October Booknotes

"October is crisp days and cool nights, a time to curl up around the dancing flames and sink into a good book." - John Sinor

Graphic Nonfiction: Law, History

Free Speech Handbook: A Practical Framework for Understanding Our Free Speech Protections by Ian Rosenberg, Mike Cavallaro (Illustrator)

I will admit that when I saw “comics” and “free speech protections,” I was expecting a simple, illustrated walkthrough of free speech rights - most likely one I had heard before. Free Speech Handbook utterly defied my expectations. Far from a simple list of protected freedoms, the book delves fearlessly into the controversies and the thorny regions that inevitably arise with free speech, which is, of course, almost certainly the kind of information you really need to know about the First Amendment.

Each area of protected speech is covered in impressive detail and through multiple case studies, with illustrations that help to break up what could otherwise be an intimidatingly complex subject.

Essence of the Ten Cases Presented

Despite Rosenberg’s best efforts to keep things clear and simple, Free Speech Handbook does deal with complex concepts and legal jargon, but even I was up for the challenge! I was rewarded with a genuinely fascinating look at free speech that left me more knowledgeable about my own rights.

Basic principles of Free Speech

This is a great book to help expand your understanding of our 1st Amendment!  Free Speech Handbook breaks down so much information, and the ten cases presented are extremely interesting. This is a significant book that deserves to be read, and reread, or simply purchased to have on hand for reference. The controversy facing current attempts to restrict our freedom of speech make this my top read of the month!

Nonfiction: Crime, Forensic Science, History

Century of the Detective by Jürgen Thorwald (translated from German by Richard and Clara Winston)

Published in English in 1965, Century of the Detective was nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1966 in Best Fact Crime category but lost to Truman Capote's In Cold Blood (an excellent book!).  

Century of the Detective is a historical overview of the rise of scientific criminal investigation, covering the development of forensic science techniques such as fingerprinting, toxicology, and ballistics during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The book examines significant cases and figures that advanced the field of criminalistics in Europe and America.  

It sounds boring but it was truly interesting and, dare I say, “entertaining?” Obviously, stories of true crime involve people, and this book had lots of details that brought the people to life – both law enforcement officials and the criminals they pursued. This is the history of how scientific analysis of physical evidence to link victims, crime scenes, and offenders was developed. 

Truth is more terrifying than fiction. Indeed, the stories of the crimes committed are written in this book without emotion which can be a little overwhelming.  And at 700 pages Century of the Detective is a bit long because of historical details included.  But if you want to understand the history of forensics, Century of the Detective does the job!

Fiction: Crime, Mystery

The Harbor by Katrine Engberg (translated from Danish to English by Tara Chace)

Engberg also wrote the #1 bestseller The Butterfly House which I read four years ago. That mystery also featured Jeppe Kørner and Anette Werner doing their job as investigators with the Violent Crimes Department. 

As is typical of Nordic mysteries, The Harbor is dark, atmospheric, unsettling, and suspenseful. 

Fifteen-year-old student, Oscar Dreyer-Hoff is reported missing. Two days later a crane operator at a waste management facility which turns waste into green energy halts the machine when he sees a leg dangling from the bucket. The body is carefully extracted but it is not Oscar. It is one of Oscar’s teachers, Malthe Saether. Then another teacher at the school dies, apparently falling in front of a train. Oscar is still missing. All this adds up to … what? Are these events related?

As the plot progresses it becomes darker and increasingly intense. Parts are quite shocking. There are no super cops here, just hard-working people struggling to combine work and family life. Finally, they weave all the evidential threads together leading to a dramatic conclusion.

Nonfiction: Nature, Philosophy

The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer, John Burgoyne (illustrator)

“Serviceberries show us another model, one based upon reciprocity, where wealth comes from the quality of your relationships, not from the illusion of self-sufficiency.”

The Serviceberry is a thought-provoking extended essay that explores the gift economy in the natural world. Using the example of a serviceberry tree, which forms a symbiotic relationship with birds, Kimmerer examines how we can foster sharing, generosity, and abundance in human communities. She highlights that, unlike market transactions, the gift economy operates without the expectation of direct compensation, relying instead on trust and mutual care.

“Recognizing ‘enoughness’ is a radical act in an economy that is always urging us to consume more.”

Kimmerer draws parallels to systems like public libraries, which thrive alongside market economies by offering communal benefits without profit motives. Through her reflections, she challenges readers to rethink consumption and encourages a more mindful approach to resources. She urges us to "harvest honorably" with responsibility, restraint, respect, reverence, and reciprocity.

This is a short but thought-provoking book. It takes time to “digest” the ideas, but it is time well spent!

