Quick Review - Book #43 - "Empire of Lies" - by Andrew Klavan

 Andrew is a podcaster and author who has numerous books that have been turned into movies.

There are very few openly conservative authors out, especially those that write from an explicitly Christian perspective. 

Klavan's book is a great thriller, with very human and believable characters. He has a looseness of prose that belies the density of his subject matter. He packs a punch in surprisingly few words. 

Loved his characters, even those that are based on (and quite obviously related) to figures in the current public sphere. He paints them with a broad brush, and he is honest about what characters he dislikes.

Next up: Andrew Klavan's Crazy Dangerous

Quick Review - Book #42 - "Crisis of Responsibility" - by David Bahnsen

 The best description of this book that I could find was 

Very well written and intelligent, but in my opinion there just wasn't much that was new or revealing. The primary point is that a lack of personal responsibility on the part of all of the actors was the biggest contributor to the financial meltdown and the Great Recession. I think that any fair minded person would come to that conclusion.

Mr Bahnsen goes to great length to describe the solution to our current problems. Responsibility. Yeah, sure, I get it... There is a great deal of truth in this, and for the most part, I agree.

There seems to be a widespread culture of victim-hood and blaming others, instead of taking personla responsibility. 

As a different reviewer on Amazon said 

 The author asks the reader to question whether or not they should send their children to college, meanwhile there is no doubt that he himself will be sending his offspring to university.

There is a good case to be made that we are far over-educated, but I think the reality is that we are over-credentialed. Working to a PhD used to mean that you were working on expanding the wealth of human knowledge, not merely adding your name to vast lists of the already accomplished. What additional knowledge can you possibly bring?

All in all, a good read, and well written. 

Next up: Andrew Klavan's "Empire of Lies" 

Quick Review - Book #41 - "Cryptocurrency Mining" - by Jeffrey Miller

This book was more of a lark;

What is crypto, and how does it work? How on earth do you 'mine' your own virtual 'money?' What the heck is the even all about?

Mining is essentially solving hyper-complex math problems, which are used to verify blocks in a chain, guaranteeing (as much as possible) the continuity of the security of the code. 

So you are putting energy into math, and getting rewarded for the effort. the result of this reward is a currency 'coin,' that only exists virtually.

So, as long as everyone 'agrees' that this can be used for currency, then it has value. If people and crypto fans decide that is doesn't then it will all collapse like a house of cards. 

Interesting!

New up ---- "The Haunting of Hill House," by Shirley Jackson

Quick Review - Book #40 - "A Story Guide to Vaclav Havel's "The Memorandum"

 When I got this order from the library, I didn't look at the page count, and yes, it is just a small study guide, merely 27 pages or so.

Very interesting to read into The Memorandum, which was one of the first plays staged for Havel. 

The play takes place over 2 days, and in it he describes a company manager, who has been told to learn the 'new language,' which is designed to make communications easier. He cannot get anyone to translate the memo that he has from the new language into a normal language, starting with nobody has the authority, to getting permission, to taking a class on this completely incomprehensible language himself. 

Havel repeats himself many times in the play, or rather, has his characters repeat themselves many times, doing mundane tasks, and the repetition is just because that is what they have to do in a communist society and company. 

The manager works through confusion, a subordinate trying to undermine him at any opportunity, frustrating coworkers, and a general air of confusion, especially that this is not the first time... in fact, this is the way it always seems to be... and resignation, because this is their fate. 

Next up ---- Cryptocurrency Mining

Quick Review - Book #39 - "The Lost Continent" - by Bill Bryson

 This is a re-read.

I was first introduced to Bill Bryson when he published "A Short History of Nearly Everything" in 2003. I then read a bunch of his travel-novellas about his life and travels.

I know that I read this around the same time, and at the time I thought it was a great commentary on middle America and the life there.

Time sure changes things.

I got through the first two chapters, and I was just not interested in reading any more of what he wrote here. It feels like a nonstop put-down of everything in small town America.

The best description of this, I read in another review panning the book on Amazon. I'll quote it "Bill Bryson writes in this book like he is trying to impress his European Friends with how silly he thinks Americans are. "

That is this book on the nose. 

Obviously, I've grown up a bit since I first read it... the book did not age well at all.

Next up--- "A Study Guide to Vaclav Havel's "The Memorandum."

Quick Review - Book #38 - " How Paul Robeson Saved My Life and Other Stories" - by Carl Reiner

Carl Reiner is probably best known for being the originator and writer for "The Dick Van Dyke Show." He certainly had a hit on his hands, with that one!

He's also famous for being the father of Rob Reiner, aka "Meathead," also director extraordinaire, etc.

This is a collection of anecdotes about his life, around the time that he was in the army. As usual, told with his wit, there are nuggets of fun and wisdom in here for just about anyone.

His short stories are just that. Short. Quite a few of them are proper little vignettes on life, with his wit and noticeably dry humor. Some of these are based on his life and travels, others are stories inspired by thoughts he had when he met people, and wondered what they were doing in life. 

Interesting names, interesting situations. This book reads fast, but it doesn't flow from one story to another, so it can seem a little disjointed. 

Next up---- Bill Bryson's "The Lost Continent."

Quick Review - Books

 Hi all!

Well, I was doing good, and then life got in my way!

No real excuse; I kept reading, I just got sidetracked and let what I wanted to do get in the way of what I was actually doing.

I've kept up with my reading, I just have not kept up with the blog.

Here is what I have read and the book count so far (with no reviews.) The thing that slowed me down, is that the Jordan Peterson books realistically would require a post per chapter. Honestly, they should be read cover to cover. So.. since I could not come up with a way to condense it... I took my eye off the ball and dropped it. 

Book #22 - "12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos" - by Jordan Peterson

Book #23 - "Beyond Order: 12 more Rues For Life" - Jordan Peterson

Book #24 - "Stuntman!" - by Hal Needham

Book #25 - "Facing Reality: Two Truths About Race in America" - Charles Murray

Book #26 - "Keep Moving" - Dick Van Dyke

Book #27 - "Empire of Lies" - Andrew Klavan

Book #28 - "People's Republic" - Kurt Schlichter

Book #29 - "The Split" - Kurt Schlichter

Book #30 - "Crisis" - Kurt Schlichter

Book #31 - "Collapse" - Kurt Schlichter

Book #32 - "Wildfire" - Kurt Schlichter

Book #33 - "Indian Country" - Kurt Schlichter

Book #34 - "Black Ice" - Brad Thor

Book #35 - "Last Exit to Brooklyn" - Hubert Selby Jr. 

