsession and possession.

London. 1850. The Great Exhibition is being erected in Hyde Park and among the crowd watching the spectacle two people meet. For Iris, an aspiring artist, it is the encounter of a moment � forgotten seconds later, but for Silas, a collector entranced by the strange and beautiful, that meeting marks a new beginning.

When Iris is asked to model for pre-Raphaelite artist Louis Frost, she agrees on the condition that he will also teach her to paint. Suddenly her world begins to expand, to become a place of art and love.

But Silas has only thought of one thing since their meeting, and his obsession is darkening . . .]]> 336 Elizabeth Macneal 1529002397 Penny 0 to-read 3.76 2019 The Doll Factory
author: Elizabeth Macneal
name: Penny
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald: An American Woman's Life (Biographies Book 2)]]> 51048775 Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald was born at the dawn of the twentieth century, destined for celebrity as one half of the infamous darlings of the Jazz Age literary world.

For the first time, Zelda’s story is told from her own perspective rather than through the lens of her famous husband, F. Scott Fitzgerald.

A southern belle from Montgomery, Alabama, Fitzgerald epitomized the “New Woman� of the modern era in New York and Paris, all the while living on the edge of a nervous breakdown. With a wealth of new information from the Princeton archives, author Linda Wagner-Martin vividly illustrates Zelda’s psychological landscape, from the roots of her alcoholism to her enviable artistic gifts and achievements: novels, essays, short stories, ballet and even painting.

This is a riveting and provocative portrayal of a talented woman’s professional and emotional conflicts, as relevant today as half a century ago.

Praise for Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald

‘Wagner-Martin has done more research into the life of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald and brought greater intelligence to its interpretation than anyone else. � anyone who wants to understand how it was with Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald will learn a great deal from this book� Scott Donaldson, author of Hemingway vs Fitzgerald

‘Thought-provoking and illuminating� Dale Spender, author of Man Made Language

‘Linda Wagner-Martin changes our image of Zelda from devil-may-care flapper to Southern Belle, from lunatic to professional woman, from hysteric to talented writer. This cultural biography at long last helps us to locate Zelda within an unfolding history of American women's social, sexual, and artistic practices.� Cathy N. Davidson, Duke University

Linda Wagner-Martin has won teaching awards at Michigan State University and UNC. She is currently the president of the Ernest Hemingway Foundation. Among her fifty edited and written books are biographies of Sylvia Plath, Gertrude Stein, Ellen Glasgow, Barbara Kingsolver, and Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald.
]]> 268 Linda Wagner-Martin Penny 4
This book captures aspects of Zelda that I don't remember reading about before ... her obsession with dance and the way she drove herself to become good at it, driving Scott to distraction in the process ... her wonderful, if sometimes purplish, prose, ample examples of which are included ... and the state of psychiatric medicine at the time which contributed to her problems more than it helped solve them. Zelda comes off well in this narrative; Scott, not so much. In fact, I've grown to dislike him simply based on Wagner-Martin's accounting of his treatment of Zelda and life ending alcoholism. I'll always love The Great Gatsby, but I'll see it in a different light having read this book.

So why am I torn between three and four stars? While I enjoyed reading the book, I was distracted by the number of proofreading errors ... several times "he" should have been "be" or a period was left out. And there were other errors of the sort. But, easily sorted in the reading, after all. So I went with four stars. ]]> 3.56 2004 Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald: An American Woman's Life (Biographies Book 2)
author: Linda Wagner-Martin
name: Penny
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 2022/10/01
date added: 2022/10/01
shelves:
review:
Having read Nancy Milford's book many years ago, I was still interested in learning more about this tragic woman who in so many ways defined an age. I found the story engaging, as always. Zelda (and Scott) Fitzgerald's life is like a bad accident happening in slow motion that one can't turn away from. Plus it is glamorous, on the surface at least.

This book captures aspects of Zelda that I don't remember reading about before ... her obsession with dance and the way she drove herself to become good at it, driving Scott to distraction in the process ... her wonderful, if sometimes purplish, prose, ample examples of which are included ... and the state of psychiatric medicine at the time which contributed to her problems more than it helped solve them. Zelda comes off well in this narrative; Scott, not so much. In fact, I've grown to dislike him simply based on Wagner-Martin's accounting of his treatment of Zelda and life ending alcoholism. I'll always love The Great Gatsby, but I'll see it in a different light having read this book.

So why am I torn between three and four stars? While I enjoyed reading the book, I was distracted by the number of proofreading errors ... several times "he" should have been "be" or a period was left out. And there were other errors of the sort. But, easily sorted in the reading, after all. So I went with four stars.
]]> Letters from Skye 16127238
March 1912: Twenty-four-year-old Elspeth Dunn, a published poet, has never seen the world beyond her home on Scotland’s remote Isle of Skye. So she is astonished when her first fan letter arrives, from a college student, David Graham, in far-away America. As the two strike up a correspondence—sharing their favorite books, wildest hopes, and deepest secrets—their exchanges blossom into friendship, and eventually into love. But as World War I engulfs Europe and David volunteers as an ambulance driver on the Western front, Elspeth can only wait for him on Skye, hoping he’ll survive.