“In the spirit of the reciprocal gift economy, you might consider how you can reciprocate the gifts of the Earth in your own way. Whatever your currency of reciprocity – be it money, time, energy, political action, art, science, education, planting, community action, restoration, acts of care, large and small – all are needed in these urgent times.”

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” -  Lao Tzu. 

The next two books could be a first step in planning a journey!

Nonfiction: Travel, History, True Crime, Mystery

Mysteries of the National Parks: 35 Stories of Baffling Disappearances, Unexplained Phenomena, and More by Mike Bezemek

What a great book! I was expecting a hiking and travel guide with a couple “mysteries” tossed in. Instead, I got that plus ancient civilizations, mysterious vanishings, and history. Part true mystery and part guidebook, this examines mysteries related to American national parks and discusses how travelers can experience the park “mysteries” themselves.

Bezemek captivated my interest with little known and unknown “history’s mysteries.” One of my favorite mysteries is associated with Golden State National Recreation Area which is the site of the mysterious disappearance of the crew of a WWII observation blimp. The blimp crash landed but the crew was nowhere to be found. Their bodies were never found. Also interesting is the mysterious disappearance in the Grand Canyon National Park of a young honeymoon couple who disappeared during their white-water rafting trip down the Colorado River. Again, their bodies were never found.

Some of the natural phenomena stories were more interesting than others. I was riveted with the story of the boy who disappeared under sand dunes at Indiana Dunes National Park and the odd crater in Canyonlands National Park. But the speculation of how the trees in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks got so tall and old was only moderately interesting. 

Finally, I also really enjoyed the way the parks aren’t just backdrops of the mysteries, but they are characters with their own roles to play. From Yellowstone's bubbling geothermal pools to the vast, echoing void of the Grand Canyon, the settings add weight to the mysteries. Having visited a number of these parks myself, reading about these mysteries made me see them through a new lens. 

Travel tips for visiting the parks accompany each “mystery.” It is quite thorough with explanations of which trails to follow, parking information, and available tours. Mysteries of the National Parks isn’t just good reading, it is also a useful, insightful resource.

Nonfiction: Travel, Paranormal

Travels of Terror: Strange and Spooky Spots Across America by Kelly Florence, Meg Hafdahl

Publisher’s Description: “Horror lovers, lifelong best friends, and co-hosts of the Horror Rewind podcast, Kelly Florence and Meg Hafdahl, have traveled around the U.S. to bring you the most thrill-inducing spots for horror, history, and true crime. They've compiled a list of what to do, where to stay, where to eat and drink, and where to shop to make your vacation-planning a breeze.

They've also delved into the history and pop culture of each spot, revealing hidden gems, most notorious true crimes, women you should know, horror books and movies set in the state, and other strange facts about some of the scariest places around the nation.”

The “spooky spots” visited include Salem, MA; Los Angeles, CA; Marietta, GA; Portland, OR; Providence, RI; Austin, TX; New York City, NY; Duluth, MN; Las Vegas, NV; Pittsburgh, PA; St. Augustine, FL; and Athens, OH.

Travels of Terror is an interesting travel guide, and a quick read. If you are planning a road trip to any of the locations listed above, I wouldn’t buy this book, check it out from the public library. 

Audiobook Fiction: Mystery

The Walker on the Cape by Mike Martin

I was desperate for an audiobook and found this on Hoopla. The cover image attracted me. Plus, the description was okay: “A man's body is found in a small fishing community on the East Coast. First, everyone thinks it's a heart attack or stroke but then it's discovered that he was poisoned. Who would do this and why? Finding that out falls to Winston Windflower and his side-kick Eddie Tizzard. Along the way, they discover there are many more secrets hidden in this small community and powerful people who want to keep it that way.” I decided to give it a listen. 

This is apparently the first in the Sgt. Windflower Mystery series featuring Sgt Windflower, a First Nations officer, set in Newfoundland, Canada. Even with all the positive signs, I was disappointed in The Walker on the Cape. 

While listening I kept rolling my eyes. I really don't need to know exactly what he ate for every meal, or how many cups of coffee he drank throughout the day. The characterization was lacking. Windflower’s love interest had no personality apart from being “very nice” and a waitress at the café where he drank multiple cups of coffee. 

Suspense? Windflower had no sense of urgency (except for drinking coffee!). Suspects simply confessed.  Professionalism? Windflower's interrogation technique seemed to veer from asking benign questions to denying people their legal rights, including cutting off pain relief to an injured man. In the end, I thought Windflower seemed like the stereotypical small-town cop not an exceptional one. 

I would pass on this one. (But, hey, I tried to like it!)

September Booknotes

 

“Books are time travel and space travel and mood-altering drugs. They are mind-melds and telepathy and past-life regression." - Toni Jordan

Atomic Bomb Book Trifecta – These three books about nuclear war are not listed in alphabetical order but rather in chronological order. Beginning in 1914, with what many people believe is the genesis of the idea of atomic weapons, H.G. Wells’ The World Set Free. Like his other futurist science fiction, this is his prophetic vision of atomic war published before nuclear fission was discovered in late 1938. 