Book #36 - "Crazy Dangerous" - Andrew Klavan

Book #37 - "A Matter of Principle" - Conrad Black

So that is a pretty good record!!

This is the tail end of week #40, so I am catching up.

Currently reading - "A Gentleman of Color; a biography of James Forten" - by Julie Winch

and that pretty much catches us up.

Cheers!

Three weeks in the life of......

     After a busy 24 days, I went back, went into the Great Circle Mapper, and mapped out my last 3 weeks of flying.

    Being based in Miami, I usually get more South and Central America flying, as well as more island flying, but I had a gap in my schedule, and I just could not pass up a Honolulu trip; Love all of my island flying!

    So this started on April 26th, and goes until May 19th. Yes, I did have a few days off in there...  But a total of (Great Circle Route distances-- ) 46,012 miles, all in 17 actual calendar day of work. 

    I love my job, love the plane that they pay me to fly, and love seeing the world.

    Adding Peru was a nice bonus... as that is the 41st country that I have been to! Miraflores, Lima, is a beautiful area; parts of Lima are really quite poor, and Peru itself is materially a poor country, but the people were really nice and the food was excellent. And everyone who knows me knows that I am all about the food. 

    Back to work in a few more days!

Quick Review - Book #21 - "1620: A Critical Response to the 1619 Project" - by Peter Wood

 Peter Wood is the president of the National Association of Scholars, a former professor of anthropology, and college provost. This is his answer to the 1619 Project.

    This is a critique of the 1619 Project, as published in the NYT Magazine and promoted by the founder and lead author.

    I'll quote from the book to give a flavor of it....

    "If the 1619 Project were a term paper, any knowledgeable, fair-minded teacher would give it an F and be done with it. It demonstrates not only incompetence in handling basic facts, but also a total disregard for the importance of using reliable sources."

   The 1619 Project opens with this, stated as the project's aim:

"The goal of The 1619 Project... is to reframe American history by considering what it would mean to regard 1619 as our nation's birth year...."    

    Wood places his markers down early on where he falls with this concept"

"...Reframing the country's history is an extraordinary ambitious goal, and not something that one would ordinarily expect to come from a newspaper... The 1619 Project is, in other words, an all-out effort to replace traditional conceptions of American history with a history refracted through the lens of black identity politics."  

"... Their claims include the idea that American began with the arrival of slaves in Virginia in August 1619; that the primary purpose of the colonists who declared independence from Britain in 1776 was to preserve American slavery from the danger of Britain outlawing it; that the Southern plantation system of growing cotton with slave labor is the foundation of modern American capitalism; and that Lincoln was a racist who had no interest in conferring real citizenship on those who were enslaved."

    Wood spends 13+ chapters on the project, comparing the authors of the 1619 project, who are composed mostly of journalists and activists of various types, to the work and words of historians and the actual known facts. 

    He has a great quote describing History ... 

    "History is more than telling a story. It requires scrupulous attention to the facts, to the uncertainties, and to the genuine conflicts of interpretation among experts. The Times, a news organization that assigned journalists rather than historians to write history, failed on all of these criteria."

Definitely worth a read as an antidote to the attempted rewrite of history using a political lens, instead of letting history and the time speak for itself. 

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Next up!! A re-read!! Jordan Peterson's "12 Rules For Life: An Antidote To Chaos." I read this when it first came out, but with "Beyond Order: 12 more Rues For Life" published, I am giving it a quick re-read as a diving board for book #2. 

Cheers!!

     

        

 

 

Quick Review - Book #20 - "Go Set A Watchman" - by Harper Lee

 Go Set A Watchman is the follow-up to Harper Lee's classic "To Kill a Mockingbird," with the characters brought forward in time 20 years.

    TKaM is one of those books that has ignited a fire in pre- and adolescent readers to get them to read. I know a number of people who have said that the book started their passion to read.

    Which for sure made me want to like the book even more!!!

   And then..... and then.....

    There is an interesting controversy surrounding Go Set A Watchman. The book was the original manuscript that Lee took to publish, and then after 2 years of re-writing, she changed the title and published it as To Kill a Mockingbird.

     This reads like a first draft. I wanted to like it... I wanted to love it. But wow, really, it should never have been published.

    Part of the problem is that it was published 2 months after Lee's sister (and basically, guardian) passed away. Harper Lee was 89 years old, and had said since the 1950s that she would never publish another book. It feels like the publishing house waited until she couldn't stage a good protest, and then capitalized on her name.

    Everyone should read To Kill a Mockingbird. It is one of the top 20 novels written by an American. It is fulfilling and wonderful and worth every minute to read. Honest-- skip Watchman.

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Quick Review - Book #19 - "Beneath a Scarlet Sky" - by Mark Sullivan

 Beneath a Scarlet Sky tells the story of Pino Lella, a 17 year old boy in Milan who get swept up in WWII after Mussolini capitulates and the Nazis start to take over the city, even as the Allies work their way up from the southern coast.

    Pino is an unsung hero in a much neglected segment of WWII; Northern Italy at the end of the war. The Allies are working their way north, and the Axis is on the run.

    This book reads great... fast.. the pace generally stays moving with a rapid speed, although there are moments spent in exposition that would have been far better spent on character depth and development. It seems like all the other characters are extraneous to Pino, even though a number of them are working towards the same goal.

    Very interesting moments on how the Partisans destroyed their own with nearly no hesitation. Just a simple accusation is enough to bring someone before a firing squad.

    The issue I do have, and this is in a number of reviews that I have now read... Some of his stories are just a little too... 'on the nose.' It isn't likely that they didn't happen, and much as it seems like a stretch. Pino basically becomes Forrest Gump in Italy during the war. The problem with that, is then you get a break to think about everything that goes before one particular incident... and... it just doesn't seem real.

    No doubt he did most of what the book gives a fictionalized account of... however... it all seems just a little bit much.

    Pino is a hero, for sure... he undoubtedly saved many Jews from being shipped away, and he was awarded the order of Righteous Among the Nations from Yad Vashem, which is for those who risked their lives and helped save Jews during the Holocaust. 

