December 30 2019

Things That Matter: Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes, and Politics (2013)
By Charles Krauthammer

Krauthammer is a brilliant writer!  While I don't agree with all of his conclusions, as he is a more conservative thinker than me, his approach to contemporary issues is so measured and his wording so erudite - and often humorous - that this book examining our politics, military, foreign relations, and even the family pet - should be must-reading for anyone in government, law or the military - or anyone (like me) who takes an interest in current events, and needs to hear from different ends of the spectrum.  He's at his most satirical in columns (and this book is composed of previously published news columns and essays) like "Don't touch my junk" about pat-downs and screeners in airports and his most tender in remembering a beloved dog.

Krauthammer's essay on "Zionism and the Fate of the Jews" was very concerning.  Could Jews - as a religion and perhaps as a state - be headed for extinction?  According to the author, their numbers, and their percentage of the total population, and the areas in which they are represented (including the US) are all decreasing.  Krauthammer (a Jew himself) died last year, which is a great loss for our world and for sensible, civil discourse.  God protect the Jews, who have given the world some of our finest literature, art, and justice!

December 24 2019: Selections from the Book of Luke

Luke 1:1-45 - The angel brings new of the births of John the Baptist and of Jesus the Savior

The angel Gabriel told Mary that:

"...you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.  And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."

and that

"your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.  For nothing will be impossible with God."

and so Mary went to visit her cousin Elizabeth.  Elizabeth's response to Mary (Luke 39-45 below) was considered by Martin Luther to be the first sermon in the New Testament.

In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.  And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb.  And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry,

"Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb!  And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.  And blessed is she who believed that there would be fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord."

* * * * *

Luke 1:46-55 - The Magnificat: Mary responds to the news that she will bear a son, a Savior.

And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.  For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate;
he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.

* * * * *

Mary's son became the Savior of the world.  "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." (John 10:10b)  May we all find life, in all its abundance.  Merry Christmas!

December 18

The Miracle and Tragedy of the Dionne Quintuplets (2019)
By Sarah Miller

As a little girl I recall being enchanted with pictures of the darling Dionne quintuplets.  Although they were already 15 years old when I was born, they were still very much a novelty and, as the title suggests, it was a miracle they survived.  Weighing a combined 13.5 lbs, they were born in the bedroom of a remote French Canadian farmhouse.  Their 24-year-old mother, who was giving birth for the 7th time, was feeling unwell but expecting a single baby.  A local doctor was called in to assist with the birth, and when he saw the size and number of the infants, he asked Mr Dionne to bring in the priest, assuming they would not survive.  Meanwhile he kept them warm by placing them near an open oven door, and later by an old-fashioned incubator heated by hot water, as the farmhouse had no electricity.

The doctor who was present at the birth quickly spread the news, and a photojournalist arrived and arranged the babies for photos within 6 hours of their birth.  A bilingual nurse was engaged to assume the babies' care and they miraculously survived.  As they grew, so did public interest.  The Red Cross, and soon the Canadian government (through an official act), stepped in to take control of the girls, who were set up in a small hospital built across from the farmhouse.  The girls would be put on display twice daily so visitors could observe them at play during prescribed hours in the morning and afternoon.  The girls' father and aunt built souvenir shops near the quints' hospital. The girls had their own life, isolated from their parents and siblings.  Aside from publicity appearances, they knew little of the world outside the hospital.  At age nine, they were returned to their parents' custody, an arrangement that both the quints and their parents/siblings found uncomfortable.  Eventually, they left home for college or convent, but it took years for these women, raised as curiosities, to find comfort outside the rigid strictures of their upbringing.  As adults, they learned that millions of dollars had accrued to an account in their names, the result of many products (e.g. Madame Alexander Dionne quint dolls) for which they received royalties, but that their father had spent down the account.

I could hardly put this book down.  These beautiful little girls were such innocent victims of society, of selfish parents who profited from their children's celebrity, and even of the well-meaning doctor and nurses who regulated their every move.  Two of the quints, now in their 80s, are still living; they are survivors in more ways than one.

December 16

The Husband Hunters: American Heiresses Who Married into the British Aristocracy (2017)

By Anne de Courcy

During American's Gilded Age, a large number of American heiresses traded their family's wealth for the title afforded by marriage to a British aristocrat.  Many of the brides' families were nouveau-riche and sought a title as a door into American society, while most (but not all) of the lords, baronets and dukes who married them were penniless and seeking the funds to live in comfort.  The first of these "dollar princesses" was Jennie Jerome, who married Lord Randolph Churchill in 1874, and most notably age birth to Winston Churchill, arguably the 20th century's most crucial player.  Consuelo Vanderbilt brought her father's considerable wealth to restore Blenheim Palce, where she lived with her husband the Duke of Marlborough, a cousin of Churchill.  Many of these unions were loveless, based as they were on personal gain, but some marriages were happy and successful.  By WWW1, most of the fortunes were starting to wane, as was the frivolous style of the American Gilded Age.

This book was loaded with information, much of it centered around Newport.  While I found a few errors (e.g., Gertrude Vanderbilt married Harry Payne Whitney, not Jay Burden), I also found new, helpful information about Gilded Age Newport.

December 6 2019

A Bell for Adano (1943)

By John Hersey

This story, published during the second world war, made me feel good about my country - especially at a time when our current president lacks ethics and honesty.

In 1943, American Major Victor Joppolo has been tasked with bringing democracy to Adano, a small Italian town where the residents have been intimidated into submission by a corrupt mayor and Fascist government.   Joppolo sets up shop in the old city hall and earns the people's trust; he hires an office assistant and a translator, even though Joppolo (whose parents were born in Florence) speaks fluent Italian.  He enlists the US Navy to remove land mines, so fishermen can get back to work and the people of Adano can eat.  But Victor does manage to make an important enemy in Gen Marvin, the American leader of Italian ops, when he countermands an order restricting donkey carts from Adano.  Marvin, in a fit of pique over a stalled cart, has them banned altogether, but Joppolo, knowing carts are crucial to supplying water and other necessities, changes the order so the townspeople can eat.  This fateful decision plays in the background through the story, even as Joppolo works to replace the town's beloved old bell that had marked the hour for centuries until being melted down to make bullets.  Maj Joppolo represents the best of the American military - not perfect - but working to restore faith and humanity to a town devastated by war.

December 2 2019

The Viceroy's House (2017)

There is a huge and ever growing number of books (novels and non-fiction) on the second world (and I am a big fan) - but much less known is the conflict that arose when just after the war, when Great Britain freed India, its long held colony and the jewel in its empire.  The bloodshed that resulted, as Hindus and Muslims fought one another, exceeded the total number of deaths in WW2.