June 1940: At the start of World War II, Elspeth’s daughter, Margaret, has fallen for a pilot in the Royal Air Force. Her mother warns her against seeking love in wartime, an admonition Margaret doesn’t understand. Then, after a bomb rocks Elspeth’s house, and letters that were hidden in a wall come raining down, Elspeth disappears. Only a single letter remains as a clue to Elspeth’s whereabouts. As Margaret sets out to discover where her mother has gone, she must also face the truth of what happened to her family long ago.]]> 290 Jessica Brockmole 0345542606 Penny 3
I'll leave my review at this. I enjoyed imagining the times and appreciated the research that went into descriptions of the war years and hope that the author did, in fact, record realistic times times for mail to travel from the farmland of Urbana, Illinois to Chicago to New York (by rail), to a ship to Edinburgh/London/Liverpool? ... across Scotland, and finally by ferry to the Isle of Skye and into the hands of the (very) young poetess. ]]> 3.86 2013 Letters from Skye
author: Jessica Brockmole
name: Penny
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2022/09/24
date added: 2022/09/26
shelves:
review:
I wanted to like this book more than I did, as I enjoy epistolatory novels. But when I get more hung up on whether or not it was possible in 1912- 1915 for letters to travel from Urbana, Illinois (not even Chicago) to the Isle of Skye (not even Edinburgh or Portree) such that I spend part of my reading time subtracting dates and averaging transit time ... from 16 days (the first letter, which was sent to her publisher and forwarded) to 36 days and mostly around 20 days (in winter months, no less!) in an age before airplanes and widespread use of horseless carriages (the Model T was 1908, after all), which weren't very fast in any case, and the fastest crossing of the Atlantic was 4.5 days in 1907, a record that held for 30 years and certainly didn't apply to the average ship ... then I have to conclude that the author hasn't engaged my "willing suspension of disbelief." I was also perplexed by the notion that a woman in her early 20s living on an island without even a bookstore could manage to have several books of poetry already published (Sylvia Plath had her first book of poems published at 28, so did Mary Oliver) ... one of which would find its way to a college student in Urbana, Illinois, and prompt him to send its author a fan letter, which she would respond to, resulting in their falling in love via letters. And then mysteriously he isn't a college student but a university teacher ... well, I guess that happens. And he tells her fairly early on that they know so much about each other, enough to fall in love, when I who have read (presumably) all of their letters don't know all that much about them myself .. at least not enough to understand why they are in love.

I'll leave my review at this. I enjoyed imagining the times and appreciated the research that went into descriptions of the war years and hope that the author did, in fact, record realistic times times for mail to travel from the farmland of Urbana, Illinois to Chicago to New York (by rail), to a ship to Edinburgh/London/Liverpool? ... across Scotland, and finally by ferry to the Isle of Skye and into the hands of the (very) young poetess.
]]> <![CDATA[The Food and Wine of France: Eating and Drinking from Champagne to Provence]]> 27774746 The Food and Wine of France, influential food writer Edward Behr investigates French cuisine and what it means, in encounters from Champagne to Provence. He tells the stories of French artisans and chefs who continue to work at the highest level. Many people in and out of France have noted for a long time the slow retreat of French cuisine, concerned that it is losing its important place in the country's culture and in the world culture of food. And yet, as Behr writes, good French food remains very, very delicious. No cuisine is better. The sensuousness is overt. French cooking is generous, both obvious and subtle, simple and complex, rustic and utterly refined. A lot of recent inventive food by comparison is wildly abstract and austere. In the tradition of great food writers, Behr seeks out the best of French food and wine. He shows not only that it is as relevant as ever, but he also challenges us to see that it might become the world's next cutting-edge cuisine. The Food and Wine of France is a remarkable journey of discovery. It is also an investigation into why classical French food is so extraordinarily delicious--and why it will endure.]]> 320 Edward Behr 1594204527 Penny 4
Two chapters I particularly enjoyed deviate a bit from the others. One is devoted to his culinary mentor, Richard Only, an American expatriate who became a champion of French gastronomy. It prompted me to take my copy of Olney's Simple French Foods off the shelf to spend more time with. The final chapter is a summation that raises the question, "What is French food?" It provides food for thought about the future of French cuisine.

This is definitely a book for Francophiles and those who wish they could travel around France sampling its many amazing foods. ]]> 3.72 The Food and Wine of France: Eating and Drinking from Champagne to Provence
author: Edward Behr
name: Penny
average rating: 3.72
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2022/09/16
date added: 2022/09/16
shelves:
review:
A culinary Tour de France, Edward Behr's book recounts his journeys to various French cities and towns to learn about the foods that make France the culinary and gastronomic capital of the world. Each chapter is devoted to a specific iconic, sometimes famous, sometimes less well known, cheese, bread, wine, or specialty. Behr explicitly takes notes as he interviews the craftspeople who make these divine foodstuffs and shares what he learns of their history, processes, and what makes their particular product special. He devotes significant space to describing the flavors and textures of the foods he's documenting, some of which are likely to disappear as more time passes and to the people and terrain that produce them. Significantly, he shares what he's learned about the precursors to what is available today, what essentially has already been lost.

Two chapters I particularly enjoyed deviate a bit from the others. One is devoted to his culinary mentor, Richard Only, an American expatriate who became a champion of French gastronomy. It prompted me to take my copy of Olney's Simple French Foods off the shelf to spend more time with. The final chapter is a summation that raises the question, "What is French food?" It provides food for thought about the future of French cuisine.

This is definitely a book for Francophiles and those who wish they could travel around France sampling its many amazing foods.
]]> The Library of Lost and Found 39873227
All of that changes when a book of fairy tales arrives on her doorstep. Inside, Martha finds a dedication written to her by her best friend - her grandmother Zelda - who died under mysterious circumstances years earlier. When Martha discovers a clue within the book that her grandmother may still be alive, she becomes determined to discover the truth. As she delves deeper into Zelda's past, she unwittingly reveals a family secret that will change her life forever.

Filled with Phaedra Patrick's signature charm and vivid characters, The Library of Lost and Found is a heartwarming and poignant tale of how one woman must take control of her destiny to write her own happy ending.]]> 352 Phaedra Patrick 0778369358 Penny 4
It's a story with many moving moments, and I actually cried at one point, a rarity for me, but quite cathartic. It's easy to identify with the protagonist, Martha Storm, a woman who is sharply focused on helping others at the expense of her own life. Those sacrifices defined her life and how others perceived her. That's a common enough syndrome among women ... although, she did take it to an extreme. How Martha emerges from her self-made cage comprises the arc of the story.

I loved the little fairy tale stories that played a pivotal role in capturing the underlying psychological reality of the central characters. It was easy to see how they could become a book in their own right, as they did. The supporting characters were well-defined in an almost Dickensian sense, by quirks of language (a bit unrealistic in the case of Suki), by items of clothing, turns of phrase. The underlying story of a family that lived with too many secrets is interesting and probably not uncommon. The author telegraphed what those secrets were well in advance of Martha uncovering them, so when she did, they weren't a surprise.

Not a great book ... more of a diversion, a way of pleasantly filling time, but also a way to think about the way a life can be shaped by a sense of responsibility and wanting to be loved and by valuing security above being true to oneself.