    A remarkable story about an amazing young man. 

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Nest up---  Go Set A Watchman - by Harper Lee

Quick Review - Book #18 - "Princess: More Tears to Cry" - by Jean Sasson

 This is book 4 of 6 of Sasson's "Princess" series. 

    I had not read the first 3 books, so I was not sure what I was in store for....

    Honestly, We know royalty has money, but the money they have is insane. 

    Sultana is a mother and grandmother.... and a princess of the Saudi Royal family (of which there are many many princes and princesses.) This is a series of vignettes about her life now that she is established and older. The earlier books set the stage; she is young and headstrong, and is one of the leaders in the women's movement.

    This book continues with her daughters and grandchildren, and family politics. It gives a window into a world that we'll never fully understand.. incredibly modern, and wildly backwards at many many points. 

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Next up.... Beneath a Scarlet Sky - by Mark Sullivan

Quick Review - Book #17 - "The Parasitic Mind" - by Gad Saad

 Gad Saad, PhD, BSc in Mathematics and Computer Science, and an MBA (both from McGill in Toronto,) and a PhD from Cornell.

    His main body of research is on cognitive psychology and behavioral decision making. 

    The main concept of his book is that irrational thinking and ideas (the "parasite") have infiltrated the minds of 'the West,' and are killing common sense. 

    As a professor at McGill, he has witnessed first-hand what is really happening in progressive safe zones, what the trends in those areas are, how they have an effect on thinking, and how we need to stop the spread of 'dangerous thinking,' which is unreasonable thinking, or illogical thinking. 

    What he sees as the forces at work at corrupt thought patterns, illogical belief systems and attitudes that are rooted in irrational thought, how this leads to political correctness, and how that political correctness stifles freedom of thought.

    An interesting read, on a par with Jordan Peterson's "12 Rules." I think part of the problem is his natural sarcasm and wit do not translate well into quick tweets, and that has given him a reputation for being cruel with his humor. 

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Next up!! "Princess, More Tears To Cry"  by Jean Sasson

Quick Review - Book #16 - "When Breath Becomes Air" - by Paul Kalanithi

 "When Breath Becomes Air" by Paul Kalanithi, was published posthumously after his death from cancer. 

    Dr. Kalanithi was a neurosurgeon who had originally studied literature, took his original degrees as a B.A and M.A of Arts in Literature, before he followed what was obviously the family path into medicine, and after a decade of training as a neurosurgeon, and accepted into a program to study and attain his PhD in neuroscience, that he found out that he had advanced cancer.

    This book is really divided into two paths... part 1 is Pre-Cancer with flashforwards, and part 2 is Post-Diagnosis, with flashbacks. The afterword was written by his widowed wife. 

    The forward was written by his friend and advisor from Stanford, and it is a dedication to Paul. You know going in that there is no silver lining to the clouds that form immediately in the author's life and writing. 

    The book spent many weeks at the top of the bestseller list, and the author succumbed to his cancer while writing the book. This gives his work a very incomplete feel. I could tell that he was really trying to get all his ideas out onto a page; before his diagnosis he knew he had a few decades of life to get in what he wanted to do, only to be cut short before he turned 40.

    The work feels incomplete. Obviously, it is, but there is a dissonance that you don't normally find there. It is similar to The Last Lecture in that regard, but Randy Pausch had more time to complete his work.

    For certain-- a book that makes you evaluate what you think you know about how you will handle the end of your days, written by the man looking at both sides of the coin at the same time-- healing and life as a surgeon, and then patient and cancer patient.

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Next up! - The Parasitic Mind - by Gad Saad.

Quick Review - Book #15 - "In The Woods" - by Tana French

 In The Woods, by Tana French, is a mystery/suspense novel that takes place in two times at the same location... in Dublin, in the mid 1980s,vusing flashback, and modern day with the lead/protagonist having the flashbacks to an unsolved murder mystery that he is a figure in.

    I really loved the first quarter of this book.... I really did. The characters were rich, complex, and entertaining, the dialogue was snappy and far more realistic than usual... 

    And then.... {audible sigh}... it just.... gets frustrating. 

    [spoiler alerts!!]

    The lead character gets bogged down in his own world, and that drags down the murder investigation that he is leading. He starts as a wildly sympathetic character, and then as the book continues past the half-way point, he just becomes irritating. Needlessly. That was tremendously frustrating, as the book opens so well, drives forward, and then gets lost in a parking lot.

    On top of that, the murder that the book opens with... which it leads you along, giving details as the narrator remembers from his mental lockbox.... is never resolved!! (Btw, that is a huge spoiler.) I was ready to throw my iPad across the room when I finished and couldn't find the next 80 pages that had the resolution to the original story of the book.

    If you love a frustrating ending, this is a great book. Really, read the first third, and then put it down. The book really fires off all the fireworks by then, and the rest will just drag you down.

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Next up, "When Breath Becomes Air" - by Paul Kalanithi

Quick Review - Book #14 - "A Tale of Two Cities" - by Charles Dickens

 "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,..."

    With one of the most famous opening sentences in literary history, Charles Dickens' story of love, madness, betrayal, redemption, and sacrifice... and the madness of crowds begins. Set against the backdrop of the tail end of the US war for independence, and the French revolution, A Tale of Two Cities is a story of London and Paris, the immediate impact in London on American independence, and the effects and insanity in Paris just a short while later.

    Dickens started planning and writing his novel in 1859, and his friend Thomas Carlyle was who he turned to. Carlyle is the author of the 1837 book, The French Revolution, an extraordinary history book, although not like a modern style one. Taken from the Afterword from Tale, 

"Written in a hectic and wholly idiosyncratic style, it [The French Revolution] introduces its English readers to such phrases as were to enter their language when considering France and her revolutionary turmoils: "a whiff of grapeshot," "seagreen incorruptible,"...Carlyle... saw the Revolution as an object lesson in Retribution. "Dance on, ye foolish ones," he apostrophized the French aristocracy in an early chapter of his book. "Ye sought not wisdom; neither have ye found it. Ye and your fathers have sown the wind, ye shall reap the whirlwind. Was it not, from of old, written: "The wages of sin is death?" "

    I read Tale in junior year of high school; I can't remember if it was assigned reading or I read it on my own. I know my English teacher that year gave out many long assignments. I do not remember if I enjoyed reading it or not! I do remember that I thought it was a lot of work.

