Lentorama 2022: It Happened on Easter

Day 5: Jacob Roggeveen names Easter Island

Roggeveen, a Dutch explorer, was sent to the Pacific to find Davis Land, a mysterious island located near South America and named for the pirate who claimed to have seen it in 1687. Roggeveen didn't find it - no one did, as it doesn't quite seem to exist - but on April 5, 1722, he stumbled across this island and named it for the holiday.

What's not clear is what name the island had up to that point. We often refer to it today as Rapa Nui, but that name wasn't given until the 1800s, and is also the name of the indigenous people who inhabit the island. There are two or three possible names, including one that translates as "The Navel of the World," which to me is the clubhouse leader on romantic notions alone.

Roggeveen would go on to be the first European to sight Bora Bora and Samoa. He did this while sailing for the Dutch West India Company, and would actually be arrested by agents of the Dutch East India Company for violating their monopoly. He eventually got that sorted out, and even worked for that company for a time in Batavia (now Jakarta) before going home to serve as a notary and publisher of controversial religious pamphlets. Easter Island would be annexed by Chile, of which it is still a part today.

 Lentorama 2022: It Happened on Easter

Day 4: The first voyage of the East India Company

The East India Company, an English venture set up to generate trade from Asia, saw its first voyage set off on April 22, 1601. Sort of. The five ships left port in February, but adverse winds kept them from clearing the English Channel until Easter Sunday.

In any event, the voyage succeeded in the way most English adventures abroad did, through violence. They captured a Portuguese ship, and used its cargo to help finance the establishment of two trading factories in what is today Indonesia. From there the EIC would spread throughout Asia, most notably in India, with the results that made the British so beloved in that part of the world.

 Lentorama 2022: It Happened on Easter

Day 3: RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta goes on air

The debut of an Irish language radio station in Ireland may not seem that important, but when this station went live on April 2, 1972, it was a big step for people who were trying to revive the Irish language after years of suppression. 

There was an intent to provide Irish language radio from the founding of the Irish state, but economic considerations frustrated those plans. The one Irish radio station in operation did broadcast some Irish language programming, but that amount dwindled over time, a trend that accelerated in the 1950s and '60s as the new Irish broadcaster, RTE, focused on providing more profitable content.

This raised the ire of Irish language supporters, and the issue of Irish language radio was swept up into a broader civil rights campaign to promote Irish in official publications and services. This campaign spawned an Irish language pirate radio station, whose success finally prodded RTE to launch an official Irish language radio station. 

You will not be surprised that one of the first things aired on the station was Easter Mass. 

The station continues to air, and has provided 24 hour service since 2001. An Irish language TV station launched in 1996, and there are several local Irish language stations as well. In 2005, the station relented a bit with respect to the majority language in Ireland and allowed music with English language lyrics during a late night show (11pm to 1am), with the first song played being "Blister in the Sun" by the Violent Femmes (as chosen by listeners, which is kind of surprising for 2005).

 Lentorama 2022: It Happened on Easter

Day 2: Chloe Kim is born

Appropriate given that we just had the Winter Olympics, American snowboarder Chloe Kim was born on April 23, 2000. Kim is the two-time reigning Olympic and world champion in halfpipe, and has won six gold medals in superpipe at the X Games. Suffice it to say she's pretty good at snowboarding. 

Another Lent, another Lentorama, this year with an historical theme:

Lentorama 2022: It Happened on Easter

40 days of world events that happened on (Western Christian) Easter Sunday. And while they won't all be connected to Easter specifically, our first entry is.

Day 1: Pope Francis livestreams the Urbi et Orbi address and blessing 

We go all the way back to 2020 for this one. The Urbi et Orbi blessing is typically given by the Pope on the most solemn occasions of the Catholic church: Easter, Christmas, and the election of a new Pope. With the world at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Francis opted to livestream the 2020 blessing rather than have people congregate in St. Peter's Square as usual. This followed an extraordinary Urbi et Orbi blessing a couple of week previously, which was given from the doors of St. Peter's and also without public attendance. 

Future blessings would also adapt to the pandemic, though Francis was able to give the blessing and address for Christmas 2021 from the traditional spot (a balcony in the central loggia of St. Peter's) and with people in the square. Which maybe wasn't for the best given that the omicron variant was on the rise, but it seems to have gone off without too much trouble.

 Book Log 2022 #11: The Plough and the Stars by Sean O'Casey

This play of the Easter Rising in Ireland focuses on Nora, who lives in a two room tenement apartment with her husband Jack, her uncle Peter, and cousin called The Covey. For the first two acts of the play, we're introduced to these characters and their neighbors, all poor, working class Dubliners. Nora is pregnant, and has hopes of improving her family's station, but Jack is involved with the Irish Citizens Army, and eventually leaves her to fight the British.

The last two acts take place during the Rising, with Nora trying to get Jack home safely while her family and neighbors discuss the revolt and, later, try to survive as the British put it down. 

The play is critical of the Rising, often juxtaposing nationalist rhetoric (delivered by "the Figure in the Window" quoting Patrick Pearse) with the daily life of the other characters (most notably a scene involving a prostitute in a pub). This led to riots during its opening week, as widows of rebels and Irish veterans saw the play as denigrating their sacrifice.

I do think this might be better seen in performance than read. 

 Book Log 2022 #10: House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

I first heard about this book on an episode of So Many Damn Books, where they discussed this on its 20th anniversary of publication. I don't read a lot of horror, but was intrigued by how they introduced the book, so I did something I rarely do: I stopped the pod before they got to anything like spoilers so I could read the book.

I'm glad I did that, though the book is so unusual that I don't know how much of it would have actually been spoiled if I'd listened all the way through before reading. In any case, It's also a hard book to describe without getting into too much detail, so fair warning if you read ahead!

The book is purported to be based on a manuscript found by a Los Angeles-based tattoo apprentice named Johnny Truant, who discovered it among the belongings of a blind man in his neighborhood who recently died. The manuscript appears to have started as an academic paper on a documentary called The Navidson Record, which captured the story of a family in Virginia that moved into a house that would spontaneously change. Doors would appear where they hadn't been previously, and new rooms and hallways would appear whose dimensions were beyond what should fit in the house.

The manuscript claims that the documentary became a sensation and spawned a wealth of supporting discussion and scholarship, except that Truant finds through his own research that there was no film with this name, and that the family doesn't exist (though they appear to be based on real people). But even these discoveries are questionable, as it becomes clear that Truant's mental state is slipping, through the writing he adds as he continues to organize the manuscript.

The unusual structure of the novel - multiple unreliable narrators, mixed points of view, footnotes that have their own footnotes, etc. - is complemented by it's unique visual style. The text is often laid out in a style other than reading left to right, with some pages containing fewer words or words arranged in a way to reflect the events or emotion of the story. Some words and phrases are printed in different colors (for example, in the edition I read, the word house is always printed in blue: house). All of this ramps up the creepiness factor, and also adds to the unease created by both the story of the house and the burgeoning madness of the narrator. Apparently the author typeset the novel himself to ensure that it would printed as he intended.

I didn't really feel like this was a horror novel, but I don't think there's really a genre that it would neatly fit within. I've also seen it described as a thriller, a love story, and a send-up of academic writing, all of which apply at points. 

While I don't think I really "got" the novel fully, I do see why a book podcast would return to it 20 years after publication. There's enough here left open to interpretation that you can return to the book regularly and take something new out of it. It's also the sort of singular work that's worth revisiting to see what impact it's had on other books. 

 Book Log 2022 #9: The Corpse on the Dike by Janwillem van de Wetering

I've tried a few times over the years to get into this series of books featuring Amsterdam police detectives Grijpstra and de Gier, liking the books well enough to come back to them from time to time but not so much as to make a dedicated attempt at completing the series. This book will do nothing to change matters in either direction. 

The story itself is interesting enough - a hoarder is shot dead, and while a neighbor who is a competitive pistol shooter may be to blame - but I never quite connected with the plot as it played out. It feels flat to me, not sure if it's an issue with the writing or the nature of the characters.

So I'm not going to rush into the next book, but I'll probably pick it up eventually.