]]> 3.66 2019 The Library of Lost and Found
author: Phaedra Patrick
name: Penny
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2022/09/09
date added: 2022/09/09
shelves:
review:
I'm a sucker for books with library or bookshop in the title, and after some pretty heavy reading of late, it was time for something light. This novel fit the bill.

It's a story with many moving moments, and I actually cried at one point, a rarity for me, but quite cathartic. It's easy to identify with the protagonist, Martha Storm, a woman who is sharply focused on helping others at the expense of her own life. Those sacrifices defined her life and how others perceived her. That's a common enough syndrome among women ... although, she did take it to an extreme. How Martha emerges from her self-made cage comprises the arc of the story.

I loved the little fairy tale stories that played a pivotal role in capturing the underlying psychological reality of the central characters. It was easy to see how they could become a book in their own right, as they did. The supporting characters were well-defined in an almost Dickensian sense, by quirks of language (a bit unrealistic in the case of Suki), by items of clothing, turns of phrase. The underlying story of a family that lived with too many secrets is interesting and probably not uncommon. The author telegraphed what those secrets were well in advance of Martha uncovering them, so when she did, they weren't a surprise.

Not a great book ... more of a diversion, a way of pleasantly filling time, but also a way to think about the way a life can be shaped by a sense of responsibility and wanting to be loved and by valuing security above being true to oneself.


]]> Why I Write 9644
Contents:
"Why I Write", first published 1946
"The Lion and the Unicorn", first published 1940
"A Hanging", first published 1931
"Politics and the English Language", first published 1946]]> 120 George Orwell 0143036351 Penny 5 ]]> 4.04 1946 Why I Write
author: George Orwell
name: Penny
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1946
rating: 5
read at: 2022/09/04
date added: 2022/09/05
shelves:
review:
This collection of four essays, only two of which are concerned with the title topic "writing," is a great introduction to George Orwell as a writer of clear prose. It's very readable. I found the longest essay, "The Lion and the Unicorn," particularly timely, both because the U.K. named a new Prime Minister today, a Tory, and someone Orwell would not have welcomed, and because the issues he raised in 1940 with respect to wealth unrelated to an individual's work or contribution to society are exactly the ones Thomas Picketty raised in 2014 in Capital in the Twenty-First Century. We remain in the same state despite the elapsed time and the massive changes in society between 1040 and today. And that's sad.

]]> <![CDATA[In Montparnasse: The Emergence of Surrealism in Paris, from Duchamp to Dalí]]> 43426390 As she did for the Modernists IN MONTMARTRE, noted art historian and biographer Sue Roe now tells the story of the Surrealists in Montparnasse.


In Montparnasse begins on the eve of the First World War and ends with the 1936 unveiling of Dal�'s Lobster Telephone. As those extraordinary years unfolded, the Surrealists found ever more innovative ways of exploring the interior life, and asking new questions about how to define art. In Montparnasse recounts how this artistic revolution came to be amidst the salons and caf�s of that vibrant neighborhood.

Sue Roe is both an incisive art critic of these pieces and a beguiling biographer with a fingertip feel for this compelling world. Beginning with Duchamp, Roe then takes us through the rise of the Dada movement, the birth of Surrealist photography with Man Ray, the creation of key works by Ernst, Cocteau, and others, through the arrival of Dal�. On canvas and in their readymades and other works these artists juxtaposed objects never before seen together to make the viewer marvel at the ordinary--and at the workings of the subconscious. We see both how this art came to be and how the artists of Montparnasse lived. Roe puts us with Gertrude Stein in her box seat at the opening of The Rite of Spring; with Duchamp as he installs his famous urinal; at a Cocteau theatrical with Picasso and Coco Chanel; with Breton at a session with Freud; and with Man Ray as he romances Kiki de Montparnasse.

Stein said it best when she noted that the Surrealists still saw in the common ways of the 19th century, but they complicated things with the bold new vision of the 20th. Their words mark an enormously important watershed in the history of art--and they forever changed the way we all see the world.]]> 320 Sue Roe 1101981172 Penny 3
Three quarters of the way through In Montparnasse: The Emergence of Surrealism in Paris from Duchamp to Dalí I found myself thinking of the book as more of a narrative listing of events associated with the Surrealists (somewhat disjointed) and less of an immersion in it. Descriptions of art works for which there were no images weren't helpful, and there were lots of those. The plates that were in the book were mostly helpful, but more would have been better and more that were actually described within the book. Maybe some of the photos of the Surrealists could have been replaced with photos of their works. Most perplexing was Roe's failure to mention that Modigliani's untimely death at 35 was followed the very next day by the suicide of his pregnant fiancé and fellow artist, Jeanne Hébuterne, who in ending her life left their young daughter to be raised by others. A few lines would have been sufficient to include this poignant occurrence, which was surely more interesting than other things that were included, like every place some of these folks went to vacation.

For me, by far the most interesting chapter was the penultimate one "The Impact of Salvador Dalí." But whatever happened to André Breton? His story is never tied up, the last mention being that his mood had improved possibly because of his affair with Valentine Hugo ... but to end on that note regarding someone who had such an enormous formative impact on the development and chronicling of surrealism was unsatisfying.

The book could have benefited from more reflection, a better interweaving of individual surrealist stories, and probably more pages. As it was, there was too much of an "and then ..." quality to it. ]]> 3.65 2019 In Montparnasse: The Emergence of Surrealism in Paris, from Duchamp to Dalí
author: Sue Roe
name: Penny
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2022/09/03
date added: 2022/09/03
shelves:
review:
I came away from this book with a somewhat better understanding of the meaning and context of surrealism, though less of an admiration for it, a dislike of André Breton, and a desire to revisit Montparnasse. That last item would always be true, book or no book.

Three quarters of the way through In Montparnasse: The Emergence of Surrealism in Paris from Duchamp to Dalí I found myself thinking of the book as more of a narrative listing of events associated with the Surrealists (somewhat disjointed) and less of an immersion in it. Descriptions of art works for which there were no images weren't helpful, and there were lots of those. The plates that were in the book were mostly helpful, but more would have been better and more that were actually described within the book. Maybe some of the photos of the Surrealists could have been replaced with photos of their works. Most perplexing was Roe's failure to mention that Modigliani's untimely death at 35 was followed the very next day by the suicide of his pregnant fiancé and fellow artist, Jeanne Hébuterne, who in ending her life left their young daughter to be raised by others. A few lines would have been sufficient to include this poignant occurrence, which was surely more interesting than other things that were included, like every place some of these folks went to vacation.