Then moving forward in time to 1940 – 1945, The Devil Reached Toward the Sky is an engrossing oral history of the development of the atomic bombs. Finally, Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War describes the experiences of the victims of the 1945 atomic bombing of Nagasaki on that day and for the rest of their lives.

Fiction: Science Fiction

The World Set Free by H.G. Wells (published in 1914)

The World Set Free first spoke of the possibility of creating an atomic bomb. Prior to World War I, Wells predicted nuclear warfare years before official research began. He explains his vision of the chain reactions involved and the resulting radiation. Wells’ weapon has enormous destructive power and is dropped from airplanes wiping out everything for miles. He even used the term "atomic bombs."

“The atomic bomb flashed blinding scarlet in mid-air, and fell, a descending column of blaze eddying spirally in the midst of a whirlwind. Both the aeroplanes were tossed like shuttlecocks, hurled high and sideways … When he could look down again it was like looking down upon the crater of a small volcano. In the open garden before the Imperial castle a shuddering star of evil splendor spurted and poured up smoke and flame towards them like an accusation. They were too high to distinguish people clearly or mark the bomb’s effect upon the building until suddenly the facade tottered and crumbled before the flare as sugar dissolves in water.”

Wells goes on to describe the incredible political power mankind would obtain with the creation of nuclear weapons, but also the inevitable moral questions that would accompany the use of such weapons. This book may have been at least part of the original inspiration for the development of atomic weapons, as well as presenting many other ideas including a one-world government Wells called The World Republic, that will attempt to end all wars. While the League of Nations and United Nations have attempted to end all wars, war still exists. Meanwhile, atomic weapons are here to stay and could be used at any time.

“The power of destruction which had once been the ultimate privilege of government was now the only power left in the world--and it was everywhere.”- H.G. Wells

Nonfiction: History, World War II, Science, Atomic Warfare

TheDevil Reached Toward the Sky: An Oral History of the Making and Unleashing of the Atomic Bomb by Garrett M. Graff

Written by the author of The Only Plane in the Sky (an oral history of the September 11, 2001 attacks), The Devil Reached Toward the Sky is another excellent, “must-read” book! “Enriched by memoirs, diaries, letters, official documents, and news reports, this is an immersive and deeply human account of the then-secret Manhattan Project through the end of World War II and the dawning of the Cold War, capturing the scientific breakthroughs, military decisions, and profound ethical dilemmas that emerged from using nuclear weapons.”

 “The Atomic bomb is not an inhumane weapon. I think our best answer to anyone who doubts this is that we did not start the war, and if they don’t like the way we ended it, to remember who started it.” – General Groves

Most Americans are familiar with the movie Oppenheimer. This book goes into and way beyond his story. Drawing from over twenty-five oral history archives across the United States, Japan, and Europe, Graff has masterfully blended the memories and perspectives from key figures like Harry Truman and J. Robert Oppenheimer, the crews of the B-29 bombers (Enola Gay and Bock’s Car), and the haunting stories of those at ground zero in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

“It is not the scale of destruction that gave war a new dimension with the introduction of the atom bomb; what was new was the ease with which the weapon can be used … and therefore the terrible responsibility it would impose on the political and military leaders who would have to decide whether and when to use it.” - Rudolf Peierls

The Devil Reached Toward the Sky is a vivid, multi-dimensional view of events that reshaped the world. If you want to grasp the full impact of the atomic bomb on history and the enduring questions it raises about using such destructive power, this is an essential read.  

The last quote in the book: “Albert Einstein: I do not know how the Third World War will be fought, but I can tell you what they will use in the Fourth – rocks.”

Nonfiction: History, Atomic Warfare

Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War by Susan Southard

“Most Americans still frame nuclear war as a terrifying potential event rather than a past actuality with historic and scientific value.”

In the late morning of August 9, 1945, three days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the people of Nagasaki moved through another day of hunger and wartime routine. At 11:02 a.m. a brilliant flash illuminated the sky, followed by an explosion equal to 21,000 tons of TNT. With searing heat and an annihilating force that defies imagination, the blast tore through factories, shops, and homes, carrying unprecedented levels of radiation that penetrated the bodies of people and animals. Approximately 74,000 people were killed, and another 75,000 were wounded.

For much of the world, the United States’ 1945 atomic bombings of Japan represented an end to a long and costly global war. But for tens of thousands of survivors who barely escaped death beneath the mushroom cloud, their new lives as hibakusha (atomic bomb–affected people) had just begun.

