December Booknotes

  

“It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it.”― Oscar Wilde

Non-fiction: Memoir, Medical, Science

All That Moves Us: A Pediatric Neurosurgeon, His Young Patients, and Their Stories of Grace and Resilience by Jay Wellons

This is a fascinating, insightful and reader-friendly book on a complex topic – brain surgery. The author, Jay Wellons, is a pediatric neurosurgeon. He makes lightning-quick decisions on intricate surgeries to save his young patients. But, more importantly, he is a highly compassionate human being.

He has written an account of a neurosurgeon's journey through grief, drawing inspiration from the innocence, and hopefulness of his young patients. Wellons masterfully intertwines his patients’ stories and anatomical explanations with his own experiences of navigating the profound, haunting realm between life and death.
All That Moves Us is a testament to the power of human connection and the indomitable spirit of those facing immense challenges at such a young age. I think there’s a lot that can be learned from the unwavering dedication of doctors like Wellons, as well as the perseverance of these patients and their families.

This book reignited my hope for humanity.  Reading about the immense effort, dedication, and compassion of doctors like Wellons inspires me to choose being kind over being “right.”  I am so glad I read this beautiful exploration of grief, healing, and the strength that lies within each of us.

Non-fiction:  Psychology

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink

Why do we choose to do what we do?  Probably no one (or very few people!) read my monthly booknotes and no one pays me for my writing.  So why do I do this?  Drive explains the answer. I do it for me. I do it for intrinsic reasons. I do it because it challenges me to contemplate and then summarize what I read. I derive personal pleasure from it.  Plus, perhaps most importantly, I am free to write whatever I want.  Now THAT'S incentive!

So, what did I think of this book?  This book is a good summation of a lot of science and theories. Plus, it includes a lengthy book review section at the end. The main point of Drive is that rewards don't work as a motivating factor. People are positively motivated by internal drives, as opposed to external forces.  Drive discusses workplace motivation, which will be of interest to managers and “bosses.”  Basically, if you want the best work out of people, let them have freedom and flow, don't micromanage, and don't use money as an incentive for creative output.

Ultimately, I found the self-determination theory extremely interesting. I suspect that Drive will have me thinking about what I do and how I do it especially as I am retired and have a spectrum of activity choices. 

👉“The science shows that the secret to high performance isn’t our biological drive or our reward-and-punishment drive, but our third drive—our deep-seated desire to direct our own lives, to extend and expand our abilities, and to make a contribution.”

Non-fiction: Memoir, Spirituality

Happiness Becomes You: A Guide to Changing Your Life for Good by Tina Turner

*NOTE:  This book has been published in 44 countries and 16 foreign-language editions including Spanish, French, Italian, Finnish, German, Portuguese, Dutch, and Swedish.  Happiness Becomes You became a global best seller upon its publication, including eight weeks on the Top 20 of the Spiegel best seller list for Germany, Austria, Holland, and Switzerland. It also reached the No. 1 best-selling spot in the spiritual-themed book category.

Tina Turner (1939-2023) wasn’t just a talented singer and performer; she was a true spiritual warrior whose experience of overcoming abuse to become one of the most famous solo performers is well known. But not everyone knows about her deeply personal, spiritual journey. In this book, Tina gives us an intimate glimpse into the practices that grounded her for nearly half a century, helped her “turn poison to medicine,” and guided her toward becoming her truest and best self.

In Happiness Becomes You, Tina encourages us to overcome life’s obstacles and transform our lives. She explains how to use specific spiritual tools and sage advice. Drawing on the lessons of her own experiences, Tina illuminates the practical principles of Buddhism and how, since 1973, they helped her rise above despair and adversity to joy and stability.

👉“Each of us is born, I believe, with a unique mission, a purpose in life that only we can fulfill. We are linked by a shared responsibility: to help our human family grow kinder and happier.”

Non-fiction:  American History

The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough

I met, fleetingly, David McCullough years ago at a National Book Festival in Washington, D. C. There he graciously signed a book that I gave to my mother.  Both my mother and I loved his books, especially Truman! 

The Johnstown Flood was his first book, published in 1968.  McCullough spent time speaking with people who lived through the flood, and he also completed other, intensive research in preparation for writing this book. Upon its publication The Johnstown Flood rekindled national interest in the flood and was the catalyst to McCullough's accomplished career as a writer of American history.

On May 31, 1889, the South Fork Dam broke and sent the contents of Lake Conemaugh careening down the valley toward Johnstown, Pennsylvania, stripping away everything in its path. McCullough recounts what happened before and after this preventable disaster. As in many tragedies, those in charge were warned ahead of time, and remediation suggested, but these remedies were ignored. This account tells of the contributing factors of business decisions, scientific principles, weather, and a club of wealthy people who were not interested in taking advice.

McCullough analyzes the entire sequence of events – from the history of the dam’s construction to the aftermath of the disaster. It is a detailed account that focuses on personal stories as well as the larger picture. The Johnstown Flood was one of the first times Clara Baron’s Red Cross participated in civilian relief efforts for a disaster. McCullough vividly describes the incredible power of natural forces and how this tragic event brought out both the best and worst of human nature.

International Fiction:

Poland, a Green Land by Aharon Appelfeld, Stuart Schoffman (Translator - from Hebrew)

This is a fascinating book about a Tel Aviv shopkeeper who visits his parents’ Polish birthplace to come to terms with their complex legacy. He travels to Poland to see and experience the small village of his ancestors. He learns about the Jewish persecution by the Polish people within the village and the brutality of how his ancestors were murdered by the Nazis. Fortunately, some Jews survived by living in the forest or hiding in Polish homes and that’s how his parents survived. The book is slow and deliberate, allowing the anti-Semitism to creep out bit by bit in the idyllic Polish countryside – lending great believably to the story.

Poland, a Green Land meanders along and I wondered where it was going, but then I hit a certain point when I just had to put the book down and think. Contemplate. Wonder about the significance of the book. I asked myself, “Does Poland, a Green Land speak to today's world? How?” As I read and pondered, I found myself immersed in a small Polish town where there once were Jews, but now there are none.