 Book Log 2022 #8: Money: The True Story of a Made-Up Thing by Jacob Goldstein

Goldstein, the co-host of NPR's Planet Money, has as a core belief that money is innately social, that it exists because all of us, collectively, agree that money has value. He examines that view through a historical lens in this book, which uses a number of anecdotes to show how the development of monetary systems and types of currency shaped countries and civilizations. 

It's a good book for people who could use a layman's explanation on how money works and the ways in which it can cause and solve problems (the discussion of the Great Depression gives a clearer understanding of how the Federal Reserve helped spur it on and how FDR taking us off the gold standard helped to end it). 

 Book Log 2022 #7: The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu by Tom Lin

I'm not a huge Western fan, though I'm definitely in favor of the recent move to redefine the genre. This book lands squarely in that movement, as it follows its Chinese-American title character as he tries to avenge his (white) wife's kidnapping and his being forced into hard labor (both at the behest of his railroad tycoon father in law).

The story not only considers issues of race and class, but also throws in some magical realism with a traveling show whose members appear to have supernatural powers and a character known as the Prophet, who can occasionally see the future.

Like a traditional Western, there's a fair amount of violence, and the white characters can't tell the Chinese ones apart (which Ming uses to his advantage more than once).  But unlike traditional Westerns you actually do see non-white characters in main roles, and the good and bad guys are more nuanced.

I don't know if I'll develop more of a taste for Westerns if they're written like this, but I'll at least be more likely to give them a chance.

 In case you missed, it the USFL is coming back this year, an otherwise bright spot in our continued hellscape. At least for those of us who will watch pretty much any football.

The league is starting off with eight teams, all of which are using the names, logos, etc. of teams from the original incarnation. Which I will now rank in order of preference, because I didn't have the chance to do so in 1983.

8. Philadelphia Stars. It seems odd that I'm putting the most successful USFL franchise last, but it lands on the bottom for being a generic name with a generic logo. It looks like they've made minor tweaks to the Stars word art, and they've dumped the old gold color in favor of both orange and gold. None of which helps.

7. New Jersey Generals. I don't like the changes they've made to the logo. I find the stars too close together. Also not a fan that they still have five official colors. But the name is fine if generic.

6. Birmingham Stallions. They've also cleaned up the word art and logo, but have kept the colors more or less the same. Nothing wrong here per se, but I like the other five teams better (as well as this other Stallions franchise).

5. Michigan Panthers. Another case of making the logo and word art sharper, and the light blue accent seems more prominent than the original. I was going to rail about both changes, but in looking at old photos I think the changes are less significant than I originally assumed. 

4. New Orleans Breakers. New word art, but the logo looks very close to the original. I'm probably being a total homer for ranking them this high, but they will always be the Boston Breakers to me.

3. Pittsburgh Maulers. I was never a fan of their color scheme. But I like the name and the logo, and the changes they made to the word art and logo are an improvement. 

2. Tampa Bay Bandits. They've also neatened up their word art and logo, and it's also an improvement (though their originals weren't too bad). Very solid and traditional color scheme that works well with a great nickname.

1. Houston Gamblers. They refreshed the word art (an improvement) and it doesn't look like they changed much else. Which is good, as most everything else about their nickname, logo, and colors is great. I still find five official colors too much, but when everything else works that's a minor quibble.

 Book Log 2022 #6: Borstal Boy by Brendan Behan

As a newly minted member of the IRA, a 16 year-old Brendan Behan set off on an unauthorized mission to bomb the Liverpool docks. As you might expect, he was caught before ever coming close to the docks, and was sentenced to a term in a borstal, the UK version of juvie. This book recounts the three years he spent inside, from 1939 to 1941.

Two things struck me about his account:

1.Behan's time in borstal did not seem particularly harrowing compared to what you might expect from a prison narrative. There are episodes of mistreatment and violence, but nothing particularly extreme. I don't know if Behan played down this aspect of his time, or if it just reflects a different time or approach to confining minors.

2. It becomes clear pretty quickly that the Irish Catholic Behan and the largely English Protestant body of inmates have more in common than they first expect, due to having a shared working class background. 

I liked it, but wonder how different the story would have been had he written it closer to his actual sentence.

 Book Log 2022: Sex Cult Nun by Faith Jones

This is one of several recent memoirs by former members of the Children of God (also known as The Family or The Family International), a religious movement/cult which combined fundamentalist Christianity with communal living and an emphasis on sex as a way to show God's love. What sets this one apart is that Jones is the granddaughter of the group's founder, and thus has a unique insight into both the day to day life and broader practices of the group.

As the title implies, sex played a significant role, and females (including children) were expected to have sex with any male member of the group. The trauma this caused was significant, especially when added to the emotional and physical abuse common among such groups. Making sex a critical part of faith added another layer, adding the fear of eternal damnation on top of everything else.

Jones left th group as an adult, and the latter part of the book documents how she gained an education and developed her own sense of the wider world, experiences she was blocked from having while growing up. I found this part of the book a little uneven, as her critiques of education and other social structures don't always ring true to me (though I admittedly am coming at them from a very different place).

The book shows a great deal of restraint with regards to sex (moreso than you might expect from the title), talking about it plainly but without lurid detail. The recounting of life within the group is fascinating and well worth reading.

 Book Log 2022: The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

This novel reimagines the events of the Iliad from the point of view of Briseis, a local queen who is taken captive by Achilles after the Greeks ransack her city.  We see the war through her eyes, from the various conflicts that Achilles has with other Greeks to her relationships with the other women in camp, many of whom were her subjects. As the title suggests, there's actually not that much dialogue from Briseis, as much of her story is told in flashback or internally.

The book is very direct in how it portrays the horrors of war, and the specific trauma it inflicts upon women. Seeing this in the context of the Trojan War underscores how little this has changed in history, and how rare it is to get a female perspective on war and its aftermath. 

I did read a few reviews of the book, and many complained about the use of modern slang, saying it pulls the reader out of the ancient setting. I can't say it bothered me, but I can see the argument. Some also said it lacked the lyrical or magical qualities of Circe, but I would expect a book about war to be more direct than one about a demigoddess who lives on an island.

Overall, I liked this book very much and look forward to the sequel.

 Book Log 2022 #3: Inspector Saito's Small Satori by Janwillem van de Wetering

I've wandered in and out of van de Wetering's series featuring Amsterdam detectives Grijpstra and de Gier, liking them well enough but not so motivated as to actually finish the series. The author has a background in both Zen Buddhism and police work, and combining the two results in an unusual take on the genre.

With this book, van de Wetering shifts more towards the Zen side of the equation. Inspector Saito is young and relatively new at his job, and relies on his Zen training and logical mind to both solve cases and manage his position within the department. They're good stories, and I think the combination of detective fiction and Buddhist philosophy may work better in this format (though that could say more about me and my relative inexperience with the subject than anything).

As far as I can this is the only book of Inspector Saito stories, which is too bad. I think I'd have read more of them... eventually.

 Book Log 2022 #2: The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Nguyen continues to examine memory, identity, and the feeling of living between worlds in this short story collection. The stories have a kinship with his novels in terms of location and character histories, but are not (as far as I could tell) directly related to them. 

Each of the stories depicts a conflict where the main character must come to terms with a change in circumstances that puts their world view in question, from the newly-arrived Vietnamese refugee who discovers his sponsors are a gay couple to the American father who has to overcome his war experiences when visting his daughter, who now lives in Vietnam. There's also one story that seems autobiographical, about a boy whose parents own a Vietnamese grocery store in San Jose.

I really enjoyed the collection, and found each variaton on the common themes gave me something new to consider. As someone who has lived in more or less the same place surrounded by more or less the same people, the book helped me develop at least a slightly deeper understanding of what it means to live with such a permanent change in ones circumstances.

 Book Log 2022 #1: Heat Wave by Richard Castle

I started off the new year by reading the first book in the Nikki Heat series "written" by Richard Castle, who is played by Nathan Fillion on the ABC show Castle. In real life, this book was written by Tom Straw, a real-life mystery novelist and TV writer/producer who would go on to write several books in the series.

Nikki Heat is a New York cop who has to solve a murder while babysitting a journalist, Jameson Rook, who is researching an article. The two become de facto partners in the investigation while maybe also becoming partners in the bedroom. The name Heat works on several levels, you see.

