Book Log 2021 #21: Grant by Ron Chernow

I don't read many biographies, but read Alexander Hamilton when the musical first became a thing, and liked it quite a bit. Which is what led me, eventually, to this book about our drinkiest president. Or at least our most rumored to be drinkiest president.

That's one of the main takeaways I took from this book, that the stories about Grant's familiarity with the bottle were embellished quite a bit. The stories aren't totally false - Grant clearly had a problematic relationship with alcohol - but they tended to fill in the gaps for any lapse or problem he encountered (or created). 

The story the book tells is of a man whose political inexperience, loyalty to those close to him, and general trusting nature all played significant roles in whatever troubles arose during his fighting days, presidency, and later life. I felt much more sympathetic towards Grant after reading this, and saw a little more clearly the facile nature of the characterizations of Grant as a corrupt drunk. It's not that he was blameless in the ill that befell him, but that the reasons for those ills run deeper than generally presented.

Even though this book (and Hamitlon) are pretty weighty, Chernow does a great job of balancing detail and thoroughness with readability. Both books require investing time and effort in reading, but pay off handsomely for that investment.

 Book Log 2021 #20: In the Morning I'll Be Gone by Adrian McKinty

Sean Duffy is enjoying retirement from the RUC, if by enjoying you mean" drunkenly existing after a dodgy termination." But he's put back into action not by his former employer but by MI5, who want his help in tracking down a IRA bombmaker who has escaped from prison. The bombmaker also happens to be an old friend, one who talked Duffy out of joining the IRA.

He picks up the case, but in order to solve it he will have to solve another case in a quid pro quo - if he can figure out who killed a woman in a locked pub, her mother will give Duffy information as to the bombmaker's whereabouts. And all of this may wind up having national and international implications, if the bombmaker is able to assist the IRA with an audacious plan.

I always get a little nervous when the main character in a series gets involved with higher powers, but Duffy holds his own here, even as his pursuit of the IRA man puts him at further odds with both communities (other Catholics who don't want him working for the British, and Protestants who don't fully trust Catholics). It's another strong outing, and if you haven't read the other books you should go start at the beginning.

 Book Log 2021 #19: The B-Team by John Scalzi

This was the product of some confusion on my part, as I don't think I was aware (or I forgot) that The Human Division was a collection of stories, the first of which is... The B-Team. I actually noted this confusion when I wrote about the collection, so I clearly learned nothing. On the plus side, I still liked this story (set in the same universe as Old Man's War but doesn't require having read any of the books in that series), so I'm at least consistent on that front.

 Book Log 2021 #18: The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey

A Marine returns to the American southwest after serving in Vietnam, only to find that developers and other business types are threatening to ruin the region's solitude and natural beauty. He teams up with a motley crew of like-minded misfits to commit eco-sabotage against road projects, dams, and other intrusions of the built environment on the natural environment.

This is the sort of book that I should like, but I didn't. It never quite came together for me. In retrospect I had similar feelings towards this book as I did for Cat's Cradle. Don't know if there's a shared writing style that I don't get, or if both books use a style of humor that doesn't appeal to me for whatever reason.