My goodness I haven't posted in months. I'm not going to be exhaustive but I'll try to catch up a bit with what I've been reading. These are in no particular order and maybe part one of a two or three part act of catching up. I'm going to ignore the books I just couldn't read all the way through (I've hit that point where I just don't even try if the book can't hold my attention within the first fifty pages or so). Though at some point I think I will do a post that just lists them.
"The Thousand" by Kevin Guilfoile was kinda forgettable. If you want some Dan Brown style cotton candy it isn't bad. Nuff said.
"Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen has been reviewed and recommended by many people so I basically resisted reading it. But I had some time over the holidays to read saw a trailer for the upcoming movie version and figured I'd give it a try. It is nothing Earth shattering but is a compact and nicely done love story/study of circus life during the depression.
"Version 43" by Philip Palmer is pretty classic sci-fi pulp. Pretty one dimensional characters and convoluted logic. Basically an intergalactic cop cyborg keeps getting killed and coming back while investigating a murder case. Every time he comes back the scale of intrigue shifts ever higher until the fate of the Universe is at stake. Playful candy. Quick read. Might be worth watching Palmer for future work.
Yes, I just got around to reading "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee (thanks to a good friend buying it for me on the spot when he heard I had never read it). It is a perfect book with lessons for all. I won't tire you with a shallow review. If you haven't picked it up, you should. It seems as fresh and relevant today as I'm sure it did fifty years ago.
Like historic fiction with a twist? Interlocking mysteries? Close encounters with financial collapse? Read Stone’s Fall by Iain Pears Keeps you guessing pretty deeply into the novel and creates an enjoyable ride through England in the 1900s.
Cutting for Stone is one of the best novels I’ve read this year. It is a novel that stretches from India to Ethiopia to the US and back tracing the lives of a family of care-givers. Hard to put down, I don’t think I’ve ever read such compelling writing focused on the art of medicine.If you like really big books (ala 1000 pages plus) about 3 days in the life of 10 year old Chicago Jewish kids who may or may not be the potential messiah and writes the book as if it might be his official scripture, well you really can’t go wrong with The Instructions.
William Gibson’s new novel, Zero History is pretty classic Gibson, though it feels oddly dated (novels of the near future are having a harder time seeming futuristic at this point). His mention of Festo brought back some wonderful memories of trying to figure out how to build instant and mildly insane architecture back in the day.
Non-Fiction...
Fordlandia is a scary but true story about the sorts of things that Henry Ford did after he perfected the production line and kick-started the American Century. It details the history of Ford’s attempt to build an American town in the Brazilian rain forest along the shores of the Amazon. Scary, cautionary tale about ego gone wild. Example? His son Edsel builds a building to house accountants and process people since Ford at that time didn’t have much in the way of business tracking. Henry waits til it’s built, and has it destroyed. And learn about his roving band of thugs who would beat up employees, do spot checks in their homes to make sure that the employees weren’t drinking and were hanging their laundry properly (and the thugs would do much worse). Or find out why Henry Ford got a special iron cross award from Hitler! I bought it thinking I’d get a tale of “against all odds” success or at least glorious failure by a brilliant man. Instead it was more like “hey this guy was increasingly erratic and became more and more crazy as he got older, and rich people that turn that way are usually the ones that are featured in James Bond films (so beware of Sergey when he turns 65!).” Also includes a sad post script about what sorts of things are still happening down there.
"The Case of the Disappearing Spoon" by Sam Kean is one of the best explorations of chemistry, the periodic table of the elements, and the delight of scientific discovery I've seen. It takes the reader on a wild ride across the table, explaining the underlying architecture and curious properties of over a hundred elements. It highlights the personalities, battles, and parlor tricks (gallium molded into a spoon is apparently great fun when placed in hot tea) to be found when atoms combine. If you are at all interested in how the world works, read this book.
"Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Childhood" by Oliver Sacks is the perfect companion piece to the disappearing spoon. It is a wonderful memoir detailing the discoveries of a boy growing up in London during wartime. Oliver's fascination with the physical world is encouraged by his family who are all either scientists, doctors, or inventors. I found it all fascinating as a time capsule from a definitive moment in our history. Read it.
I just finished The Emperor of all Maladies, A Biography of Cancer. It is a compelling story about the life of cancer. The author does a wonderful job of documenting the evolution of our understanding of the disease using personal stories about patients, doctors, and scientists. It weaves a story through history documenting tragedy, loss and discovery; illuminating the science and the politics of our ongoing fight against this pervasive disease. Worth reading.
