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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She persisted!!!

A Fighting Chance by Elizabeth Warren
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love Elizabeth Warren! I hope she has the opportunity to continue leading us in the fight to take our nation back for the people - ALL the people. I thoroughly enjoyed this memoir of her early life up through her election to fill the U.S. Senate seat held by both John and Ted Kennedy. She is a wonderful person, and i regret that i just became aware of her during the most recent Democratic National Convention. She has the intellect, knowledge, and spunk to lead us home, and I'd give her my vote for President in a heartbeat. She persisted!!!

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crapware

It's really hard for me to see this as a serious enterprise OS with all this crap on the menu by default. #crapware #junk #stupid

451F

Ray Bradbury's novella, "The Fireman", published here in the February 1951 issue, became the classic "Fahrenheit 451".

Great story telling

A River Runs Through It and Other Stories by Norman Maclean
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Great story telling set in the mountains of Montana. Norman Maclean recounts stories of family, nature, hard work in the wilderness, a Forest service camp, rattlesnakes, forest fires, waitresses, pimps and whores, high stakes card games, bar room fights, and of course (if you have seen the movie) fly fishing. Three stories that bring to life living in the mountains in the early 20th century. A nice read.

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Nick Offerman On How He Got Involved With Wendell Berry

explaining the science of Star Trek

The Physics of Star Trek by Lawrence M. Krauss
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved reading this book. It is perfect for a Trekkie who loves and appreciates science! Dr. Krauss (who we were fortunate to hear speak earlier this year) is an excellent writer and communicator of complex science to the casual "armchair" scientist. He covers many of the basic foundational technologies portrayed in the universe of Star Trek, and explains them and their implications in terms of proven laws and practices of physics and the the scientific method. A great read for even the casual Trekkie who loves science. I highly recommend this book! I am looking forward to reading Dr. Krauss's newest book "The Greatest Story Ever Told--So Far: Why Are We Here?" which my daughter got signed by him when we heard him speak. He is a great communicator and teacher.

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a gruesome sobering tale from our past

Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

i love reading Cormac McCarthy, but frankly, i'm glad this one is behind me. Blood Meridian is wonderfully written, but the story is gruesome. It is filled with an excess of violence and massacre. Were this book not solidly based on historical events, i'd say "don't bother". But because it is based on history, specifically Samuel Chamberlain's memoir "My Confession: The Recollections of a Rogue", i am glad i read it. Chamberlain rode with the Glanton gang of mercenaries between 1849 and 1850. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_Meridian#Background_and_writing). Even McCarthy's excellent writing gets wearisome as it recounts the bloodshed and cruelty inflicted by this renegade group upon other humans. It was a dark time in our history. As an aside, the story, being based on facts, gave historical credibility to the gangs of outlaws that Clint Eastwood's characters fight against in his classic spaghetti western films.

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a great musically oriented techie book

Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog Synthesizer by Trevor Pinch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My daughter recently attended Moogfest and chatting with her sparked an interest in learning more about Robert Moog and his synthesizer. I love music and am an electrical engineer by training, so my interest is both musical and technical. This is a great overview and history of not only Moog and his company's devices, but also other analog music devices leading up to and following the hay days of Moog modular and Minimoog synthesizers. I enjoyed the story and the facts, and the especially the account of the interplay between musicians, engineers, and sales people in the development of these devices. I also found very interesting the popular and famous artists who used the various synthesizers in their recorded and performance music. This is a great read for a musically oriented techie like me. I highly recommend it!

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one of the best authors I've ever read

What are People for?: Essays by Wendell Berry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was recently introduced to Wendell Berry by my son-in-law, who has read several of his books. I borrowed this collection of essays from him and am blown away by the excellent writing and thinking that are expressed in "What are People for? Essays". Mr. Berry is one of the best authors I've ever read, and his wisdom and carefully reasoned thoughts are in the high league of C.S. Lewis and others. While one may not agree with all his positions or conclusions, the wisdom, thought, and reason expressed are superb, with the quality of the writing to match. I am looking forward to reading many more books by Wendell Berry as i can find them.

I also would like to watch this excellent documentary on Mr. Berry again:
LOOK & SEE: A PORTRAIT OF WENDELL BERRY
http://lookandseefilm.com/

For an excellent example of his excellent thought and work, a more recent example is found at:
"Caught in the middle: On abortion and homosexuality"
https://www.christiancentury.org/article/2013-03/caught-middle

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we have been there before

Pocket History of the United States by Henry Steele Commager
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is one the best reading choices i've made in a long while. I had not read any American history since i was in high school, and i could not have cared less about it then (sorry H.S. teachers, it was not your fault). Re-reading history as a grown adult is a whole different experience. The relevance of persons, events and policies is much clearer after living the majority of your adult life interacting with the results and consequences of them. I have come up with a list of presidents i want to read more about: Jefferson, Wilson, FDR. And as dysfunctional as things seem at this moment of our history, i have learned that we have been there before and somehow survived. Therefore, i come away with a sense of hope that somehow, once again, the American spirit that created this amalgamation of peoples will show the path out of this, yet another, dark chapter in our history. Moving on from this book, i'll read Howard Zinn's classic "A People's History of the United States" next, then some books related to my favorite president list. Here's hoping we are not too far gone to survive.



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not my imagination...

So, as you probably know from Goodreads, I'm reading a book on US History.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/215448.Pocket_History_of_the_United_States

I am nearly done with the book (my best reading choice in a good while), and am reading the section on Nixon. As i'm reading about Nixon's shenanigans, i'm thinking "this is so much like what Trump is doing, we have been through this before!". And just now, i see this on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/ChadHGriffin/status/862069572282839040

so i guess it was NOT my imagination!

what a shitstorm we are in (again)

the plot thickens...