This fascinating film chronicles the events leading up to freedom.  Lord Louis Mountbatten has been appointed the last viceroy, who will oversee the freeing of India.  He is courted by the urbane Muhammed Ali Jinnah, who has a vision for a divided India, with his part being an Islamic state.  The pacifist and much admired Mahatma Gandhi, on the other hand, insists for the good of the Indian people that the nation must remain united.  Yet, partition seems the only road forward, if the large minority of Muslims are to go along with the plan, so the date is set for freedom from Great Britain, and the formation of two new nations, on August 14, 1947.   Meanwhile, Louis's wife Edwina expresses concern over the Indians' lack of education and good health care and worries, along with her husband, that they will need better training to rule their vast country without the resources of the UK. Of course she is right, and the two new nations are destined for strife, but the magnitude of the slaughter (egg, whole train cars arriving full of dead passengers) is horrific, and a bad omen for the birth of the new countries, now over 70 years ago.

November 28 2019

The Big House: A Century in the Life of an American Summer Home (2003)

By George Howe Colt

Colt makes a final summer visit to the rambling Cape Cod house that has been a retreat for five generations of his family, but which his extended family, now spread around the country, can no longer afford to maintain and decide to put up for sale.  It's clear that he loves the old place - which has felt more like home than the various year-round locations in which he's lived throughout his childhood and adult years.  [And, of all places, his summer home is on Wing's Neck, a little-known peninsula in Pocasset where my own family spent a couple of memorable summer vacations in a family house much like the one Colt writes about!]

He introduces the reader to the early generations (including some real characters!) of his Boston Brahmin family, then provides a history of Cape Cod.  For much of recent history, living by the sea was not desirable, as the sand was useless for grazing and planting, but by the mid-1800s Bostonians wanted to get out of the crowded cities and started buying up seaside lots.  By 1902, Wing's Neck was one of the few undeveloped areas of Cape Cod; the author's great-grandfather Ned Atkinson joined a group of 12 Bostonians who bought up the whole neck (for $83,450), dividing it among themselves, and selling smaller leftover parcels to like-minded friends.  [And, when we were summering in our rented house, we indeed came across a directory of Association members, many still based near Boston.  But in a recent Zillow search, I also found parcels of land for sail on Wing's Neck, so it looks like those large properties of a century ago are a luxury most vacation home-owners no longer want (or can afford) to maintain.]

The author fondly recalls sailboat races and summer-long tennis tournaments. As this final summer in the Big House starts to wind down, he reflects on some of the events and realities that changed his perception of the perfect summers he enjoyed as a boy.  One was the early death (from leukemia) of his Aunt Sandy (his father's youngest sibling).  Another was the on-again/off-again mental illness of his beloved grandmother.  But perhaps the most revealing was his gradual realization that his family was not so admirable; they were Boston Brahmins who, though no longer weather, seemed to consider themselves above others, they were insular, resistant to change.  But in the end, his own generation is forced to make changes.   The author's parents, whose marriage is teetering mainly from his father's long business trips and lack of involvement, seek counseling and restore their marriage.  Their generation form a kind of corp and put the Big House on the market.  But after several years of no bids, the author's cousin Forbes and her husband David decide to buy and renovate the house.  This unexpected development breathes new life into a much loved retreat, keeps the house in George's extended family (and where George, his wife, and their children will continue to vacation at the old chauffeur's cottage), and positioning it for its next century.  Wonderfully written!

November 15 2019

The Memory Keeper's Daughter (2005)
By Kim Edwards

Novelist Kim Edwards relates how her pastor shared an account of a man who'd discovered, late in life, that his brother had been born with Down's Syndrome, placed in an institution at birth, and kept a secret from his family, even from his own mother, all his life.  He'd died in the institution, unknown.  Edwards considered how this could happen and has crafted a compelling novel.

Her description of the story follows:

"It is 1964 in Lexington, KY and a rare and sudden winter storm has blanketed the area with snow.  The roads are dangerous, yet Dr David Henry is determined to get his wife Norah to the hospital in time to deliver their first child.  But...the roads are treacherous and he stops at his medical clinic instead.  There, with help from his nurse Caroline, he safely delivers their son Paul.  But unexpectedly, Norah delivers a second child, a girl, in which David immediately recognizes the signs of Down's Syndrome.

"David is a decent but secretive man - he has shared his difficult past with no one, not even is wife - about growing up in a poor, uneducated family and the death of a beloved sister whose heart defect claimed her at the age of 12.  The painful memories of the past and the difficult circumstances of the present intersect to create a crisis, one his which his overriding concern is to spare his beloved Norah what he sees as a life of grief.  He hands the baby girl over to Caroline, along with the address of a home to which he wants her taken, not imagining beyond the moment, or anticipating that his actions will serve to destroy the very things he wishes to protect.  Then he turns to Norah, telling her 'our little daughter died as she was born.'

"From that moment forward, two families begin their new, and separate, lives.  Caroline takes Phoebe to the institution but cannot bear to leave her there.  Thirty-one, unmarried, and secretly in love with David, Caroline has always been a dreamer, waiting for real life to begin.  Now when she makes her own split-second decision to keep and raise Phoebe aa her own, she feels as if it finally has.

"As Paul grows to adulthood, Norah and David grow more and more distant.  Norah, always haunted by the daughter she lost, takes a job that becomes all consuming and seeks the intimacy that eludes her with David through a series of affairs.  Feeling as if he's a disappointment to his father, Paul is angry and finds his only release through music.  David, tormented by his secret, looks for solace through the lens of his camera, the 'Memory Keeper', trying to make sense of life through the images he captures."

Sometimes we make sudden decisions that affect the rest of our lives.  That was the case when Paul handed over his baby daughter.

November 6 2019

The Gifted School (2019)
By Bruce Holsinger

If any parents needed a reason NOT to enroll their child in a public school for gifted students, this book would be it!  Four women (and their respective husbands) have been close friends since their children (now 11) were babies in a swimming class in their tony Colorado suburb.  When news gets out that their school system is planning to open a new middle and high school for the most gifted 1% of students in their county, all of the parents are keen to get their bright kids admitted.   Admission is by test and a portfolio exhibiting their applicant's exceptional ability in a specific area.  As with many such communities, it is the parents who stage the competition while their kids barely seem to care.  Decade-old friendships are under siege and secrets are exposed as the race is on.  One of the 11-year-olds has an older sister who posts a video blog (which she is unaware has gone public) with some very comprising information about all of the families (she babysits for all of them), while her younger brother (who is mathematically bright but socially challenged) puts together a portfolio containing startling, hurtful information.