The book was perfectly servicable as a TV-tie in, and didn't require any familiarity with the show that I could tell. But it also wasn't particularly memorable, and I don't see myself continuing on with the series.

 So how did I do this year in retrospectively completing the POPSUGAR reading challenge? Not too bad, as long as I'm able to use books in more than one category. I've left blank the categories that I don't think I covered.

A book published in 2021 - Damascus Station (David McCloskey) and A Desolation Called Peace (Arkady Martine)

An Afrofuturist book

A book that has a heart, diamond, club, or spade on the cover

A book by an author that shares your zodiac sign - An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (P. D. James)

A dark academia book - We Ride Upon Sticks (Quan Barry) might count here, it is about witchcraft and a high school field hockey team after all

A book with a gem, mineral, or rock in the title - Flour Water Salt Yeast (Ken Forkish)

A book where the main character works at your current or dream job - A Beautiful Blue Death (Charles Finch), the main character is a gentleman sleuth

A book that has won the Women's Prize for Fiction - no winner, but I did read the shortlisted My Sister, The Serial Killer(Oyinkan Braithwaite) and Where'd You Go, Bernadette? (Maria Semple)

A book with a family tree

A bestseller from the 1990s - The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (Alexander McCall Smith, 1998)

A book about forgetting 

A book you have seen on someone else's bookshelf

A locked-room mystery

A book set in a restaurant - It's not really set at a restaurant, but Flour Water Salt Yeast has parts that talk about Forkish's bakery, so I'm counting it.

A book with a black and white cover - Lost and Gone Forever (Alex Grecian)

A book by an Indigenous author - Kaui Hart Hemmings, the author of The Descendants, is herself descended from a native Hawaiian woman who married a Protestant missionary, which I'm going to count.

A book that has the same title as a song - Gun Street Girl (Adrian McKinty, song by Tom Waits)

A book about a subject you are passionate about - I don't know if I'd say I'm passionate, but Sovietistan (Erika Fatland) did scratch a persistent itch I have regarding the Central Asian former Soviet republics.

A book that discusses body positivity - The Relentless Moon (Mary Robinette Kowal) has a character who is being treated for an eating disorder, but she has to keep it quiet as she could lose her job as an astronaut if it becomes public. 

A book found on a Black Lives Matter reading list

A genre hybrid - Interior Chinatown (Charles Yu) is my pick here, as it's had to ascribe to any one particular genre.

A book set mostly or entirely outdoors - Sweetness and Blood, Michael Scott Moore's book about surfing.

A book with something broken on the cover

A book by a Muslim American author 

A book that was published anonymously

A book with an oxymoron in the title - would A Desolation Called Peace (Arkady Martine) count here? Can desolation be peaceful?

A book about do-overs or fresh starts - I think The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (Alexander McCall Smith) fits here, as the main character gets a fresh start when she opens the agency.

A magical realism book

A book set in multiple countries - Sovietistan (Erika Fatland, writing about the five Cenral Asian countries formerly part of the Soviet Union)

A book set somewhere you'd like to visit in 2021 - Bruno and the Carol Singers (Martin Walker) - set in France, which I did actually go to in 2021.

A book by a blogger, vlogger, YouTube video creator, or other online personality - Turtles All the Way Down (John Green)

A book whose title starts with Q, X, or Z - Zen in the Art of Writing (Ray Bradbury)

A book featuring three generations (grandparent, parent, child) - Three generations are mentioned in Lost and Gone Forever (Alex Grecian), though saying they're featured may be reaching. Born a Crime (Trevor Noah) may be a better fit, assuming I'm not misremembering the presence of a grandparent.

A book about a social justice issue - Raise a Fist, Take a Knee (John Feinstein) tackled issues of racism and social justice in sports.

A book in a different format than what you would normally read - if we include audiobooks as reading, Paddle Your Own Canoe (Nick Offerman) would count here, as I almost never listen to audiobooks. 

A book that has fewer than 1000 reviews on Amazon or Goodreads - The Pigeon Tunnel (John Le Carre)

A book you think your best friend would like - I'm going with Born a Crime (Trevor Noah), which was recommended to me by my wife/best friend.

A book about art or an artist - Kirby: King of Comics (Mark Evanier) looked at the life of legendary comic book artist Jack Kirby.

A book everyone seems to have read but you - Normal People (Sally Rooney) seems like the best choice here, but A Visit From the Goon Squad (Jennifer Egan) or Cat's Cradle (Kurt Vonnegut) could also qualify.

Your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR reading challenge - going with a book set in Scandinavia, which is my favorite prompt because I have book that fits it that I've not used elsewhere, The Sandman (Lars Kepler)

ADVANCED

So I didn't go to my TBR list to choose books specifically for these items, but I'll list what I did read from my TBR that I think would otherwise meet the challenge.

The longest book (by pages) on your TBR list - Grant (Ron Chernow), which I'd been meaning to read since I read Hamilton.

The shortest book (by pages) on your TBR list - Probably The Education of David Stockman (William Greider), given its start as a magazine article.

The book on your TBR list with the prettiest cover - I don't remember most of the covers, but do recall liking the design on The Descendants. 

The book on your TBR list with the ugliest cover - 

The book that's been on your TBR list the longest amount of time - probably Cat's Cradle (Kurt Vonnegut), as I've been meaning to read more Vonnegut for a while

A book from your TBR list you meant to read last year but didn't - likely On the Plain of Snakes (Paul Theroux)

A book from your TBR list you associate with a favorite person, place, or thing - For the Love of Europe (Rick Steves) combines all of these, as I associate going to Europe with my favorite person, seeing some of my favorite places, and doing some of my favorite things.

A book from your TBR list chosen at random - 

A DNF book from your TBR list

A free book from your TBR list (gifted, borrowed, etc.) - most of the books I read were from the library, so let's pick one I haven't used yet, A Gentleman in Moscow (Amor Towles)

 Book Log 2021 #66: Damascus Station by David McCloskey

Set in the early days of the Syrian uprising, CIA agent Sam Joseph is working with another agent to exfiltrate one of their sources. Their plan goes awry, and while Joseph gets away his colleague is arrested and disappears into the Syrian security apparatus, from which she does not return.

Seeking revenge and a way to infiltrate (and hopefully topple) the regime, Joseph recruits another asset, who is well placed to gain access to information. She's related to high ranking military officials, and injuries to a cousin has her rethinking her allegiance. But she may be too ideal a candidate, at least on one level, as she and Joseph fall in love during her recruitment and training. 

The pair return to Damascus, and it becomes clear that the regime is planning something big. Tensions grow as the asset puts herself, her family, and Joseph at greater risk each time she's pressed to find out more about what's coming. 

I really liked this book, both for its unique location (Syria doesn't show up that often in spy novels) and contemporary setting. It was also just quality spy fiction, showing how personal relationships and conflict are more at the heart of espionage than car chases and gadgets. Though there are some of those, too.

That's it for 2021. Happy New Year!

 Book Log 2021 #65: Raise a Fist, Take a Knee by John Feinstein

This book is Feinstein's examination of race and inequality in sports. The page linked above calls it "urgent and revelatory," but I didn't find too much in here that I didn't already know. It's good that someone of Feinstein's stature is writing about these issues, and the book is probably well positioned to challenge those who are of a "stick to sports" mindset. So perhaps I should think of it more as a gateway read to books that address these topics in greater depth. 

 Book Log 2021 #64: The Education of David Stockman by William Greider

David Stockman was the first director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Reagan, and a supply side true believer. His role put him center stage in enacting economic and tax policy that would see money "trickle down" from the richest individuals as they reinvested or spent money no longer being paid to the government.

But the reality of creating a budget often clashed with theory, which became clear in a series of interviews he conducted with Greider, who was working on a piece for The Atlantic. Most famously, Stockman noted "None of us really understands what's going on with all these numbers," one of several things he said that got him in hot water with Reagan. Stockman would become increasingly concerned with the large deficits being run up during Reagan's first time, and he'd leave the OMB in 1985.

This book is really an extended version of Greider's story (which I've linked to above). I read it in college, and picked it up again for a reading challenge where you had to re-read a book that made an impact on you. In this case, the impact is that the book confirmed for me that supply side economics is nonsense.

