December Booknotes

 

“In winter she curls up around a good book and dreams away the cold.” – Ben Aaronovitch

Fiction: Historical Fiction

Daniel Half Human: And the Good Nazi by David Chotjewitz, translator Doris Orgel (from German)

"Why do the Nazis get so much pleasure torturing us?”

“Maybe the question should be why do people generally get pleasure torturing others?"

This not a story about concentration and killing camp victims. Daniel Half Human: And the Good Nazi explores the social and political conditions families experienced before the mass deportations and murders. Many people think, "Why didn't they just leave?" Daniel’s story thoroughly examines how and why people didn't or couldn’t leave. 

The book begins with Daniel, who escaped Nazi Germany, driving through his demolished German hometown in a United States Army jeep. He is serving as a translator after World War II. As he drives around, he recalls his experiences living there as a teenager… 

Initially Daniel lived a normal life as a teenage boy. Then Hitler was elected.  Hitler’s supporters praised him because he was going to make the country great again after their defeat in World War I - which they blamed on the Jews. Daniel was raised as an “Aryan” unaware that his mother was Jewish. As the Nazi’s increasingly persecuted Jews, Daniel’s mother finally told him that she is Jewish. Daniel is a half-Jew, and in the eyes of the Nazis, Half-Human.

“A pestilence has broken out, a terrible disease, and no one has noticed. It has infected everyone, and now it’s an epidemic.”

Daniel did not accept his Jewish ancestry and dreamt of joining the Hitler Youth with his best friend, Armin. Because Daniel was “Half-Human” he was excluded from the Hitler Youth, sports, and, eventually, from attending school. Meanwhile, Armin, the “Good Nazi” became a member of the SS. For a short time, the family was safe because Daniel’s father was a well-known, “Aryan” lawyer. Then one night Armin and the SS entered the family’s apartment… 

“I’m just doing my job here; everything else is no concern of mine.”

The book ends in 1945, when Daniel, now in the U.S. Army, is interviewing captured German soldiers. If soldiers answer “No.” to the questions about being members of the Nazi party and the SS, they are freed and provided with a small stipend of cash. Daniel overhears a soldier being interviewed at a table nearby and instantly recognizes the voice. It’s Armin, his former best friend – the “Good Nazi” …

Through Daniel’s remembrances we are shown how Germany transitioned from a civilized nation to a catastrophe for the Jewish people and millions around the world. The subtle escalation of events coupled with Daniel and Armin’s storyline helps to explain how a situation so horrific could progress. Hate and fear create an environment in which fascism flourishes - anytime, anywhere. 

Fiction: Mystery

Death at the Sanatorium by Ragnar Jónasson, translator Victoria Cribb (from Icelandic)

NOTE: Last month I read the second book (The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer) in this trilogy not realizing there was a first book! So, this month I read the first book in the Helgi trilogy.

Publisher’s Description: “1983 At a former sanatorium in the north of Iceland, now a hospital ward, an old nurse, Yrsa, is found murdered. Detective Hulda Hermannsdottir and her boss, Sverrir, are sent to investigate her death. There, they discover five chief physicians, two junior nurses, a young doctor, and the caretaker, who is arrested following false testimony from one of the nurses, but subsequently released. Less than a week after the murder, the chief physician is also found dead, having apparently fallen from a balcony. Sverrir, rules his death as suicide and assumes that he was guilty of the murder as well. The case is closed. 2012 Almost thirty years later, Helgi Reykdal, a young police officer, has been studying criminology in the UK, but decides to return to Iceland when he is offered a job at the Reykjavik police department—the job which detective Hulda Hermannsdottir is about to retire from. He is also a collector of golden age detective stories and is writing his thesis on the 1983 murders in the north. As Helgi delves deeper into the past, and starts his new job, he decides to try to meet with the original suspects. But soon he finds silence and suspicion at every turn, as he tries to finally solve the mystery from years before.”

There is a lot of misdirection in this book, as well as subtle clues. I thought details were interesting but inconsequential, then they ended up being a turning point in the whole case. Like The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer, the ending is a cliffhanger!

Nonfiction: Philosophy, Spirituality

Everyday Dharma: 8 Essential Practices for Finding Success and Joy in Everything You Do by Suneel Gupta

I found this book while browsing the shelves at my local public library and I am so glad I did! Gupta explains that we are conditioned to believe in "arrival fallacy" - a belief that once we achieve the next step, whether that's a promotion, more money, buying a house etc., we will be happy. However, once the moment arrives, the happiness is short-lived and soon we find ourselves chasing the next moment. Over time it leads to burn-out, and stress coupled with the realization that outer success alone (wealth, job, social standing) rarely leads to inner success (happiness, fulfillment, well-being). Why? Because we are not living our dharma. 