This fairly lengthy book (452 pp) is loaded with vignettes that entertain as they typify wealthy Americans and their obsession to live their lives through their children.  It's fair to assume that these parents likely regretted the day they signed up their children to compete for placement in the gifted school, and one outcome is that their relationships are forever changed.  As for their kids, it was fun to see who, if any, of the children would gain admittance in this humorous, yet poignant, modern novel.

October 30 2019

The Book of Unknown Americans (2014)
By Cristina Henriquez

Alma and Arturo Rivera have come to the US from Mexico, sponsored by an American company that has offered Arturo a job.  The Riveras hope their move to America will bring hope of helping their beautiful teenage daughter Maribel to recover.  Though they don't have much money, they find kindred spirits among their neighbors in their apartment building - immigrants from Guatemala, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and (in the case of their closest new friends, the Toro family) Panama.

Maribel starts school in a special ed setting geared to help kids with disabilities.  Maribel makes small strides in her recovery from a brain injury sustained in a fall from a ladder, for which both parents blame themselves.  But Maribel's greatest success in speech recovery is through her relationships with the Toros' son Mayor.  Mayor is neither the good athlete nor good academic that his older brother is - but he is smitten with the new neighbor, realizes her difficulties, and takes on a protector role when bullies come her way.  They spend hours in conversation and, when the two are spotted in Mr Toro's car, a nosey neighbor assumes the worst, and tells Alma.  Maribel is then forbidden to see Mayor and reverts into her shell once again.

Then one day, Mayor and Maribel sneak out together in a snowstorm.   What seems like a risky move escalates to a tragic outcomes and the reader is struck by the risks that immigrants take, and the not-always-happy endings that result.

This story is told by all the voices in the book.  It will change the way I think about immigrants.

October 28, 2019

The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West (2019)
By David McCullough

I expected a tale about the settlers who rode west in covered wagons in the late 1800's - but got a very different story.  David McCullough brings his usual skill to chronicle the settlement of the Northwest Territory via some fascinating characters and through a very accessible narrative.

Shortly after the new Unites States of America and Great Britain signed the Treaty of Paris, Congress agreed to settle the Northwest territory (land ceded by Great Britain that will eventually become Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin) through land grants awarded to Revolutionary War veterans.  Surprisingly, it is a Massachusetts minister, Manassah Cutler, who undertakes the task of petitioning the new congress to establish the territory as a bastion of freedom of religion, free universal education and prohibition of slavery.  The following year (1788) Gen Rufus Putnam leads the first band of pioneers, where they settle the first town town across the Ohio River, Marietta, Ohio.  Cutler's son Ephraim joins the pioneers, eventually joining the state legislature where he champions public education including initiating legislation to found the Ohio University.  Carpenter/architect Joseph Barker designs and builds not only houses and public buildings but also ships that will steam down the Ohio River.  Dr Samuel Hildreth is an early town physician and naturalist who also publishes several histories of Marietta and its citizens.  It's clear that these men (and their wives) were gifted, committed to serving their neighbors and their God, and in the right place at the right time.

McCullough includes a list of colorful secondary characters, too, including the wealthy Harman Blennarhassett and the wily Aaron Burr.  He also alludes to several tragic encounters with native Americans -- whose land was being overtaken -- a travesty noted by several British travel writers, but apparently not questioned by the American settlers.

September 27

Gap Creek: The Story of a Marriage (1999)
By Robert Morgan

Young Julie Harmon is the strongest one in her family.  She does the men's work, whether it's chopping wood or slaughtering a hog.  She's seen her share of sorrows growing up in hardcrapple North Carolina: her little brother dies of fever and her father dies from a tuberculosis-like illness. Hank Richards shows up in town one day and, apparently impressed by 17-year-old Julie's work ethic, proposes.  The two are married and travel across the state line to Gap Creek, SC, moving into a room in a widower's house, exchanging lodging for housekeeping.  Hank loses his job in a brick factory and the young couple live off food gathered from the land, whether wild turkeys or "taters".  The landlord is burned in a kitchen fire and ultimately dies, though probably not directly due to his injuries.   The couple face more problems: scammers, a drunk neighbor, a premature birth, damaging storms, and even a critical mother-in-law - but they also find friendship in their church and Julie never loses hope, supporting and encouraging her husband, showing a maturity way beyond her years, and trusting in the Lord.

Julie's voice is strong, authentic and memorable.

September 16

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848)
By Anne Bronte

This wordy, but ultimately satisfying, story is written in the form of a letter from narrator Gilbert Markham to a close friend, and within the letter is the contents of a diary by Helen Huntington (Graham).

Gilbert is a country squire in 1820s England.  He manages his family's small estate and socializes with a close circle of friends.  Into his quiet neighborhood appears the elegant young widow Helen Graham and her young son Arthur.  Initially attracted by her beauty, Gilbert becomes intrigued by the woman's mysterious past, and befriends both mother and son.  A friendship develops, but Helen warns it must go no further.  The village, initially welcoming to Helen, hears rumors that she may not actually be a widow, and they spurn her.  Gilbert defends Helen, but is eventually rebuffed by her.  Jealous of Helen's too-friendly landlord, Gilbert knocks Mr Lawrence from his horse, resulting in a serious injury.  Later calling on Mr Lawrence to offer an apology, the two men (surprisingly) develop a close friendship.    Meanwhile Helen feels she must leave the area, but offers to share her diary with Gilbert beforehand.  He eagerly reads her personal story, which reveals her struggles in a marriage to an unfaithful and dissolute "gentleman".   She has remained faithful - if overly pious and judgmental - despite her husband's philandering with a close friend and his mounting debts and mental cruelty.

But Helen's fortunes will change - both in terms of her husband's health and her own wealth.

I like the writing style, and the way the narrator wraps up the story, first by giving updates on all of the other characters (who basically get what they deserve!), and then revealing to the reader the end of his own story.

August 8

The Uncommon Reader (2007)

By Alan Bennett

This sweet novella imagines a mature Queen Elizabeth II suddenly discovering the joys of books and reading, so much so that she is beginning to neglect her royal duties.  One morning, as the Queen is walking her corgis, they start yapping at a large van near the palace's kitchen doors.  It turns out to be the City of Westminster's traveling library, and she climbs the steps to apologize for her noisy dogs.  To be polite, she makes conversation and leaves with a work by Ivy Compton-Burnett.  Thinking to return it the following week, her eyes fall upon Nancy Mitford's The Pursuit of Love.  She finds more and more time for reading and less for state occasions.  Her worried staff try to dissuade her, even resorting to firing an employee who makes book suggestions, but it's no use; she has become an avid reader, no longer willing to forego a pleasure she denied herself for way too long, and even hinting at an interest in writing.  Good to read through to find a little twist at the very end.