Nagasaki takes us on the astonishing journeys of five survivors, all teenagers at the time of the bombing. We learn how they and hibakusha across the city navigate an uncertain future with painful, disfiguring injuries, acute and late-onset radiation-related illnesses, and haunting fears that they would pass on genetic disorders to their children and grandchildren. In a remarkable demonstration of human resilience, a small number of hibakusha made the very personal choice to speak out about their experiences, even as U.S. policies kept their suffering hidden in both in their own country and throughout the world. The survivors’ goal: To ensure that Nagasaki remains the last atomic-bombed city in history.

Not wanting to be drawn into the game of blame and counter-blame which still accompanies historical discussions about World War II, Southard brings the hibakusha stories to life through face-to-face interviews; photographic portraits from youth to old age; as well as family histories; media interviews; and official and private publications.

It took thousands of survivors’ accounts, movies, and books to counter the Holocaust denial. These five survivors perceive that the same counter-narrative is needed before the atom-bombed cities are lost in the “hole of history.” For them there is no enemy apart from war itself; they want to promote a 21st century which is based on compassion and sensitivity rather than self-destruction.

Related Booknotes: Quakers, Krishna, and ICBMs (May 2024)

Related Blog Post: They Thought the War Was On (Oct 2022)

Related Blog Post: Time Is Running Out … (Nov 2020)

Other books I read this month …

Nonfiction: Medicine, Science, Memoir

Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life by Louise Aronson

Last month I read Super Agers which was a digest of the most recent research into aging and health. This month I read Elderhood in which noted Harvard-trained geriatrician Louise Aronson uses stories from her quarter century of caring for patients, and draws from history, science, literature, popular culture, and her own life to “weave a vision of old age that's neither nightmare nor utopian fantasy--a vision full of joy, wonder, frustration, outrage, and hope about aging, medicine, and humanity itself.” It’s a book that tackles why aging must be understood and redefined and why the medical establishment’s usual goals of saving lives and curing disease are misplaced and ill-advised in many older patients.

Dr. Aronson makes many excellent points including these:

• There is a supremacy of bureaucracy over human decency and good medical care.

“Our insurance systems reimburse generously for chemotherapy but little for conversations of patient values and goals and wishes for end-of-life care, and nothing for the time a doctor spends figuring out how to get diapers and a commode for his patients with end-stage cancer.”

• Being “old” should not be classified as 65+. People in the Third Age of life (the young-old) have vast differences in health, activities and consumer roles. They are very distinct from the “old-old” who are truly infirm and dependent.

“There are six conditions participants in a recent study identified as worse than death: bowel and bladder incontinence, the inability to get out of bed, and needing around-the-clock care.”

• Pharmaceutical trials focus mostly on middle-aged, not elderly, targets. As a result, the side effects in the elderly are often minimized or glossed over entirely.
• It is easier for the elderly to get a cochlear implant than a hearing aid or laser treatments instead of eyeglasses. Yet a simple “fix” can do wonders by providing the elderly with a healthier, fully engaged life.

“The most fundamental consideration must be the moral one: Will we treat all human beings as human beings regardless of differences, or treat some as lesser beings? The unattainability of absolute equality is no excuse for the ruthlessness devaluation of individuals or social groups.”

• Successful aging is possible for those who do not perceive meaning in aging itself, but instead, perceive meaning in being themselves in old age. Adaptability and self-acceptance are key.

“Events are judged not on their entirety but on their moments of peak intensity and on their endings. And what is life but a long, messy, awful, wonderful event? Elderhood is life’s final act; what it looks like is up to us.”

Elderhood is for anyone who is aging – which is every human being! It is an empathetic look at a vital but often disparaged stage of life.

Nonfiction: Memoir, Literary Criticism

A Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me About Love, Friendship, and the Things That Really Matter by William Deresiewicz

Initially this book looks like a literary criticism, and in a way it is. But it’s more of a memoir - a memoir that uses literary criticism as a vehicle for explaining the author’s moral and intellectual development during his young adulthood.

Deresiewicz, now a professor of English, introduces himself as an obnoxious grad student, superior, cocky, self-involved, and a hater of Jane Austen without ever having read her work. But then he’s required to read Emma for a class, and something happens to him. The story of the superior, cocky, and self-involved heroine allows him to see himself for the first time. He learns he doesn’t know everything and needs to pay attention to the little things in life.

He then goes on to read more of Jane Austen and discovers even more “life lessons.”

• Pride and Prejudice: “Making mistakes is the only way to grow up. Being right might get you a pat on the head, but being wrong can help you find out who you really are.”
• Northanger Abbey: “We can never reach the end of what’s inside us, never know the limit of our own potential.”
• Mansfield Park: “People’s stories are the most important thing they have, and paying attention to those stories is just about the most important thing you can do for them.”
• Persuasion: “A true friend points out your mistakes – even at the risk of losing your friendship.”
• Sense and Sensibility: “Of all Austen’s beliefs about love, the hardest one to accept was this: not everyone is capable of it.”