 Book Log 2021 #63: We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry

Danvers, Massachusetts is a pretty quiet suburb of Boston, probably best known locally for Liberty Tree Mall. But in 1692, Danvers - then known as Salem Village - was in the thick of what we know today as the Salem wtich trials. Today, Danvers more or less stays out of the witchcraft business, letting Salem play it up for tourism dollars.

But the 1989 Danvers High School field hockey team may be an exception. An eclectic mix of girls (and one boy), the seniors on the team are determined to go out on a high note. And, in order to guarantee success, they may have invoked some dark magic.

As the season plays out it's hard to tell if the team's success is due to their skill, blind luck, or something more sinister. The tensions of the season, and potentially being in thrall to evil, weigh on the friends and teammates, who still have to face regular teenage pressures of school, dating, and the future.

I really enjoyed this book, especially as it's set at a time and place where I was roughly the same age as the characters (I'm older by a couple of years). I was also a little distracted trying to reconcile background facts with my own memories. But in a good way.

A good October reading assignment would be to read this and Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts. 

And finally, NHL teams renamed for defunct teams that played in their city/area, with the exception of San Jose. Rather than use a Bay Area defunct team I've gone with their current AHL affiliate, which also plays in San Jose.

ATLANTIC DIVISION

Boston Olympics (Eastern Hockey League)

Buffalo Norsemen (North American Hockey League)

Detroit Vipers (IHL)

Florida Rockets (EHL)

Montreal Voyageurs (American Hockey League)

Ottawa Civics (World Hockey Association)

Tampa Bay Tritons (Roller Hockey International)

Toronto Toros (WHA)

METROPOLITAN DIVISION

Carolina Thunderbirds (Atlantic Coast Hockey League)

Columbus Checkers (IHL)

New Jersey Knights (WHA)

New York Rovers (EHL)

New York Cougars (NAHL)

Philadelphia Falcons (EHL)

Pittsburgh Phantoms (RHI)

Washington Presidents (EHL)

CENTRAL DIVISION

Arizona Roadrunners (IHL)

Chicago Shamrocks (AHA)

Colorado Grizzlies (IHL)

Dallas Freeze (Central Hockey League 2)

Minnesota Fighting Saints (WHA)

Nashville South Stars (ACHL)

St. Louis Bandits (NAHL)

Winnipeg Moose (IHL)

PACIFIC DIVISION

Anaheim Bullfrogs (RHI)

Calgary Stampeders (Pacific Coast Hockey League)

Edmonton Flyers (Western Canada Senior Hockey League)

Los Angeles Aces (WHA)

San Jose Barracuda (AHL)

Seattle Metropolitans (Pacific Coast Hockey Association)

Vancouver Millionaires (PCHA)

Vegas Thunder (IHL)

 Book Log 2021 #62: The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

The reading challenge I'm doing had a space for noir fiction, so I figured why not go right to the classics. 

This is the first outing for LA private detective Philip Marlowe, whose been hired by a retired general to investigate incidents involving his two daughters. The general's wilder daughter is being blackmailed by a local bookseller, and he wants Marlowe to sort it out (it's not encouraging that she's been blackmailed before). The general also wants Marlowe to find his other daughter's husband, who's gone missing. 

Both cases get complicated quickly, between the shifting relationships between those involved and an ever-growing body count. Marlowe finds himself in danger more than once - sometimes at the end of a gun, other times in the arms of a woman. 

I found it a little difficult to get established in the book due to the unique pace and style of noir/hardboiled crime fiction. But I got used to it pretty quickly and came to enjoy its twisty plot and cynical characters. There is an annotated version of the book which includes personal letters from Chandler as well as notes and essays about LA in the '30s. I may have to go back and give that a look.

But if you'd rather watch than read, there is also the classic 1946 film adaptation starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Which I actually haven't seen. May need to give that a look, too.

 Book Log 2021 #61: Greenwood by Michael Christie

This multi-generational story follows members of the Greenwood family, whose past (and future) is intertwined with the trees on Canada's Pacific coast. The trees play a central role in their economic and personal fortunes, from the earliest Greenwood hacking a living out of the dense forest to the current generation that's showing one of the last stands of forest on earth to wealthy ecotourists.

The book's structure is like that of tree rings, with each layer telling another part of the whole story. The chapters set in the future, when much of humanity is affected by an ecological catastrophe, unintentionally echo the Covid-19 pandemic (which was just taking hold in the US when the book was published). That coincidence may keep some readers away, but this isn't really a pandemic novel. I think of it more along the lines of The Ministry for the Future in terms of showing a potential future, but with a much deeper historical scope.

 Book Log 2021 #60: Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury

This collection of essays was intended to provide creative spark and inspiration for writers. I have no idea if it's successful at that - I'm still cranking out fairly mundane blog posts - but it was very successful at showing Bradbury's love for writing, and what inspired him in his craft. So to that end, I think this is an interesting collection if you want some insight into his process. It was a little hit or miss - just like his short story collections! - but worth the time.

You probably saw this coming, but here are the current NBA teams with names from former basketball teams that played in their area. 

ATLANTIC DIVISION

Boston Whirlwinds (American Basketball League)

Brooklyn Blackout (ABA 2000)

New York Wanderers (National Basketball League 1898)

Philadelphia Raiders (East Coast Basketball League)

Toronto Tornadoes (CBA)

CENTRAL DIVISION

Chicago Stags (Basketball Association of America)

Cleveland Rebels (BAA)

Detroit Falcons (BAA)

Indiana Alley Cats (CBA)

Milwaukee Blast (ABA 2000)

SOUTHEAST DIVISION

Atlanta Vision (ABA 2000)

Charlotte Fury (Universal Basketball Association)

Miami Tropics (United States Basketball League)

Orlando Flight (Florida Basketball Association)

Washington Capitals (ABA)

NORTHWEST DIVISION

Denver Refiners (National Professional Basketball League)

Minnesota Muskies (ABA)

Oklahoma City Cavalry (CBA)

Portland Chinooks (International Basketball League)

Utah Eagles (CBA)

PACIFIC DIVISION

Golden State Oaks (ABA)

Los Angeles Stars (ABA)

Los Angeles Conquistadors (ABA)

Phoenix Eclipse (ABA 2000)

Sacramento Monarchs (Women's National Basketball Association)

SOUTHWEST DIVISION

Dallas Skyline (The Basketball League)

Houston Comets (WNBA)

Memphis Soul Kings (Central Basketball Association)

New Orleans Blues (ABA 2000)

San Antonio Soldiers (North American Basketball League)

 Book Log 2021 #59: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

A man wakes up on a space ship, not knowing his name, why he's on the ship, or where he's going. All he knows is that he's awake, and the two people who were his crewmates are now dead. He's alone and an untold number of miles from Earth.

Thankfully, his amnesia begins to fade, and he begins to remember that he's on a one-way mission to learn how to fight off a microbe that is causing stars to dim, which will plunge the Earth into an exinction-level ice age. He has to use his skills as a molecular biologist to find a solution, while avoiding all of the novel ways space can kill you.

This book is solidly in the theme of The Martian and Artemis, where an ordinary person facing likely death uses science and unexpeected resolve to achieve the extraordinary. And like those books, the way this unfolds is highly entertaining. 

 Book Log 2021 #58: V2 by Robert Harris

A German engineer, assigned to a V2 rocket station in the occupied Netherlands, comes under suspicion as a potential defector. He's more interested in space than in conquest, and lets his lack of ardor for the cause show through a bit too much.

Across the English Channel, an intelligence officer is ready to ship out to newly liberated Belgium, where she and her colleagues will try to find the launch sites using a combination of radar, math, and luck.

I liked the book, but I found it less interesting than The Second Sleep or Conclave, which take more interesting detours in narrative and plot. It's still good, straightforward historical fiction.

 And while I'm at it, Major League Baseball teams renamed for other baseball teams that played in their city or area.