Dharma is a multifaceted concept from Indian religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism) meaning duty, cosmic law, righteousness, or the path to truth. It signifies living in harmony with the universe's natural order, fulfilling one's inherent purpose, and adhering to moral principles.

Gupta then explains eight elements of “everyday” dharma:

Sukha – Uncovering your essence. There may be societal expectations, judgement, or other people's priorities keeping you from who YOU really are. Your sukha never leaves you – through the way you express it can change over time. 

Bhakti – Full-hearted devotion. Bhakti is less about devotion of time, and more about devotion of heart. We tend to focus too much on the number of hours we spend on a task and not enough on the QUALITY we bring to each hour. 

Prana – Energy over time. Rather than letting energy seep out throughout the day, pool your prana, and then unleash energy the precise moment your dharma needs it most. Scheduling mindset versus scheduling time. 

Upekha – Comfort in discomfort. To practice upekkha is to be unwavering or to stay neutral in the face of the fluctuations of worldly fortune. This reminds me of Viktor Frankl’s observations on his life in Nazi concentration camps: “The experiences of camp life show that man does have a choice of action … Man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions of psychic and physical stress.”

Leela – High play. Leela can also be translated as “divine play.” In other words, play, sport, or enjoyable pastimes are part of your divine plan – your dharma. Take time for leela. 

Seva – Forget yourself to find yourself. The road to your dharma will appear when you turn your attention from serving yourself to serving others. As President Truman said, “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.”

Tula – Letting go and taking charge. Balancing and maintaining harmony by releasing control, accepting people and situations as they are, and finding personal peace. 

Kriya – Action leads to courage. Without deliberate action, your dharma slips from hope to regret. Even if you can't see exactly what is ahead, take the first step. Instead of living with a map, live with a compass realizing you may need to take detours or create a new route. It is always better to fail at your own dharma than to succeed at someone else’s.

Each chapter is filled with real-life examples of “regular” people and famous people who have successfully found their dharma. Also included are some practical tips to help you live your dharma. One of the most touching quotes for me was this: "the meaning of life is to find your gift; the purpose of life is to give it away!"

Audiobook Nonfiction: True Crime

Guilty Creatures: Sex, God, and Murder in Tallahassee, Florida by Mikita Brottman

Publisher’s Description: “On the face of it, Denise Williams and Brian Winchester had the perfect, quintessentially Southern lives. The two were hardworking devout Baptists and together, with their respective spouses, formed a tight-knit friendship that seemed unbreakable. That is, until December 16, 2000, when Denise’s husband Mike disappeared while duck hunting on Lake Seminole on the border of Georgia and Florida.

After no body was found, it was assumed that he had drowned and was consumed by alligators in a tragic accident. But things took an unexpected turn when Brian divorced his wife and married Denise. Their surprising marriage was far from happy and in 2018, he confessed to police he killed Mike with Denise’s help nearly two decades earlier.”

The whole story is in the title and summary description, so there's not a whole lot of surprises in reading the book. Guilty Creatures is scandalous with a lot of finger pointing, he said/she said, and betrayal. It's a moral lesson most people learn early in life - adultery and killing are wrong. Just get a divorce!!!

Fiction: Realistic Fiction

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

NOTE: Initially, everyone seemed to praise “Nineteen Minutes,” a 2007 bestseller about a school shooting but now it tops a list compiled by PEN America of the books most banned in schools. It is banned in the Florida counties of Hernando, Marion, Polk, and Volusia. Of course I had to read it!

Peter Houghton would hardly be considered a typical seventeen-year-old teenager. Because one morning, he loaded his backpack with four guns, went to school and killed nine students and a teacher. The title refers to the astonishingly brief period that Houghton took to complete his brutal spree. Nineteen Minutes examines the genesis of that event and the people affected by it from every conceivable perspective - families, victims, survivors, witnesses, parents, friends, police, and the law.

Picoult expertly examines a myriad of issues - teenage angst; "in" crowds; drug use; bullying; teen sexuality; peer pressure; privacy; parenting - and creates a gripping fictionalized version of a tragic event that is difficult to put down. At the end of this astonishing tale, I predict many readers will feel sympathy for the convicted mass murderer while many will not.  Picoult's amazing ability to present an issue from a wide variety of perspectives without herself being judgmental will at least give readers an understanding as to how such a horrific tragedy might come to pass! Highly recommended.