For me, by far the most interesting chapter was the penultimate one "The Impact of Salvador Dalí." But whatever happened to André Breton? His story is never tied up, the last mention being that his mood had improved possibly because of his affair with Valentine Hugo ... but to end on that note regarding someone who had such an enormous formative impact on the development and chronicling of surrealism was unsatisfying.

The book could have benefited from more reflection, a better interweaving of individual surrealist stories, and probably more pages. As it was, there was too much of an "and then ..." quality to it.
]]> <![CDATA[Capital in the Twenty-First Century]]> 34758240 New York Times #1 Bestseller
An Amazon #1 Bestseller
A Wall Street Journal #1 Bestseller
A USA Today Bestseller
A Sunday Times Bestseller
Winner of the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award
Winner of the British Academy Medal
Finalist, National Book Critics Circle Award


"It seems safe to say that Capital in the Twenty-First Century, the magnum opus of the French economist Thomas Piketty, will be the most important economics book of the year--and maybe of the decade."
--Paul Krugman, New York Times

"The book aims to revolutionize the way people think about the economic history of the past two centuries. It may well manage the feat."
--The Economist

"Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century is an intellectual tour de force, a triumph of economic history over the theoretical, mathematical modeling that has come to dominate the economics profession in recent years."
--Steven Pearlstein, Washington Post

"Piketty has written an extraordinarily important book...In its scale and sweep it brings us back to the founders of political economy."
--Martin Wolf, Financial Times

"A sweeping account of rising inequality...Piketty has written a book that nobody interested in a defining issue of our era can afford to ignore."
--John Cassidy, New Yorker

"Stands a fair chance of becoming the most influential work of economics yet published in our young century. It is the most important study of inequality in over fifty years."
--Timothy Shenk, The Nation]]> 793 Thomas Piketty 0674979850 Penny 5
I have wanted to read Thomas Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century since 2014, the year of its publication. The reviews indicated that it was an important work, impressive in its execution, and brilliant in the logic of the conclusions its author drew from his review of centuries of data from multiple countries, including the United States. It is all of that. Its is also exhausting ... but it's an exhaustion worth enduring for the benefits derived ... much like all the preparation that leads up to participation in a marathon.

Dividing the book into 50 page segments per day really worked for me, and I highly recommend that approach, along with an internal commitment to do the reading religiously ... don't skip a day if you can help it.

Did I understand every line I read ... not entirely ... but Piketty repeats those things that are most important to his theme and provides many examples along the way to help the reader better understand each concept. I particularly enjoyed his references to nineteenth century fiction, specifically the works of Austen and Balzac because they were helpful in understanding the economic systems of the 18th and 19th centuries in contrast to the 20th and the present and future.

Several things were clear to me from reading this book. Wealth is a glutton for more wealth and there is little presently to restrain an unbridled capitalism that threatens to upend democracy. Inheritance from generation to generation is the primary driver of this massive accumulation of wealth as is the fact that returns on capital investment always outpace growth. Piketty recommends a tax on wealth. He also recommends that nations and regions work more cooperatively to determine what that tax might look like, how it would relate to other taxes, for example on income or consumption, and to build transparent systems of exchanging data about wealth so that whatever is constructed is fair and sensible and universal ... in other words, no hiding of wealth in tax havens, no underreporting of wealth, no tax dodges achieved through complicit governments or politicians. To tax fairly, governments must know how much wealth individuals have. He is a proponent of increasing our educational capital (thereby promoting future growth and economic justice) and preventing the degradation of our natural capital (through taking climate change into account in our deliberations and solutions).

My favorite line from the book: "If we are to regain control of capitalism, we must bet everything on democracy." It is now 2022 and the relationship between capitalism and democracy has never been more clear. Unbridled capitalism is a threat to democracy and is threatened by it, hence the largely secret machinations of the super wealthy and the largest corporations worldwide to undermine democracy and democratic institutions. Culture war issues are convenient distractions to shield what is happening behind the curtain. Piketty calls for all of us to engage in this important work of creating a more equitable economic system designed for the twenty-first century ... and maintains that solutions must be found through democratic means, through public debate and democratic debate within our national and international bodies.

Otherwise, there will be no change in Piketty's observation that "Private wealth rests on public poverty, and one particularly unfortunate consequence of this is that we currently spend far more in interest on the debt (paid to high income individuals) that we invest in higher education."

This book is laying out the argument for and providing the data to support changing that equation for the betterment of all.]]> 4.26 2013 Capital in the Twenty-First Century
author: Thomas Piketty
name: Penny
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2022/09/01
date added: 2022/09/02
shelves:
review:
Impressive! Exhausting! Brilliant! Important!

I have wanted to read Thomas Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century since 2014, the year of its publication. The reviews indicated that it was an important work, impressive in its execution, and brilliant in the logic of the conclusions its author drew from his review of centuries of data from multiple countries, including the United States. It is all of that. Its is also exhausting ... but it's an exhaustion worth enduring for the benefits derived ... much like all the preparation that leads up to participation in a marathon.

Dividing the book into 50 page segments per day really worked for me, and I highly recommend that approach, along with an internal commitment to do the reading religiously ... don't skip a day if you can help it.

Did I understand every line I read ... not entirely ... but Piketty repeats those things that are most important to his theme and provides many examples along the way to help the reader better understand each concept. I particularly enjoyed his references to nineteenth century fiction, specifically the works of Austen and Balzac because they were helpful in understanding the economic systems of the 18th and 19th centuries in contrast to the 20th and the present and future.

Several things were clear to me from reading this book. Wealth is a glutton for more wealth and there is little presently to restrain an unbridled capitalism that threatens to upend democracy. Inheritance from generation to generation is the primary driver of this massive accumulation of wealth as is the fact that returns on capital investment always outpace growth. Piketty recommends a tax on wealth. He also recommends that nations and regions work more cooperatively to determine what that tax might look like, how it would relate to other taxes, for example on income or consumption, and to build transparent systems of exchanging data about wealth so that whatever is constructed is fair and sensible and universal ... in other words, no hiding of wealth in tax havens, no underreporting of wealth, no tax dodges achieved through complicit governments or politicians. To tax fairly, governments must know how much wealth individuals have. He is a proponent of increasing our educational capital (thereby promoting future growth and economic justice) and preventing the degradation of our natural capital (through taking climate change into account in our deliberations and solutions).