This book digs into the Holocaust and why the Jews were (and still are!) so hated. The continued animosity between opposing religions is evident - why can’t we just be kind to each other and allow people to have their own views, beliefs, and faith without forcing ours on them?  We do so much harm by focusing on “being right” instead of “being kind”.

Poland, a Green Land is haunting. It is difficult. It is a painful meditation on grappling with past hatreds that are all too present today.

Fiction: Mystery

The Raging Storm by Ann Cleeves

When Jem Rosco, a sailor, adventurer and local legend, arrives in the village of Greystone, Devon the residents are delighted they have a celebrity in their midst.  Staying in a local cottage, Jem regals the locals with stories nightly in the pub and hinting of an upcoming rendezvous with some unknown person. A couple of weeks into his visit, Jem disappeared. Then an SOS call is received, and a body is found in a dinghy anchored off Scully Cove – a place that holds its own mysteries and legends.

The case brings Detective Inspector Matthew Venn and his team to Graystone.  Their investigation reveals facts and possible motives throughout the community and in Jem’s history, keeping the team very busy searching for more evidence and details. Then a second body is found. As Matthew and his team continue to investigate, his judgment becomes clouded. This leads to the realization that that no one is safe, not even Matthew himself from Scully Cove's dark secrets.

As in all of Cleeves’ novels I’ve read, the characters are well developed whlile the English landscape itself becomes another character in the story. Her books are enthralling and always satisfying. I love Ann Cleeves’ novels including her Shetland Island and Vera Stanhope series!

Fiction: Fantasy, Magical Realism

Shadowbahn by Steve Erickson

*This is one of the weirdest books I have ever read!*

The sudden appearance of the Twin Towers in the Badlands of South Dakota decades after 9/11 captures the attention of millions, creating a pilgrimage to the “American Stonehenge.” The buildings are empty except for Jesse Presley, the twin brother of Elvis who, in our reality, was stillborn.  Jesse awakens on a conference room table inside one of the Towers while multitudes of people standing outside the Towers hear music, but each person hears something different. 

Meanwhile a brother, Parker, and sister, Zema, are driving across country to view the Twin Towers in the Badlands. Their father has given them a twin set of playlists to inspire them on their journey. He has also included notes explaining the songs and their significance.

Music and explanatory notes about songs play a large part in the narrative.  I have knowledge of only a small fraction of the music referred to, but the notes about the song pairs in the father’s playlist are comprehensible. I felt I was getting some significant glimpses as to how a song becomes embedded in our culture at a particular time and place. I thought the notes were attempting to explain how music can capture both our past and present while directing us to the future. 

My favorite example of the song-pair-music notes: “A Change is Gonna Come” and “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” The first song because any national discography that excludes it invalidates itself, and the second because when the singer sings, “As I walk this land of broken dreams,” it becomes clear that the thing breaking his heart is the very land itself that he walks.

It is VERY apparent from the git-go that things are different in the Shadowbahn world. To add to my feeling of confusion, the author constantly flips the narrative from the “real” world we know to the “magical” world that might have been.  In the “magical” world John Kennedy never became president because he was murdered while in a “den of iniquity” and the United States is divided into the nations of Union and Disunion. 

I didn’t understand all of Shadowbahn but I kept reading.  The text was laced with long stream-of-consciousness diatribes that became extremely tedious. The characters were blah - unbelievable. I kept hoping to find some logic in the plot, but it never appeared. 

I wouldn’t call Shadowbahn an “alternative history” or a science fiction tale of how parallel universes might operate. Perhaps its magical realism is just an exploration of the emptiness of the American Dream and how music can help us find our way???!

Fiction: Contemporary Realism

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

“Yellowface” is a term referencing when a white actor dons “Asian-esque” stage makeup and costuming to play an Asian character. (Most recently a black-wigged Scarlett Johansson was cast as the Japanese protagonist, in the film The Ghost Shell.)  This novel, Yellowface, offers a literary exploration of cultural appropriation taken to a new level.

Yellowface is about a young white author who steals the manuscript of her dead Asian friend, finishes it, and publishes it as her own. Throughout the novel, June Hayward, publishing as Juniper Song, works to maintain the lie that her first big hit novel The Last Front, a story about Chinese workers in the British Army during WWI, is indeed her work and her work only.

👉"That's been the key to staying sane throughout all of this: holding the line, maintaining my innocence. In the face of it all, I've never once cracked, never admitted the theft to anyone. By now, I mostly believe the lie myself," - June tries to convince herself.

Not only does she face accusations of theft and plagiarism, but the optics of a white woman possibly profiting off the work of an Asian woman also create a platform for accusations of racism and "yellowface."

As the public continues to challenge the authenticity of June's novel and June herself, she finds herself at the center of online harassment and death threats that sends her into a downward spiral. As June becomes more erratic, her life falls apart trying to maintain the lie.  The online vitriol exposes June’s life, and she is beat up in the public court of opinion with words, memes and half-truths.

By the end of the novel, more questions arise about the role social media plays in shaping an authors' career since, "reputations in publishing are built and destroyed, constantly, online." Yellowface also raises questions about desire and greed, and about privilege on both sides of the spectrum for white writers and diverse writers. As the protagonist says, "It all boils down to self-interest. Manipulating the story...If publishing is rigged, you might as well make sure it's rigged in your favor."

*NOTE: The beauty and irony of this novel is that the author, Kuang, herself is an Asian writer telling this story through the eyes of a white writer! *

November Booknotes

 

“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.” ― Charles W. Eliot 

Book Club Selection: International Fiction (Bolivia)

Andean Express by Juan De Recacoechea, Adrian Althoff (Translator)

Andean Express takes place in 1952, largely among the first-class passengers of an overnight train traveling across the Altiplano from La Paz, Bolivia to the Chilean coastal city of Arica. The plot generally followed Murder on the Orient Express and other mystery train rides, however, it's not really a mystery since we know exactly who commits the murder so it's more of a morality story. The murdered man is a wealthy, middle-aged, obnoxious bully, and the owner of a mining company who has cheated and betrayed numerous people over the years - but is his death justifiable?