July 22

The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming (2019)
By David Wallace-Wells

This is a scary book.  If it were a movie, I'd give it an R for mature - and disturbing - content.  But it's a warning we need to hear.

We hear the stories of rising seas and flooding, but little is done by the world's governments to alleviate the causes.  And, says writer David Wallace-Wells, climate change is so much worse than what ever heard.  The melting of arctic ice, for example, has cascading effects: it is not only causing our seas to rise but could release trillions of tons of carbon, and possible, methanol (powerful greenhouse gases that can trap heat in our atmosphere), less ice means less sunlight reflected back into space rather than being absorbed by the ice ("albedo effect").

Trees absorb much of the world's carbon, but as they die through fires or clearing, they release carbon back into the atmosphere.  The author believes the world has sufficient drinking water, but governments must take action in keeping it safe and available.  Oceans have sucked up 90% of the earth's carbon, but acidic oceans are now destroying much of coral life and impairing the growth of fish and shellfish.  Polluted air can cause disease and impair breathing, a problem in many of the world's large cities like Delhi.  Viruses and bacteria in the air have caused die-outs of various species (e.g., nearly 2/3 of the world's entire saiga population [saiga are a dwarf antelope-like native to central Asia]).

Wallace-Wells looks at the 2008 economic collapse, and surmises that the swift economic growth that began in the 18th century was "not the result of innovation or the dynamics of free trade, but simply our discovery of fossil fuels and their raw power - a onetime injection of that new 'value' into a system that had previously been characterized by unending subsistence living."  (p 115)

Just as the industrial countries have benefited from the plundering of fossil fuels, they are int he best position to withstand the disruptions of climate change - almost a story of the world's rich drowning the world's poor in their waste.

How did Europe, a provincial backwater to the empires of China, India, and the Middle East, spears itself so dramatically from the rest of the world in the 19th century?  Coal (to cite Kenneth Pomeranz's The Great Divergence)

Though Wallace-Wells spends more text stating the problems than resolving them, he does note that there are new technologies to capture carbon, which are currently more affordable (he estimates ~$3Tr to capture carbon pollution) than the subsidies for fossil fuel (~$5Tr) but, in 2017, the same year the US withdrew from the Paris climate accord, it approved a $2.3 Tr tax cut for the country's richest.  He thus shows little optimism that the US, once the world leader in areas like climate control and human rights, has the interest in doing the hard work of stemming the climate change disaster.  [Let's hope and pray that a new administration will care!]

July 18

Newport Through its Architecture: A History of Styles from Postmedieval to Postmodern (2005)
By James Yarnall

Newport (founded 1939) is blessed with an abundance of architectural specimens from the colonial era, Federal period, mid-19th century, gilded age, etc.  Prof Yarnall cites dozens of examples to tell Newport's history from haven for religious refugees to thriving colonial seaport, quiet early American town, to summer resort for the wealthiest Americans.  This book is lavishly illustrated and it gave me a very good perspective on Newport's history.

July 14

The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World (2019)
By Melinda Gates

"The moment of lift" is the term NASA technicians use to describe the point when a spacecraft is aloft and is flying on its own, a term Melinda Gates learned from her NASA scientist father.  She aptly applies this expression to those who've been raised up from dependance and degradation to a place where they can thrive.  In this book, part memoir and part chronicle of the Bill and Melinda Gates' Foundation, Melinda gives dozens of accounts of meeting and working with people, mostly women in developing countries, to overcome challenges like child marriage, illiteracy, and female circumcision.  She describes the benefits, for example, of working with young women to help them choose when and how many children to have - so they can have the time and resources to care for each one.

She shares her own experiences as a young woman in a family who supported education and encouraged her to strive to reach her goals.  She had teachers who provided opportunities in computer programming, leading to an undergrad degree at Duke and ultimately landing at Microsoft in its early years, where she met her husband.  She discusses her marriage, her Catholic faith which informs her work, but especially her travels to see for herself how she could use her family's fortune to most help those in need, finding that helping mothers (through education, family planning, etc) had huge benefits for helping their children thrive.

Melinda Gates' story is both tremendously informative, in seeing then needs of women through her experience, and tremendously inspiring, because she did something about it.  Should be "must reading".

July 4

All Quiet on the Western Front (1929)

By Erich Maria Remarque

Paul Baumer and half a dozen schoolmates have been drafted into the German army in the 4th year of the Great War.  The story opens as one of Paul's friends is dying from a leg wound.  He recalls the sadistic drill sargeant who harassed the young soldiers, taking every opportunity to make their lives miserable.  But they all suffer at the front, whether taking a bullet while running for the trenches for cover or the psychological agony of having killed a French soldier who was someone's father or son.  There are precious human moments - as when Henry visits his ailing mother during his first home leave or trying to accommodate the young wife who comes to visit her dying husband in the hospital.

The author served for only months before his shrapnel injuries rendered him too handicapped to serve.  His heartfelt narrative offers a good argument for the insanity of war.

June 26

The Remains of the Day (1989)

By Kazuo Ishiguro

The year is 1956 and Mr Stevens, a dignified aging butler, is combining a once-in-a-lifetime motor trip with a visit to hopefully recruit a housekeeper he knew back in the 1920-30s.  As he sets out from Darlington Hall, near Oxford, toward the West Country, he reflects on his years of service to Lord Darlington (recently deceased) and his country home, now in the hands of a wealthy American.  Dignity was of utmost importance, especially in terms of never showing emotion, whether in the case of a simple insult or as painful a case as a death in the family.  Looking back as he takes his first trip away from Darlington Hall, Stevens recalls his loyalty to his employer and his reluctance to let a friendship with the housekeeper ever evolve into anything closer.  He wonders if his loyalty blinded him to his employer's shortcomings or whether his professional rigidity deprived him of what might have become a warmer relationship.

This is a well-written story; Ishiguro illustrates how Mr Stevens' greatest assets as a butler were also his greatest obstacles to his own happiness, yet writes with sympathy.

June 20

Henry Himself (2019)

By Stewart O'Nan

Henry, age 75, spends much time reflecting on his life.  He was raised in Pittsburgh, went to school at Pitt and (apart from his experience in France during WW2 - a time he sometimes looks back on with both painful and tender memories) has always lived in Pittsburgh.  He is a husband to Emily, a father to son Kenny and daughter Margaret (a recovering drug addict), and a grandfather to Kenny's and Margaret's kids.  Henry is a retired engineer, spending much of his puttering in his workshop or walking his dog.  As a retiree, his life takes on certain routines.  During the course of a year Henry takes his wife out for Valentine's day dinner, welcomes the family for holidays like Easter and Thanksgiving.  He is active in his local Episcopal church and always looks forward to spending summer at the family cabin at Chattaqua.  But, at age 75, there is always a sense of living on the edge, that life is fragile.  He knows his own limitations - both physical and emotional.  He sees his wife's shortcomings, but knows he sees her, just as she needs him.  While this sweet story is very much about the little things in life, it is somewhat reassuring, and Henry is a pretty likeable character.  Good writing.

