Semiquincentennial Books

Judith

 

 

St. John the Baptist's Church, Stamford

Photographers

Montague Bookmill in Montague, Massachusetts

 

The Fight of Our Lives

 

 

I was back at my library yesterday when I spotted these books on the bottom shelf reserved for recent publications. Even though I'm already deeply engrossed in another book, Howard Blum's In the Enemy's House, I nevertheless also picked up Mendel's The Fight of Our Lives: My Time with Zelenskyy, Ukraine's Battle for Democracy, and What It Means for the World. So many books! So little time!

Ice and Stone

I can't believe I missed posting this one, by far and away the most gripping book I've read over these past few months. It reminds me very much of Ernest Shackleton's epic journey in the Antarctic, only this saga took place on the opposite end of the earth. I wouldn't even dream of spoiling your reading by saying any more; so I'll just share this: 

"Winds were whipping up and it was getting very cold by early afternoon. Bartlett told everyone to hurry with the shelters. They should warm themselves by the big fire, try to dry their wet boots and clothing and otherwise keep moving. Bartlett surveyed the island and the surroundings, an empire of ice and stone."

Diary Keepers

"For this book, I intentionally chose not to excerpt the best-known diaries . . . by Anne Frank, Etty Hillesum, Abel J. Herzberg, or other worthy diaries . . . More diaries, more perspectives, help us to get a far better sense . . . . I was seeking a range of perspectives, not many but various. I wanted to juxtapose and balance voices from the occupation period and provide a rounded view of the war." -- Nina Siegal

Lie/Lay

The answer to one of life's most perplexing problems, thanks to Ellen Jovin's "Rebel with a Clause".

Conspiracy

Started reading Meltzer and Mensch's book this past Tuesday. I'm well into the plot by now, with spies spying on spies who, in turn, are spying on still more spies. In the meantime, the authors are doing a rather masterful job at reminding me of how and why WWII progressed the way it did.

Rebel with a Clause

Started reading Jovin’s book yesterday and it’s already a lot of fun. This, for example: “In New York, a fashionably dressed young woman told me, ‘I am an obsessive lover of footnotes,” then pulled out her phone and showed me a photo of her foot with ibid tattooed on it. I had met my first footnote fetishist!” — Rebel with a Clause by Ellen Jovin

Servants of the Damned

Finished reading Enrich's book last night. I was so green to the subject that--for several pages--I thought Jones Day was an individual. Only gradually did I become aware that Enrich is referring to the now infamous law firm responsible for--among other things--defending Donald Trump, Purdue Pharma, R. J. Reynolds, Exxon, and the list goes on and on and . . . on, giving me a renewed appreciation for one of the author's opening quotes from the January 2004 edition of American Lawyer magazine: "From handguns to tobacco, Jones Day defends the powerfully damned and the damned powerful."

Tunnels

I've "tunneled" through about half of Mitchell's book now and I'm not about to quit before I'm done. Of course, the subject is of deep interest to me because of my own experiences passing back and forth across the Berlin Wall in the 1970s. Mentions of Checkpoint Charlie, Friederichstraße, VoPos, all bring back vivid and even life-changing moments for me, but I also appreciate the details Mitchell brings to light here surrounding how Easterners attempted and, in some cases, actually succeeded in escaping the GDR. Very much worth your reading, especially considering Vladimir Putin's attempt to drag us all into the past.

The Pox and the Covenant

Interesting conclusion to Williams' book: "The inoculation controversy shows us that we cannot blithely continue to make the simplistic and wrong assumption that religion has been an impediment to the progress of modern science and reason throughout the centuries. Moreover, the idea of a conflict between science and religion is a product of the dogmatic and shrill voices on both sides that demonize their opponents and garner media attention. Unexpectedly, an episode from Puritan Massachusetts helps us to debunk those who would pit science against religion."

The Year That Broke America

Finished reading Rice's book. The cover actually describes the contents very well, showing how Rice weaves together several seemingly disparate stories into a single narrative, namely the year that broke America. That year being 2000. There is much here that any of us who lived through that period know very well: the Bush vs. Gore election and subsequent controversy, Trump's first forays into politics, plus events that frankly had receded into the dusty corners of my mind, namely Janet Reno's handling of the Elián Gonzalez case and, for instance, the sequence of events leading up to 9/11.

So, did all these events "break" America? Obviously not. Any country that can go through all of the above and still survive Covid is, in my opinion, doing well. Nevertheless, it serves us well to remember how we got to where we are. And for that we can be grateful to authors like Andrew Rice for reminding us.

The Dancing Plague

Thanks for yesterday's comments! They were very interesting, especially since I was leaning in the same directions. But I finally chose to read John Waller's book, which turned out to be something different than what I was expecting. I'll not give away the story, for the sake of those of you who might also want to read it. All I will say is that Waller's writing style kept me engaged throughout and, as good nonfiction should do, caused me to reflect more deeply on somewhat similar and more contemporary "dancing plagues."

Nonfiction

My local library, like many libraries, promotes various books by genre, setting them out on tables. These were just a few of the titles on the nonfiction table. Which one would you choose to read?

Eighty-five Percenter

I've never really understood Lindsey Graham's turn from being one of the "three Amigos" (Graham, McCain, & Lieberman) to MAGA Republican. How could someone count McCain as a personal friend and, at the same time, maintain close relations with someone like Trump? 

In this chapter of Baker and Glasser's "The Divider", the authors explain how Graham's switch was the result of his desire to--in a word--remain "relevant".

Still, Trump has never believed Graham is entirely on his side, hence his use of the term "Eighty-five Percenter".

The Divider

I'm about a third of my way through "The Divider." I'm sure that not everyone will be as enthusiastic about reading yet another book about Trump's first termas president as I am, but there really is more that can be learned about those years, especially from journalists who tracked that news as closely and as professionally as Baker and Glasser. 

What have I learned that's new? Well, first, that Trump's White House was even more chaotic than others have already said it was. Personal animosities between staffers ran deep and not everyone was necessarily as supportive of Trump's initiatives as others. This was especially true when John Kelly came onboard as Trump's chief of staff. Wow! Talk about personality clashes! Eagle Scout meets the by then not nearly so Dapper Don!

The Duchess

I was surprised by how much I appreciated Andrew Lownie's "Traitor King." I really wasn't expecting to learn as much from it as I did. I think that's what eventually led me to read Caroline Blackwood's account of what happened to Wallis Simpson after the Duke of Windsor's death and her encounter with the imperious and volatile Maître Blum, Simpson's one-time lawyer, friend (?), and gatekeeper.

Invasion

It's cold outside. Okay, not nearly so cold as in other parts of the country. Still, it's cold enough to warrant sitting down with yet another good book and reading while enjoying a cup of hot tea. 

The book opens with Harding sitting down on the eve of the invasion with his friend and Ukrainian novelist, Andrey Kurkov, for a meal of borscht. Harding is convinced Russia is about to invade. Kurkov isn't. I'm curious to know more.

Mrs. Stoughton

Interesting how Henry Hobson Richardson, the architect, preferred working with committees rather than individuals as clients, thinking that the latter were more open to reason. Hugh Howard writes: "Furthermore, the unpleasantness at the Stoughton project . . . had left Richardson with new reservations about working for individuals in general. Committees were one thing; his experience was that differences among a gathering of men could be addressed with sweet reason. But the concerns of private clients were too often dictated by inscrutable emotion." (Howard, pp. 252-53)

Makes me wonder if the renown architect may also have had a problem working with strong-minded women. :-)