    This time around, it was a fast read. Part of the theme is how brutal human beings can be to each other. There is a situation early on where a Marquis is in his coach, and his men basically trample part of a village, resulting in the death of a baby. The Marquis tosses the father a gold coin, figuring that should be the end of that... because the human wretches and dogs are a lesser human type. What comes along next, during the reign of their new Goddess, "Le Guillotine, Sainte Guillotine, Madame Guillotine" are some of the titles that they bestow on.. what becomes for all practical purposes... the lead figure towards the final third of the novel. What comes along next is the retribution of the downtrodden on the aristocracy, and how low and debased they become, seeking more and more to slake their thirst.

    The last words of the novel form part of a another well known quotation"

   "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done;..."

    A Tale of Two Cities is really a must read as a book fan. 

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Next up!!!--- In The Woods by Tana French!! 

Quick Review - Book #13 - "Flatland" - by Edwin Abbott

 Flatland is the story of A. Square. 

    First published in 1880, It was immediately greeted for its...weirdness. 

    The story of a world in 2 dimensions. A. Square has an epiphany; He manages to see the world of a single dimension in a dream. How does he explain a world that has length and breadth? (Or, in this case, North, South, East, and West?)

    He is then visited by a strange being from a 3rd dimension. How does a 3rd dimension creature... in this case, a sphere, describe how a 3rd dimension functions?

    This is an odd book. It is for sure a "love it or hate it" book. Given the 1880s, part of his description of women (narrow, dumb, and violent.. and dangerous,) as also being not worth education, and not having any upper reason faculties... it sometimes makes for difficult reading. There is a good chance that this was also a commentary on society, and how society would see women, and the problems inherent in that view. Social commentary.

    As generations move forward, a side is added, but only if the progenitors are geometrically perfect. So a triangle would have a square offspring, and the square would have a pentagram, etc... as long as the sides were mathematically perfect. If there was an odd side, then the issue would be destroyed. 

    Interesting commentary on elitism, as their "priests" are so many sided that they may as well be perfectly round. 

    How does a society like this function? How do the beings in it recognize each other, and how does life move along?

    Interesting mental exercises.

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Next up!!

    Reaching back into classical territory; Charles Dickens - A Tale Of Two Cities.

    It was the best of times; it was the worst of times!

Quick Review - Book #12 - "Treason's Crown" - by Anne Wheeler

     Treason's Crown by Anne Wheeler, is book 1 of a Novella series, The Crownkeeper Trilogy. Roughly a medieval fantasy/romance, but not in the way that you'd think.

    Definitely a novella, but I wasn't sure if she was expanding a short story into a series. It felt like a longish short story; this is not a harsh critique! Character development keeps moving as you read, and there are a few twists that make this not your typical 'heroine has to do dangerous things to win over the king' type of read. 

    The main character, Riette, goes through quite a few interesting revelations about herself. I would have loved to see a deeper dive into this development. I guess I need to read the rest of the series for that! As she works her way through problems that occur, her encounters seem to be through a fresh set of eyes, not just as if she were... as one reviewer put it "not as if she is just a man in a dress." Kudos for that!

    This reads fast, and you will easily finish it in a day or two. There is betrayal, adventure, and more than enough development to keep the book moving forward. A good read indeed!

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Up Next! -- Flatland: a Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin Abbott

March 23 is Julie Fowlis

 Scottish Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis recorded on the Brave movie soundtrack, and has also toured the US. She sings to keep alive the memory of her ancestors....

Quick Review - Book #11 - "The 48 Laws of Power" - by Robert Greene

     More like the "48 Laws to Being a Sociopath," or the "48 Laws to Follow to Die Alone and Friendless."

    There is actually quite a lot to recommend this book surprisingly. The author, Robert Greene, has a BA in Classical Studies, and was working in Hollywood when he came up with the idea that attaining power and influence could be taught through the study of history, and application of knowledge of how 'the greats' achieved and attained power and influence. A good deal of what he writes gives examples of how leaders have achieved their goals, but it is also through trickery, deceit, and ruthlessness. All great skills to have if what you want is "Power," but just... a little bit... overboard as far as social situations go.

    My problem with this assertion, is that it is not necessary power itself that one needs to attain; power for the sake of power, after all, has zero meaning whatsoever. Congratulations, you have power. The roads of history are littered with the carcasses of the powerful, and there are monuments and libraries full of their deeds... and yet, dead they still are.

    So there must be more to life than power, but his main premise.. that power is good to attain, and any means that you employ is necessary and good for the attainment of said power... is flawed.

    He does assert that power can and should be used to bring yourself up in social situations. This is where everything will fall apart. 

    An example of flaws in his logic...

    Openly contradicting itself right in the table of contents--

        Law 6: Court Attention At All Costs

        Law 16: Use Absence to Increase Respect and honor

    One of the major problems with the book, is that it is overwhelmingly concerned with a single objective- gaining power. Other facets of life.. the things that bring life color and meaning, things in life that we regard as healthy and necessary, are completely ignored, or dismissed as irrelevant. There is more to life than power. 

    Part of this lays in how he dismisses life outside of power this way-- "never trust anyone completely and study everyone, including friends and loved ones." What he means is, study them to see how you can use them, or their friendship, to your advantage; use what can be gained by them, and discard the rest. 

    One review that I read states "If you can ignore the more questionable aspects of T48 LoP, and read it with a grain of salt, there is a lot to be gained from the book. For all his rhetorical flaws, Greene possesses the remarkable ability to convey the most grandiose power plays in history in a relatable fashion." This leads to questions such as "What do I do that keeps me from being as successful as I could be?" and "Do I navigate difficult situations as adeptly as I think I do?"

    His writing will hopefully get people to question themselves with regards to what they are looking for... power for the sake of power? additionally, he does promote self-assessment and introspection. For his use, to work on perfecting your goal of becoming the Nietzschean Ubermensch, but in reality, a good dose of self-assessment and introspection would do all of us some good.

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Up Next -- Treason's Crown

March 22 is Anike Nilles

    Anike Nilles is a drummer out of Germany, great chops and a really good feel for style and rhythm. 