June 17

I Should Have Honor (2018)
By Khalida Brohi

Raised in Baluchistan province, Pakistan, Khalida is one of those rare girls whose father believes in girls' education.  Her father himself is the only one among several sons to go to school and becomes a journalist and an activist.  Khalida's young cousin Khadja is killed by her uncle for running away with a boy at age 14, and Khalida has found her calling.  She works to end this tradition of killing women for (from the men's perspective) bringing dishonor to the family.  In Khadja's case, she had refused to marry at a young age and be compelled to a life of servitude.  (Khalida's own mother was forced into marriage with her father at the age of 9.)  Khalida starts "Sughar" to give girls and women the power to overcome oppression; her organization grows beyond Khalida's own province to have branches throughout Pakistan.  Khalida efforts to fund Sughar brings grants from various international organizations, and she eventually comes to the US, where she meets her future husband David.  Only 28 years old at this writing, Khalida has accomplished much as a young woman and one hopes that her efforts through Sughar will result in many young women finding fulfillment in education and later marriages.

June 3

Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline (2019)
By Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson

For 200+ years (starting with Thomas Malthus), we have been warned about the consequences of overpopulation (less water to drink, less land to farm, less air to breathe, etc) and we have seen our planet's population catapult from one billion in 1800 to the current 7+ billion people, with most of that growth in the last 60 years as live expectancy has improved.  Researcher Bricker and journalist Ibbitson, however, take an opposite tack: that the world's population - after hitting a high of 9-11 million mid-century, will start to decline. Indeed, we'd already see the effects of today's 1- and 2-child families, if life expectancy weren't so high.  The authors assert that several factors, especially urbanization, have come together to make small families more desirable.  On the farm, more children meant more farm hands; in the city, children are a liability and more mouths to feed, educate, etc.   As more women, especially in developing nations, are educated, they are often less willing to forego careers to raise large families.  The authors cite many examples, with China being the most prominent; although China's family size was government-mandated, after the 1-child mandate was lifted, it turned out most Chinese parents were unwilling to have more than 1 child.  Even in the developing world (e.g., India, Nigeria), birth control is now available and many families opt for smaller family size.

The authors state concern for the shrinking, graying populations of industrialized countries and say that immigration is the best tool to bring in a young workforce, suggesting that countries should do everything possible to attract them.  They look at Canada as a success story, as the Canadian government has welcomed refugees from all over the world, not necessarily assimilating them into Canadian culture (asserting there really is no such thing) but embracing the variety of cultures and skills immigrants bring.  Very interesting and logical interpretation of today's demographic trends.

Two things the authors do not address are: 1) What happens when the world hits its plateau population of 9-11M?  Won't it be very difficult for a few decades - before we really see a decline?  2) What happens to the "sending" nations, whose people flee oppression or hardship to emigrate to the "settler societies" of the US, Canada, Australia, NZ, etc?

May 31

The Library Book (2018)
By Susan Orlean

This fascinating book is part who-done-it, part history, and partly the story of the mission of a modern urban library.

In 1986, a fire spread through the Los Angeles Public Library, destroying hundreds of thousands of books and rendering the library unusable for the 5 years it took to rebuilt it.  Though a suspect was identified, he was never charged.   The author interviews the late man's family and friends and researches fire dept records and news reports, but is unconvinced that Harry Peak was responsible.  Throughout her story Orlean delves into the library's history, including its early female library directors and some of the strange male directors who succeeded them, the library building completed in 1926 and designed by Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue (who also designed the Pawtucket Public Library).  Orlean interviews many current library staff, including the director (who wears many hats and seems to be in 10 places at once - whether seeing to a new program at a branch or reaching out to the many homeless who "live" at the library during the day) and heads of many departments.  It's clear that this library has evolved with the city - a job all institutions must do to still be needed.  A surprisingly good read, and the book itself is illustrated to resemble an old fashioned library book with a facsimile of a library card in a pocket in the front.

May 30

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876)
By Mark Twain

This familiar coming-of-age story, appearing in the year of our nation's centennial, is set in a rural Missouri town in the 1830s-40s, but has wide appeal.  Tom Sawyer is an adventurous 13-year-old who manages to get into a lot of trouble, yet is clever and grows in compassion and wisdom during the course of this story.  Tom's clever conniving, for example, results in his friends helping to whitewash his Aunt Polly's fence and earns him enough Bible memory verse tickets to get a free Bible - a ploy that backfires when he is actually asked a question about the Bible  ("Name two of Jesus's disciples."  "...David and Goliath?").   Tom and his two friends witness a murder in a cemetery, attend their "own funeral", and he gets lost in a cave with his adored Becky Thatcher.  All of these adventures will affect Tom and force him to make decisions that show his growing maturity.  Tom lived the life that every boy - now or then - would have love to live.  Me, too!

A few days ago, I visited the Heritage Museum and Gardens in Sandwich, MA to see their rhododendron display, but also took a look at a special exhibit of 50 objects to highlight the museum's 50th anniversary.  Among the prized objects is an original edition of Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

March 30

I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban (2013)

By Mala Yousafzai (with Christine Lamb)

In 2012, Taliban gunmen shot a 15-year-old Pakistani girl for advocating education for girls.

During a period from about 2000-2014, the Taliban intermittently controlled Pakistan's swat Valley and some adjacent areas.  They (wrongly) asserted that Islam forbade girls' education and that women should observe strict purdah, remaining at home and venturing outside only when covered in the restrictive burka.

Malala Yousafzai was raised in Pakistan's verdant and somewhat remote Swat Valley.  Her father had opened several schools schools there and was himself a strong voice for education for all.  In her own voice, Malala shares her father's efforts to bring schools to the community and her own experience as a schoolgirl.  She is smart and competitive, with a keen interest in politics.  She has two younger brothers, lots of extended family, and her home houses frequent overnight guests in this land where extending hospitality is considered a duty, not an option.

As Malala moves into her teen years, the Taliban becomes more powerful, trying to exert sharia law and conflicting with a government that seems weak.  She recalls her reaction to 9/11, Benazir Bhutto's assassination, and the capture of Osama Bin Ladn.  The Taliban kill anyone who challenge their outrageous beliefs, including government officials and family friends of the Yousafzai family.

