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.