Fiction: Military Fiction, Historical Fiction, War

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

“Vietnam was full of strange stories, some improbable, some well beyond that, but the stories that will last forever are those that swirl back and forth across the border between trivia and bedlam, and the mad and the mundane.”

The Things They Carried is a collection of linked short stories that provide a powerful portrayal of the experiences of American soldiers during the Vietnam War. The narrative is structured around the physical and emotional burdens carried by the soldiers, both tangible and intangible. The title story, “The Things They Carried,” serves as a foundation for exploring the weight of war, both literally and metaphorically.

“He would have explained to his father that none of these decorations was for uncommon valor. They were for common valor. The routine, daily stuff – just enduring – but that was worth something wasn’t it? Yes, it was. Worth plenty.”

The stories are characterized by a haunting realism that captures the complexity of the soldiers' emotions, relationships, and the moral ambiguities of war. O’Brien explores themes of death, trauma, and the enduring effects of war on the individuals who participate in it. 

“When a man died, there had to be blame … You could blame the war. You could blame the idiots who made the war …You could blame the enemy … You could blame the people who were too lazy to read a newspaper, who were bored by the daily body counts, who switched channels at the mention of politics.”

This book is a contemplation on storytelling as well as the impact of war on the human psyche. O’Brien draws on his own experiences as a soldier in Vietnam to objectify his experiences and then carries them forward by inventing incidents to explain and clarify “the things they carried.” The nature of memory, the ethical dimensions of war, and the ways in which literature can illuminate human experience are fully evident in The Things They Carried. Excellent!

November Booknotes

 

"I am a part of everything that I have read" – Theodore Roosevelt

Fiction: Historical Fiction

The Bomb by Theodore Taylor

The author, Theodore Taylor (1921 – 2006), was a merchant marine at Bikini for the bomb testing. He saw the island's inhabitants being evacuated. He knows what happened. The book is an apology for his part in our country's atrocity written when he was about 75 years old. He said, "This book was terribly hard to write." Yet, The Bomb went on to win the 1996 Scott O’Dell award for historical fiction.

Shortly after the first atomic bombs were dropped on Japan, World War II came to and, and the terrible reality of the atomic age began . . .

In The Bomb, “Sixteen-year-old Sorry Rinamu has lived on the Bikini Atoll in the western Pacific all his life. Now the United States government wants to use his home as a site for atomic weapons tests. The islanders are told that they must leave the island in the interest of world peace but can return when the island is safe again after the atomic denotations. Sorry doesn't believe the government. He is sure that radioactive fallout will poison the warm blue waters and beautiful white sand beaches, and Bikini Atoll will be lost to its people forever. Sorry knows that he has no choice but to stop this disaster before it starts -- even if it means standing alone against the U.S. military and risking his own life to save his ancestral land.”

Bikini Atoll

The book is simply written; there are no sermons or pontificating speeches by the author. Instead, we see and understand as Sorry sees and understands. The uprooting of the Bikini islanders and the false promise to return to their island in two years is historical evidence of the racism, lying, and intimidation by large nations perpetrated on smaller ones in the 1950s. The Bomb is shamefully truthful.

Audiobook Fiction: Horror

Cumbrian Ghost Stories: Weird Tales from an Old Land by Tony Walker

In addition to being the author of Cumbrian Ghost Stories, the author is the narrator of “The Classic Ghost Stories Podcast,” has a YouTube channel, and is a superb narrator of this audiobook! (I borrowed it from my public library via Hoopla.)

Publisher’s Description: “Sixteen supernatural stories set in the county of Cumbria. The collection includes classic ghost stories such as A West Cumberland Coalmine, modern horror stories such as The Derwentwater Haunting and The Highest Inn in England, stories based on local legends such as The Mallerstang Boggle and The Little Man of Carlisle, and some folk-horror themed stories such as The Grizedale Forest Wedding.”

The stories set in the Lake District of England are short and vary in quality. They are not gory but rather creepy in a fun way. I listened to them before bedtime, enjoyed them, and still managed to get a good night's sleep.

International Nonfiction: Memoir

Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood by Alexandra Fuller

The first words: “Mum says, ‘don’t come creeping into our room at night.’ They sleep with loaded guns beside them on the bedside rugs. She says, ‘Don’t startle us when we’re sleeping.’

‘Why not?’

‘We might shoot you.’

“Oh.’

‘By mistake.’

‘Okay.’”

Thus begins the memoirs of the childhood of an English-born girl, Alexandra, raised on Rhodesia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi farms in the 1970s and 1980s with her parents and sister, Vanessa. 