If you are a Jane Austen fan you may already believe everything worth knowing about life and love can be learned in a Janes Austen novel. Deresiewicz thinks so, too. He soundly reaffirms this opinion that the world would be a better place if everyone just paid attention and listened to Jane Austen.

I found this book to be an entertaining and at times moving book. By focusing on the "subtleties of everyday life" in Austen's work, Deresiewicz demonstrates the power of literature to help us evaluate our own lives.

Reading Across the Seas Book Club: Tunisia

A Tunisian Tale: A Modern Arabic Novel by Hassouna Mosbahi, Max Weiss (Translator)

This unconventional novel explores the darker side of modern Tunisian society.

A man spreads rumors about a widowed mother's moral character among the people of a slum on the outskirts of Tunis. The slum is filled with migrants who have come to the city from the rural villages in search of a better life. Hearing the rumors about his mother, her twenty-year-old son takes matters into his own hands and commits an unspeakable crime.

A Tunisian Tale is disturbing as it alternates between the unrepentant sociopath son as he sits on death row and his murdered mother in the afterlife. The son guides us through his juvenile exploits and twisted memories. He also retells a Tunisian fairy tale as if he was the “hero” in the tale and in real life. Meanwhile the murdered mother calmly gives an account of her interrupted life from beyond the grave.

This novel reminds me of Camus' The Stranger (which I read in May) which is also a “modern classic” about an unrepentant sociopath. However, A Tunisian Tale focuses on the Tunisian culture’s obsession with women’s “honor.” This is not an uplifting tale. It is a book about shameful behavior towards women. As the son says, “People in my country say that it’s better for a person to live as a rooster for just one day than to be a chicken for an entire year.”

I am left with this thought, "The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame" – Oscar Wilde

Why Am I Getting the Finger?

 

During the last four months of weekly protesting, I have noticed that 99.99% of the people who yell obscenities at me or give me the finger are men. For three weeks straight, a man in a black BMW slowed down just to give me the finger. Why?

Obviously, these men have a First Amendment right to disagree with my Free Speech. I ignore them, but I still wonder why a grown man would give the finger to a “little old lady” holding a $1.50 sign from the used-to-be-dollar store? I wanted to understand so I began reading research (sources listed at the end). Here are a few reasons I discovered about why I am getting the finger.

Political or ideological opposition. A person may give the middle finger to show complete contempt for my cause, especially if they view my message as unreasonable, damaging, or counter to their own beliefs. By giving me the finger men can silently signal their strong disapproval and hostility toward me.

A sense of belittlement. A person might feel that my protest is a challenge to their way of life, authority, or sense of social order. The gesture is used to belittle me and my cause.

Emotional expression. The middle finger is a simple, nonverbal way to express strong emotions like rage, frustration, or displeasure. The anonymity of being in a car can make people feel emboldened to express these feelings without fear of direct confrontation.

But why so many men?  I had a theory but decided to see if there was any research on why so many men respond with aggressive words and gestures to protesters. I came across a theory called Precarious manhood (PM).

PM theory suggests that, unlike womanhood, manhood is not an automatic or permanent status. It must be actively achieved and publicly demonstrated. This theory also posits that because the status of being a "real man" is hard to earn and easy to lose, men may respond to threats to their masculinity with aggression. Research has connected these dynamics to voting behavior, support for aggressive policies, and political violence.

Research describes some elements of the precariousness of manhood. Here are a few:

Aggressive compensation: To reassert their masculine status, threatened men may engage in compensatory behaviors, including acts of aggression, dominance, or risk-taking. In the political arena, this can manifest as political aggression.

Political aggression: This is defined as the endorsement of political stances, policies, candidates, or strategies that signal strength, toughness, and force. Politics provides a socially acceptable and highly visible way for men to display their masculinity vicariously.

Reinforcing masculinity: Its use in a confrontation with a protesting group or single protester (me) may be a way of asserting dominance or toughness.

“Taken together, our findings support the notion that men who are likely to doubt their masculinity may support aggressive policies, politicians, and parties, possibly as a means of affirming their manhood,”

The studies' authors emphasize that their results do not suggest that precarious manhood is only relevant when it comes to aggressive policies or support for the political right. They propose that future research should consider whether PM shows itself among the political left.

In the meantime, I will “keep on keepin’ on” expressing my First Amendment rights knowing, for whatever reason, some man will most probably give me the finger. 

Sources:
DiMuccio SH, Knowles ED. Precarious Manhood Predicts Support for Aggressive Policies and Politicians. Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2021 Jul;47(7):1169-1187. doi: 10.1177/0146167220963577. Epub 2020 Oct 13. PMID: 33048007.

