delightful and satisfying travels

Italian Ways: On and Off the Rails from Milan to Palermo by Tim Parks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This my second title by Tim Parks and I'm a fan. I love reading travel writing, but Prof. Parks includes so many of the dimensions that are seen only in the very best travel writers. I especially like his grounded, honest, approach to describing not just history and politics behind the places, but such thoughtful reflections on the people, places, and sights, including self reflection to give a special context to the journey. I loved Italian Neighbors (how was that NOT made into a film?) and this just adds more layers to the delightful and satisfying life story of Prof. Parks. I will continue pick up and read more of his canon, especially as i reflect on traveling to Italy, both before and after. Excellent account.

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a "manifesto" for travel

Rick Steves' Travel As a Political Act by Rick Steves
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Rick Steves' "Travel As a Political Act" is his "manifesto" for travel. In it, he shares many details of his most meaningful and life changing travel, and expounds on what was learned and how it changed him. The book shares a wide diversity of places, people, and experiences. In addition, through advice and experience, the author shows us how we can apply the same principles of travel to our travel experiences, in order to make ourselves better citizens of the world, as well as to connect meaningfully to a larger scope of humanity. Rick is a really cool person who lives what he publishes. This is a great read for anyone venturing outward, whether out of state, or across the globe.

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ditto, this time Florence

Rick Steves Pocket Florence by Rick Steves
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another excellent and concise overview, this time of Florence. Great maps, tours, and recommendations. All around great summary which will definitely go with us to Italy! Thank you, Rick Steves!

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Another excellent and concise overview, this time of Rome.

Rick Steves Pocket Rome by Rick Steves
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another excellent and concise overview, this time of Rome. Great maps, tours, and recommendations. All around great summary which will definitely go with us to Rome! Thanks again, Rick Steves!

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Excellent and concise overview of the Cinque Terre

Rick Steves Pocket Italy's Cinque Terre by Rick Steves
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Excellent and concise overview of the Cinque Terre and the surrounding towns. Great tips, recommendations, and i especially love the detailed walks in and around each town. I also appreciate the frankness in the reviews of sites and eateries. All around great summary which will definitely go with us to the Cinque Terre! Thanks Rick Steves!

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a fascinating, wonderful, and deeply human story

Italian Neighbors by Tim Parks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Italian Neighbors is a brilliantly written book about Tim Parks' initiation to life in Italy, and it becoming his home. The author details the wide variety of people and events over the course of a year, after setting up residence at Via Colombare, 10, Montecchia. The small town, the people, the customs, the religion and politics, the personalities, are always interesting and often eclectic and outrageous. Unlike many travelogues i've read, this book is about digging in and making a new place into a home. As the author says in his Afterword:

"If this book is anything, I hope it suggests how I passed that point of no return. Which is a process of immersion in details, whether they be pleasant or unpleasant. For details are sticky as spider's silk; you are very soon caught. And rather than a travel book, perhaps if there were such a category in the libraries I should call this an arrival book. For by the end, this small square handkerchief of Italy I live in has become home for me. I hope that for just a moment the reader will have been able to feel at home here too."

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it was a fascinating, wonderful, and deeply human story. Highly recommended!



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Proud Shoes - walking in the steps of giants

Proud Shoes: The Story of an American Family by Pauli Murray
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After reading Rosalind Rosenberg's Jane Crow: The Life of Pauli Murray and being blown away by the amazing person named Pauli Murray, I decided to read the detailed history of their family in their own words, Proud Shoes. It is little surprise that Pauli was such a pivotal world changing person after reading their family history. Pauli's grandfather, Robert Fitzgerald, and his wife Cornelia, as well as his parents, siblings , and children lived their lives on the front line of the battle for equality, education and justice for every person. Although some of this story happened elsewhere, much of it transpired just a few miles from where we live, and transformed our community of Durham NC in the post Civil War years. It was again mind blowing to read the stories of these giants and be able to walk in the same spaces that they lived and walked. Proud Shoes is excellently written and researched, including written as well as rich oral history from Pauli's family. This is an amazing true story of an amazing family that embodied so much of what Durham has come to represent to the surrounding communities, the State of NC, and to our nation. This is on my must read list, a really special story. Please, read it.