By the age of five, Alexandra knew how to handle a gun and shoot to kill. There are more examples of her family’s “rough-and-tumble” lifestyle throughout the book. For instance, her parents buy a mine-proofed Land Rover with a siren "to scare terrorists", but its only use is "to announce their arrival at parties.”  While describing her experience in an airport, Alexandra notes "officials wave their guns at me, casually hostile". Obviously, her family did not live a gilded, expatriate life. Her parents lost their farm in government-forced land distribution. This forced them to become itinerant farm managers who move where the work is, often to disease-ridden and war-torn areas. 

Her parents also have their own problems with bereavement and alcohol. There is a life-changing tragedy, for which Alexandra feels responsible and says that after the event, "My life is sliced in half and Mum and Dad's joyful careless embrace of life is sucked away, like water swirling down a drain." This memoir has it all, a family on the wrong side of history, a mother’s mental health issues, constant loss, death, and repeated relocations. 

Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight has a unique perspective that made me consider how varied our life experiences can be. In addition to her familial perspective, Alexandra’s descriptions of the African landscape are vivid. A deep love of the rich flora and fauna of her adopted homeland are evident throughout.

Nonfiction: Archeology, History

The Great Pyramids of St. Louis: 2024 Update Edition by Mark W. Leach

Approximately 1000 years ago, the St. Louis area was the very epicenter of an extraordinary explosion of culture, population, and civic construction. Seemingly out of nowhere, a highly complex civilization developed, drawing thousands of people from across the mid-continent. In nearly a blink of an eye (historically speaking), a massive city of earthen pyramids, causeways, roads, plazas, neighborhoods, and temples was stretching from present day St. Louis, across the Mississippi River to East St. Louis, and onward to Collinsville, Illinois, site of the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site. 

Monks' Mound, Cahokia Mounds - National Geographic

The Great Pyramids of St. Louis is an introductory book to Cahokia and the Mississippian world. It includes photographs and artist’s depictions of the mounds, photographs of numerous rock art sites, new archeoastronomy research, and findings from excavations deep below Cahokia. All reveal new insights into Mississippian culture in Illinois and Missouri.

Ancient Cahokia - Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site

The author is clearly knowledgeable and has had an up-close and personal history with the mounds. He is actively involved in archaeological digs, mound restorations, and protection of the sites. 

An archaeology “nerd” (like me) and visitors to Cahokia Mounds, should find this book fascinating.

Nonfiction: History, Science, Geography, Ecology

The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi by Boyce Upholt

Publisher’s Description: “A sweeping history of the Mississippi River―and the centuries of human meddling that have transformed both it and America. Over thousands of years, the Mississippi watershed was home to millions of Indigenous people who regarded “the great river” with awe and respect, adorning its banks with astonishing spiritual earthworks. But European settlers and American pioneers had a different the river was a foe to conquer. In this landmark work of natural history, Boyce Upholt tells the epic story of human attempts to own and contain the Mississippi River, from Thomas Jefferson’s expansionist land hunger through today’s era of environmental concern. He reveals how an ambitious and sometimes contentious program of engineering―government-built levees, jetties, dikes, and dams―has not only damaged once-vibrant ecosystems, but may not work much longer, and explores how scientists are scrambling to restore what’s been lost. Rich and powerful, The Great River delivers a startling account of what happens when we try to fight against nature instead of acknowledging and embracing its power.”

The Great River’s narrative loops like the river’s oxbows, folding back on itself sometimes creating confusing chronology. But such is the complexity of the Mississippi River. The river that once was will never be again, its course altered both by nature and man. It is swinging more frequently between drought and flood as our world warms.

This book raises many excellent, thought-provoking questions. How should we move forward?  Break down all the barriers and let the river run free again along the sinewy paths depicted in Fisk’s 1940s map, which is on the cover of The Great River? Should we pursue green infrastructure or deny it? Whom or what to prioritize - farmers or cypress or shrimpers? Commerce or communities?

Even if we can regenerate our relationship with the river, what we may not be able to choose is the path of the river itself. Water finds its way. Can we?

Audiobook Fiction: Mystery

The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer by Ragnar Jónasson, translator Victoria Cribb (from Icelandic)

Elin S Jónsdóttir, a best-selling crime writer, has disappeared. Famed for writing a series of ten best-selling crime novels, there seems to be no apparent reason for her to vanish. Detective Helgi must find the writer before the news of her disappearance appears in the media.

As Helgi, who prefers the company of books, especially golden age mysteries, looks deeper into Elin’s life, he realizes that Elin’s life was far less straightforward than anyone expected.  Unfortunately, his own personal issues threaten to distract him from finding the truth. Will he find her alive or …?