Vandello, Joseph A., and Jennifer K. Bosson. “Hard Won and Easily Lost: A Review and Synthesis of Theory and Research on Precarious Manhood.” Psychology of Men & Masculinity, vol. 14, no. 2, Apr. 2013, pp. 101–113.

Wintemute, GJ, Velasquez, B, Robinson, S, Tomsich, EA, Wright, MA, Shev, A. “PREPRINT: The MAGA Movement and Political Violence in 2024.” Centers for Violence Prevention, 25 June 2025, cvp.ucdavis.edu/research/preprint-maga-movement-and-political-violence-2024. Accessed 21 Sept. 2025.

August Booknotes

 

“There are people who think that things that happen in fiction do not really happen. These people are wrong.” - Neil Gaiman

Fiction: Historical Fiction, Archeology

The Dig by John Preston

I decided to read this book because I am a fan of Time Team, a British archeology show. The show started in 1994 and ran for 20 seasons. Now Time Team is on YouTube and this spring they had a dig at the setting of this book, Sutton Hoo.

The 1939 Sutton Hoo dig is the greatest Anglo-Saxon discovery ever in Britain. Archeologists uncovered an Anglo-Saxon burial ship for a king, long turned to sand, containing jewels and helmets, coins and gold trinkets, silver bowls and implements. When it was discovered, the find redefined Britain’s Dark Ages because it documented human capability and development.

The Dig is fiction but everything of significance in the novel is factual; Preston does not make up names or alter facts. At the same time, he shows exactly why fiction can be more effective than non-fiction in telling such a story because he puts you there, seeing through the eyes of people who are as involved with their emotions as they were with their hands.

Edith Pretty, the owner of Sutton Hoo, hires Basil Brown, a self-taught archeologist, to dig the mounds her late husband believed contained buried archeology. As Basil Brown digs, artifacts are excavated. The local museum is brought in to examine the artifacts. Once their intrinsic value is realized, additional people from the national museum arrive to oversee the dig.

As the dig proceeds amidst mounting anxiety about the coming war with Germany, each discovery leads to jealousy and tension among the members of the dig team. Month after month of intense activity leads to situations where locals are pitted against outsiders, professional archeologists push amateurs, including Basil Brown, out of the dig and onto the spoil mounds. Rivalries flourish. 

Given my interest in archeology, I was initially frustrated by the characters’ lack of excitement when they found artifacts! Then I wondered, since this is fiction, if the author intended to convey a parallel theme between the excavation of frail artifacts and the excavation of the characters’ thoughts and feelings. There is Peggy Piggott, a graduate student married to her professor and brought to the dig during their rather strange honeymoon simply because she is “light enough” not to disturb the fragile site. As she digs and scrapes the soil, Peggy begins to wonder if her marriage is what she thought it was. As she excavates the site, she “excavates” her emotions about her marriage. Preston expertly invents an emotional life for each character which enriches their stories without ever contradicting the facts. He also has the sense to leave some loose ends, so that the characters’ stories do not overwhelm the real one – the epic Sutton Hoo dig.

Fiction: Psychological Suspense, Mystery

The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes (published in 1913)

Former house servants, Mr. and Mrs. Bunting, have used their lifesavings to purchase a house. It is a large house, and their plan is to retire and live off the rent they will charge to lodgers. However, things do not go to plan. Lodgers are few and inconsistent. Soon they are close to financial ruin when they are finally blessed with a wealthy lodger, Mr. Sleuth. He even pays them more than the going rate and for a whole month! Mr. Sleuth has some “quirky” behaviors, but he is undoubtedly a gentleman, which is what the couple were praying for as their former lodgers had been of the “lower class.”

Mrs. Bunting comes to know their lodger and his eccentric ways best, as she is the only one who Mr. Sleuth will allow to clean his room and bring meals for him. It appears that he has no relatives or friends, no one comes to visit him. Mr. Sleuth goes out at odd times of night and sleeps during the day. He reads the Bible aloud to himself, especially passages about the evilness of women. Mrs. Bunting doesn't mind his quirkiness, because Mr. Sleuth has paid for a month in advance and she knows he has more money for many more months’ rent to come. However, he is shy, which causes Mrs. Bunting to feel protective of him and, yet, at the same time, afraid of him.

Shortly after Mr. Sleuth’s arrival, several women are murdered. To the deepening horror of the Buntings, they slowly begin to suspect their lodger is the murderer, known as The Avenger.

A mound of circumstantial evidence begins to accumulate in the minds of Mr. and Mrs. Bunting. Each new revelation makes it clearer that their “angel of providence” paying them rent, might be a devil in disguise. A tug of war wages in their consciences between the specter of losing rental income and the fact that they may be sheltering a killer.