But it's still shocking - and heartbreaking - that they'd attack a child.  Malala is on a school bus with friends when a man boards the bus and shoots her in the head.  While she survives and initially receives good care in a Peshawar hospital, her brain begins to swell and it's clear that she will need more care than her local hospital can provide.  Incredibly, a pair of doctors from Birmingham, UK "happen" to be visiting that hospital to help treat wounded soldiers while Malala is there.  Through secretive and complicated efforts (largely due to help Pakistan save face), Malala in flown (on a UAE jet) to Birmingham, where she slowly recovers.

While Malala longs for her beloved Swat Valley, she still resides in the UK and is currently studying at Oxford.  She has garnered numerous awards on behalf of her activism for education, including the Nobel Peace Prize.

March 27

Famous Father Girl: A Memoir of Growing Up Bernstein (2018)

By Jamie Bernstein

When my father worked in Manhattan and we lived in a nearby suburb from 1961-70, there was no more prominent New Yorker than Leonard Bernstein, charismatic conductor of the New York Philharmonic and composer of "West Side Story", everyone's favorite film during my teen years.

Jamie Bernstein has written this affection, no-holds-barred memoir of her famous father on the 100th anniversary of his birth (2018).  Bernstein married the beautiful Costa Rican actress Felicia Montealegre and had three children, Jamie , Alexander and Nina.  Jamie recalls the family's life in several NYC locations (including the Dakota) but especially warmly remembers the family's weekend and summer homes in Fairfield, CT.  The memoir is a literal who's who of Jamie's generation, including close friends especially in entertainment (Steve Sondheim, Lillian Hellman, Lauren Bacall, Mike Nichols) and government (JFK and Jackie).  Benazir Bhutto was a college friend at Harvard.  Jamie recalls her father's appearances at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, including his famous concerts for young people*, his inaugural performance at the Kennedy Center - but also the parties, the constant smoking and drinking, she and her brother's drug use, her mother's early death from cancer, witnessing the aftermath of John Lennon's death from a window of the Dakota.

Jamie's relationship with her father was close, but also complicated.  When she tries to become a pop singer, the shadow of her famous father is both a blessing and a curse.  His names opens doors, but also invites expectations and comparison.  She labors for years to make a name for herself, singing and accompanying herself on guitar, but ultimately fails.  It is only after Leonard Bernstein's death from lung cancer at age 72 that Jamie finds her stride as a filmmaker and lecturer on the music her father made, but also an educator, helping young people around the world find pleasure and healing in music.  Today, all three Bernstein children maintain the archives and rights to their father's music, working to bring music education to young people around the world.

*My family attended one of Leonard Bernstein's young people's concerts, shortly after President Kennedy was shot.  I'll never forget the brilliant young harpist who was featured.  This youtube selection may be that program.

March 25

Jane Eyre (1847)

By Charlotte Bronte

This classic novel opens as ten-year-old Jane is fighting off her bullying cousin John Reed.  Jane was orphaned at one year old, and is the ward of John's mother, Jane's aunt by marriage.  Although Jane is bleeding and much smaller, her aunt opts to punish her by casting her into the "Red Room", where Jane's uncle had died ears earlier.  The frightened Jane is made to stay till dark and is only released after suffering a panic attack.  Her aunt resolves to put Jane away, on the advice of a hypocritical clergyman; Mr Brocklehurst is the headmaster of Lowood, a school for orphan girls.  At Lowood, the girls' station in life is reinforced by homely uniforms, unheated wards, forced outdoor exercise in all weather, and meager rations.  Corporal punishment and ridicule are rampant.  The two bright spots are kindly Miss Temple, the superintendent, and Helen Byrnes, a student who befriends and encourages Jane.  In Jane's first year, a tuberculosis epidemic spreads through Lowood, and about half the girls die, including Helen.  The neighbors are aghast; they remove Mr Brocklehurst from his post and a new school is built.  Healthier conditions ensue, and Jane thrives in her studies, excelling especially in French, drawing and painting.  She spends 8 years total at Lowood, the last two as a teacher, before seeking employment outside the school.  She is hired to tutor the French-speaking ward of a Mr Rochester at Thornfield Hall in the north of England.  Jane and Adele are a good match, and the estate's housekeeper, Mrs Fairfax, welcomes Jane's company.  Occasionally she hears odd noises at night, which she attributes to a crazy servant.  When Jane finally meets Mr Rochester a few weeks into her tenure, she finds him cryptic and fascinating.  He appears to be romantically involved with a beautiful high-born neighbor whom Jane finds to be shallow.  But, unexpectedly, it appears to be Jane whom Mr Rochester grows to care for, and she reciprocates his affection.  Yet there will be huge impediments to their future happiness, including another suitor for Jane.

While written 175 years ago, this story is still fresh and appealing.  I could hardly put it down and eagerly raced through to the story's satisfying conclusion.

March 16

The Only Woman in the Room: A Novel (2019)

By Marie Benedict

This novel is one of those imagined biographies (eg, American Heiress, The Paris Wife) that incorporates imagined thoughts and conversations consistent with the actual known facts of the subject's life, in this instance the actress Hedy Lamarr.

Hedwig Kiesler grew up as the only child of a wealthy couple in Dobling, Austria.  While she is smart and musical, it is her beauty that singles her out.  As a 19-year-old aspiring actress she catches the eye of Fritz Mandl, a wealthy older man in solved in weapons manufacture.  While she is attracted to him as well, it is her parents who push Hedy to accept his marriage proposal, assuming he'll keep them all safe through the turbulent days they anticipate, as the aggressive German chancellor seeks alliances with Italy and seems on the brink of invading other countries.  Hedy serves as Fritz's trophy wife, shown off at the many dinners he hosts in his 3 ostentatious residences for powerful and wealthy guests, including those in the highest levels of government.  Hedy starts to chafe under her new life and is eventually kept under lock and key, but she becomes an astute listener who overhears military and weapons secrets.  She goes off to visit her father, who is dying, and she manages to escape, eventually to America.  In a storybook moment, she meets Louis B Mayer, who signs her to a lucrative contract with MGM.  She goes on to make some very successful films (and another unsuccessful marriage), but her most cherished contribution is a device (partly based on overheard conversations among Fritz's associates) designed to make radio waves skip frequencies (with applications for torpedo launches) that would avoid detection by enemy radar.  Although this invention, developed with the aid of composer George Antheil, was not explained with any complexity (and is probably beyond the understanding of many readers, anyway), it was registered with the US patent office and paved the way for more effective remote control/wifi technology.  Unfortunately, the US Navy is not interested in an invention by a beautiful actress and encourages her to instead use her fame to sell war bonds, which she does.

It is only long after Hedy and George's patent expires that the government actually adopts their technology, which will one day pave the way for the internet.