I am really loving Season 2 of "The Man in the High Castle"! I have not had time to binge it yet, but just finished episode 5 of S2 and wow, Wow, WOW! Loving all the angles and dimensions to this alternative history story! And i love the strong and realistic characters! Excellent.

season_2.0

Last night, we finally made it though the last episode of Season 2 of Mr. Robot! (that doesn't count rewatching it to try to put all the pieces together). We are loving this show, and looking forward to season_3.0.

another dystopian tale

After reading, in quick succession, three classic dystopian novels, (Nineteen Eighty-Four, Brave New World, and Fahrenheit 451) i decided that i am way overdue to re-read another dystopian tale, one that is rooted in historical fact - the History of the United States. It may seem odd that i would group the history of our nation with these other three obviously dysfunctional novels. Isn't our nation the great lighthouse for freedom, justice, equality, opportunity, and peace? Well, the U.S. has certainly been kind to me and my family. But how has our nation treated the "others"? People of color, women, our native people, immigrants from all over the world (my grandparents included), people of other religious traditions, people without religion, people of different sexual and gender identities, people without economic means... the list goes on and on. As i revisit the story of our nation, i expect to find answers regarding these and other questions about our nation, and how we compare to these other dystopian stories in relation to ALL of our people. I'm looking forward to rediscovering the history of the U.S. all over again.

a fun read

The Rook by Daniel O'Malley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I found the concept of this story compelling; a "new" person waking up in someone else's body and life situation. The modeling of amnesia in this way was pretty cool. But to me, the telling of the story felt contrived and shallow. There were a few times it almost grabbed me - the reunion with a family member for example. And there was no shortage of plot turns, action, and suspense. I did not expect it to wrap up in the way it did. But in the end, it felt two dimensional, and oddly enough, familiar. The message and method of the story seemed to me like a combination of a bunch of stories i already knew: X-Men, Harry Potter, The Hitchhikers Guide, Clue, Ghostbusters, MIB - as if they were all thrown together into a big box and shaken vigorously. In the end, the story felt too familiar to grab me afresh, although it must have been great fun to write. I really wanted to love this book, two of my Goodreads friends loved it, but i just couldn't pull it off. It's a fun read.

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excellent Amazon series!

So glad i went back and started over on this excellent Amazon series The Man in the High Castle! Looking forward to a Season 2 binge soon!

delightfully written travelogue

A Russian Journal by John Steinbeck
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"A Russian Journal" is a delightfully written travelogue chronicling John Steinbeck's two month visit to Stalin's Russia during 1947. He hoped to capture the Russian people and lifestyle as it was. And to supplement his writing, he took along Robert Capa, the famous wartime photographer to add photos. The book is full of Steinbeck's wit and charm, and feels very human. The stories and experiences are not relayed as cold dry facts, but rather are told in a warm and at times humorous way. Steinbeck lends his wonderful prose style to the account, and includes not only what he and Capa see and hear, but also comments on their experience traveling and lodging in a Russia still rebuilding after the vast Nazi destruction. This is not an academic work, nor is it a complete reference or guide on the subject of Russia or the Russian people in 1947. And it is not at all political. Rather, it is a enjoyable and fun account of two fellows on a quest to see Russia and met her people. I loved reading this, Steinbeck is one of the master storytellers.

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brilliant!

brilliant!

one crazy-ass story

On the Road by Jack Kerouac
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

How very serendipitous that i should finish this book on the author's 95th birthday! RIP Mr. Jack Kerouac. This is one crazy-ass story. I don't know how much of it actually happened, but i believe it is based on real events. It has been referred to as the "Huckleberry Finn" for the author's generation. This story is one (no, actually, MANY) wild ride(s)! It is said to define a generation, or at least a sub-culture of a generation. I just realized that Jack Kerouac and my father were born in the same year - 1922. I am pretty sure that my dad experienced this period of history differently than Sal and Dean in the story, but even with the differences, i see some similarities. Sal's background was different than that of my dad. I do know however that my dad loved to travel. Dad, rather than taking the bus or a travel bureau car, preferred his motorcycle. I do not know how widely he traveled before settling down with my mom, but he never lost the love of traveling across the US and eventually around the world. We made many trips between southern California and the Ozarks of Missouri in my childhood, and dad continued to travel after us kids were grown and gone. I wonder if that love of travel and the open road was truly a part of his generation.

As i said earlier, this story is a series of wild journeys taken in a very different time, but they do capture a freedom and inquisitiveness that continues to be a part of our culture. This was probably the last days an adventure of this type could be undertaken, with the Interstate highway system just around the corner. Although William Least Heat-Moon was able to experience the same flavor of adventure in his excellent Blue Highways journey, with decidedly less flamboyance. Maybe the blue highways are a part of all of us. I certainly like to unplug and hit the road to see where it leads, and hope to do it again soon.

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ps. Oh boy, a movie version http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0337692/

pps. The movie did NOT do justice to the book and missed major themes. Don't waste 2 hours watching it.

too close to home for comfort

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow, this was a great book to follow up Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four" and Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World"! The central message of this classic story was not what i expected, but the close resemblance to our American culture and society today was downright creepy and scary. We are literally watching this unfold in so many aspects of our culture. This is really happening. I got the creeps when i heard the upcoming season of DWTS mentioned with anticipation and excitement. This is too close to home for comfort. Wow!

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what it means to be human

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? 6 by Philip K. Dick
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

this is a really nicely done graphic novel presentation of the entire text of Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep", which is the novel on which he film Blade Runner was based. This is my first reading of the novel, but i plan to return to it in its non-graphic format later this year. A great story which gives the reader much to think about related to what it means to be human. This is a beautifully done series.

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Vi :)