Quick Review - Book #10 - "The Raw Shark Texts" - by Steven Hall

     In "The Raw Shark Texts" we follow the psychological odyssey of Eric Sanderson in his quest to recover his secreted past. Sanderson must descend through personal traumas and persevere haunting revelations in his struggle for salvation. In a world governed by abstractions, Sanderson is ultimately able to confront his demons using logical devices and remnants of his former reality. And, in his epiphany Sanderson finally realizes that he must make a decisive choice.

    It takes a bit of a leap of faith that this book is worth the read. It has a difficult start, with the lead character waking up in a room he does not recognize, in a life he does not remember, with his memory completely gone.

    There are clues to who he is, but we see the story through his eyes, and his confusion is our confusion. The writing is nimble and assured, which is a surprise for a first time novel.

    When I started the book, I saw a quote that said "A dazzling smart postmodern treat." If is an interesting read, with conceptual fish, and his own mind working against him. 

    It is a tough decision to recommend this book. You really have to hang with it for a while to get swimming with everything... 

 

March 13 is DOMi

     Domitille Degalle is a young French pianist. Currently at Berklee, she completed her piano studies at Nancy Conservatory in Nancy, France, she went on to study at the internationally renowned Superior National Conservatory of Paris ((Paris Conservatory). At age 16, she was awarded the full Presidential Scholarship by Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she is currently studying.

just a note... JD Beck is pretty amazing on the drums... he's an amazing young guy knocking out drumlines that most adults can't handle. 

March 11 is Heavy Weighs The King

 This is mostly the vocalist, Carmen. She has a voice. Wow. The band was signed by RCA, and their A&R guy basically ruined the band. The entire story is told on Rick Beato's channel. The original name of the band was I-Nine. There are some videos they have out, but they were not even supported, and basically they were screwed over. 

I really wish they got a LOT more airplay. They are innovative and interesting, and her voice is amazing. Plus... cello. How can you go wrong with that?

Quick Review - Book #9 - "Insomnia" - by Stephen King

     It had been so long since I had read a King book!

    I read "It" when it was first published while I was in high school, when I worked for the Chicago Public Library. We had the books for pre-order, but some of us were able to sneak a few out before official publication date, and I read fast enough that I finished it before that date, too. Ah, such a young criminal.

    "The Stand" is probably my favorite King book. The serialization that was on regular TV was pretty fantastic, too.

    Surprisingly, given how much I read back then, I never got to this book. I see it was published in the early 90s, so that would probably explain it. I was away from the horror books by then.

    The book has a nearly standard King narrative... if you know his books, it will all seem familiar. His handling off why the main characters experience insomnia, is interesting, and will help drag you further through the book, if only to see how far he takes the concept.

    A good read... especially if you like his style. I had forgotten how good his character development can be, and that is why he is one of the better modern American authors. 

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next up... The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall (two Steph/vens in a row!)

March 10 is Marina Krupkina... a.k.a., Marina's Decacorde

 Marina Krupkina is a young composer and arranger out of Russia, who works on the 10-string guitar. She has a number of beautiful arrangements out already, but I think these two are her best....

March 9 is MARO

     MARO is a Portuguese singer/songwriter and graduate of Berklee. She has done a bunch of collaborations due to COVID, but her earlier videos, she really shines on her own.

Cheers!!

March 8 is Esperanza Spaulding

 This one brings out big sighs from me.

    Esperanza Spaulding makes me want to be a high schooler again, at which point I would pick up my bass guitar and burn it. She has more raw talent than nearly anyone I have seen play, and that is saying a lot. 

    I know I posted this video before, but there are two songs here, and she sings and plays bass on both of them. In the first song, I really don't know how she can sing and play those bass lines at the same time. Then, to really annoy me, she plays the second song here on upright. She's amazing.

March 7 is Kinga Glyk

     Kinga Glyk is a 23 year old bass player from Poland. She was 'discovered' in 2016, when she released a video of her funk interpretation of Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven:"

    She has since gone on to record with many of the new young jazz players, and while she doesn't count as undiscovered, she is certainly worth the time to listen to, and I'd love for her to get a wider appreciation here in the States. 

    She is obviously having a good time with her playing, and really... that is what it should be all about.

Dig it.

Quick Review - Book #8 - "A Moveable Feast" - by Ernest Hemingway

     "If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast."

    In 1956, the Ritz Hotel in Paris finally convinced Hemingway to repossess two small steamer trunks that he had stored there in 1928. Inside the trunks, were forgotten remnants of his first years in Paris; from the time that he had left being a 'newspaper' columnist and reporter,  and dedicated himself to writing fiction. He wrote all the time, and had character sketches of his friends and semi-friends in Paris, in addition to his notes from while he was working on his first novel, The Sun Also Rises.

    He never named the book himself. Multiple chapters have been re-written, left out, added in... whatever combination that you want to call it. 

    The version that I read is called "The Restored Edition." This is all taken from a typed manuscript with original notations in Hemingway's handwriting; the actual manuscript is in the JFK Library in Boston.

    His character sketches and comments on his friends and companions are interesting. He was very close with F Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, Andre Masson, Gertrude Stein, James Joyce, Sylvia Beach... It is an interesting list! 

    One of the things that takes time to get used to is his writing style. I have described it as 'pugilist.' His friend Gertrude Stein was a big influence on his style, especially his use of repetition.  He was always in search of the 'one true word, one true sentence' to write, to describe. Here is an example from the first chapter in the book:

    "The leaves lay sodden in the rain and the wind drove the rain against the big green autobus at the terminal and the Cafe des Amateurs was crowded and the windows misted over from the heat and the smoke inside."

     He describes how he would write in the morning, and then walk to a particular park, because in that park he wouldn't smell the Cafes around the city and therefore he'd be less hungry. He would then go home to his wife, and describe in loving detail the beautiful lunch that he had, so that she would not think that he was skipping out on eating. They were really poor at the time, and part of the reason the ex-pat scene was so big in Paris, was due to the cost of living there.. basically, pennies on the dollar. 

    I particularly love his description of Scott Fitzgerald;

"His talent was as natural as the pattern that was made by the dust on a butterfly's wings. At one time he understood it no more than the butterfly did and he did not know when it was brushed or marred."

    Here are some of the other selections that I highlighted---

   "I was getting tired of the literary life, if this was the literary life that I was leading, and already I missed not working and I felt the death loneliness that comes at the end of every day that is wasted in your life."

