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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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