AL EAST

Baltimore Monumentals (Union Association)
Boston Red Stockings (National Association)
New York Mutuals (National Association)
Toronto Maple Leafs (International League)
Tampa Tarpons (Florida State League)

AL CENTRAL

Cleveland Spiders (American Association)
Detroit Wolverines (National League)
Chicago Unions (Negro National League)
Kansas City Monarchs (Negro American/National Leagues)
Minnesota Millers (American Association)

AL WEST

Houston Toros (Continental Baseball League)
Los Anaheim Angels (Pacific Coast League)
Oakland Oaks (PCL)
Seattle Steelheads (West Coast Negro Baseball Association)
Texas Steers (Texas League)

NL EAST

Atlanta Crackers (Southern Association/League)
Miami Miracle (Florida State League)
New York Atlantics (National Association)
Philadelphia Keystones (Union Association)
Washington Blue Legs (National Association)

NL CENTRAL

Chicago Whales (Federal League)
Cincinnati Porkers (American Association)
Milwaukee Creams (Western Association)
Pittsburgh Grays (National Negro League)
St. Louis Maroons (Union Association)

NL WEST

Arizona Scorpions (Arizona Fall League)
Colorado Zephyrs (American Association/PCL)
Los Angeles Stars (PCL)
San Diego Aces (California State League)
San Francisco Seals (PCL)

 Apropos of nothing, how I would rename the teams in the National Football League if they had to use names from teams in other football leagues that played in their area.

AFC EAST

Buffalo Destroyers (Arena Football League)
Miami Tropics (Spring Football League)
New England Breakers (United States Football League)
New York-New Jersey Hitmen (Xtreme Football League 1)

AFC NORTH

Baltimore Stallions (Canadian Football League)
Cincinnati Glory (World League of American Football)
Cleveland Thunderbolts (AFL)
Pittsburgh Maulers (USFL)

AFC SOUTH

Houston Gamblers (USFL)
Indianapolis Speed (Women's Football Alliance)
Jacksonville Sharks (World Football League)
Tennessee ThunderCats (National Indoor Football League)

AFC WEST

Denver Gold (USFL)
Kansas City Phantoms (Champions Indoor Football)
Las Vegas Posse (CFL)
Los Angeles Avengers (AFL)

NFC EAST

Dallas Renegades (Xtreme Football League 2)
New York Generals (USFL)
Philadelphia Soul (AFL)
Washington Federals (USFL)

NFC NORTH

Chicago Enforcers (XFL)
Detroit Fury (AFL)
Green Bay Blizzard (Indoor Football League)
Minnesota Fighting Pike (AFL)

NFC SOUTH

Atlanta Legends (Alliance of American Football)
Carolina Skyhawks (WLAF)
New Orleans Voodoo (AFL)
Tampa Bay Storm (AFL)

NFC WEST

Arizona Outlaws (USFL)
Los Angeles Dons (All American Football Conference)
San Francisco Demons (XFL 1)
Seattle Dragons (XFL 2)

 Book Log 2021 #57: Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

Told mostly by way of emails, journal entries, and other documents, this book tells the story of Bee, a teenager who takes it upon herself to find her agoraphobic mother Bernadette, who has overcome her fear and disappeared. As Bee searches, she learns more about her mother's past and her difficult interactions with parents of other kids at her school. Things come to a head with a planned family vacation to Antarctica, which Bee decides holds the key to the mystery.

I liked this book more than I expected. The epistolary approach matched well with the lifestyle of these one percenters, and allowing characters to depict their thoughts and actions in their own voice put their misdeeds in sharper relief when they eventually came to light. I kind of mentally connected Bee with the protagonist of Turtles All the Way Down, though I don't know that they have that much in common between looking for a missing adult. 

 Book Log 2021 #56: In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje

This book follows Patrick Lewis as he moves from his rural Ontario town to Toronto, where he applies what he learned about dynamite from his father on construction sites in the city.  He quits his job to find a millionaire who's disappeared, becomes involved with the man's mistress, and eventually falls in with political radicals who can use his knowledge of explosives. He also becomes more familiar with the immigrant community he's worked and lived among for years, developing personal and romantic attachments.

The title of the book comes from the Epic of Gilgamesh, and is supposed to reference the convergence of voices in history. In this case, it comes from Ondaatje focusing on immigrant communities and marginalized people who helped build Canada but rarely figure in its official story. Ondaatje researched this period of Canadian history to make sure he depicited life in the Toronto area accurately, and that definately helped make this a richer story. It's also a prequel of sorts to The English Patient, as a couple of characters from this book show up there, and it tells us what ultimately happens to Lewis.

I liked the book, it reminded me a little of Sinclair Lewis and his ability to use personal stories and conflict to show a contrasting view of accepted history.

 Book Log 2021 #55: In a House of Lies by Ian Rankin

A private detective missing for a decade turns up in a car trunk - located in an area that had been searched during the initial investigation into his disappearance. John Rebus was involved in the case originally, and acknowledges its deficiencies - some intentional, some perhaps related to his attempt to tie things to Big Ger Cafferty. He gets back into the case through the side door, as both Siobhan Clarke and Malcolm Fox are brought in as part of the new investigation.

Clarke has her own problems to deal with, between a pair of internal affairs cops investigating her for misconduct and an unknown person harrassing her over another investigation that appeared to go well. 

It's impressive that the Rebus stories continue to feel fresh given how long the series has gone on. I also like how these later books have depicted Rebus in his retirement, fleshing out the comments from earlier books about cops who kept a hand in after leaving the force. Including his health struggles - most notably his COPD - also give a fuller picture of how he's paying for his younger lifestyle. It reminds me a bit of how Inspector Morse's love for a pint (or several) played into his ultimate demise.

Anyway, keep reading these and start if you haven't.

 Book Log 2021 #54: The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal

The Lady Astronaut series shifts a bit, spending more time with Nicole Wargin as Elma York is part of the first staffed mission to Mars. As the impending climate disaster on Earth starts to take clearer focus, the plan to get as many people off Earth as possible runs into problems with saboteurs. Wargin has to figure out who is behind incidents on the Moon while coping with her husband's political ambitions back on Earth.

York, meanwhile, has to keep her mixed crew together through personal conflicts and the dangers of space travel while also managing trouble at home involving her husband. Both astronauts also have to address their own personal medical issues, which they've not been able to share due to the double standard applied to female astronauts.

As with the other books in the series, there's a core of hard science fiction here that carries other plot lines that aren't quite so focused on rockets and impending ecological catastrophe, and does so well. I'll be curious to see if this series continues along these lines or if it takes more of a Seveneves turn towards setting up the remnant of humanity that will permanently inhabit space. 

 Book Log 2021 #53: A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine

This sequel to A Memory Called Empire sees the Teixcalaan empire threatened by an alien armada, with which they cannot communicate. The empire sends Three Seagrass, now a high-ranking official, to see if she can make a connection. Along the way she recruits her former charge, the nominal Lsel ambassador to the empire, to help her. The ambassador, however, is given her own orders, putting her personal and professional loyalties in conflict. 

Most of this book takes place on board spaceships and stations, which may be a little disappointing if you wanted to spend more time on Teixcalaan's fascinating homeworld, but it's an excellent story that explores themes such as identity, personhood, and loyalty.  Both books are highly recommended, and I'll admit to being a little impatient for a third.

 Book Log 2021 #52: The Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Neville

Gerry Fagan is a former paramilitary assassin, who finds himself haunted by the ghosts of those he killed. Their demand of him: seek vengance against those who ordered their deaths. He is willing to give them this, but has to do so in a new Northern Ireland, where the peace process and new government are trying to put the lid on violence. Not to mention, some of these new leaders stand to lose if the public are reminded of past events.

Complicating matters is Fagan's growing interest in the daughter of a man whom the ghosts want revenge against. She's not only well connected in the world Fagan inhabits, but she also has a daughter by a cop. Balancing his personal desires with spectral demands may wind up being too much.

I'm not sure how I feel about this book, I mostly like it but find the supernatural tinge a little woo-woo for my taste. I also went into it with Goodreads calling it the first book in the Jack Lennon series, even though he barely appears in the book. I may have been distracted by waiting for him to take on a larger role in the story. In any case, it was good enough that I'm likely going to read on.

 Book Log 2021 #51: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Alexander Rostov is a Russian count, and his aristocratic ways land him in front of a Bolshevik tribunal in the early days of the Soviet Union. He refuses to renounce his past, and seems headed to a firing squad, but a poem he wrote with revolutionary themes is enough to spare him the bullet. He is sentenced to life under house arrest in the Hotel Metropol. 