"There is never any ending to Paris and the memory of each person who has lives in it differs from that of any other. We always returned to it no matter who we were nor how it was changed nor with what difficulties nor what ease it could be reached. It was always worth it and we received a return for whatever we brought to it."

"The only thing that could spoil a day was people and if you could keep from making engagements, each day had no limits. People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself."

"In Dostoyevsky there were things believable and not to be believed, but some so true they changed you as you read them; frailty and madness, wickedness and saintliness..."

"... the man who believed in the mot juste - the one and only correct word to use - the man who had taught me to distrust adjectives as I would later learn to distrust certain people in certain given situations..."

    That last quote was regarding Ezra Pound, who he described as "... I wanted his opinion on a man who almost never used the mot juste and yet had made his people come alive at times, as almost no one else did."

    The book is a fascinating read.

Scott

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 Coming up.... book #9!! - Insomnia - by Stephen King!!

Women's History Month! March 6th is Kate Davis

     So, since I removed FB from my phone, I miss all kinds of things!

    March is International Woman's Month. 

    So for the rest of the month, I'll do a quick post on women in music. There is a good chance that this will be heavy on bass players (heh.) 

    For starters, here is The amazing Kate Davis. This first clip was the second recording of hers that I heard, and I think the original video was taken down by the Kennedy Center for copyright reasons. Rogers and Hart standard from 1936.

    She is a multi-instrumentalist, but started out on bass. She has a voice to beat the band, and her bass chops are to die for. 

    

    The song that introduced her to the world----

    

One of my favorites, just watching her run up and down the upright bass, while laying down that rhythm, and singing.... just wow.

Kate Davis

Quick Review - Book #7 - The Story of Earth - by Robert Hazen

     Book #7 was actually a re-read for me.

    I read The Story of Earth when it was published, after listening to a long format interview with the author.

    Reading about "The Big Thwack," or theories on how the moon was formed, was a pretty "stellar" experience.

    But he goes back further than that. Starting just after the formation of the universe itself, he takes us on a journey as the solar system is seeded with materiel; how stars are formed, live, decay, and die; How an entire solar system can then form inside the galaxy that we call home.

    He obviously covers a great deal of ground in the telling. Mr Hazen is a minerologist and astro-biologist. He has spent years studying how life is linked to minerals. That alone is worth reading the book. 

    His tour of the Earth and the universe is breathtaking in the expanse, although the continued beating of the climate change drum gets just a little bit tiring.

    Great stuff!

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    On to book #8!

    Originally, book #8 was going to be Stephen King's Insomnia, but the library system has only so many 'copies' of the eBook, that I am still #4 on the waiting list.

    So in the interest of moving right along, I am calling yet another 'audible.' In honor of my recent trip to Key West, and stopping at his home there, I am reading Ernest Hemingway's "A Moveable

Feast;"  his memoir of his time in Paris as a young writer in the 1920s, "If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, is stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast."

    Hemingway never said that; it is attributed in the book to Mary Hemingway's husband. This version of the manuscript has been compiled by his grandson, Sean Hemingway. EH never finished the book; it stayed in manuscript form through multiple  re-writes, and this version includes a chapter written 3 months before he took his own life.

    If you have ever been to Paris, you know that it is indeed a Moveable Feast.

Quick Review - Book #6 - Inkheart - by Cornelia Funke

     Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

    **Spoiler alert!**

    The basic premise of this book is truly original to me. When the father of the lead character reads a book out loud, he is able to transport characters or objects unto our reality. When his daughter was young, he read a book called "Inkheart," and transported an evil ruler and a number of his minions unto our world, and transported her mother out of it!

    This is a well written book, and I can understand why it is on so many YA reading lists. The premise is interesting, and she fleshes out her characters well.

    This is also a tribute for book lovers. This book is about books, the characters written in the books, and people who love books. The father of the main character is a bookbinder, and he has passed his love for books to his daughter, Meggie. He is hiding his dark secret, that he is able to read books out loud, and make the characters not just come to life, but actually appear in our world. There are a number of evil characters that he brought in, and this is years later and they have gained power. 

    This seems just a shade too violent for the bottom end of YA. I'd go with 12-13 for the lowest end of this book. There are no real adult situations, it just feels a little heavy with how the some of the characters prefer to deal in violence. 

    Also... a slight down note. The author doesn't completely develop the idea of bringing characters into our world [side note-- he also transports characters into the books... and he has no control over who comes in or out!]

    The book feels a bit wordy. I think some diligent editing would have accomplished wonders to make the book move along. I also think she could have developed the idea further, or at least explored the ramifications of crossing into another existence. 

    I did enjoy the book, though... I guess that is the book lover in me. The quibbles that I have with the book are basically minor, and except for getting a little bogged down towards the end (they get captured... again?) it was an enjoyable read. 

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    Now... on to book #7! - The Story of Earth - by Robert Hazen. 

    The story of the basic building atoms... molecules... from the start of the Earth to growth and change over 4+ billion years. Hazen is a researcher into how molecules form life. 

Quick Review - Book #5 - The Wind-up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami

    This is a difficult book to put into words. Totally honest.

    It took me a good third of the book to get into his writing style. I guess it probably didn't help that the 2 books I had read before this one were young Adult, so I was geared for something that I could just blast through.

    This book takes a liiiiitle bit more work than that!

    

    For the protagonist, bad times come in threes. Every single main character has weird quirks and tics, that really drive home the unusual feel of the book. There is a psychic pair of sisters enlisted by the lead to find his and his wife's cat, but that devolves into many unusual side stories. An almost spirit-like teenage neighbor... that honestly, I was sure for a good 75% of the book was in fact a ghost. So many of the situations seem completely unbelievable, especially for a bit of an anti-hero like Toru Okada. 

    Having said all of that....

    This was still a good read. It was more of a challenge than I expected, with historical accounts of Japanese occupied China in WWII popping up regularly through some older characters.

    I did have an interesting mental comparison. Much like the Title-names protagonist in Dr. Zhivago, Toru Okada seems to almost be a spectator in his own life. He knows that mostly he is really just going through the motions in his life. His wife is great, but the marriage is damaged; he has no real friends outside of the unusual relationships that he seems to attract to himself, and they only get more strange. Although, as the characters worm their way into your mind and get mentally classified (yup.. another kook,) you begin to see their sympathetic draw to Toru; he is literally the only normal character in the book!

