Great story telling by Ron Rash

The Risen by Ron Rash
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Risen is a story of family secrets, friendships, betrayal, coming of age, success and failure, the dedication and love of brothers, and the dark underbelly under the pillars of a community. Set in a small Appalachian town in the mountains of NC, the events of a fateful summer play out with lifelong consequences for all involved. Great story telling by Ron Rash.

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cute collection of recollections

In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash by Jean Shepherd
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a cute collection of recollections of the adult Ralphie Parker about his depression era childhood. A favorite holiday movie, A Christmas Story, is based upon this book. The author is the narrator of the film.

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Wendell Berry documentary on Netflix

http://civileats.com/2017/12/21/farmer-poet-wendell-berry-is-the-quiet-narrator-of-this-new-documentary/

rich and compelling story

Serena by Ron Rash
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Serena is another excellent story by Ron Rash. It details through historical fiction the forces working against each other in the Depression era mountain forests of North Carolina, later to become the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Showing clearly that today's fight between big business, their lobbyists and the advocates for our environment and our planet has been going on for over a century. Ron Rash includes much history in this tale, filling in the missing details with fictional, but realistic characters. The story telling is rich and compelling, and makes it difficult to put the book down, especially in the second half when the true character of the players emerges and the plot vectors toward a certain, yet unknown outcome. Empathy is evoked for many of the characters, both major and "minor". The devastating nature of the timber barons and their logging "machine" was deadly for both the environment and for the people consumed in the process. We are lucky to have recovered so much of their devastated land to preserve and enjoy today.

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interesting

The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A priest, a chance eyewitness to a deadly accident, explores the lives of the five victims, seemingly linked only by the accident in which they died, discovering the mark and memories they left behind.

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a very cool collection of stories

I Am Legend and Other Stories by Richard Matheson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a very cool collection of stories. The title novel "I Am Legend", creative and significant when it was published in 1954, has been adapted to film four times, as well as being the inspiration of the classic "The Night of the Living Dead". The rest of this book contains some excellent short stories which have the flavor of some of the best Twilight Zone episodes. This is a great collection, well worth the read.

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truly a must-read

The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a beautifully written tale of one man's terrifying and difficult journey in a world turned upside down and sideways. What was once thought to be good has become evil, condemned, and treason. What once appeared black and white has become every shade of gray. In this story, there are no good or bad characters, just very deeply human and flawed ones. As the protagonist (is he really?) is hunted down by the idealistic authority figure, i am reminded of Les Mise'rables and how the very foundations of what is good and evil are examined and questioned, and we see the supernatural yet very human struggle between law and grace.

This book appears on multiple must-read lists, and rightly so. This is a wonderful story, truly a must-read.

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very weird yet very creative

Ubik by Philip K. Dick
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is one very weird yet very creative story. I read it because it was on the Time Magazine 100 list and because i've read a couple of his other books, which are really good. This is a pretty cool story, with lots of plot twists and turns.

http://entertainment.time.com/2005/10/16/all-time-100-novels/

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Excellent - worth a listen!

Excellent - worth a listen! @ThisAmerLife episode 603: "Once More, With Feeling" https://t.co/WbN6fwQLiz

— Kevin Routh (@KcRouth) November 23, 2017

helpful perspective

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read this book because it was on my bookshelf and it appears on several "must-read" lists i have. This is a cool story that offers insight into pre-modern African culture, and also some perspective on how western influences of the 20th century affected their society. It is sad to read yet another story of the western white man coming in with supposedly superior religion and culture and imposing it on the native peoples in the name of progress and "salvation". The characters are especially interesting in that we see how very much alike they are to us "moderns", even though on the surface they seem so different. I'm glad i read this, but i feel that much of its acclaim probably has as much to do with when it was written as with its content. I see that it may have influenced Barbara Kingsolver in her The Poisonwood Bible, which is a much better book, IMO.

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coincidence

Our internet was out this morning (thanks Spectrum) while i was picking my next book to read. When i got back online, i loaded google and found that today is the 87th birthday of the author of the book i picked. That is pretty cool. Have been wanting to read this one for a while, looking forward to it. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37781.Things_Fall_Apart

thinking at every corner

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

i read this one on the heels of Cat's Cradle because it is so highly recommended, and because i had it on the shelf. This is one extremely good book that is written in a very unusual way. It took me a while to get into his mode of telling the story, but once i was in, i was all in. I think that for this reason, and because the deep topics dealt with, this book merits re-reading sometime soon, perhaps in the next year. This is a sobering yet zany story, that will have the reader thinking at every corner. I am now wondering if all of Mr. Vonnegut's novels are as unusual as these two i've recently read! great story.

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an outrageous tale

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Cat's Cradle is a zany yet thoughtful tale about the end of the world and all that leads up to such an event. This outrageous tale reads like one of the best social / political satire films you've ever seen, for example Dr. Strangelove. I would LOVE to see a good film adaptation of this one made! Great story!