Moved from his suite to the servant's quarters, Rostov begins to rebuild his life in the confines of the hotel, developing new relationships with employees and guests, one of which leads to an unexpected change in status.

This book is lushly written, but in a way that's fitting a noble main character and the clientele that can still afford a luxury hotel. It also takes great delight in showing how the count and his new friends work within (and around) the new order, both when the stakes are low and when they're at their highest. There's also a novel structure where each chapter doubles the number of days after the start of the story, and then halves them after the midway point. It sounds like something that could be gimmicky, but I really didn't even notice it at the time. 

One of the better books I've read this year, and very recommended. 

 Book Log 2021 #50: The Potter's Field by Ellis Peters

The brothers of the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul are preparing a new field for planting, one gained in a land swap with another abbey as both possessed plots that were closer to the other. The plowing of the long-fallow field is abruptly halted when it turns up the body of a young woman. The field had, until recently, been used by a local potter before he opted to take monastic vows. His wife was believed to have left with another man - or did she? 

As usual, brother Cadfael gets involved in trying to solve the mystery, which appears to be tied to a young novice from another abbey, which is under pressure from men loyal to the Empress Maud. 

Another solid outing, made a little more interesting by the potter turned monk. This is one of the rare cases where the person taking vows gets to fully examine the consequences of rejecting the secular life. Usually we only get a general judgement on whether or not the person should become a monk, which doesn't provide as much depth to the story as we got here.

 Book Log 2021 #49: The Kaiser's Web by Steve Berry

Cotton Malone stays in central Europe for this outing, where the results of the pending German election seem to hinge on what happened one spring day in 1945. The questions about what happened on the day Hitler apparently killed himself - did anyone survive, and where did all of the wealth accumulated by the Nazis go? - color the race between an Angela Merkel-type candidate and an opponent stoking up the same sentiments that took Germany into war.

Pretty typical entry in the series, probably a little better than the previous one although the big twist seemed pretty obvious. As with many of these books, it's right in the airport bookstore sweet spot.

 Book Log 2024 #48: Gun Street Girl by Adrian McKinty

When a murder-suicide crosses Sean Duffy's desk, he suspects that there's more to the story than meets the eye, and he's right. Very right. His investigation uncovers events taking place at the highest reaches of government, and threaten to put some very poweful people in the soup.

And that's when MI5 show up looking to take him off the case.

It felt like this is what the previous three books was building towards, with each case putting Duffy just a little deeper into the nexus of politics and crime, but now with personal consequences that can match the professional.  

I'm hopeful that this series goes long enough to transition me off of John Rebus once Ian Rankin allows him to retire (like that will ever happen).

 Book Log 2021 #47: Service of All the Dead by Colin Dexter

Inspector Morse is on vacation, and rather than go away on holiday he is puttering around Oxford.  He finds himself at St. Frideswide, where he learns that not only was the church warden murdered, but the vicar later committed suicide by throwing himself off of the bell tower. Morse takes an interest in the deaths, and when the investigating detective comes down with the flu, Morse and Lewis are put on the case.

As usual, Morse formulates a number of theories about who may have killed both men, and they are all wrong. But for each false start, more evidence comes to light, and Morse is able to determine who the killer is, and who may be their next victim.

While this book takes on a number of the common traits of Morse novels, it's structure is unique. It's broken into four parts, with the second part being the most like a standard Morse novel. The first part delves into the background of several St. Frisewide parishoners, the third part takes the form of an official police statement taken by Morse, and the last part covers the court proceedings into the crimes.

It's a strong Morse outing, enlivened by the unusual structure. 

 Book Log 2021 #46: Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill

As feared, robots have risen up and wiped out humanity. Earth is now ruled by competing collections of AI called One World Intelligences, which are trying to bring all robots under their sway while they compete with one another to become the actual one OWI.

Not all robots are buying into this, which is how we meet Brittle, a caretaker robot who wants to maintain their independence. Brittle is living in the Sea of Rust - a large wasteland in the American midwest - where there are other robots who aren't part of the OWI. Some, like Brittle, want to remain independent, others are broken beyond control or repair.

Brittle herself is in danger of breaking down, and has to enter into an alliance with other rogue robots in order to find new parts and fend off a scavenger robot who would like to break her up for parts. As the group travels through the sea, Brittle remembers life with humans and her part in the revolution. While Brittle can't experience emotions, she does seem to experience regret at what she's done.

A robot revolution isn't exactly a new topic for science fiction, but I did like how this book took the typical story - humans fighting for survival against the machines - and created an intra-robot conflict out of it.  The robots often seem human, though there are regular reminders throughout that they are, in fact, machines.

I liked this quite a bit, and will have to check out the sequel at some point.

 Book Log 2021 #45: Paddle Your Own Canoe by Nick Offerman

When the reading challenge I was doing required listening to an audiobook, I only had one criteria: it had to be short. I'm not really an audiobook listener, and didn't want to get sucked into a 15+ hour commitment. What I discovered pretty quickly is that celebrity memoirs tended to be on the short side, and often had the bonus of being read by the author. Which is how I wound up filling my earholes with the story of how Nick Offerman became Ron Swanson.

Well, not really, But it was easy to see (I mean hear) how aspects of Offerman's life informed that character, from an appreciation of the outdoors to his woodworking skills to a love of quality meats. 

I also learned that Offerman really, really likes weed.  Maybe that's part of Ron Swanson's subtext?

The book is part biography, part manly advice manual, and while I thought the former part was stronger than the latter I did enjoy the book as a whole. Unfortunately, by listening to the audiobook I did not get to see the illustrations (some of which are on the page linked above,) which are pretty amusing.

 Book Log 2021 #44: Sweetness and Blood by Michael Scott Moore

This book details how surfing spread from Hawaii to California and then to the world, with the author checking out the surf scene in locations as disparate as Germany, Gaza, Cuba, and Morocco. While his investigations into the roots of surfing in these locations were interesting and often insightful as to how surfing fits in with the local culture, I did find it odd that he didn't go to some of the more notable surf areas, like Australia, Tahiti, or Nazare, the Portuguese town known for its gigantic waves. Maybe those stops were too obvious.

I did like this book, but I think I was looking for a different book about surfing when I checked this one out. Never did figure out what that book was supposed to be, but this was a pretty good alternative.

Not long after writing this book Moore was kidnapped while researching Somali piracy, and was held captive for three years before being ransomed. I have not read his book about that ordeal, but may have to soon.

 Book Log 2021 #43: The Committed by Viet Thanh Nguyen

This sequel to The Sympathizer sees that book's main character set up in Paris, where they've landed after a bout of reeducation in Vietnam. He falls in with a left wing crowd while he and his friend establish themselves in the drug trade. The narrator continues to struggle with identity, both ethnic (being both Vietnamese and French) and ideological (no longer being communist but still interested in leftist politics). He also has to figure out how to reconcile his best friend with a common friend who, in large part, is responsible for their current situation.

It went back and read some reviews, and it was interesting to see how they differed on whether or not you needed to read The Sympathizer before reading this book. Suffice it to say there was no consensus; it went from one review saying you didn't have to to another saying you'd be lost without doing so.  My vote would be to read The Sympathizer first, as it will help you sort out relationships and plot points a bit. I'd also say it might be worth reading them back to back (as if they're two volumes of a single work), but even if you can't do that you should read both of them at whatever pace you're good with.

 Book Log 2021 #42: The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking

Hygge is a Danish concept for a feeling of comfort and happiness brought on by being with people we love in a favored setting. Think of being curled up by the fire with the drink and individual of your choice.

I missed that hygge had a moment in the US (I'm sure the morning talk shows covered it), which is what helped bring this book about. Denmark is often listed as one of the happiest countries on Earth, and in this book Wiking (the CEO of something called the Happiness Research Institute) explains what hygge is and how to live a more hygge-centric lifestyle.

Suffice it to say there's a reason why hygge only had a moment in the US. It's focus on slowing down, unplugging, and living more intentionally doesn't really align with the common American grind-first mindset. That being said, I liked the book and thought its suggestions were achievable, assuming you can fit them in between side hustles.