    If you are interested in reading it, bring your A-game and some patience. It took me a good while to get into the writing style. 

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Next - Book #6 - Inkheart - by Cornelia Funke

Quick Review - A Great and Terrible Beauty - Libba Bray (book #4)

     This was a special guest spot, because I blazed through Gossip Girl and suddenly needed another book. The library had a longish wait list for my original #4 (The Wind-up Bird Chronicle) so I had to take a new path!

    A Great and Terrible Beauty is set in 1895, starting in India and then an exclusive all girl's school in England. The lead character, Gemma, is sent to the school when her mother suicides, and this follows her story from there. 

    Bray really writes this one well. I've been moving right along with most of the books, but even though this would be classified as Young Adult, it really takes a more complicated look at the nuances of friendship, longing, and the ties that bind us together. What does family mean, and how can you ever know their real story? How can you properly put all the pieces together.

    One of the finer points of the book, is that the main character is made far more real by simply being complex. She is a 16 year old girl, and she has mood swings, she makes mistakes, judgement errors, and the best part for me is that it didn't drift where so many YA novels go into some ridiculous romance that a mid-teen wouldn't find. The relationship that does begin with another character has flaws, as everything in life has flaws. When you read how she feels angst, you feel for her, because you know she is human, not some 2-dimensional figure. 

    Even though it handles the complex materiel well, the book never bogs down, never gets to be a slow read. 

    I'm glad the Brain Trust suggested this one for me, and I am sure I'll be reading the rest of the books in this series one way or another. 

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    On to book #5!! The Wind-up Bird Chronicle!

    Cheers!

Scott

Book #4 (formerly week #4) - Gossip Girl - by Cecily von Ziegesar

     A funny thing happened on the way to the forum....

    My plan is to read a book a week. 

    Now, I knew this would happen eventually. Particularly after reading a book as dense as Whitehead's , I am geared to some heavy reading. I have generally read a lot of non-fiction, so I am used to "nutritional density."

    Well, I blasted through GG in a day. I didn't even try that hard. Not that there is anything wrong with the book!

    I found GG to be engaging, funny and witty, and just a little bit off the deep end. Von Ziegesar writes in a great conversational manner, and that is part of what makes it easy to simply fly through this book.

    GG is really geared to the early "Sex in the City" set. Post high-school teens and early 20s. The setting is Upper East Side New York, the people are lovely (and stoned off their rockers.) There is almost no nutritional value to their lives; they are chasing a world that lives just for them. The characters are believable but shallow, but that is ok, because that is how they are suppose to be. 

    So I am ready for a new book a week early!

    My brain trust has suggested I move up "A Great and Terrible Beauty," by Libba Bray. It is slightly still in the YA section, so it should also move along a little fast. I've been on a waiting list for the eBook that originally I had slotted next, "The Wind-up Bird Chronicle." Hopefully I'll be able to access it soon, and we'll keep this list moving along.

    Also... if anyone has any book suggestions, I'm reading whatever is thrown my way. I am already into a few that I would never have picked up off a shelf... seriously, I would not have picked Gossip Girl, but I am glad to have read it, for a glimpse into a world where the only thing that I have in common is we're all only humans!

    So... suggest more!!

    Cheers!

    Scott

Week #3: "Science and Philosophy" by Alfred North Whitehead

     Alfred North Whitehead was a mathematician and philosopher, born in 1861. He is best known for co-authoring "Principia Mathematica" with Bertrand Russell, which is considered one of the seminal works of mathematical logic and process. 

    His book, "Science and Philosophy",  is a collection of his essays and writings. He is very open about his life and upbringing, and he certainly grew up in a different era, both of educational ideas and methods.

    Some of what I highlighted as I read along.... 

    “Philosophy is an attempt to express the infinity of the universe in terms of the limitations of language.” 

    "Historical tradition is handed down by the direct experience of physical surroundings."

    

    "Her vivid life has taught me that beauty, moral and aesthetic, is the aim of existence; and that kindness, and love, and artistic satisfaction are among its modes of attainment."

    I really enjoyed digging in to some of the heavier parts of this book, especially as he got into the philosophical underpinnings of mathematics. That was an intense wade, and I really had to slow down to follow his thoughts, sometimes reading them multiple times to be sure I had even the faintest idea where he was going. 

    "The crux of philosophy is to retain the balance between the individuality of existence and the relativity of existence. "

    He gets deep into math, philosophy, and education with a number of essays on education systems, when they are appropriate, 

    "Remember that a refusal to think does not imply the non-existence of entities for thought."

    There is at least one quote that is totally appropo of today's cancel culture---

    "Thanks to the labours of the eighteenth century, we have inherited an efficient system for the criticism of traditional thought. But in regard to the novelty our critical apparatus is only half developed. Each generation runs into childish extremes. Today we adore, and tomorrow we will flog, the images of our saints or at least desert their shrines."

    Interesting thoughts from roughly World War I.

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    So, Week 4!! "Gossip Girl"  by Cecily von Ziegesar

Week #2: "The Golden Compass" - by Philip Pullman

     This was a quick read!

    Not that that made it unpleasant. It was a very enjoyable book. 

    I really enjoyed the point of view that the book is written in. There is something to be said for 3rd Person Omniscient, however, except for short instances, I am not a fan. Getting to see all the mental and physical action is not how we experience life. For the most part we move through life with a 1st person point of view. We don't get to see what is happening behind the scenes elsewhere or concurrently with our own lives. 

    There are limitations on writing in the 1st person form, and his writing covers that very well. He makes his main character easy to understand and she is likable; considering her age, she doesn't act out as an adult, or understand the world the way that an adult does. She is very believable. 

    The book moves along with a good pace. There are no real low spots with too much exposition, and virtually no 'filler.' Everything that happens in the book needs to happen. There are 2 moments in 3rd person Omni, but that is fine... you need some explanation, after all. Not a great deal, but some.

    This was a fun book to read, and I am sure I will continue with the series at another time.

    Now, on to week #3! 

Scott

Week #1: "A Jacques Barzun Reader" - edited and compiled by Michael Murray

 

    Reading Jacques Barzun is always a pleasure. 