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a thoughtful and considered memoir

Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen: Reflections at Sixty and Beyond by Larry McMurtry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen: Reflections at Sixty and Beyond" is a thoughtful and considered memoir, looking back on 60+ years of Larry McMurtry's life. A range of subjects are discussed, among which are pioneering and homesteading on the Texas frontier in the late 19th century, reading, learning, writing, book scouting, and many others. The author reflects not just on his own life, but that of his family, his neighbors, of cowboys, cattle and horses, small towns, libraries, books, University, being a storyteller, and so on. Mr. McMurtry is an excellent writer, so reading this is a delight. It was great to "get inside" the head and history of the creator of "Lonesome Dove", "The Last Picture Show" and "Brokeback Mountain". Recommended for all McMurtry fans.

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masterful story telling, a classic

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Lonesome Dove is some of the most masterful story telling i have read. McMurtry's prose remind me so much of the best of Steinbeck. The passages often take on a literary life of their own with their cadence and color, something that is rare and special. And the story. . . Lonesome Dove is an epic saga of quest and purpose with a varied and colorful cast of characters that are painted vivid and rich. This story has "all the things", love and hate, triumph and tragedy, victory and defeat, in the context of the newly opened American West. This classic tale deserves the "must read" status. McMurtry studied under Wallace Stegner at Stanford Univ, which is also where Steinbeck spent some college years. I don't know if there is any overlap that is significant, but McMurtry's writing, especially Lonesome Dove, is of the same classic status as Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden. A wonderful book that i want to re-read after re-watching the series. Excellent!

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fascinating and exciting tour of Italy

See You in the Piazza: New Places to Discover in Italy by Frances Mayes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"See You in the Piazza" is a fascinating and exciting tour to many of the places in Italy that don't show up in the guidebooks. Ms. Mayes and her husband (and sometimes family) drive, read, and eat their way from the top of Italy's mountain ranges to the southern tip of Sicily. Many of the seemingly endless amazing meals are shared in the form of recipes given by the chefs. Because of Ms. Mayes notoriety, she shares with us many special glimpses into the places and people along the way. By sharing her experiences in this wonderfully written account we are able to experience many places, people, and food that we could not on our own. In our upcoming trips to Italia, we plan to add to our itinerary some of the places visited in this book. Our trip will be richer for it. A couple quotes that really stuck with me:

Mayes, Piazza, p.332
Author reflecting on a trip to Italia w/ friends from the US (author lives 1/2 time in Cortona, 1/2 time in Hillsborough NC)

"A discovery for me: A new context deepens friendship. At home, we have our dinner parties, walks, fund-raisers, birthday parties, etc. Traveling together moves us out of preconception. Though some travel only to confirm their held convictions, this group is ready to be amazed. Seeing what is new gives our friendships new grounds. We'll be reliving Puglia for years."

Mayes, Piazza, p.406 epilogue

"The greatest gift of travel: the steep learning curve. Second best: how your vision refreshes and you see with infant eyes. Third: memory. How the places seen will layer into life as time moves on."

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Excellent (again)!

New Spring: The Graphic Novel by Chuck Dixon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Loved reading this one again. Reading it parallel with New Spring, i am impressed at how well this graphic adaptation follows the entire story line of the novel. Excellent (again)!

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especially sweet in the re-read

New Spring by Robert Jordan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This one was especially sweet in the re-read. Noticed lots of things i missed first time through. Great story and prequel to the Wheel of Time.

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a better way to communicate

Declarative Language Handbook: Using a Thoughtful Language Style to Help Kids with Social Learning Challenges Feel Competent, Connected, and Understood by Linda K. Murphy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Excellent introduction and overview of a better way to communicate with kids and folks with Social Learning Challenges. Can't wait to learn more and start practicing it daily.

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rich adventure, ended too soon

O America: Discovery in a New Land by William Least Heat-Moon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"O America: Discovery in a New Land" is a different approach to a travel book. Usually, travel books are written by someone describing who and what they encounter as they travel on a journey and as they stop to experience places and people along the way. Some are serious, some add humor, some are philosophical, but most add information to greatly increase the readers understanding and second-hand experience of the places visited. Some are set in modern contemporary times (Bryson, McMurtry, Heat-Moon), and others were written in the past about past experiences (Steinbeck, Mark Twain). What makes this account unique among the travel books i've read is that this is written in the present as historical fiction, narrated by a traveler displaced in time from the author. In this case, the time is 1848 and the traveler is a Caribbean born British physician visiting and exploring 1848 America for the first time. For me, it is a refreshing approach to visiting an America of our past, looking on it as an outsider, somewhat objectively. The adventure is rich, but ended too soon. This could have been a book 2-3 times longer, and still been engaging and rich. I enjoyed reading it.