The Agatha-Christie-like cast of characters is a potpourri: a circus contortionist, a Russian Jew, a card hustler, a phony Franciscan father, a hard-drinking Irishman, a contract killer with a peg leg, and so on. So it's a who-done-it on a 24-hour train ride with a lot of local color and quite a bit of sex. This is definitely a male author writing for males - it's hard to imagine a more sexist novel. All the men talk about going to a brothel once a week, or knowing a certain madam and how good her girls are. That isn't the sum total of the conversations but a large portion of them.

Its saving grace is simply a plot where victims get revenge. All in all, Andean Express is not as mysterious as I was hoping, but it was a quick and off-color read. 

Audiobook Non-Fiction: History, Architecture, Science

At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson

👉“Houses aren’t refuges from history. They are where history ends up.”

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Yes, it is science and history but the way Bryson “teaches” the reader is both informative and entertaining. Author Bill Bryson was born in Des Moines, Iowa. He settled in England in 1977, was a journalist and then a full time writer. After living many years with his English wife and four children in North Yorkshire, they moved to New Hampshire for a few years. Currently Bryson and his family live in England.

This is the story of Bryson’s house, an English parsonage built in 1851. He takes readers through each room – bedroom, bathroom, dining room, etc. - discussing the history, scientific breakthroughs, and characters that helped create it. Through this literary device, readers learn the history of everyday English and American life and culture. He tells the stories of the numerous, important and, yet, obscure inventors and craftsmen who improved our domestic lives.

One of the many things I liked about this book was the wide variety of topics discussed and how briskly Bryson moves through them. If he hits a subject you don't care for or one that you already know about, just wait a few minutes and he'll move on to something else. For example, during the chapter on the bathroom he discusses various cholera epidemics in England and who figured out that contaminated water was the problem, which I already knew from reading the excellent book The Ghost Map. So I waited patiently for Bryson to summarize what I already knew, and then he was on to discussing how London's sewer system was developed. This book reminds me of someone wandering around, picking up seemingly common bits of “stuff” and then explaining – clearly and with humor - just what it is that makes the "stuff" so interesting.

This was a light read, but not lean. Full of fascinating history and scientific information, At Home still managed to make me laugh and then ponder how we got to where we are today. Bryson is such an entertaining and knowledgeable writer. Plus, he is even a good reader - the audiobook is narrated by him. At Home was lots of fun and well worth reading!

Non-Fiction: Government, Political Science, History

The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens by Richard Haass

👉"We get the government and the country we deserve. Getting the one we need, however, is up to us."

The author is a veteran U.S. diplomat and now the head of the Council on Foreign Relations. He was concerned, as are many Americans, that we are are losing the idea that we have rights but we also have some obligations both to one another as citizens and to our country.

The Bill of Obligations is a common sense approach to developing personal habits that put democracy first. The author himself sums it up: "The central argument of this book is that American democracy will endure only if obligations join rights at the core of a widely shared understanding of citizenship. By definition, obligations are behaviors that should happen but are not required as a matter of law." Obligation is the respect we owe one another, and it is sorely lacking, overshadowed by the clamor about 'rights.'

Haass suggests these ten habits:

1. Be informed – Be a critical consumer of information. Many of us have lost the ability to distinguish between facts and disinformation, or to discern between what's a fact, what's a recommendation, what's a prediction, what's analysis.

2. Get involved – VOTE!! Participate in local, state, and/or national organizations and gatherings. 

👉“The impact of participation trickles up. Rosa Parks didn’t start out by taking on all of Jim Crow; she started by taking a seat on a local bus.”

3. Stay open to compromise – Compromise is NOT weakness! Don’t always reject compromise, but be sure what is gained is equal to or greater than what is given up. It is also necessary to ask what is likely to follow the compromise.

4. Remain civil – Use manners, respect, courtesy, politeness to all, regardless of disagreement.

👉“When facts change, I change my mind.”

5. Reject violence – Support policy change through legislative action, civil disobedience and nonviolent protest within existing law and order – “good trouble, necessary trouble.” A protester acting within law and order is prepared to pay a price for her behavior – and she carries out her protest or actions peacefully.

6. Value norms – Norms, unlike laws, are the unwritten traditions, rules customs, conventions, codes of conduct and practices of a democratic society. Related to the spirit and intent of the law, norms – like concession speeches or congratulatory phone calls to election winners - cannot be formally required but they are essential for a democracy to be successful.

👉Al Gore explained why he accepted the result of the disputed 2000 Presidential election: “For the sake of our unity as a people and the strength of our democracy.”

 7. Promote the common good – “The Golden Rule” At best, choosing to do things that assist others; at a minimum, avoiding doing things that harm others. Sooner or later obligations to fellow citizens can come into tension with individual rights. (ie: masking, vaccines)

👉“Your right to swing your arm ends where the other man’s nose begins.”

8. Respect Government Services – Given how important government is, the reaction to imperfect or flawed government performance should be better government. Promote and/or engage in government service, and not just military service: teaching, building and maintaining infrastructure, community service, VISTA, Teach for America, Senior Corps, etc.

9. Support the teaching of Civics – Teach the basic documents nationwide: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution (Bill of Rights and Amendments) Washington’s Farewell Address, Emancipation Proclamation, and Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.

10. Put country first – This habit provides guidance for all the preceding! These obligations encourage behaviors, norms, relationships and practices that over time will buttress our democracy. The notion of citizenship that places obligations on equal footing with rights is not intended to detract from rights. Both, rights in combination with obligations, are a benefit to ourselves, our society and our nation.

👉“Rugged individualism is not sufficient to constitute a democracy; democracy also is fraternity and cooperation for the common good… When union is stressed to the exclusion of freedom, we fall into totalitarianism; but when freedom is stressed exclusively we fall into chaos.” 