There is zero gore. The Lodger is a character study, a morality tale. It is brooding, melodramatic, and intense. I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

Nonfiction: Personal Finance, Self Help

No New Things: A Radically Simple 30-Day Guide to Saving Money, the Planet, and Your Sanity by Ashlee Piper

Publisher’s Description: “For nearly two years, Ashlee Piper challenged herself to buy nothing new. And in the process, she got out of debt, cut clutter, crushed her goals, and became healthier and happier than ever—all the things she’d always wanted to do but “never had time to” (because she was mindlessly scrolling, shopping, spending, and stressing). After a decade of fine-tuning, No New Things guides readers through the same revolutionarily simple challenge that has helped thousands of global participants find freedom and fulfillment in just thirty days.”

I am not sure why I chose this book! I think this was written for a young adult who is purchasing new, unnecessary things regularly. I am old and I already have more stuff than I need. The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson is more “up my alley.”

However, since the author was a political strategist before she became a writer, I found Part 2: How Did We Get Here? to be the most interesting section of the book for me. Piper briefly discusses the history of marketing with an emphasis on how Americans shifted from citizens to consumers.  

“To be a good citizen, one must consume. And through it all, our attitude toward consumption was being reprogrammed from meeting needs to manufacturing mythic wants. As time goes on, this production-consumption loop continues to wield devasting impacts not only on our health, our wallets, and the perpetuation of inequities, but on our planet.”

As a professor of marketing and a former high-level political strategist, Piper describes the tremendous power of marketing. When done ethically, it can help change hearts and minds – think of public service ads. However, 99.9% of the marketing you’re exposed to daily is “designed to keep you feeling like you’ll never have or be enough.” Basically, making you feel less so you’ll buy more.

Piper goes on to describe “emotional puppeteering.” This can be seen as retailers push “must-have” items or social media influencers hawking things they deem “essential.” These marketing techniques blur the lines between actual needs and wants.

“The reality is you’re never just being sold a product; you’re being sold a dream – and that dream is usually whatever you wish you were or had more or less of.”

After reading Piper’s section on marketing, I was reminded of the most notorious political marketing, “Language: A Key Mechanism of Control” by Newt Gingrich. It was a pamphlet written in 1990 to market Republican candidates. Gingrich’s marketing plan provided a relatively simple message that branded Republicans as the pro-family, law and order, common sense party of patriots, and Democrats as corrupt traitors who were anti-flag and anti-child. It didn’t matter whether there was any truth to the characterizations, it was marketing - propaganda.

After 35 years of listening to this divisive language it’s no wonder people now think in terms of “us” versus “them.” Like all marketing, this pamphlet and the political language it inspired was designed to keep you feeling like you’ll never have enough or be enough because of “them.”

Nonfiction: Medicine, Health, Science

Super Agers: An Evidence-Based Approach to Longevity by Eric Topol

The author, Eric Topol, is an American cardiologist, scientist, and author. He is the founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, a professor of Molecular Medicine and Executive Vice-President at Scripps Research Institute, and a senior consultant at the Division of Cardiovascular Diseases at Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, California.

Ninety-five percent of Americans over the age of sixty have at least one chronic disease and almost as many have two. Topol explains the power of the new approaches to the worst chronic killers—diabetes/obesity, heart disease, cancer, and neurodegeneration—and how treatments can begin long before middle age, and even long after.

This fact-dense book is an evidence-based digest of advances in medicine, science, and technology that directly affect our lifespans. Topol outlines the evidence of how these advances may change aging and provide possible paths forward for millions of people.

“It is not enough for a great nation to merely to have added new years to life – our objective must be to add new life to those years.” – John F. Kennedy

Here are just a few facts that intrigued me from Super Agers:

• Retina photographs can be used to predict the risk of heart attack and stroke. (I have a photo annually to track a “freckle” on my retina. I am going to ask about this at my next appointment!)
• I learned we have a glymphatic system in our brain. It functions like our lymphatic system in the rest of our body. While we sleep, the glymphatic system clears metabolic waste from our brains. Which is why sleep is essential for good health; seven hours each night is optimal.
• The HPV vaccine is excellent protection against cervical cancer! In Scotland 90% of teens/women (up to the age of 45) received the HPV vaccine. Then they monitored the outcome for 40,000 women who received the vaccine. How many cases of cervical cancer occurred in these 40,000 Scottish women? – 0 – zero. In the USA only 60 % of teens/women (up to the age of 45) have received the HPV vaccine. The American Cancer Society estimates for 2025 are 13,360 cases of cervical cancer with 4,320 deaths. Sad.
• Family history of Alzheimer’s disease is the most important factor for the disease. The genetic risk increases if there is a maternal history of memory impairment at any age. Walking matters! An extensive gene expression analysis of over 1,000 genes linked to Alzheimer’s identified “exercise as the top theoretical treatment.”