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good geekish fun!

AC/DC: The Savage Tale of the First Standards War by Tom McNichol
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"AC/DC: The Savage Tale of the First Standards War" is an interesting glimpse into the battles waged to establish standards, in this case, the standard for electrical power generation and distribution. As an electrical engineer, the subject caught my attention immediately. Unsurprisingly, the battles were not primarily fought with scientific facts or engineering expertise, but rather with misinformation, fearmongering, and overblown egos and greed. As the cover image suggests, the face off between Edison and Westinghouse was fierce and brutal, and in the end, the loser never really conceded defeat. The book refreshed some forgotten history related to Edison and Westinghouse, but more interestingly, provided many insights into their personalities and motivations as manifest in this particular conflict. This is a nice concise history which is fun in a geekish sort of way. Good book.

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vivid storytelling and rich writing

The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Last Picture Show is a story about coming of age, of growing old, and of the end of an era. It is set in a tiny, fading Texas town, with a bit of "The Graduate" and "Deliverance" mixed in. This brilliantly told story showcases that special flavor of disfunction that is probably unique to mid-20th century small rural towns in the US. The characters are rich and realistic, and black and white issues are thoroughly blurred into a shade of gray that represents the dull life of the town (although there is NEVER a dull moment!). McMurtry's writing often reminded me of Steinbeck with the vivid storytelling and rich writing style. A great story, and a great film. Looking forward to reading the sequel by McMurtry - Texasville, also a film.

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stopped for a moment today to remember

 

a heartwarming human tale

Leaving Cheyenne by Larry McMurtry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

That Larry McMurtry can sure tell a story. "Leaving Cheyenne" is a heartwarming human tale of life and love in rural Texas. This is book 2 of "A Texas Trilogy" set in the fictional town of Thalia TX representing McMurtry's roots. I'm heading on to book 3 of the Trilogy, "The Last Picture Show" of movie fame. Excellent storytelling.

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Pauli Murray - the incarnation of everything we love about Durham

Jane Crow: The Life of Pauli Murray by Rosalind Rosenberg
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A few months ago, i decided to take a different route home from our local Co-op grocery store. In so doing, i found myself driving past the Pauli Murray Center for History & Social Justice on 906 Carroll St., Durham, NC. Having lived in Durham for 35 years, i have seen the murals of Pauli Murray in various places around town (https://www.paulimurraycenter.com/pauli-murray-murals), but had never bothered to find out who Pauli Murray was. After reading a short bio on the above website, i picked up this biography at our local library. This book is a detailed, extremely well written and extensively documented account of the life of Pauli Murray. Having just completed reading it, i am in awe of the person Pauli Murray. The Center and murals are here in Durham because Pauli grew up in Durham, a graduate of the same high school as our oldest child. As i read their life story, i was awed over and over at the significant accomplishments and adversity overcome by Murray. You can probably get a concise summary of these on Wiki or elsewhere. This is a very moving life story which is engaging from start to finish. Now i understand why Durham NC has so embraced Murray as our own. Murray's life, passions, and accomplishments so aptly capture the spirit of Durham in its diversity, its quest for truth and knowledge, and the progressive spirit of our citizens. Pauli Murray was the incarnation of everything we love about Durham, and it makes me proud to call them our own.

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another excellent book from @JYSexton

The Midnight Kingdom: A History of Power, Paranoia, and the Coming Crisis by Jared Yates Sexton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As has been the case with every book i've read by @JYSexton, The Midnight Kingdom . . . is a well researched, documented, and written overview of the subject matter. With this book, the author expands the scope of his research to some of the earliest recorded history of "western" culture and civilization. In so doing, he uncovers, identifies, and explains recurring patterns which have been in play over the dozens of centuries examined. Once the patterns are revealed, the author helps us overlay these patterns on top of what we are experiencing today. We can see over and over and over the methods and motivations used by the ruling class to maintain their power and the hierarchy of the established order. Virtually no tool is overlooked, with religion, mythology, misinformation and ignorance being dependable go-to means of control and domination. Because of the breadth of the subject matter and chronology covered, at times i felt like i was drinking from a fire hose. But the excellent presentation, organization and prose serve as catalysts to deliver the information efficiently. This is a book i will definitely re-read to get a firmer grasp of the information contained. The extensive footnotes undergird the material, with references being approximately 1/4 of the pages in the book. They offer an excellent jumping off point for digging deeper. This is definitely a 5 star book, another excellent book from @JYSexton.

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