Non-Fiction: Science, Medicine, Politics, Health

The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science: A Scientist's Warning by Peter J. Hotez

The author, Peter J. Hotez, is an American scientist, pediatrician, and advocate in the fields of global health, vaccinology, and neglected tropical disease control. He serves as founding dean and chief of the Baylor College of Medicine National School of Tropical Medicine in the Department of pediatrics and holds the Texas Children's Hospital Endowed Chair in Tropical Pediatrics. He has helped develop vaccines against hookworm, schistosomiasis and other tropical diseases neglected by the pharmaceutical industry. He is also the author of Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel's Autism: My Journey as a Vaccine Scientist, Pediatrician, and Autism Dad.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Hotez, in his famous bowtie, appeared daily on major news networks. He often went without sleep, working around the clock to develop a nonprofit COVID-19 vaccine and to keep the public informed. During that time, he was one of the most trusted voices on the pandemic and was even nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his selfless work. … Yet, he also became one of the main targets of anti-science rhetoric that gained traction through conservative news media (Fox). As a result, he and his family received, and continue to receive, a multitude of politically-motivated, death threats (most are emailed on Sundays!?) simply because he was and is doing his job – saving lives!

As a result of the increasing threats, Hotez began to research how the anti-vaccine movement grew into a dangerous and prominent anti-science element in American politics. He describes the devastating impacts it has had on Americans' health and lives. Because Hotez has endured antagonism from anti-vaxxers and been at the forefront of both essential scientific discovery and advocacy, he is uniquely qualified to tell this story. By weaving his personal experiences with information on how the anti-vaccine movement became a tool of far-right political figures around the world, Hotez opens readers' eyes to the dangers of anti-science. He explains how anti-science became a major societal and lethal force: “In the first years of the pandemic, more than 200,000 unvaccinated Americans needlessly died despite the widespread availability of COVID-19 vaccines.” But even as he paints a picture of the world under a shadow of aggressive ignorance, Hotez demonstrates his innate optimism, offering solutions for how to combat science denial and save lives in the process.

The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science is not the easiest book to read – sometimes dry and repetitive -, but ultimately Hotez’s message is vitally important! Given our current worldwide swing towards authoritarian political leaders, I found his review of anti-science authoritarian regimes particularly significant. Authoritarian regimes have historically waged war against scientists. Hotez highlights disturbing parallels between the use of disinformation by the modern right (MAGA in the U.S.) and similar historical campaigns by the Soviet Union and Nazi Party.

Non-Fiction: History, Biography, Politics

Differ We Must: How Lincoln Succeeded in a Divided America by Steve Inskeep

Through sixteen vignettes of Lincoln's encounters with a diverse group of people, some well-known (like Frederick Douglass and George McClellan), others less so (like William Florville, Lincoln's hometown barber and Lean Bear), Inskeep gives us an instructive picture of Lincoln's politics and personality, his innate discernment, resolute patience and keen insight into human motivations.

In each encounter, Lincoln meets with someone who differed passionately from him and most of the people he meets are people who want something from him. The people in these encounters range from common soldiers to heartbroken mothers to powerful politicians and industrialists. Each encounter illustrates Lincoln’s ability to tell a story and then ask the person to tell their story. He frequently used humor to defuse situations but then was able to make his beliefs actionable and continue to protect his moral commitments. This book illustrates how Lincoln was adept at bridging divides, building constructive debates, navigating corrosive political factions and focusing on bigger issues.

Like many historians and biographers, Inskeep is not only trying to teach us about Lincoln, he wants us to take these “Lincoln Lessons” and apply them today. Lincoln was willing to listen to and engage with people he disagreed with; changed his mind; compromised; admitted mistakes; and kept his focus on preservation of the union. Through Lincoln's examples, Inskeep illustrates how almost all of our current elected officials have failed dramatically as leaders and he shows a way forward for our fragile democracy.

Lincoln is my “favorite” President and, over the years, I have read multiple biographies and histories about him. Yet Differ We Must enlightened me the most about Lincoln’s leadership ability and how he focused on one thing above all others: preservation of the union. By focusing on Lincoln’s strong leadership skills within the context of sixteen interactions, this book doesn't take months to read - it takes a few days. Well researched, Inskeep includes 68 pages of documentary notes with citations, a bibliography and an index. This is an excellent, thought-provoking book.

Non-Fiction: Astronomy, Space, Science

Fire in the Sky: Cosmic Collisions, Killer Asteroids, and the Race to Defend Earth by Gordon L. Dillow

In my high school German language class, I had to translate a German scientist’s article about the 1908 Tunguska Event in Russia - I was intrigued. Then decades later there was the 2013 event in Chelyabinsk, Russia - I was fascinated!

Finally … a book about asteroids and meteors written for a non-scientist like me! Asteroids crashing into the Earth may be a staple of modern disaster movies (Deep Impact, Armageddon, etc.) but not that long ago no one paid attention to the threat that asteroids, comets, and meteorites could pose to life on Earth. Fire in the Sky explores the science and history behind our knowledge of cosmic collisions and the threat they may pose to all of us. With lively and often humorous writing, Fire in the Sky explores not only the science behind these incidents, but the measures astronomers are taking to track and catalog these Near Earth Objects (NEO).

I take some comfort in the fact that a “war gaming” scenario was run by various agencies and organizations to try to get an idea of what would happen if a NEO was headed for our planet. It raised some interesting issues, such as using techniques (basically “blasting”) to change the path of the NEO in order to shift the endangered area (such as moving the impact zone from one country to another?! or over an unpopulated area). Also, scientists stressed the need to be aware of their word choice when discussing Earth defense programs (don’t say nukes or nuclear weapons, say “atomic deflection devices”).

Astronomers are searching nightly for asteroids and comets that could cause extinction-level events on our planet. However, the idea of an asteroid or comet impacting with planet Earth and causing a catastrophe is still treated as a joke despite the fact a major asteroid has collided with the Earth once every few thousand years. Actually the last dominant species on Earth before Humans - Dinosaurs - was wiped out by an asteroid. Satellite sensors confirm that a Hiroshima-scale blast occurs in the atmosphere every year, and a smaller, one-kiloton blast every month. But are we really ready if one such killer asteroid was heading our way?

👉“It’s not a question of if, It’s only a question of when. And at this point, we can only hope that the world will be ready.”