My favorite line from the book: "If we are to regain control of capitalism, we must bet everything on democracy." It is now 2022 and the relationship between capitalism and democracy has never been more clear. Unbridled capitalism is a threat to democracy and is threatened by it, hence the largely secret machinations of the super wealthy and the largest corporations worldwide to undermine democracy and democratic institutions. Culture war issues are convenient distractions to shield what is happening behind the curtain. Piketty calls for all of us to engage in this important work of creating a more equitable economic system designed for the twenty-first century ... and maintains that solutions must be found through democratic means, through public debate and democratic debate within our national and international bodies.

Otherwise, there will be no change in Piketty's observation that "Private wealth rests on public poverty, and one particularly unfortunate consequence of this is that we currently spend far more in interest on the debt (paid to high income individuals) that we invest in higher education."

This book is laying out the argument for and providing the data to support changing that equation for the betterment of all.
]]> Haroun and the Sea of Stories 58274796 216 Salman Rushdie Penny 2 3.74 1990 Haroun and the Sea of Stories
author: Salman Rushdie
name: Penny
average rating: 3.74
book published: 1990
rating: 2
read at: 2022/08/29
date added: 2022/08/29
shelves:
review:
After reading and teaching The Phantom Tollbooth, I found this book less than enchanting, and I expected to love it. But as I was reading, I couldn't help but compare the two book, aimed at a similar age, both dealing with fantasy adventures of a young male protagonist and a cast of fantastical characters. The Phantom Tollbooth also features the rescue of a princess (actually two), and without describing them as lacking in beauty and having horrible voices, vaguely misogynist. In fact, the point of their rescue was to restore Rhyme and Reason to the land because "all lived in harmony until the rulers disagreed with the princesses' decision that letters (championed by Azaz) and numbers (by the Mathemagician) were equally important. They banished the princesses to the Castle in the Air, and since then, the land has had neither Rhyme nor Reason." And whereas the vocabulary in Phantom provides useful learning for children (lots of new real words --like dodecahedron and other math and language related words--rather than words adapted from Hindu, I couldn't really say the same for the made up words and concepts in Haroun. I felt an almost anti-science vibe in the book (all the stuff of about the rogue moon) and positively recoiled to read that libraries are dead in contrast to the living stories of storytellers. Seriously? That's a message we want to leave with kids? I found the beginning tedious, the middle more engaging, and the ending awkward. Singing in the rain??? Then, Haroun's mother, who had run away with another man, returns for a happily ever after ending. Given the choice, if I were teaching today, I would choose The Phantom Tollbooth over Haroun and the Sea of Stories.
]]> <![CDATA[Freedom Versus Organization, 1814-1914: The Pattern of Political Changes in 19th Century European History]]> 6662154 Book by Russell, Bertrand 484 Bertrand Russell 0393001369 Penny 0 4.50 Freedom Versus Organization, 1814-1914: The Pattern of Political Changes in 19th Century European History
author: Bertrand Russell
name: Penny
average rating: 4.50
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/08/29
shelves:
review:

]]> Meditations on Quixote 778460 192 José Ortega y Gasset 0393052931 Penny 0 4.18 1914 Meditations on Quixote
author: José Ortega y Gasset
name: Penny
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1914
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/08/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[How Civil Wars Start: And How to Stop Them]]> 58369678 Civil wars are the biggest danger to world peace today - this book shows us why they happen, and how to avoid them.

Most of us don't know it, but we are living in the world's greatest era of civil wars. While violence has declined worldwide, civil wars have increased. This is a new phenomenon. With the exception of a handful of cases - the American and English civil wars, the French Revolution - historically it has been rare for people to organise and fight their governments.

This has changed. Since 1946, over 250 armed conflicts have broken out around the world, a number that continues to rise. Major civil wars are now being fought in countries including Iraq, Syria and Libya. Smaller civil wars are being fought in Ukraine, India, and Malaysia. Even countries we thought could never experience another civil war - such as the USA, Sweden and Ireland - are showing signs of unrest.

In How Civil Wars Start, acclaimed expert Barbara F. Walter, who has advised on political violence everywhere from the CIA to the U.S. Senate to the United Nations, explains the rise of civil war and the conditions that create it. As democracies across the world backslide and citizens become more polarised, civil wars will become even more widespread and last longer than they have in the past. This urgent and important book shows us a path back toward peace.]]> 320 Barbara F. Walter 0593137787 Penny 5
Barbara Walter's book is a chilling account of how civil wars happen. She relies on extensive scholarship going back decades that traces civil wars across the globe, from Bosnia to Rwanda and from the Philippines to Syria. What is exceptional in this research are the consistent patterns researchers uncovered, patterns that can help us understand where we are on the spectrum of civil harmony or civil unrest. It turns out, we could be in serious trouble. The possibility of a civil war is not at all remote. Many of the markers are already in place. Militias have formed, are continuously recruiting, and are practicing and itching for war. Social media exacerbates factionalism by spreading misinformation and disinformation designed to provoke fear and anger and ultimately lead to violence. People have lost confidence in government (surveys show) and some segments of society have lost status and hope.

This is serious stuff. But the last chapter gave me hope. In it, Walter outlines what other countries under similar circumstances have done to avoid falling into the trap of a civil war, and there are steps we can take to do the same. South Africa could have had a civil war ... but good leadership saved them from it. Good leadership and taking care of the needs of all of its people and securing every group a seat at the table. Here's hoping we will have the will and the wisdom collectively to do the same, despite so many who want nothing more that to destroy the current system and create one that benefits them and hurts those they despise.

This an important book to be reading right now. It's information and message is urgently needed. And, as an added bonus, it's very well written and compelling. ]]> 4.21 2022 How Civil Wars Start: And How to Stop Them
author: Barbara F. Walter
name: Penny
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2022/08/24
date added: 2022/08/24
shelves:
review:
Thank heaven for the last chapter!