There is so much more detailed information in this book! Topol explains what we do and do not know (yet!) about aging. It is well worth reading for anyone interested in medical science and hopes for a healthy future.

Reading Across the Seas Book Club: International Fiction, Fantasy

The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H.G. Parry (New Zealand)

Publisher’s Description: “For his entire life, Charley Sutherland has concealed a magical ability he can't quite control: he can bring characters from books into the real world. His older brother, Rob -- a young lawyer with a normal house, a normal fiancée, and an utterly normal life -- hopes that this strange family secret will disappear with disuse, and he will be discharged from his life's duty of protecting Charley and the real world from each other. But then, literary characters start causing trouble in their city, making threats about destroying the world... and for once, it isn't Charley's doing.

There's someone else who shares his powers. It's up to Charley and a reluctant Rob to stop them, before these characters tear apart the fabric of reality.”

This is a story of fictionalized characters being read to life. For fans of literature this may be just the book for them. However, it was just “okay” for me. I had a very difficult time getting into the story and then maintaining an interest in it. Between the characters, the writing style and the length, it was just not the novel for me. It eventually became a chore to read but it was for Book Club, so I pressed on. I think the following quote from the book is a good descriptive summary of The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heap.   

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“It doesn’t have too,” I said. “It’s a story.”

However, the overall premise of the plot was creative. Readers who enjoy magic and fantasy should enjoy this book, and they may also be inspired to delve deeper into the world of English Literature.

Fiction: Magical Realism

Weyward by Emilia Hart

 

Weyward follows three women through time, all of them related. In 1619 Altha is a healer who is on trial for witchcraft after a man was found trampled to death by cows. In the 1940s, Violet has an unfeeling, cold father who refuses to tell her about her deceased mother. In modern times, Kate is desperate to escape her abusive husband. These women are separated by time but not by blood, and all of them face the worst possible realities that their respective society can provide.

"Weyward, they called us, when we would not submit, would not bend to their will. But we learned to wear the name with pride"

This book deals with domestic violence and rape and is not a book for the faint-hearted as these incidents are realistically described. Every single man in this book was utterly horrible, except Kate’s deceased father. Each of the Weyward women’s experiences paints a polarizing black and white picture that men are awful and women are great. This supports the theme of women’s resilience throughout history, especially when dealing with a patriarchal society. However, the thematic impact was dulled by the fact that these women were also powerful witches.

“We never thought of ourselves as witches, my mother and I. For this was a word invented by men, a word that brings power to those that speak it, not those that it describes. A word that builds gallows and pyres, turns breathing women into corpses.”

The situations the characters faced were realistic but how they dealt with them was magical. Because key moments often revolved around acts of magic, the focus shifted from celebrating internal strength to showcasing extraordinary magical powers. It felt like the message was, "Women with magical powers are strong.” But what about “Women are strong”, period?

Weyward is well-written. The descriptions of nature are vivid, and the characters are believable. While it switches back and forth between each of the three storylines, the author has created a seamless tale across time. Ultimately, Weyward is about what women have experienced throughout history at the hands of abusive men and the impact of generational trauma.

Fiction: Classic American

Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson

One evening I watched an episode of “Dr. G: America’s Most Shocking Cases.” It told the story of author, Sherwood Anderson. He died an agonizing death after he unknowingly swallowed a martini olive toothpick. (He was known to be a heavy drinker!)  I realized that I had not read any of his books and it was time that I did!

Winesburg, Ohio is a book of short stories that begins with an old writer thinking of the people he has known throughout his life. Particularly entrenched in his mind are the “grotesques” of Winesburg, the small fictional town in Ohio in the 1890s. (There is a Winesburg in Ohio, but this story is based on Anderson’s experiences living in Clyde, Ohio.) In this small, seemingly inconsequential place there are many points of view. Anderson stories reveal a fascination with the thoughts and motivations hiding beneath the surface of Winesburg’s citizens.

One man George Willard, a reporter for the newspaper, is a frequent character in the stories. As Winesburg’s only reporter, he is a close observer who tries to record the affairs of the townspeople. His occupation gives him an air of importance that leads many people to confide in him.

Consequently, we learn about an array of interesting and unusual characters who all suffer from loneliness. Each person longs for meaningful human contact, whether from a friend or lover, to fill an aching gap in their lives. They all struggle from an inability to adequately voice their desires. Often this inability to express themselves verbally leads to significant, and sometimes harmful, physical expressions.  

Winesburg, Ohio is a dark and strange book.  While Anderson’s depiction of loneliness is often sad, it also has its touching moments. In this small town he beautifully shows that pain, longing, and uncertainty are unavoidable aspects of what it means to be human. I was left with the thought that we must love and cherish the one and only life we have.