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a well thought out and wonderfully told story

American Gods by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It has been a long time since i picked up a book and within 10-15 pages was totally hooked and did not want to put it down until it was done. This is one such book. I used to think that if i did not care about any of the characters within the first 100 pages, then i didn't care how the story ends and stopped reading. This story is the opposite. By page 6 i deeply cared about the protagonist and was pulling for him, and felt his sense of loss on page 12.

American Gods is a story about America (as in the U.S. of) and her gods (and other related religious personalities and objects). Because there are no truly native Americans (all humans migrated to North America at some point in their story) it is also a story about the world, the history and traditions of people, and what is brought with a people when they move to a new place. Through creative and well reasoned characters and situations, we read not only a history of ourselves, but also a critique of our present society, and a challenge for our future. The story is deeply engaging on many levels, and leaves the reader with much to think about related to what we believe, and why, and with both challenge and hope as it leaves off (it doesn't really end because the story is our story and our story is ongoing). I really loved this book, a well thought out and wonderfully told story.

This is my first full length novel by Mr. Gaiman. I had read an excellent short story of his entitled Goliath in The Matrix comics series ( https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/92058.The_Matrix_Comics_Vol_1 ) and wanted more.

I also hope to catch the recent TV series adaptation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Gods_(TV_series)

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Great fun - and educational too

The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation by Jonathan Hennessey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a pretty cool idea. A quick course on the constitution is packaged in the form of a graphic novel and it's pretty darned good. The artwork mixes graphic novel renderings of historic events and people with modern comic images. It is a good mix, and the text provides a accessible yet thorough discussion of the US Constitution, how it came into being (including amendments) and how it affects us today. Great fun way to read about our nation's most important document.

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Amusing Ourselves to Death

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Amusing Ourselves to Death is an excellent overview of how the US has moved away from being a nation of readers and rational thinkers, and become a society whose primary mode of communication is entertainment via sound bites and images. The specific focus is on television (published in 1985) but the parallels in other media are unmistakable. This book gives a chilling reality to the predictions of Aldous Huxley in Brave New World, which I read in the last year. There are no sure solutions offered, but some suggestions are given. Most frightening to me is that there may be no way out of our soma induced bliss. The present reality of Trump is clearly a symptom of the dysfunctional state of our national "thought", communication and collective intelligence. We are an Idiocracy!

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Durham Reads Together

The U.S. Constitution and Fascinating Facts about It by Terry L. Jordan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Durham County Library's Durham Reads Together program for providing a copy of this U.S Constitution, and encouraging our community to read it together. It was great to read it through again. I'm looking forward to the related programs coming up during October.

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much to ponder and room to grow

Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man's Fundamentals for Delicious Living by Nick Offerman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Nick Offerman's memoir of his life so far is rich and very enjoyable. I resonated with how Mr. Offerman thinks about things, and i appreciate his no-bullshit approach of sharing his life and philosophy. I really appreciate the depth yet plain language with which he discusses many topics important (maybe too much so) to all of us. I am looking forward to reading more of his books in the future, as well as following him in Internet venues (@Nick_Offerman Twitter, https://offermanwoodshop.com/ ). This is a great read, leaving me much to ponder, and room to grow, even at my advancing age :) Loved it.

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a treat!

Fifth Business by Robertson Davies
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I can't believe i have not heard of this excellent author before. Earlier in the summer, a close friend selected this novel for me while we were visiting the famous John K. King bookstore in Detroit. (go there, it's awesome! http://www.kingbooksdetroit.com/ ). This is a wonderfully told story of growing up and growing old with a little bit of magic and religion thrown in. Beautiful prose and compelling characters, plot, and story telling all make this a really great story. And come to find out, it is the first novel in a trilogy! Looking forward to running across the other two, and reading more about these people from Deptford! This is a book well worth the time to read, it is a treat!

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This Fight Is Our Fight!

This Fight Is Our Fight by Elizabeth Warren
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Elizabeth Warren is one of the most inspiring national figures I've ever read about. She is intelligent, well educated, personable, strong, with the heart and courage to lead the fight to take America back for all Americans, from the rich, powerful and privileged who control it now. "This Fight is Our Fight" lays out in plain language, with 45 pages of citations, how the middle class in this nation were sold out by the followers of voodoo trickle down economics and the corruption of big money and business in our democratic processes and systems. Trump and its administration of special interest cronies are the bulging puss-filled sore on top of this deadly infection that is destroying our system of government, our way of life, and our people with it. Despite the dark (albeit accurate) picture that Senator Warren paints of the state of things, she gives the information and inspiration to challenge us to fight back and turn this ship around. I hope that she and other progressives (like Bernie) can lead our people to take our county back for the sake of ALL Americans. We each have a vote, and if we use it and use it well, we have the power to stop the cancer that is destroying our nation and way of life.

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