Barbara Walter's book is a chilling account of how civil wars happen. She relies on extensive scholarship going back decades that traces civil wars across the globe, from Bosnia to Rwanda and from the Philippines to Syria. What is exceptional in this research are the consistent patterns researchers uncovered, patterns that can help us understand where we are on the spectrum of civil harmony or civil unrest. It turns out, we could be in serious trouble. The possibility of a civil war is not at all remote. Many of the markers are already in place. Militias have formed, are continuously recruiting, and are practicing and itching for war. Social media exacerbates factionalism by spreading misinformation and disinformation designed to provoke fear and anger and ultimately lead to violence. People have lost confidence in government (surveys show) and some segments of society have lost status and hope.

This is serious stuff. But the last chapter gave me hope. In it, Walter outlines what other countries under similar circumstances have done to avoid falling into the trap of a civil war, and there are steps we can take to do the same. South Africa could have had a civil war ... but good leadership saved them from it. Good leadership and taking care of the needs of all of its people and securing every group a seat at the table. Here's hoping we will have the will and the wisdom collectively to do the same, despite so many who want nothing more that to destroy the current system and create one that benefits them and hurts those they despise.

This an important book to be reading right now. It's information and message is urgently needed. And, as an added bonus, it's very well written and compelling.
]]> <![CDATA[Monument: Poems New and Selected]]> 37570514
Layering joy and urgent defiance―against physical and cultural erasure, against white supremacy whether intangible or graven in stone―Trethewey’s work gives pedestal and witness to unsung icons. Monument , Trethewey’s first retrospective, draws together verse that delineates the stories of working class African American women, a mixed-race prostitute, one of the first black Civil War regiments, mestizo and mulatto figures in Casta paintings, and Gulf coast victims of Katrina. Through the collection, inlaid and inextricable, winds the poet’s own family history of trauma and loss, resilience and love.

In this setting, each poem drawn from an “opus of classics both elegant and necessary,�* weaves and interlocks with those that come before and those that follow. As a whole, Monument casts new light on the trauma of our national wounds, our shared history. This is a poet’s remarkable labor to source evidence, persistence, and strength from the past in order to change the very foundation of the vocabulary we use to speak about race, gender, and our collective future.

*Academy of American Poets� chancellor Marilyn Nelson

“[Trethewey’s poems] dig beneath the surface of history―personal or communal, from childhood or from a century ago―to explore the human struggles that we all face.� ―James H. Billington, 13th Librarian of Congress]]> 208 Natasha Trethewey 132850784X Penny 5
Other poems remind me in their deeply personal nature of the confessional poets, particularly Sylvia Plath, who also had father issues. These poems are laced with dreams, with regret, and with piercing memories from childhood.

I like that the collection included Notes at the end, explaining some of the sources that inspired various poems in the collection. I learned things about our history in those notes and they helped me gain a fuller appreciation of the poems. ]]> 4.42 2018 Monument: Poems New and Selected
author: Natasha Trethewey
name: Penny
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2022/08/21
date added: 2022/08/21
shelves:
review:
There is no way my words can capture the power and significance, the raw reality, of Natasha Trethewey's poetry. Reading her poems, many free verse, others in more traditional forms, all of them poignant, I could only think of the loss to us all when portions of our history are excised from what is taught in schools. Just as we were beginning to tell a more complete story and a more inclusive one, the forces of fear and hatred have inserted themselves once again into our collective narrative and demanded that we not tell the whole and complete truth about our past, but a literally WHITE washed one. In some of the poems in this collection, we can connect with that truth ... the truth of unabashed hatred of blacks by whites (of Union soldiers firing on their own black regiment, for example, or denying their humanity), the "crime" of miscegenation, the desperation to erase blackness from one's lineage ... "bless us that we remember."

Other poems remind me in their deeply personal nature of the confessional poets, particularly Sylvia Plath, who also had father issues. These poems are laced with dreams, with regret, and with piercing memories from childhood.

I like that the collection included Notes at the end, explaining some of the sources that inspired various poems in the collection. I learned things about our history in those notes and they helped me gain a fuller appreciation of the poems.
]]> A Book of Silence 4437202 320 Sara Maitland 1847080421 Penny 4 3.75 2008 A Book of Silence
author: Sara Maitland
name: Penny
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2022/08/20
date added: 2022/08/20
shelves:
review:
I'm an introvert, and as such, even mere words like silence and solitude have a special resonance for me. My own introversion was what attracted me to this book and what kept me reading. I don't share the author's religious motivation for wanting to achieve both the activity and the understanding of silence, but I enjoyed journeying with her as she explored the concept from solo stays on the Island of Skye (a magical place I've also visited) to her sojourn in the desert as a way of understanding the experience of silence sought by the desert hermits. Her search for a home that would give her an abiding presence of silence, ending finally in Galloway, was interesting, as were her delineations of different kinds of silence and what is and isn't silence for her. But her discussion of death as silence around the death of her mother and a (late in the book) description of the stars and the cosmos made the book for me. The former reminded me of the quality of silence that pervaded his hospital room when my father died, and the absolute sacredness of the moment and later, the silence when my husband stopped breathing. Silence. The latter, her evocation of a star filled night sky, was magical and gave me the most powerful sense of the vastness of the universe I can ever imagine from words alone. Brilliant.
]]> Dear Martin (Dear Martin, #1) 24974996 Raw, captivating, and undeniably real, Nic Stone joins industry giants Jason Reynolds and Walter Dean Myers as she boldly tackles American race relations in this stunning debut.

Justyce McAllister is top of his class and set for the Ivy League—but none of that matters to the police officer who just put him in handcuffs. And despite leaving his rough neighborhood behind, he can't escape the scorn of his former peers or the ridicule of his new classmates. Justyce looks to the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for answers. But do they hold up anymore? He starts a journal to Dr. King to find out.

Then comes the day Justyce goes driving with his best friend, Manny, windows rolled down, music turned up—way up, sparking the fury of a white off-duty cop beside them. Words fly. Shots are fired. Justyce and Manny are caught in the crosshairs. In the media fallout, it's Justyce who is under attack.]]> 224 Nic Stone Penny 5
Yet, Dear Martin, a book that lets us experience the interior struggles of a black youth in twenty-first century America, has been banned by Columbia County School District in Georgia, among others. For the life of me, I couldn't tell why. The language gets a bit rough from time to time, but no more so than I've heard at certain political rallies or on the news and certainly not anything high school juniors and seniors haven's heard before and probably use. No, I'd have to say it isn't the language. Nor is there any sexual content. And any violence is of the fist fight variety, over almost before it starts and not recounted with any graphic detail. And the killings that occur during the course of the story happen off scene and are simply reported newspaper style. The book is well written, engaging, balanced, and the title refers to a series of letters Justyce writes to Martin Luther King Jr. in an effort to become more like his hero. What could be ban worthy in that?