Non-Fiction: Psychology, Sociology

How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen by David Brooks

👉“There is one skill that lies at the heart of any healthy person, family, school, community organization, or the ability to see someone else deeply and make them feel seen—to accurately know another person, to let them feel valued, heard, and understood.”

Basically How to Know a Person explores the topic of human connection and its importance in today's society. This book strives to be a practical how-to guide to equip readers on their quest to a better understanding of fellow human beings. It is full of insights and practical tools on how to live well.

Most helpful, for me, was the chapter about thought-provoking questions to ask another person. Some examples include: What do you want to offer the world? What are you doing when you feel most alive? How exactly do you fill your days? What crossroads are you at? What would you do if you weren’t afraid? If you died tonight, what would you regret not doing? If we meet a year from now, what will we be celebrating? What have you said ‘yes’ to that you no longer believe in? Tell me about a time you adapted to change. How did you come to believe in XYZ? Tell me about the person who shaped your values most. What are you most self-confident about? What has become clearer to you as you have aged?

My most memorable insight: “A person is a point of view. Every person you meet is a creative artist who takes the events of life and, over time, creates a very personal way of seeing the world.”

Brooks does a great job of balancing psychological and neuroscience research with insights from the arts, philosophy, history, education, stories of real people, and his own efforts to grow as a person. The only slightly negative aspect were the examples of experiences from Brooks’ largely affluent circle of acquaintances and the insights he gathered from their dinner-party conversations. These examples seemingly undermine his purpose of truly seeing people from all walks of life. But overall How to Know a Person is a worthwhile and easy-to-read guide to making meaningful human connections. It includes an index so readers can revisit topics easily while the 14 pages of reference notes provide an exceptional bibliography of philosophers, psychologists, and writers for readers who desire to dig deeper into the subject. How to Know a Person is a compelling and hopeful book.

👉“The greatest thing a person does is to take the lessons of life, the hard knocks of life, the surprises of life, and the mundane realities of life and refine their own consciousness so that they can gradually come to see the world with more understanding, more wisdom, more humanity, and more grace.”

Fiction: Historical Fiction, Humor

The Librarianist by Patrick deWitt

I thoroughly enjoyed this book about an introvert’s life. I couldn’t describe it any better than the publishers, so here is their description:

“Bob Comet is a retired librarian passing his solitary days surrounded by books and small comforts in a mint-colored house in Portland, Oregon. One morning on his daily walk he encounters a confused elderly woman lost in a market and returns her to the senior center that is her home. Hoping to fill the void he's known since retiring, he begins volunteering at the center. Here, as a community of strange peers gathers around Bob, and following a happenstance brush with a painful complication from his past, the events of his life and the details of his character are revealed.

Behind Bob Comet's straight-man facade is the story of an unhappy child's runaway adventure during the last days of the Second World War, of true love won and stolen away, of the purpose and pride found in the librarian's vocation, and of the pleasures of a life lived to the side of the masses. Bob's experiences are imbued with melancholy but also a bright, sustained comedy; he has a talent for locating bizarre and outsize players to welcome onto the stage of his life.

With his inimitable verve, skewed humor, and compassion for the outcast, Patrick deWitt has written a wide-ranging and ambitious document of the introvert's condition. The Librarianist celebrates the extraordinary in the so-called ordinary life, and depicts beautifully the turbulence that sometimes exists beneath a surface of serenity.”

I would add: The Librarianist is a lovely portrayal of a quiet man living the best life he can.

October Booknotes

October ... the perfect time to fall into reading!

Non-fiction: Dystopia, History, Politics

Apocalypse Any Day Now: Deep Underground with America's Doomsday Preppers by Tea Krulos

I was expecting this to be a guide to preparing for the end of the world but, instead, this is a “travelogue."

When anyone says “preppers”, I automatically think of the people (often portrayed as very conservative, maybe paranoid, heavily into online conspiracies) who collect food, guns, and military surplus to survive the end of the world. And, yes, Krulos does explore some of this culture, interviewing preppers in Wisconsin and New York but there was so much more to this book. He not only explores this more “famous” prepper culture, but also some of the different prepper sub-cultures that have cropped up. There are the members of Zombie Squad, an international group of preppers that use a hypothetical zombie apocalypse as a springboard not only for prepping, but for outreach, volunteering, and blood drives. Then there are the homesteaders who try to recreate and relearn the skills our ancestors had to live off the land, prepare food, and lead a simpler life. Krulos also visits a 15-story condo built in a decommissioned Kansas missile silo. Here we learn about a culture willing to pay BIG bucks to buy a small, apartment-sized, windowless space in the complex. The condo culture believes they made a wise decision. Also, Krulos camps with CreekStewart, the host of survival television shows, and visits Wasteland, a Mad Max-like party where participants do battle and drive steampunk vehicles.

All I can say about Apocalypse Any Day Now is that it is interesting. To his credit, Krulos interviews and immerses himself in several different “prepper” groups, providing an inside look into the varieties of prepping culture. At best he gives the reader pause to ask - am I ready? Maybe not to survive the end of the world, but if a serious weather event or natural disaster happened, could you survive for 3 days without access to food, electricity, and all the modern comforts we enjoy?

Non-fiction: Philosophy, Politics

Arguing for a Better World: How Philosophy Can Help Us Fight for Social Justice by Arianne Shahvisi

I do not like the title. I think it should be: Unexamined Assumptions: How Philosophy can Help Us Identify, Question and Work Through Moral Questions. The words “arguing” and “fight” bring to mind people yelling at each other and not listening. Also, I find asking people why they believe/think something tends to put them on the defensive and then they usually answer with a thought-terminating response – “Find out for yourself. It’s not my job to educate you!” - which doesn’t answer the question.

In essence, this book demonstrates the relevance of philosophy to our everyday lives. I found myself pausing while reading to contemplate assumptions I have about political, racial, and cultural issues. I have no intention of actively pursuing “arguments” or “fighting” with anyone who can not answer why they believe as they do. I want to be able to answer the question for myself.

After reading Arguing for a Better World, I have an even greater appreciation for context, especially the historical and cultural context of moral issues. An example that stands out for me is how people responded to Black Lives Matter. The context of this social movement is key. In this case there were specific historical events and one current event (the killing of George Floyd) that pushed the issue front-and-center. The context is essential to understanding why Black Lives Matter (BLM) became a wide-spread social movement. How did people respond?