Other plot lines in this mystery involve an abusive former partner, a bank robbery gone wrong in the past, and one of the first female detectives in Iceland. There is a lot to keep track of in this mystery! 

The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer starts as a slow burn, gradually gains momentum, and ends suddenly with a resolution to the case and a massive cliffhanger. I didn’t realize this is book two in the Helgi Trilogy. But I managed to follow the storyline without reading book one. I will probably read book three, when it is published, just to see how the cliffhanger is resolved.

Nonfiction: History, Politics, Food

Ruin Their Crops on the Ground: The Politics of Food in the United States, from the Trail of Tears to School Lunch by Andrea Freeman

Food is a source of nourishment and joy for a lot of people but in Ruin their Crops on the Ground, Freeman also tracks how the U.S. government has used food policy as a form of control and oppression. 

The title is adapted from the words of George Washington when he sought to subjugate Native American nations, in this case the Iroquois. Freeman says, “Food destruction was so central to settlers’ treatment of Indigenous people that in 1779 George Washington ordered that his troops ‘destroy their crops now in the ground’” in a way that prevented them from returning and starting all over again. And there are more historical events that support Freeman’s urgent message about food politics.

A chapter titled, “Weapons of Health Destruction” tells the story of “frybread,” a deep-fried concoction of sugar, lard, and government-dispensed flour that became a staple of forcefully relocated Native Americans’ diet, and led directly to obesity, diabetes, and other health issues. In “Survival Pending Revolution,” the history of the enslaved people who are brutally over-worked on starvation rations is recounted. And despite the Emancipation Proclamation, the practice of “sharecropping” meant that formerly enslaved people were no better off in terms of food availability. “Black sharecroppers who worked for white landowners largely returned to the restricted diets they ate during enslavement.”

Freeman also describes the double-edged sword of School Lunch Programs: free lunch to those who cannot afford it, which comes with the built-in social stigma for recipients. Inevitably, food options in school lunches are highly processed and unhealthy. Who is making these food choices? Politicians, lobbyists, and powerful corporations! 

“Corporations do not feel compassion. Sickness and loss do not move them. Appealing to their humanity is not an effective political strategy.”

There are more than 40 pages of notes and bibliographic references which can direct readers to more research. I only wish Freeman would have included charts and graphs instead of including statistics in the narrative.

“Attaching work requirements to government benefits reflects a belief that social assistance is not a right of citizenship but a gift that its recipients must earn. It insists that poverty is not an accident of birth and social circumstances but a reflection of individuals’ bad choices or capabilities.”

As I read this book, I was unable to suppress a growing sense of emotional urgency regarding food and the feeding of America’s population across all socioeconomic classes! Ruin Their Crops on the Ground is certainly thought-provoking and motivates me to continue volunteering in our community food pantry. 

Graphic Nonfiction: History, Mental Health

Ten Days in a Mad-House by Brad Ricca (Adapter), Courtney Sieh (Illustrator), Nellie Bly

"I said I could and I would. And I did." – Nellie Bly

Publisher’s Description: “While working for Joseph Pulitzer's newspaper in 1887, Nellie Bly began an undercover investigation into the local Women's Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell Island. Intent on seeing what life was like on the inside, Bly fooled trained physicians into thinking she was insane—a task too easily achieved—and had herself committed. In her ten days at the asylum, Bly witnessed horrifying conditions: the food was inedible, the women were forced into labor for the staff, the nurses and doctors were cruel or indifferent, and many of the women held there had no mental disorder of any kind.”

Bly recounted the shameful abuse, neglect, and hazardous conditions to be found in the Asylum. After her story was published, a grand jury was convened to investigate her “allegations.”  The Asylum staff did the classic switcheroo of inviting tours after cleaning everything up and hiding those patients who were in the worst shape. Critics didn't buy it. While the grand jury made no charges against the Asylum, Nellie Bly’s reporting eventually resulted in sweeping changes in the care and oversight of vulnerable patients.

This fascinating true account is hard to believe at times, and, yet, difficult to stop reading! Bly’s experience in Ten Days in a Mad-House also became the standard for so many future fictional accounts of hospital wards like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. With this graphic adaptation, I think the main events are presented logically while the illustrations add a visual context for the time, particularly the women’s hairdos and clothing. This was a quick but informative read.

“I answered the summons of the grand jury with pleasure, because I longed to help those of God's most unfortunate children whom I had left prisoners behind me. If I could not bring them that boon of all boons, liberty, I hoped at least to influence others to make life more bearable for them.” – Nellie Bly

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