The History Book Club discussion
note: This topic has been closed to new comments.
ARCHIVE
>
KRESSEL'S 50 BOOKS READ IN 2018
date
newest »
newest »
Mod
JANUARY1.
by
Hillary Rodham ClintonFinish date: January 6, 2018
Genre: Political memoir
Rating: A
Review: Remember the beginning of the sixth Harry Potter book, when Cornelius Fudge, former Minister of Magic, consults with the stressed-out Prime Minister of England? "I'm having the same week you're having," one minister assures the other. What looks like a bridge collapse to the Prime Minister is actually the work of Death Eaters, but *both* ministers are responsible for cleaning up the mess. That's sort of what I learned from this book: Hillary Clinton has had the same year we've all had. Perhaps some of it hurts her more because she was the one who faced the smear campaign and so many voters' dislike, but when it comes to figuring out What Happened, she's been listening to many of the same experts as I have, and I was pleased to see their names in her book: Masha Gessen, Clint Watts, Joshua Green, and Charlie Sykes.
I know all the Hillary-haters out there are calling this book the spin of a sore loser, but I think it's 100% correct. She made a very good case that James Comey threw Trump the election, and she gave a good expose on Putin, too. To readers who've been learning everything they can about the Trump phenomenon and What Happened, much of this will be more corroboration than new information, but it was still absorbing. The new stuff is in the personal details about her life and feelings. I'm not one of those people who found her particularly robotic, but the book does show her softer side, which is something she didn't play up as a politician. Well, a woman is darned if she does and darned if she doesn't.
I don't think this book is going to persuade any Hillary-hater to stop hating her. But if you're a Hillary supporter, and not even a die-hard fan, this book is for you. That glass ceiling is thicker than anyone thought. Someday, some woman will break through, and Hillary will be there to cheer her on. After all, she went pretty far in paving the way.
2.
by
Mark HaddonFinish date: January 9, 2018
Genre: YA fiction
Rating: A-
Review: Though I'd heard the catchy title of this book many times, (was it adapted into a play that I heard it mentioned so often on the radio?) I knew nothing about it going in, so I was taken by surprise by the distinctive voice of the protagonist, an autistic teenage boy whose emotional cluelessness is sometimes funny, but mostly poignant. His simplistic yet deep outlook on life were refreshing, especially after having immersed myself in so many political books and podcasts lately. Reading this book was like a literary clearing of the palate.
In addition to the uniqueness of the portrayal, the plot is gripping. At first, Christopher's sleuthing around his neighborhood to discover the cause of death of a neighbor's dog seems harmless and comical, but then he discovers some secrets that turn his world upside-down. I won't reveal any more than that, though I will warn my religious friends that the hyper-logical Christopher seems to be the work of a stridently atheistic author. Even still, he's a well-drawn and likable character who gets himself into some entertaining scrapes. The book is intended for a teenage audience, but adults will like it, too. Recommended.
3.
by
Charles J. SykesFinish date: January 15, 2018
Genre: Politics
Rating: A-
Review: Charlie Sykes is a Never Trump conservative talk show host from Wisconsin, but I first learned about him when he teamed up with NPR for a call-in show called “Indivisible” in which Americans across the political divide attempted to find common ground with one another. He promoted the book on the air, and with a title like that, who could possibly resist? (Tee hee.)
The book is an analysis of the crackpot theories that have invaded traditional conservatism, and Sykes hits all the spots you’d expect: the Moral Majority, Rush Limbaugh and his imitators, Fox News, InfoWars, and Breitbart. Of course, he shows how they all culminated in the presidency of Donald Trump, but because Sykes is a conservative himself, he has a different perspective than reporters in the "liberal" media, which is where I usually seek my information. He has seen more and more crackpot conspiracies emerging in his media diet, and he objects to how they’ve warped the conservative values he supports. He defends those values in this book. Just as he’s a Never Trumper, he was also a Never Hillary, and he’s a friend of (*shudder*) Paul Ryan.
The biggest insight I got out of this book builds on Michael Wolff’s recent revelation that the Trump team never intended to win the election. Sykes argues that many conservative media outlets and even some conservative PACs don’t really care about conservative policies. They care about ratings and donations. Just as sex is a sure sell, outrage keeps people tuned in, so as long as people’s buttons are being pushed, the audience is delivered to the corporate sponsors, and the PACs draw in their money. He claims that they underfund the actual candidates, but their directors' bank accounts are swelling. This is the real case of coastal elites reaping benefit at the expense of small town middle America. It's like what the televangelists did to believing Christians, except with political ideology. Meanwhile, these media outlets continue kowtowing to Donald Trump, in spite of his betrayal of conservative and even American values, because they’re too invested in him to call him out.
I recommend this book to liberals and conservatives alike. Liberals will gain from the differences in Sykes' perspective to ours, and conservatives, especially those who supported Trump and are now doubting him, might appreciate a return to the values they cherish from someone who seems never to have abandoned them.
4.
by
Peter S. BeagleFinish date: January 23, 2018
Genre: Fantasy/short stories
Rating: A
Review: I love Peter S. Beagle, so when I saw he had a new book out, I grabbed it right off the library shelf. At first, I was a little disappointed that it was a collection of short stories, as opposed to a new novel, but that quickly wore off. Two of the stories feature Schmendrick the Magician in his youth, and three feature unicorns, but only one of them fits the European legend of the unicorn; the other two borrow from other culture's mythologies: namely, the Chinese and the Arabic. There's also a story set in India, one in our modern computer age, and a few others in different times, so the book overall has a varied if not international feel. When you get about halfway through, you discover what the Overneath is, and then you'll understand the theme that Peter S. Beagle was going for.