As far as I could surmise, the only possible reason for this book being banned is that it presents a positive image of a young black high school student, who attends a prestigious prep school, and has aspirations to attend Yale University. Justyce discovers over the course of the novel that the color of his skin makes all the difference in how others respond to him, from the police to other students at his school. And some of them treat him very well, while others are unthinkingly racist. Justyce struggles with his growing recognition of racism and with how to respond as MLK would. Justyce's mother, for example, doesn't want him dating a white girl, so there is balance in the story. Racial bias can play out on both sides of the racial divide. This isn't a book that simply blames whites. And that's why banning it sheds a light on the motives of those who did. Unwilling to confront their own racism, they attempt to hide the fact of racism from their own children. Facing it would be so much healthier. This is a book that would provoke worthwhile classroom discussions about what is arguably one of the most important aspects of our society, and the most divisive. If I were still teaching, I would love to teach this book. It would get kids thinking and talking and examining their own biases in a way that could only help them develop empathy. But apparently, in some quarters, that's not a good thing.

Reading it, I was reminded that some of the best writing is to be found in young adult fiction.

]]> 4.33 2017 Dear Martin (Dear Martin, #1)
author: Nic Stone
name: Penny
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2022/08/04
date added: 2022/08/04
shelves:
review:
Fiction ... fiction really well done has the ability to help us get inside the heads and skins of other people, to see things through their eyes, to leave our own personal silos and through doing so develop understanding, empathy, and compassion get people a bit different than ourselves, but usually more like us than not. I'm thinking of the impact of Charles Dickens' novels on his readers, particularly his evocation of the neglected child, the child in poverty, the child with few options in life. By telling their stories, he touched the hearts of his Victorian audience. To the best of my knowledge, nobody banned his books ... not Great Expectations, not Hard Times, not Bleak House with its street urchin Jo, the crossing sweep, and the subject of some of the most touching prose in all of fiction.

Yet, Dear Martin, a book that lets us experience the interior struggles of a black youth in twenty-first century America, has been banned by Columbia County School District in Georgia, among others. For the life of me, I couldn't tell why. The language gets a bit rough from time to time, but no more so than I've heard at certain political rallies or on the news and certainly not anything high school juniors and seniors haven's heard before and probably use. No, I'd have to say it isn't the language. Nor is there any sexual content. And any violence is of the fist fight variety, over almost before it starts and not recounted with any graphic detail. And the killings that occur during the course of the story happen off scene and are simply reported newspaper style. The book is well written, engaging, balanced, and the title refers to a series of letters Justyce writes to Martin Luther King Jr. in an effort to become more like his hero. What could be ban worthy in that?

As far as I could surmise, the only possible reason for this book being banned is that it presents a positive image of a young black high school student, who attends a prestigious prep school, and has aspirations to attend Yale University. Justyce discovers over the course of the novel that the color of his skin makes all the difference in how others respond to him, from the police to other students at his school. And some of them treat him very well, while others are unthinkingly racist. Justyce struggles with his growing recognition of racism and with how to respond as MLK would. Justyce's mother, for example, doesn't want him dating a white girl, so there is balance in the story. Racial bias can play out on both sides of the racial divide. This isn't a book that simply blames whites. And that's why banning it sheds a light on the motives of those who did. Unwilling to confront their own racism, they attempt to hide the fact of racism from their own children. Facing it would be so much healthier. This is a book that would provoke worthwhile classroom discussions about what is arguably one of the most important aspects of our society, and the most divisive. If I were still teaching, I would love to teach this book. It would get kids thinking and talking and examining their own biases in a way that could only help them develop empathy. But apparently, in some quarters, that's not a good thing.

Reading it, I was reminded that some of the best writing is to be found in young adult fiction.


]]> Rita Moreno: A Memoir 17472969
Born Rosita Dolores Alverio in the idyll of Puerto Rico, Moreno, at age five, embarked on a harrowing sea voyage with her mother and wound up in the harsh barrios of the Bronx, where she discovered dancing, singing, and acting as ways to escape a tumultuous childhood. Making her Broadway debut by age thirteen--and moving on to Hollywood in its Golden Age just a few years later--she worked alongside such stars as Gary Cooper, Yul Brynner, and Ann Miller.

When discovered by Louis B. Mayer of MGM, the wizard himself declared: "She looks like a Spanish Elizabeth Taylor." Cast by Gene Kelly as Zelda Zanders in Singin' in the Rain and then on to her Oscar-winning performance in West Side Story, she catapulted to fame--yet found herself repeatedly typecast as the "utility ethnic," a role she found almost impossible to elude.

Here, for the first time, Rita reflects on her struggles to break through Hollywood's racial and sexual barriers. She explores the wounded little girl behind the glamorous facade--and what it took to find her place in the world. She talks candidly about her relationship with Elvis Presley, her encounters with Howard Hughes, and the passionate romance with Marlon Brando that drove her to attempt suicide. And she shares the illusiveness of a "perfect" marriage and the incomparable joys of motherhood.

Infused with Rita Moreno's quick wit and deep insight, this memoir is the dazzling portrait of a stage and screen star who longed to become who she really is--and triumphed.]]> 295 Rita Moreno 1101615222 Penny 4
I especially enjoyed reading about Moreno's relationship with Marlon Brando, one of the two loves of her life. To see Brando through her eyes was a different perspective for me, far from the caricature he became in later life, a period she treats with gentleness and understanding, as they remained friends long after their affair ended. And Elvis, Howard Hughes, Gene Kelly, and Donald O'Connor among many others also make appearances in this memoir. In fact, if you are interested in Hollywood's Golden Years, you would probably enjoy this book enormously.