 Book Log 2021 #41: Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

When a local construction magnate goes missing in the midst of being investigated for various corporate crimes, the promise of a reward for information on his whereabouts inspires Aza Holmes to enlist her best friend in trying to find him. Complicating matters: her OCD and anxiety, and the burgeoning relationship with the missing man's son that starts during her investigation.

Green noted that this was his first book to directly address mental health issues like those he's faced.  I think he successfully translated his personal experience to the book, though I'll admit to not having direct experience with OCD or anxiety, so take my option for what it's worth. More generally, I did find the book engaging and enjoyed the sort of details that one would expect from a Vlog Brother.

 Book Log 2021 #40: The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali

A teenaged girl in 1950s Tehran finds refuge from the growing political turmoil in a stationery shop, falling in love with smells and sights of its pens, inks, and papers. The shopkeeper, sensing a kindrid spirit, introduces her to a boy with similar interests. The two fall in love and plan to get married.

But on the night they are supposed to meet in a town square, a coup is launched against the government. The girl manages to get to the square, but the boy never shows. What happened to him remains a mystery - until a chance encounter sixty years later gives her a chance to ask him where he went, and if he didn't show becuase of her, or something else?

The political unrest and coup are based on the actual 1953 coup (engineered by the US and UK) that toppled the elected government of Mohammed Mosaddegh due to concerns over communist leanings (fueled by his nationalization of the Iranian oil industry). For their trouble, the West got the increasingly repressive Shah of Iran and the 1979 Islamic revolution. So well done, CIA and MI6!

I don't remember much of anything about the actual story here, but it was probably fine. I did finish this book very quickly, so it was either so engrossing I couldn't put it down or it was easy enough to zip through. Maybe a bit of both?

 Book Log 2021 #39: An Unsuitable Job for a Woman by P. D. James

Cordelia Grey is a young private investigator who find herself in charge of her own agency when her former boss kills himself and leaves the practice to her. While she's not sure if she can keep the place afloat, she decides to keep it open in memory of her mentor. Which turns out to be a good idea, as she soon gets her first client, the assistant to a prominent scientist whose son has recently killed himself. The assitant wants Grey to figure out why he would have done this.

And, as you might expect, as Grey investigates the death she becomes convinced that it was actually murder. And while someone is trying to scare her off the case, she's determined to find the killer.

Grey's inexperience and ambivalence in her profession made this a more enjoyable read for me than any of the Dalgliesh books, where I feel like he generally comes up with the solution out of nowhere. The progress of the investigation here was realistic for an investigator like Grey. I would definately suggest reading this book before any of the Dalgliesh ones (he does appear in this book, but you don't really need to know who he is).

 Book Log 2021 #37: The Last Kind Words Saloon by Larry McMurtry

A reading challenge I was doing had a Western as one of its requirements, and I thought I would read Lonesome Dove. But then I saw how long it was, and opted for this much shorter McMurtry work.  In hindsight, I should have sucked it up and gone with my original plan.

Like Lonesome Dove it's set in a rapidly taming American West, but in this case it follows Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp from Texas to Denver to Tombstone. It's not a typical Western in that it's more about the journey than the fight that waits at the end. I just didn't care that much about the journey as presented. I also didn't find it to be a humorous as some did (Joyce Carol Oates blurbed it as "comically subversive," which I didn't get at all). 

Maybe I just don't read enough Westerns to get this one.

 Book Log 2021 #37: Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

This novel styled as a screenplay follows a man who, both in his real life and in his working life, plays what he calls Generic Asian Man, a background character who never gets to the the center of the story. But when he does get his turn in the spotlight, he learns things about himself and his family that change his perspective.

This is not a great synopsis, but I don't think this book lends itself to simple summarization. Between the inventive structure and fuzzy line between what's happening in real life and what's happening on screen, it really needs to be read rather than recapped. And I really recommend reading it.

 Book Log 2021 #36: For the Love of Europe by Rick Steves

Rick Steves has spent a lifetime traveling to Europe and sharing his tips and suggestions for visiting that continent. From his early Europe Through the Back Door travel guide he developed a multifaceted buiness that publishes a wide range of guidebooks, runs tours, and airs travel shows on PBS. 

This book collects 100 of his favorite stories and memories from his time in Europe. Unfortunately, if you watch his TV shows or listen to his radio show -I do both, and have for years - a lot of what's in this book is going to be familiar.  The writing is fine, and the format makes it easy to pick up and put down, it's just that you'll probably get more out of it the less familiar you are with the other corners of the Rick Steves media empire.

 Book Log 2021 #35: Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

A young woman working as a lady's maid meets an older widower in Monte Carlo, and after a whirlwind courtship they get married. They return to his estate, Manderly, where the woman quickly learns that her husband's dead wife still exerts a strong pull over the estate and its housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers.

The narrator tries to put her own stamp on Manderly and assert herself as the new mistress of the house, but finds herself increasingly isolated by others' memories of Rebecca and Mrs. Danvers' manipulative nature. When things seem to be coming to a head between the narrator and Mrs. Danvers, a discovery is made that changes everything.

This novel quickly became a gothic classic and one of the most popular books of the 20th century. Its been adapted several times for film, TV, and other media. For what it's worth, I liked the book but wouldn't think of it as my favorite or most memorable book. 

 Book Log 2021 #34: The Heretic's Apprentice by Ellis Peters

A local man once accused of holding heretical views dies during a pilgrimage, and is returned to Shrewsbury by his attendant, who was tasked with finding his master a burial site on the abbey grounds. That task grows more difficult when the attendant is also accused of heresy by a fellow servant, who fears losing his place in the household. When it becomes clear that's not an issue, the servant goes to recant his charges - but winds up dead.

Once again, it's up to Cadfael to help find the killer and prove the attendant's innocence. He is of less help against the heresy charges, which are pursued by a visiting canon. 

I liked that there was a heresy subplot to augment the usual murder mystery, it's not a topic that's come up much (or at all) in the series. It gives an extra insight into religious life and practice at the time, one that we don't often consider in the current day. Seriously, when was the last time you heard of someone charged with heresy?

 Book Log 2021 #33: Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

The title of this memoir by the comedian and host of The Daily Show is literal, in that Noah was the product of a relationship between a white man and Black woman, which was illegal in South Africa at the time. From that beginning, Noah recounts the challenges of growing up in that environment, largely without a father, and with the feeling of not fitting in anywhere due to being mixed race.

But with those challenges is a large amount of humor, recounting stories of high school, dating woes, his extended family, and how he discovered that he had the talent to move beyond his circumstances. 

I really enjoyed this book, as your average comedian's memoir is often too busy trying to be funny to tell you anything about the person. I felt like the book gave me a much better idea of who Noah is as a person and a comedian, and got to laught a bit along the way. It's a quick and entertaining read.

 Book Log 2021 #32: The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene

A priest in Mexico is on the run, as the country has outlawed Catholicism and priests can be executed if they're found practicing their sacred duties. While many states take a less rigorous approach to the law, the state of Tabasco enforces it rigorously, and forces preists to take wives and pensions as part of the plan to make them unable to minister to their flock.

This priest did take that deal for a while, and has fathered a daughter, but he still feels the need to work as a priest, even at risk to his own life. Complicating matters is that Tabasco is legally dry, making it impossible for him to get sacramental wine and hard to get the whiskey he craves. Looking to escape into a neighboring state, he is on the run from a police lieutenant who has a personal stake in prosecuting preists. The chase comes to a head when the priest appears to have crossed the border, but is tempted to cross back to hear the confession of a dying man. It feels like a trap, but can the priest set his duty aside for his own personal safety?

Greene wrote this book after visiting Mexico to research and write a non-fiction account of the country's anti-clerical movement, and the book he wrote (The Lawless Roads) was a template for this novel, with many of the characters and stories coming from what Greene saw and heard while in country. Some in the Catholic Church were against the novel for its depiction of a drunk priest who fathered a child, while others found the book to be a positive example of a man following his faith despite the personal and political obstacles in his way.

A number of people hold this to be Greene's best book, and that could be the case, though I think I liked The Quiet American more. You should read both (and Our Man in Havana while you're at it).