    His goal in his writing, like his book of the same name, is "Simple and Direct." His aim when he writes, is to distill his words down to an essence, because there is no reason to add filler; your words should be clear, concise, and understandable. He notes that "precipitation," while a lovely word, is too vague when you are referring to "rain," which is also a perfectly serviceable word. Precipitation could mean many things, such as rain, sleet, freezing rain, hail, snow... There is no reason to 'flex your word muscles' when there is a simple and direct word. Overcomplication is stultifying; you are rendering your prose absurd... ineffectual. 

    Reading through the table of contents alone lets you know that you are in for a treat. This is a collection of 80 essays, the earliest published in 1940. He writes on everything from the 'rehabilitation' of Shakespeare, to music criticism, literary criticism, baseball, the life of Abraham Lincoln, France in 1830, the meaning of schools... His work is exhaustive and edifying. His prose is uplifting, and a joy. He should be read with time, so you can slow your pace down, and enjoy the flow of his words. 

    I would not recommend reading this book in a series of long sittings. It is a collection of essays, the longest of which is perhaps 12 pages at most. Take Barzun in moderate doses, so you can enjoy the experience of visiting over time with one of the most amazing minds of the 20th century. 

    I'll close with a quote from a reviewer on Amazon. 

    "A Jacques Barzun Reader is a book for readers of Barzun, would-be readers of Barzun, and readers who have never liked Barzun. A treat for all these three kinds of readers are the few pages of verse at the end of the book."

    Cheers!

Scott

The List So Far

     Here is my list of books so far!

    When I post the reading order, I'll add credits for whomever recommended the book. :)

    Week #1 "A Jacques Barzun Reader" - Edited by Michael Murray

    Week #2 "The Golden Compass" - by Philip Pullman

    Week #3 "Science and Philosophy" - by Alfred North Whitehead

    Week #4 "The Wind-up Bird Chronicle" - by Haruki Murakami

Then, in an order not yet devised---

"Table Talk Essays on Men and Manners" - by William Hazlitt

"Gossip Girl" - by Cecily von Ziegesar

"The Parasitic Mind" - by Gad Saad

"The 48 Laws of Power" - Robert Greene

"In The Woods" - Tana French

"A Great and Terrible Beauty" - Libba Bray

"Beneath a Scarlet  Sky" - Mark Sullivan

"Fate is the Hunter" - Ernest K Gann

"The Raw Shark Texts" - Steven Hall

"Exodus" - Leon Uris

"When Breath Becomes Air" - Paul Kalanithi

"Gaudy Night" - Dorothy Sayers

"Babylon Berlin" - Volker Kutscher

"Inkheart" - Cornelia Funke

"The Beguiled" - Thomas Cullinan

"Killing Lincoln" - Bill O'Reilley

"Insomnia" - Stephen King

"Go Set a Watchman" - Harper Lee

"Less Than Words Can Say" - Richard Mitchell

"The Power of Babel" - John McWhorter

"Six Easy Pieces" - Richard P. Feynman

"Amazing Grace; William Wilberforce" - Eric Metaxas

"Flatland" - Edwin Abbott

"The Story of Earth" - Robert M. Hazen

"Tale of Two Cities" - Charles Dickens

"Treason's Crown" - Anne Wheeler (hooray!!!!!)

"The Great Believers" - Rebecca Makkai

"The Second Mountain" - David Brooks

"Under the Banner of Heaven" - Jon Krakauer

"A Moveable Feast" - Ernest Hemingway

"Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" - Hunter S. Thompson

"A Few Lives Lost" - J Glen Percy

"Princess, More Tears To Cry"  - Jean Sasson

"Lonesome Dove" - Larry McMurtry 

     I plan on mixing up the fiction and non-fiction as much as I can; We'll see how that works out. There is some Young Adult, some classic (Dickens, Abbott, Lee, Uris) and some non-fiction (Most of the suggestions have been Fiction; I have plenty of non-fiction to mix into the weeks ahead.)

    Cheers!

Scott

Old Blog info

     Hi all!

    For some reason, I cannot get in to edit or add to my old blog, "NewLeftSeater." I have some posts that go back to 2010 on there, so that is a real bummer.

    If you want to go back and see what I wrote back in my 'youth,' The link is here-

    This is your Captain Speaking... (newleftseater.blogspot.com)

    I'm bummed, but such is life. 

    Scott

2021 and the whole "New Year, New Me" thing

     I keep trying to resurrect my blog, because of my interest in writing, so hopefully this idea will 'take.'

    I saw a very interesting YouTube video recently where the host was describing his journey as he read a book a week.

    I've always been a pretty fast reader, and I used to read all the time. The interwebs have blocked that out to a great extent, so I am going to devote more time to reading and writing (blog posts.)

    So this will be the start of the journey. 

    The plan is to pick a book a week, and that is what I am going to read. I am not going to pick all my own reading materiel, however. I have already started asking friends for books to read, and now the floor is open. Some of the books suggested I know I will make fast work of, some others... well... maybe not so much.

    But part of what I would like to do is read books that I would have never picked up on my own. I already have a few Oprah's book club suggestions, some fiction and non-fiction, some history... so a good mix. 

    If you have any suggestions for me, I will take them one and all. I would like to hear stories and tales that I would not necessarily have heard. Learn things about subjects that I know very little about. 

    I still want to do the Classics plan that I wrote of before, but it was way too much reading crammed into too little time for anyone who has any kind of job. 

    So... on to... book #1. 

    "A Jacques Barzun Reader: Selections From His Works. " - Edited by Michael Murray

    Jacques Barzun was born in France in 1907, and passed away at the age of 104. Just that, think of the world that he saw and experienced. Just from my own career, he was born at the dawn of the age of powered flight, and lived until the Space Age, and even outlived the Concord. 

    He was a Historian of great acclaim, and sometimes a controversial one. 

    His Magnum Opus, "From Dawn To Decadence: 1500 to the Present: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life" was published at the age of 94! This was the book that introduced me to him.

    The "Reader" is a collection of 80 of his essays, spanning from 1939 to 2000. Just his essay on the 'rehabilitation' of Shakespeare would be worth the price of the book. 

Week #2----

    This is a suggestion from my friend Kelli. "The Golden Compass," by Philip Pullman. That book begins Sunday, Jan 10.

    Cheers, all!

    Scott