March 6

1000 Books to Read Before You Die (2018)
By James Mustich

All book reviewers have different perspectives, and it's helpful to read the suggestions of a variety of "experts" to get a handle on the kinds of books that have influenced history or inspired good works.  In this case the reviewer is someone who'd been in the book business for decades.  Mustich's list contains works of fiction, non-fiction, ancient works like those of Homer and Sophocles, plays (by Shakespeare and others), and children's literature.  For each listing, he includes other works (if any) by the author and comparable works by other writers.  I read every title, though I did not read the description of every single entry, - but I developed my own list of several new titles to try (and was surprised to find so many titles I'd already read).

About 20 years ago, various reviewers compiled "best 100 books of the 20th century" lists.  But "of the writing of many books there is no end..." wrote Elizabeth Barrett Browning, so these lists are bound to change and grow.

March 4

Richard III (1593)
By William Shakespeare

"Now is the winter of our discontent
made glorious summer by this son of York,"

declares Richard, Duke of Gloucester, before lamenting the physical deformities that he believes hinder him from taking advantage of the opportunities around him.  Instead he'll become a villain and remove everything that stands in his way which eventually includes his brother Edward (the king), his brother the Duke of Clarence (next in line for the throne), their allies, and most memorably, the princes whom he imprisons in the tower.

Some scholars consider this work a tragedy, rather than a history play.  It's really both, based on the historical notes of Thomas More, yet containing the elements of tragically turning against one's own family and friends.

We saw this play performed at the American Shakespeare Theatre in Washington DC last week.  It's a good illustration of the harm that ensues when leaders abandon their principles, putting their own ambitions above the laws of the land.

March 2

The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency (2004)
By Alexander McCall Smith

Though I'd previously read this book, it was delightful to rediscover Precious Ramotswe and the circumstances that led to the founding of her detective agency in Botswana.  Her detective's intuition is reliable, though it is more the relationships we read about that give the book its charm.  Precious has recently lost her beloved father to illness and it is his bequest that has allowed her to start her company.  The characters treat one another with courtesy and respect (even if they are crime suspects) and seem to have a love for their country.  It is fun to follow Precious's line of thought and see how her cases play out, whether she is trying to locate a missing object or a wayward husband.

The author has now completed his 19th book, The Colours of All the Cattle, in this popular series!

January 28

Past Imperfect (2009)
By Julian Fellowes

Novelist (Belgravia) and screenplay writer ("Downton Abbey") Fellowes has moved to the present day in Past Imperfect.  The unnamed narrator is contacted by a dying friend, a man he hung out with in the late 1960s/early 70s.  Damian Baxter and he had done the season together, after the days when the queen hosted debutantes (>1958), so parents of young ladies, unwilling to leave the past behind, hosted their own parties in hopes of finding wealthy husbands for their daughters.  At Damian's request, the narrator had introduced his college buddy to his wealthy friends, and all the ladies were smitten with the handsome, ambitious Damian.  The older generation were not so willing to embrace this "nobody", however,  and the parents of one especially lovelorn woman went to great efforts to assure the middle-class Damian that he was unworthy of their titled daughters  As the reader might suspect, these has-been aristocrats were, for the most part, fading into obscurity while the ambitious Damian became wildly successful, amassing a fortune way beyond anything the others had inherited.

But now it is the early 21st century, and everyone is in their 50s.  Damian is dying and calls on the narrator to help with one last dying wish.  The two have not seen one another (nor most of the others from the "season" circle) in decades and Damian, who is single and childless, suspects he had fathered a child with one of the women who loved him when they were young adults.  He gives his old friend a list and asks him to discover the child, who will then stand to inherit Damian's fortune.  While the premise seems a bit sleazy the narrator spends a lot of text pondering on how the world was changing back then; "free love" was the new norm and the old rules and old order were changing.

While Fellowes' novel highlights one particular area of change (the fading British aristocracy), his novel is at its best when he ponders these changes, which mirror the aging process, resistance to - or embracing of - social change, and coping.  Just as "Downton Abbey" is all about the changes of the early 20th century - when the gilded age was dying - Past Imperfect is a good measuring stick with which to compare our own changing society, in which, according to a recent article, 26 billionaires control the same wealth as the 3.8 billion poorest people in the world.  While acknowledging that some billionaires (most notably Bill Gates) give away most of their fortunes to make the world more equitable, one still wonders how long the world can sustain this gross imbalance.

January 23

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption (2014)
By Bryan Stevenson

Bryan Stevenson was fresh out of Harvard Law School, following up work he'd done as a summer intern to defend death row inmates in Atlanta.  He discovers that more and more inmates have been wrongly convicted, based on fabricated "evidence" or have been tried as children for non-capital crimes, but face a life in prison without parole.  Most notable is Walter McMillan, convicted of killing a young white woman in an Alabama dry cleaning establishment.  McMillan's story is woven throughout this book; we learn that he was at a fish fry in his own front yard with a dozen witnesses at the time of the crime; we meet Ralph Myers, the state's solitary witness who testifies to an unbelievable story implicating Walter (on the orders of Alabama law officials who wanted closure to the crime), we meet another man who was forced to lie about seeing Walter's truck at the scene of the crime to shore up Myers' testimony.  We meet the judges who are complicit in Walter's wrongful conviction.  Finally, McMillan's plight catches the interest of Ed Bradley of "60 Minutes"; he interviews Walter, Myers, Judge Chapman, and Bryan Stevenson on a segment that raises considerable national interest.  Shortly afterwards, the judge agrees to examine evidence for a 2nd trial, and Walter is acquitted after 6 years in prison on a false charge.

Besides Walter, Stevenson writes of Joe, a mentally-challenged 13-year-old falsely charge of rape, who has been in prison, with no chance of parole, for 18 years by the time he meets Bryan.  He writes of a mother of six, falsely charged by a neighbor of killing her baby, who had actually died of natural causes.  Brian works to free all these individuals who are wrongly convicted.  As his caseload increases, he founds the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) in Montgomery, AL to raise support to defend the growing number of incarcerated individuals who have no legal representation.  (At the time of the book's publication, the EJI had a staff of ~40 lawyers.)

Most of Stevenson's clients are poor; many are black.  Almost all have been victims of police or prosecutorial misconduct, and many are incarcerated for crimes as minor as writing bad checks. As with Walter McMillan's case, Stevenson had to navigate through the maze of prejudice, injustice, inflexible sentencing laws, and the continued practice of incarcerating many juveniles, minorities, and mentally ill people in a frenzy of mass incarceration that thwarts justice and inhumanely punishes the poor and disadvantaged.  Our criminal justice system is sorely in need of reform, and advocates like Bryan Stevenson are its best hope.  

Following up, a brief interview with Bryan Stevenson appears in last Sunday's NY Times Magazine.