 Book Log 2021 #31: Touch by Elmore Leonard

A woman in Michigan is apparently cured of her blindness after being touched by a young man named Juvenal. While there are questions as to whether or not Juvenal can heal by the laying on of hands, there are those who see dollar signs or unlimited power in even the thought that he can do this. Juvenal has his own plans, and sets out to see them through while trying to avoid being taken advantage of by others.

Leonard wrote this in 1977 and it was widely rejected. He was able to bring it to press ten years later, but it's not clear if he made many changes to it. I kind of hope he didn't, as it's not a particularly good book, and the idea that it's the improved version would make me wonder how bad it was originally. 

Unless you're a completist, I'd say skip this one and pick up any book Leonard wrote in the 1990s.

 Book Log 2021 #30: The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings

Matthew King is, at first glance, your stereotypical semi-absent father. He works more than he should, and relies on his wife to manage their daughters and other domestic issues. That this may not have been the best plan is revealed when his wife - an ex-model and adrenaline junkie - gets into an accident during a powerboat race that leaves her in a coma. All at one, King discovers that he has two daughters who may be going off the rails - and that his wife was having an affair. It's the discovery of the affair, and they ways in which King and his daughters decide to address it in the context of their wife and mother's imminent demise, that powers this novel.

For a book about such a serious - and depressing - topic, the story is told with a fair amount of humor. It also helps that there's a secondary plot involving the King family's land holdings and their potential development. This provides another focus on the book's themes of family and what one owes to the people who came before (and will come after) them.

You may be familair with the movie based on this book, which stars George Clooney as King. I've not seen the film, but can very much recommend reading the novel.

 Book Log 2021 #29: Sovietistan by Erika Fatland

In this book, the author travels alone through the five Central Asian countries that were formerly Soviet republics - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan - to understand how each has sought to balance their ancient cultures with the realities of the post-Soviet world.  

The journey is not always easy. Start with the logistical challenges that spring up trying to get around this part of the world. Add in that Fatland is a female traveling alone in what is sometimes fairly conservative Islamic territory. Then add in that she's a journalist, which if known would prevent her from being able to enter at least one of these countries. That the author is able to get the stories she does, and can talk to people as freely as one can in these countries, makes for a very engaging book.

 Book Log 2021 #28: The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

In the wake of a lethal heat wave in India, the international community creates the title organization, which is charged with representing the rights of future people to live on a habitable planet. The book follows its minister as she tries to convince governments of the threat climate change presents not just in environmental terms but in economic and financial terms as well. The other main narrative follows an aid worker who survived the Indian heat wave but has become increasingly adrift from society. 

In addition to these two main stories, the book presents other points of view, often times from anonymous characters, to give depth to the global nature of climate change. There are also a number of technical advances depcited, not so much as solutions, but as ways to mitigate changes while larger solutions are enacted.  There's also an ongoing campaign waged by a radical ecological group, who occasionally resort to violence as a way to remove obstacles to what they see as progress.

Some of the reviews of this book found it too optimistic, which I can see. I do think it will be much harder to convince politicians in office now to act in the best interests of people not yet born than depicted here. That being said I do think putting the danger of climate change into economic/financial terms is likely the best way to convince those in power (or those who can manipulate the levers of power) to act in a climate-friendly manner. 

 Book Log 2021 #27: The Pigeon Tunnel by John Le Carre

This memoir presents stories from the life of the author (born David Cornwell), providing detail and color to his personal journey from language teacher to intelligence officer to novelist. It is the only feature-length non-fiction book in his bibliography, which is unfortunate, as his skills writing fiction easily carry over.

He also goes into some detail into his difficult parental relationships. His mother left the family when Cornwell was five, and he did not see her again until he was an adult. His dad was a small-time criminal, assocaited with the Kray brothers and always on the make. To me, these are the most interesting stories in the book, less due to any insight they may give to Cornwell as a writer, but more to how he was able to survive a childhood of poverty and neglect to get to where he did (though it's worth noting that his sibilings all achieved a certain amount of success as well).

Very much worth reading, especially if you're a le Carre fan.

 Book Log 2021 #26: Flour Water Salt Yeast by Ken Forkish

I might have been the only person in America that didn't try to bake his own soudough bread during the Covid-19 pandemic, though this book almost changed that. While there are parts of the book that detail how the author developed his baking skills and opened his own bakery, the bulk of the book walks you through various recipies and how to manage the amounts of the four title ingredients when making bread, pizza dough, and other baked goods. 

The one thing I really took from this book wasn't the recipies as much as the importance of time. Not just baking time, but time spent preparing dough, waiting for it to rise, and so on. While not all the recipies require a huge investment in time, reading through it became clear to me that you have to have a certain amount of patience to turn out really good bread. Maybe that not being obvious to me is why I never gave making some of these loaves a shot.

 Book Log 2021 #25: Friday the Rabbi Slept Late by Harry Kemelman

David Small is the new rabbi for a Convervative temple in a Boston suburb, and while he's personable he doesn't quite mesh with the committee that runs the temple. The rabbi is bookish, while the committee thinks they may want someone whose more focused on fundraising and supporting the growth of their community.

This tension comes to a head when a young woman is found murdered on temple grounds, and evidence suggests that the rabbi is the killer. But it turns out the rabbi's academic nature is actually well-suited to applying logic to the evidence at hand, and working with the local (Catholic) police chief, he not only sets out to clear his name, but figure out who actually committed the murder.

You don't find mystery solving rabbis everywhere, and the shifting points of view - you get chapters focusing on the rabbi, the committee, and even the victim before her untimely demise - further sets this book apart from your standard murder mystery. But there was still something about this book where I couldn't really connect with it. I don't know if it's the prose feeling a little old-fashioned or what, but I just felt kind of meh about the whole thing.

Which is too bad, as I had a couple of external factors that wanted me to like the book (the author is also a BU alum, and the town in the series is based on Marblehead). The books in this series were also adapted into the short-lived TV show Lannigan's Rabbi if you'd rather watch than read.

 Book Log 2021 #24: The Last Trial by Scott Turow

After a long and storied career as a criminal defense attorney in Kindle County, Sandy Stern prepares to represent his final client, a longtime friend and Nobel laureate whose cancer drug gave Stern a new lease on life... before it was found to have potentially killed several patients. Working with his daughter Marta (who has already announced that she will retire and close their firm at the end of the case), Stern has to plot a defense while also battling the physical and mental infirmities that can come with advanced age.

The legal thriller part of the book is solid as usual, but it's the parts that deal with the looming end of Sandy's career that made it stand out. We don't often see aging in real(ish) time in series like this, and seeing how Sandy confronts the end of his career and looming mortality adds a dimension to the book that would otherwise be missing. Hopefully some of the other characters will get a similar valedictory novel. 

 Book Log 2021 #23: The Dragon Waiting by John M. Ford

In this alternative history/fantasy novel, four strangers (a female Italian doctor, a mercenary, the exiled heir to the Byzantine throne, and a Welsh wizard) join forces to ensure that Richard of Gloucester will gain the English throne and become Richard III.  The story mixes elements from our world (the Medici family, for example) with elements of the supernatural (the Byzantine army is led by a duke who is also a vampire) to create a really engaging and entertaining story.

This isn't a book that I would normally pick up - I'm not a fantasy reader generally - but a recommendation during an episode of So Many Damn Books sold me. What interested me as much as the plot was the story of the author, whose complicated personal and professional life seemed to lead to his works falling out of print and staying out of print for years after his death. It's a story as interesting as this book, which is saying something.

 Book Log 2021 #22: Sword of Kings by Bernard Cornwell

Uhtred of Bebbanburg has regained his Northumbrian fortress, and seems set to live out his days in the land of his birth.

Fate, of course, has other plans.

Edward, son of Alfred, is on the English throne, but there are questions if he can keep his kingdom together. Mercia and Wessex seem on the verge of splitting into independent kingdoms again, and various claimants to all the thrones start to stake their claims. In order to settle the unrest, and to live up to the oath he made to Edward's heir Aethelstan, Uhtred once again rides into battle.

This was on par with the other books in the later part of the series. Although as the next to last book in the series, how likely are you to bail now?

Unrelated technical note: I like to link to author websites rather than publishers where I can, but Cornwell's website basically acknowledges that this book exists and points you to where you can buy it. The lack of detail is surprising,  

 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.