But especially poignant are the final chapters as she shares the details of her forty-five year marriage to Dr. Lenny Gordon which ended with his passing at age ninety in 2010. There is a lot to be learned about love and marriage in reading these pages. A lot of food for thought. At least I found it so.]]> 4.01 2012 Rita Moreno: A Memoir
author: Rita Moreno
name: Penny
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2022/08/02
date added: 2022/08/02
shelves:
review:
Seeing Rita Morena on Sixty Minutes recently, at age 90, and after her wonderful turn in the remake of West Side Story, I wanted to read her autobiography. I wasn't disappointed. It's very readable and very honest, and chock full of "tell-all" details, without ever becoming self-pitying or self-aggrandizing or overly sensational.

I especially enjoyed reading about Moreno's relationship with Marlon Brando, one of the two loves of her life. To see Brando through her eyes was a different perspective for me, far from the caricature he became in later life, a period she treats with gentleness and understanding, as they remained friends long after their affair ended. And Elvis, Howard Hughes, Gene Kelly, and Donald O'Connor among many others also make appearances in this memoir. In fact, if you are interested in Hollywood's Golden Years, you would probably enjoy this book enormously.

But especially poignant are the final chapters as she shares the details of her forty-five year marriage to Dr. Lenny Gordon which ended with his passing at age ninety in 2010. There is a lot to be learned about love and marriage in reading these pages. A lot of food for thought. At least I found it so.
]]> <![CDATA[Left Bank: Art, Passion, and the Rebirth of Paris, 1940-50]]> 36469700
In this fascinating tour of a celebrated city during one of its most trying, significant, and ultimately triumphant eras, Agnes Poirier unspools the stories of the poets, writers, painters, and philosophers whose lives collided to extraordinary effect between 1940 and 1950. She gives us the human drama behind some of the most celebrated works of the 20th century, from Richard Wright’s Native Son, Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex, and James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room to Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot and Saul Bellow's Augie March, along with the origin stories of now legendary movements, from Existentialism to the Theatre of the Absurd, New Journalism, bebop, and French feminism.

We follow Arthur Koestler and Norman Mailer as young men, peek inside Picasso’s studio, and trail the twists of Camus's Sartre's, and Beauvoir’s epic love stories. We witness the births and deaths of newspapers and literary journals and peer through keyholes to see the first kisses and last nights of many ill-advised bedfellows. At every turn, Poirier deftly hones in on the most compelling and colorful history, without undermining the crucial significance of the era. She brings to life the flawed, visionary Parisians who fell in love and out of it, who infuriated and inspired one another, all while reconfiguring the world's political, intellectual, and creative landscapes.

With its balance of clear-eyed historical narrative and irresistible anecdotal charm, Left Bank transports readers to a Paris teeming with passion, drama, and life.]]> 320 Agnès Poirier 1627790241 Penny 5 Left Bank, I felt I was back in Paris. Agnès Poirier paints a fascinating portrait of the writers, artists, philosophers, and musicians who made the post war years in Paris such a culturally vibrant time. With exquisite detail, drawing from their journals, published works, letters, and contemporary accounts, and even including descriptions of their living quarters and the cafes they frequented (with addresses), she weaves their various stories together in a compelling fabric of ideas and experiences. I read it voraciously and finished hungry for more.

Central to the story are existentialists Simone de Beauvoir and Jean Paul Sartre. Theirs is the though line. But it's intermingled with those of Albert Camus, Arthur Koestler, Juliette Gréco, Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Saul Bellow, Pablo Picasso, Miles Davis, and many, many others ... some well known, others new to me. We learn of the freedom they claimed and lived, their loves, their rivalries, and the impact they had not only in France, but around the world. I found myself pulling up YouTube videos and tracking down novels and books, so that I can become even more immersed in this delicious time. Although I finished the book, I'm not finished with the lives it recounts or with the fabulous city that serves as the backdrop for all of these very human stories. This is definitely a book for Francophiles and for anyone who loves and knows Paris and who is intrigued by the life of the mind, by ideas, and by freedom.

On a side note, I learned more about America too reading Left Bank. The experience of our black writers and musicians in Paris was in striking contrast to what they knew here in their own country. As Miles Davis recalled, "Paris changed the way I looked at things forever. I loved being in Paris and loved the way I was treated. Paris was where I understood that all white people were not the same; that some were not prejudiced. Juliette (Gréco) was the first woman I loved as an equal human being." I was also struck again about how much more the French are inclined to have conversations about ideas, about politics, about literature and philosophy than we are. And when they visited America, they noticed it too. Quel dommage.]]> 4.04 2018 Left Bank: Art, Passion, and the Rebirth of Paris, 1940-50
author: Agnès Poirier
name: Penny
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2022/08/01
date added: 2022/08/01
shelves:
review:
Reading Left Bank, I felt I was back in Paris. Agnès Poirier paints a fascinating portrait of the writers, artists, philosophers, and musicians who made the post war years in Paris such a culturally vibrant time. With exquisite detail, drawing from their journals, published works, letters, and contemporary accounts, and even including descriptions of their living quarters and the cafes they frequented (with addresses), she weaves their various stories together in a compelling fabric of ideas and experiences. I read it voraciously and finished hungry for more.

Central to the story are existentialists Simone de Beauvoir and Jean Paul Sartre. Theirs is the though line. But it's intermingled with those of Albert Camus, Arthur Koestler, Juliette Gréco, Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Saul Bellow, Pablo Picasso, Miles Davis, and many, many others ... some well known, others new to me. We learn of the freedom they claimed and lived, their loves, their rivalries, and the impact they had not only in France, but around the world. I found myself pulling up YouTube videos and tracking down novels and books, so that I can become even more immersed in this delicious time. Although I finished the book, I'm not finished with the lives it recounts or with the fabulous city that serves as the backdrop for all of these very human stories. This is definitely a book for Francophiles and for anyone who loves and knows Paris and who is intrigued by the life of the mind, by ideas, and by freedom.

On a side note, I learned more about America too reading Left Bank. The experience of our black writers and musicians in Paris was in striking contrast to what they knew here in their own country. As Miles Davis recalled, "Paris changed the way I looked at things forever. I loved being in Paris and loved the way I was treated. Paris was where I understood that all white people were not the same; that some were not prejudiced. Juliette (Gréco) was the first woman I loved as an equal human being." I was also struck again about how much more the French are inclined to have conversations about ideas, about politics, about literature and philosophy than we are. And when they visited America, they noticed it too. Quel dommage.
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