January 18

The Fifth Risk (2018)
By Michael Lewis

I discovered this title on the NY Times list of 100 Notable Books of 2018, with an intriguing short summary:

Lewis brings his breezy style to an examination of three government departments, Energy, Agriculture and Commerce, shining a light on the life-or-death work these agencies perform, and showing how the Trump administration is doing what it can to undermine them.

Of the many books I've read about the current administration, this one is the most frightening.  Lewis, expanding on several articles that originally appeared in Vanity Fair, highlights the workings of three cabinet departments: Energy, Agriculture and Commerce.  He opens the book with comments by Chris Christie, who was initially tasked with building the Trump transition team.  Unfortunately, he was ousted early on by Jared Kushner and Steve Bannon, who did not want to waste time or money on a transition process - until they learned candidates were required by federal law to produce organize a transition.  This book illustrates not only how miserably the inept and inexperienced campaign failed in their task of assigning new cabinet secretaries and filling the highest level positions, but also in what a frighteningly dangerous situation they have now placed our country.  As one reviewer (see BarringtonLibrary.org, catalog entry for The Fifth Risk) put it, "If nothing else scares you about the current administration, reading this book WILL do the job."

Lewis points out that ~70% of US government employees are employed in some form of national security.  The Dept of Energy's John MacWilliams cites five major risks to US security: a domestic accident with nuclear weapons,North Korea, Iran, and attack on the electrical grid, and the fifth risk: Failures in project management.

The DOE is currently headed by Rick Perry, who had famously suggested the department be abolished, although he now admits he hadn't actually known what the department did. (Does he know what it does now?)  Perry's predecessor as Energy Secretary was Ernie Moniz (PhD in theoretical physics from Stanford and former MIT faculty member), who helped negotiate the Iran nuclear deal.  In return for the US lifting sanctions, Iran had dismantled and removed their reactor (needed to produce plutonium) and was unable to produce uranium (no centrifuges); all of this is monitored by the DOE and had greatly reduced the chance of yet another Middle East war.  That is, until the current president, unable to understand the scientific reasoning about the unlikelihood of the Iranians obtaining a weapon, foolishly pulled the US out of the deal.

The Dept of Agriculture is headed by chicken magnate Sonny Perdue.  One of his first actions was to undo the dietary guidelines (whole grains, more fruits and vegetables, less sodium, no artificially sweetened milk, etc) introduced by the Obama administration.

Newly appointed Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross (the oldest first-time cabinet appointee in US history) had claimed to own a fortune of some $3.7B, creating some concern over his missing income taxes; lo and behold, he actually had a mere $700M but had wanted to qualify in the Forbes' 400 and lied about his wealth. (Imagine!)  Ross was surprised to learn that the Commerce Dept actually dealt more in issues of weather (NOAA falls under its umbrella) than in commerce.  Barry Myers was appointed to head up NOAA, but has thus far been unable to be confirmed due to his conflict of interest issues.  A lawyer whose family owns Accuweather, Myers would like to make the National Weather Service's data unavailable to the public, and instead only available through for-profit sites such as Accu-Weather (Sen Rick Santorum, of Myers's home state, had actually proposed such legislation, but it failed to pass).  Any references to climate change are, meanwhile, no longer available on government sites.

It's hard to do justice to Michael Lewis's important book.  It is very readable (I finished it in two sittings).  He cites just three departments.  If they are typical, each one does a range of critical research and work that most of us know very little about; it is crucial that Congress and we the people act soon to stop the destruction of so many essential part of our government.  What we don't know can kill us!

January 11

It Can't Happen Here (1935)
By Sinclair Lewis

Lewis's Babbitt was published about 15 years before It Can't Happen Here, and the earlier novel tells the story of a middle class American who is trying to move up the social ladder.  By 1935 Sinclair Lewis had become the first American to win the Nobel prize with his stories of America.  This later work was written in a 2-3 month time frame, and reading it made me feel like I was on a speeding train moving toward a cliff.

Lewis writes an alternative history in which a populist demagogue, "Buzz" Windrup, campaigns as the common man, assuring all Americans they will earn $5000/year ($90,000 in today's dollars) if they elect him.  Americans love Buzz and make up ditties to sing his praises. He becomes president in 1936, beating FDR in the Democratic primary and going on to defeat a more liberal Republican candidate.  Told from the perspective of a seasoned Vermont newspaper editor, Doremus Jessup is immediately suspicious of Buzz's claims, but is still stunned by the level of Buzz's repressive activities.  Once in the White House, Buzz starts a new kind of citizen militia, the Minute Men, or MM, who have powers to arrest anyone Buzz deems a threat, like journalists and college professors.  A few Americans escape to Europe or Canada, until the Minute Men close off the border, but most are still enthralled with Buzz, waiting for their income to increase.  The Jessups' incompetent hired man, Shad Ledue, is promoted to a high regional position and constantly intimidates the family who tried to help him.  Anyone who resists is sent to a concentration camp, and people are shot if they so much as raise an argument.  Doremus eventually joins an underground movement, working for the Republican candidate who lives in Canada.

The ending is a bit ambiguous, but Buzz is forced out, only to have the country taken over by his creepy assistant, who doesn't last long in the office.  Doremus continues working for the underground.  What surprised me was Lewis's prescience in foreseeing what would happen in Germany - true, this story takes place in the US, but it had all the trappings: the camps, the squelching of news, discrimination against Jews and African-Americans - of Nazi Germany.  Philip Roth's The Plot Against America uses a similar story line, and reads much more convincingly, but Roth has the advantage of the perspective of history.

January 6

Sea Prayer (2018)

By Khaled Hosseini

Oh, oh, oh...such a brief story, but so powerful in its impact.

A father holds his son as they await the arrival of a boat that will take them away.  He shares with his son the familiar sounds and sights from their home outside the city of Homs, things his son will be too young to remember: olive trees in the breeze, the bleating of goats, the clanging of his grandmother's cooking pots...  In the bustling old city "a mosque for us Muslims, a church for our Christian neighbors..."  But then... protests and siege, bombs, starvation, burials.  The father prays as they set out from the despair of their war-torn country, hoping for a better land ahead, and that the sea will keep them safe.

The author of the moving Kite Runner and One Thousand Splendid Suns has written this beautiful prayer.  Hosseini was inspired by the death of little Alan Kurdi, whose family was fleeing Syria and hoping to reach Europe.  Their inflatable boat had capsized off the coast of Turkey and the little boy's body washed up on a Mediterranean beach.  A Turkish journalist photographed the little boy, and the picture quickly made its way around the world, creating interest and compassion, at least for a time, for the plight of refugees, especially children.

This book is poignantly illustrated by Dan Williams: the Syrian fields, the bustling old city, the destruction, the despair, the love.