• The “color-blind” response – “We should move beyond racial categories.” They maintain that everyone should be treated equally and that we are beyond racism. Sounds good, except “color-blind” believers are ignoring the context and not listening to the participants’ concerns. How can we move beyond something we deny exists?

• The “whataboutery” response – “What about the lives of other people? Don’t they matter, too?” They maintain that there is plenty of injustice in the world so why should Blacks be given any more attention than anyone else? Sounds maybe-kind- of-sort -of- perhaps good, except “whataboutery” believers (again) ignore the context. BLM is not saying this is the only issue that matters but rather this issue is morally troubling within this context of events.

• The “white supremacist” response – “Black Lives Matter is now everywhere, and that’s a sign of a world in which whiteness is under threat.” That sounds HORRIBLE! White supremacists view BLM as a threat and interpret it as only Black lives matter. Once again, they ignore current and historical context. Think about how a banner reading “White Lives Matter” within our country’s current and historical context would be interpreted? White supremacists believe in a zero-sum world where only one group can be “favored.” They forget that when Civil Rights legislation was enacted it was targeted for Whites. Blacks already knew they were human beings, American citizens and had the right to go into any public place. But the Whites didn’t. It was the Whites that had to be told how to treat their fellow citizens through our laws. CONTEXT MATTERS!!!

With an index and 46 pages of bibliographic citations, there is a lot to consider in this book. This is one book that I will need to revisit in order to process it all. Here are just some of the chapter titles:

• Can You Be Racist to a White Person?

• Has “Political Correctness” Gone to Far?

• Who Should We Believe?

• Who Is Canceling Whom?

When someone supports a morally troubling position by saying: “He is only saying what everyone else is thinking.” or “I was only joking,” I will continue to ask, “Why do you think/believe that?” But the author also suggested simply saying “I don’t get it.” or “What are you saying?” Sometimes feigning misunderstanding makes the person really think … or not. The important point is that I have asked myself the same questions and examined assumptions I have made. And while I have no desire to argue or debate with anyone, this book has helped me to identify, question and work through moral questions in my life.

Non-fiction: Evolutionary Biology, History

Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution by Cat Bohannon

Cat Bohannon, who has Ph.D. from Columbia University, where she studied the evolution of narrative and cognition, begins the story of Eve in the Jurassic era and moves through human evolutionary history into the current day, exploring everything from why menstruation happens to why female humans are more likely to get Alzheimer's disease. Eve places females smack dab in the middle of the story and introduces us to research supporting a more complete view of how female evolution might have happened. From the beginning of this story, we learn about some of the defining characteristics of women, like milk production to placental development and how important it is to study these key biological differences, along with biological commonalities in the study of the female species.

Eve describes the catalysts behind the great shifts in human development - from bipedal locomotion to language and tool use - and in a narrative that starts with the first tiny mammal that coexisted with the dinosaurs and traces that story up to today. Bohannon has assembled a fascinating, comprehensive, and entertaining study of what is usually left out of the story of “us” — all while making a forceful case for why focusing on the history of the female body matters for the future of all of humanity.

Eve is stuffed with interesting facts — I did not know that a stress hormone is released in women when they hear a baby crying (while the top frequencies of a crying baby are cut off in the male hearing range) or that reducing the number of girls married before they are eighteen by even 10 percent can reduce a country’s maternal mortality by 70 percent. All these facts are supported by pages of footnotes and citations of authoritative and reliable research.

But Bohannon’s main thesis seems to be that, despite nearly dying off a couple of times, our species has been able to thrive and populate the entire planet primarily because we mastered gynecology; learning to have the right number of babies, raised at the right time, according to the resources of their mothers’ community.

Eve is scholarly, engaging and necessary. This should be read alongside the popular male-focused history Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari (even though it left out the fact that the first cities were made possible by wet nurses!). While Eve is a lengthy book, it is worthwhile reading and, in the end, I am more appreciative of my female body.

Fiction: Mystery

Halloween Party by Agatha Christie

At a Halloween party held in Woodleigh Common, thirteen-year-old Joyce Reynolds tells everyone attending she had once seen a murder, but had not realized it was a murder until later. When the party ends, Joyce is found dead, having been drowned in an apple-bobbing tub. Ariadne Oliver, a detective writer, attended the party and calls on Hercule Poirot to investigate the murder and Joyce's claim. Will Poirot identify the murderer?

This is not Christie’s finest work. Halloween Party is the thirty-eighth Poirot novel and the sixth of seven, in which his partner in the murder investigation is the detective writer, Ariadne Oliver. Aside from the lively beginning (in the spirit of P.G. Wodehouse, to whom the book is dedicated), the book descends for more than a 100 pages into a dull side story about a forged codicil to a will.

However, even with this flaw, Halloween Party is still an okay mystery. (“Okay” for Christie is would be “very good” for other authors). Poirot delves into the past to find out who, and why, a murderer would kill a child. This makes it, when compared to Christie’s earlier mysteries, more “modern.” Written in 1969, there are several references to young men with loud “rock-and-roll” voices and “piles of unruly hair.” (I don’t think Dame Christie and the sixties were a good match!) Poirot is constantly told by characters that many unbalanced people abound in Woodleigh Commons. They emphasize that because of the permissive society and the fact there is no longer a death penalty, the world seems a more dangerous place. All of this makes Halloween Party an interesting novel for Poirot fans, as it provides a glimpse of how Poirot viewed the “modern” world. 

Fiction: Science fiction, Fantasy

How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

This book consists of a series of stories between loosely connected characters in the not-too-distant future and then goes deeper, and further into a world still recognizable, yet utterly changed.

It begins in 2030 when scientists discover a 30,000 year old settlement in the melting permafrost of Siberia. They inadvertently release an ancient virus (The Arctic Plague) from the melting permafrost which, along with climate disasters, haunts humanity for generations. Each story is told by a different character but all of the characters are aiming to navigate the reality of mass death, fear, and grieving.

