Book Log 2015 #8: What If by Randall Munroe

A scientist by training, Munroe is the mind behind xkcd, described as "A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language." An offshoot of the webcomic is What If?, where readers submit wacky questions that Munroe answers using his knowledge of physics. This book is a compendium of such questions and answers, accompanied by drawings and occasional asides.

It may surprise you (or not, given how the Internet goes) that most questions result in some sort of grievous harm, either to the individual attempting the action in the question or to the planet at large (and in cases where there isn't such harm, Munroe is keen to take the answer to it's most grisly end). But it's all done with tremendous wit and humor, in both the writing and the drawing.

I took this book on vacation, thinking its short entries would make it a perfect book to fill the gaps. It did that in spades, but I found that I usually couldn't read just one or two questions. I finished the book about halfway through the trip. Very enjoyable, with added appeal if you have an interest in science.

(Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book written by someone under 30)

Book Log 2015 #7: Midnight in Europe by Alan Furst

So in juxtaposition to the previous book we have the latest from Alan Furst, who has developed a solid framework on which to build his war novels. In this outing, our protagonist is a Spanish lawyer working in Paris for a firm that often sends him to New York, where he has a regular, if not particularly committed, girlfriend. His comfortable and quiet world changes when he agrees to work for his homeland to acquire weapons for use against the well-supported Nationalist forces who are on the offensive. This leads him down a dangerous path where he puts his life in danger on a long-odds attempt to turn the tide of Europe's slide into fascism.

And then there's the required romantic entanglement, this time in the guise of a woman who claims she is a link to the aristocratic heritage that the lawyer's mother continues to try to prove is her family's right. But there's something not quite right about this new lover, and if it's what he suspects, she's in as much danger as he is.

I tend not to like novels where the author is working off of a well-worn formula, but the quality of the writing in Furst's books helps to get past what problems might arise (though there is a certain level of predictability with the romantic story lines that I'm beginning to find troubling). Anyway, another solid outing worth a read if you like wartime thrillers.

(Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book you can finish in a day. Read quickly.)

Book Log 2015 #6: Warburg in Rome by James Carroll

The Warburg of the title is a Treasury Department lawyer who, mistaken for a member of the more aristocratic branch of the Warburg family, is tapped by the secretary of the treasury to go to Rome and head up a war refugee board whose purpose is to help Jews avoid (or get out of) concentration camps. Once there, he meets an American priest - the right hand man to Cardinal Spellman - who is looking to help his boss get a toehold among the Vatican elite.

The pair find ways to collaborate, but often find themselves at cross-purposes, especially after the war when the Vatican is doing everything it can to cover up some of the less savory aspects of its operations during the war and Warburg has become more involved with finding war criminals, enacting the occasional reprisal, and supporting Zionism. Both men are looking for the same thing - justice for Jews and atonement by those who let the Nazis implement the final solution - but have different impediments towards continued collaboration. Both are also caught up with women - Warburg with a Jewish member of the Italian Red Cross, the priest a nun who helps him get information - who add personal moral dilemmas to the more global ones.

The book is well written, but the story doesn't quite rise to the level of contemporary World War II thrillers written by authors like Alan Furst. I wonder if the book doesn't split its time too much between Warburg and the priest, rather than focusing on Warburg as a main character. So not a bad read, just not one I'd unreservedly recommend.

(Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit.)