👉“It’s strange how the discovery of an ancient girl in Siberia and viruses we’ve never encountered before can both redefine what we know about being human and at the same time threaten our humanity”

Obviously, there is a lot of death in How High We Go in the Dark, and it also includes some insane ideas like talking pigs and roller coaster euthanasia machines for virus-doomed children. But it’s also an unexpectedly tender novel. While fear, loss, and destruction sweep the world, the characters navigate troubled families, grieve, fall in love, and create art. The connections between each story and some of the characters are imaginative. The narrative comes full circle and never loses its focus on people. The end is unexpected but satisfying. I found this to be a very immersive, mesmerizing book.

👉“What is laughter but a moment of release where pain and memory are washed away? When we laugh, we are stronger. When we laugh, we heal the world.” 

International Fiction: Book Club Selection

Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese (First Nations Canada)

It's been a while since a book made me cry, but this one did. Saul Indian Horse, a young adult in an alcohol treatment program, is writing an autobiography as part of his therapy. He begins by opening a window into his life with his loving Ojibwe family. As a boy, Saul is immersed in their connections with nature, cultural traditions, and spirituality. His parents and, specifically his grandmother, try to keep him from being forced into a residential school. Both his parents were traumatized by their residential school experience and Saul’s older brother has escaped from a residential school where he was infected with tuberculosis. The family goes to a remote camp on a lake shore to protect Saul from the same fate. But a disaster strikes, and he ends up being placed in St. Jerome, a residential Catholic school for First Nations children.

Despite the cruel and unloving atmosphere of St. Jerome, Saul finds a passion in ice hockey. Father Leboutilier gives Saul books about hockey and allows him to watch hockey games on his television. Saul discovers that hockey gives his life meaning and purpose. The St. Jerome team begins to win most games with other First Nations schools. Then, with the help the priest, Saul gets a chance to leave the school, live with a supportive foster family and play for a team in the First Nations league. He is so successful that he advances to the minor leagues on a path to earn a spot with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

I couldn’t help but hope that success in hockey was going to sustain him. But the crushing racism of the white world finally undermines Saul’s simple love of the sport. The overt violence that he is subjected to begins to corrupt his spirit. We know from the beginning Saul has fallen into alcoholism somewhere along the line and his past continues to haunt him. Finally, Saul realizes he can’t move forward until he faces the tragic past – even the parts of his past that he has hidden. Only then can he reclaim himself, his love of the sport, and be at one with nature again. 

"The Scream" by Kent Monkman (2017)

Indian Horse takes place in the 1960s and represents just a slice of history. In this case the Canadian Government, through the Catholic Church, thought it was a good and necessary to take First Nations children from their parents and wipe out their culture and enforce Christianity. In these schools literally tens of thousands children died from physical and sexual abuse, starvation, and treatable disease with the full awareness of the Canadian government. Besides the residential schools, there also was a policy called the “Sixties Scoop” where First Nations children were forcibly removed from their families and placed into foster homes by child welfare agencies. Who knew that this could happen in a “civilized” society?

Wagamese is a rare author who can write beautiful prose about ugly, evil things, and bring to life a character who transcends the destruction of his culture – a character I care about. Indian Horse is a quick read which tells a tale both heartbreaking and uplifting. Instead of trying to imagine yourself in Saul’s situation, it is so much better to listen to Saul tell his story. Listen as he works to find peace in his heart for the harsh realities that life has dealt him. If you are listening, your heart will swell and tears will flow.

Non-fiction: Aging, Sociology

The Measure of Our Age: Navigating Care, Safety, Money, and Meaning Later in Life by M.T. Connolly

The author is a lawyer and she entered the field of aging while working at the Department of Justice (DOJ) when she was asked to see what the DOJ could do to address substandard care in skilled nursing facilities. Connolly worked with the facts and laws that were available, seeking to improve the care for the most vulnerable of adults.

The Measure of Our Age explains the origin of elder care issues and what has been tried to improve the system. Every law, rule, service, benefit, or intervention was initiated for a reason. She then explores the weaknesses, failures, and criticisms of a wide spectrum of efforts to improve the experience of aging and the tragedy of abuse, neglect, and exploitation. If you have ever wondered about the origins of programs like Adult Protective Services or skilled nursing facilities dominating long-term care, this book will help you understand.

There were two important points that stood out for me. First, the difference between life expectancy and good health expectancy. There will be 6 to 8 years on average during a life span when many of us face the greatest health challenges of our life. Many books about aging are in search of the fountain of youth or are simply in denial about the reality of aging. Few of us are fortunate to die easily in perfect health. The Measure of Our Age confronts our inevitable decline straight on without any “sugar-coating” – it is inevitable.

Secondly, programs, services, benefits, and interventions for aging adults are critically underfunded. Aging has always been underfunded. Connolly explores some of the reasons why elder care is harder to fund and some of the failed approaches to seeking funding. Funding is hard to get without data and data is difficult to get without funding. Finally, the limited funding that is often available is often insufficient to fund both the intervention and a meaningful assessment of the intervention.

Connolly includes many first-person accounts, her own experience, and shocking investigative reporting as she exposes a reality that has long been hidden and sometimes actively covered up. The incidences of elder abuse – physical, mental, and financial - by family members are especially hard to read. But her investigation also reveals reasons for hope within everyone’s grasp. The Measure of Our Age, which includes strategies and action plans for navigating the many challenges of aging, will appeal to a wide range of readers - adult children caring for aging parents; policymakers trying to do the right thing; and, should we be so lucky as to live to old age, all of us. This book is for anyone who wishes to improve the experience of aging for a loved one, in their family, in their community, and, ultimately, for themselves.

Non-fiction: American History, Economics

Night Comes To The Cumberlands: A Biography Of A Depressed Area by Harry M. Caudill

I learned about this book from C-Span’s series Lectures in History, The Great Society and the Welfare State. Night Comes To The Cumberlands was mentioned as one of the books that influenced policy makers in the early 1960s. It drew attention to the poverty in Appalachia, specifically eastern Kentucky and coal mining communities. This book caused quite a “stir” when it was published in 1962. Specifically, it caused an uproar with the coal companies in the region. There were even attempts to have it banned in many areas of Appalachia. However, influenced by Night Comes To The Cumberlands, President John F. Kennedy appointed a commission to investigate conditions in the region and his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, made Appalachia a keystone of his War on Poverty.

Wallins Creek Coal Co., Harlan, KY (My husband's Great-Grandfather worked here.)

Caudill begins Night Comes To The Cumberlands with an introduction which lays out the issues which he saw before him: “A million Americans in the Southern Appalachians live in conditions of squalor, ignorance and ill health which could scarcely be equaled in Europe or Japan or, perhaps, in parts of mainland Asia.”

He then traces the history of region, from its first settlements by former European indentured servants through to the Civil War, the feuds that erupted between violent neighbors, the emerging lumber trade and the advent of the coal industry, before uncovering the devastation of the Depression, the effects of massive environmental damage and the ever continuing decline into poverty and despair for many of the inhabitants.

👉"The mountaineer has become depressingly defeatist in attitude. Company domination and paternalism and two decades of uninspired Welfarism have induced the belief that control of his destiny is in other hands."

The solution Caudill promoted was to find a way to give as much personal responsibility back to the citizens as possible. He wanted to stop telling people, “We’ve got a great program for you.” Instead, he and other policy makers, wanted community members to discuss what they thought they needed and how they could help themselves with little governmental assistance.

Night Comes To The Cumberlands is credited with influencing the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 which was passed by Congress and became law in August 1964. The act created the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), which provided funds for vocational training, created Job Corps to train youths in conservation camps and urban centers, and established VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America), a domestic counterpart to the Peace Corps, and Head Start, an early-education program for children of poor families, among other programs. The War on Poverty was ultimately limited in its effectiveness by the economic resources consumed by the country’s increasing involvement in the Vietnam War. 

Harlan, KY

This is an important and very well-written book although some of the language is a bit dated. Caudill uses some cringe-worthy words like “squaw” and “savages.” But, even with some cringe-worthy words, Night Comes To The Cumberlands is still a very interesting history of the Cumberland Plateau and the people who inhabit it. It was difficult to read about the decades of land mismanagement, corporate greed and waste, and overall lack of good schools, roads, and government integrity. Kentucky has certainly endured more than her fair share of hardship, mostly caused by government’s ties to the coal industry. Today, despite much research into the area and its many problems, the Cumberland Plateau itself remains largely unchanged. But there is hope!

Fiction: Memoir

Up Home: One Girl's Journey by Ruth J. Simmons

This is an inspirational memoir about someone who is not “famous”, yet has had an extraordinary life. Ruth Simmons is the president of Prairie View A&M University, Texas' oldest HBCU, but she has also been the president of Brown University, president of Smith College as well as vice provost of Princeton. Simmons was the first African-American president of an Ivy League institution.

Simmons was born in Texas, the twelfth and final child in an impoverished sharecropping family descended from slaves. During her 1950s childhood, she worked alongside her siblings and parents in the fields. Simmons recounts the teachers and experiences which widened her horizons beyond Texas and a future of domestic work. From an early age, she set her ambitions high. Through a combination of hard work, diligence, luck, and most importantly, the support of her public school teachers, Simmons was able to go to college where she studied Romance languages. In the early 1960s she studied Spanish in Mexico, was an exchange student to Wellesley College (a private, “white” institution) and studied in France. Had Simmons been born 5-10 years earlier to the same family, she would not have had the same opportunities.

👉Simmons says that her teachers’ "enthusiasm convinced me that learning was supremely important, thoroughly enjoyable, and immensely expansive."

Simmons does not soften the conditions in which she grew up. Her family lived in the farm owner-provided housing that "had there been any government housing codes, would have missed the required safety standards by a wide margin." She describes the hollow feeling in her family's stomachs when they ran out of the numerous things their mother had canned, especially after "phantom meals," which consisted of her mother's biscuits with either homemade sugar syrup or gravy. While not an expert seamstress, Simmons' mother lovingly made the family's clothes from old burlap or cotton flour sacks.

Despite the difficult conditions she endured, Simmons repeatedly states how happy her childhood was.

Up Home is an uplifting book, written by an excellent role model who is passionate about education. She overcame many adversities and worked tirelessly to educate herself, which she did in an outstanding fashion. Ruth J. Simmons is an extraordinary woman!

Non-fiction: True Crime, Memoir

What the Dead Know: Learning About Life as a New York City Death Investigator by Barbara Butcher

The author is regarded as a renowned expert in medicolegal death investigation, having spent 23 years at the NYC Office of Chief Medical Examiner. Butcher was Chief of Staff and Director of the Forensic Sciences Training Program at the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner.

In a strange twist of fate, an AA meeting led Butcher to her career in death investigation. She worked in New York City during the 1980s through early 2000s including 9/11. Butcher was in charge of examining any unexplained deaths including suicides, murders and unattended deaths at home. She recounts a number of deaths that have stuck with her over the years, for different reasons, including the 9/11 attacks, “angry” suicides and those who die alone. Some of the details are “gruesome” but important and Butcher (and other “death” professionals) used a dark sense of humor to lessen the pain of the situation. It's the personal part of each death that stayed with me as I read, especially those who died alone. Butcher, too, had a hard time, even though she loved her job, dealing with death repeatedly.

The investigative facts are here - and I learned quite a bit – but it is her personal story that is riveting. Butcher is highly intelligent, driven and successful. In addition to her job, Butcher worked additionally as a speaker, professor, consultant and providing details for mystery writers. Eventually life caught up and sent Butcher spiraling in depression. Then she temporarily “lost her mind” and sought help in a mental hospital. There she found the help she needed to find a new calling, aiding her will to survive. Butcher then reinvented herself, becoming an actress and writer.

What makes this book standout is Butcher herself. She shies away from nothing, exposing her own life for all to see. Addiction and mental health issues are part of her story. Her truthfulness in regards to her thoughts, feelings, and even her mental state throughout the years as a death investigator, in my opinion, help to bring an awareness to both the stigma associated with mental illness and the realities of life.