I highly recommend this book to all Peter S. Beagle fans, but if you've never read any of his other works, start with his early novels. You'll get to know Beagle's lyrical voice and magical themes. It's fifty years later, and he's still going strong.
5.
by Emma Claire Sweeney and Emily Midorikawa (no photos)Finish date: January 29, 2018
Genre: Literary history
Rating: A
Review: I discovered this book while searching for a good biography of George Eliot, and because it also included Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte, it became an instant "must read." The subtitle seems to imply that the four featured authoresses were friends, but as any fan can tell you, Jane Austen lived some fifty years before Bronte and Eliot, and Virginia Woolf lived some fifty years after them. Rather, the book traces a close friendship each of the authoresses had with another woman writer. Woolf is the only one of the four whose work I haven't read, but I had read the work of her literary friend, Katherine Mansfield, so I felt I was almost as informed for that section as I was for the others.
Jane Austen’s friend was her brother’s daughter’s governess, Anne Sharp. She had less wealth and status than Jane, so she lacked the freedom to pursue her literary ambitions the way Jane did. Because she was of a lower social class (and really, not that much lower, as Jane was living at her brother’s largess), her family essentially hid the friendship from her biographers, even destroying some of their correspondence.
Charlotte Bronte’s friendship with the more radically feminist Mary Taylor was not hidden so much as it was discounted by biographers more interested in her relationships with her sisters. But it was because of Mary Taylor that Charlotte ventured to Belgium to study French, so thanks to her, we have the setting, romantic leads, and passion that informed Bronte's novels. Because of this origin story, the Charlotte Bronte section was my favorite, even though learning more about George Eliot was my initial reason for starting the book.
George Eliot’s literary friend was Harriet Beecher Stowe, so theirs was the first friendship covered in which both friends were more or less equally famous. Unlike any of the others, though, this pair never met in person; their entire friendship was by letter. Though I did like the Charlotte Bronte section better, this one was my second-favorite. It included a few tidbits that are right up my alley: that Stowe called her husband “rabbi” because of his long white beard and that Marian (as George Eliot was called in her personal life) saw her final (and my favorite) novel as her attempt to stand up against anti-Semitism much like Stowe’s book was a statement against slavery. From what I gather, Jews view Eliot’s book more favorably. I don’t think Uncle Tom is well-thought of now.
Because of my lack of familiarity with the work of Virginia Woolf, this section didn’t quite send me into raptures, but it was still interesting because Woolf and Mansfield’s relationship was the most fraught with professional rivalry. As an aspiring writer myself, I know how inevitable jealousy is when befriending another writer. The two stuck it out anyway, and this book accentuates the positive, stating that previous biographers have overfocused on the negative.
The main purpose of the book is to celebrate female friendships, and since it was about some of the smartest and most talented women who ever graced this earth, it was both an intellectual journey and an absolutely delicious treat.
FEBRUARY6.
by
Jared Yates SextonFinish date: February 3, 2018
Genre: Politics
Rating: B+
Review: I listen to plenty of political podcasts, and I get many book recommendations from them. This book is a perfect example, but after having read and listened to so many different analyses of the Trump phenomenon since mid-2016, parts of it seemed pretty redundant and outdated. Still, all authors bring their own unique insights to the situation, and Jared Sexton's were as good as any of the other fine reporters I've absorbed this year. His specialty was describing the reactions of the crowd on the ground, whether the candidate was Bernie, Hillary, or Trump himself. His final prescription is that Hillary took the wrong tack in emphasizing Trump's lack of fitness for the office. His racism, sexism, and bullying may offend coastal "elites" like me, but to the rural white working class, that's perfectly normal. Sexton argues that she should have emphasized that he became a billionaire because of his inheritance, and that as a businessman, he stiffed plenty of average workers like them, even boasting about it. In other words, she should have emphasized his elitism.
This was a well-written book, but I'm afraid I read it at the wrong time. I no longer need an analysis of what happened in 2016. I need an analysis of the legal issues Robert Mueller is exploring. I want signs that Democrats are applying the lessons of 2016 to the 2018 midterms. But the one thing this book accomplished for me was to prompt me to do more activism. I stay tuned into the news all the time, but my "resistance" activism has waned in the last few months. If I get started again, this book will be part of the reason (or maybe it's just that I saw a few good meetings coming up). May G-d protect democracies everywhere.
Mod
7.
by
Malachy McCourtFinish date: February 23, 2018
Genre: History
Rating: B
Review: I began the Ireland challenge with Frank McCourt’s classic memoir of his childhood in Limerick, and fittingly, I’ve finished it with his brother Malachy’s historical narrative. I’ve become a big fan of the McCourt brothers through this journey, but many of their books didn’t count for the challenge because they were set in America.
Given my familiarity with Malachy’s style, I wasn’t surprised that another reviewer said that rather than a standard history book, the tone was like a guy chatting to you about Irish history over a few pints at the pub. Malachy owned a pub for years, so that made perfect sense, and since some of his other books made me laugh till I cried, I went in expecting a lighthearted tone. I was actually surprised at how serious it was. It wouldn’t be correct to characterize this book as academic, but it might work in a survey course. It’s written as a series of short biographies of prominent Irishmen and women ranging from the medieval St. Patrick to present-day Bono. I could probably pass an Irish history test because of it. . . though I doubt I’d get an A.
Because the book covers such a broad period, it’s long, so not everyone would want to commit. But if you’ve laughed over Malachy McCourt’s other books, you’ll probably enjoy seeing his serious and scholarly side, too.
8.
by
Samson Raphael HirschFinish date: February 24, 2018
Genre: Religion
Rating: A-
Review: Rabbi Samson Rafael Hirsch is my hero. I think of him as the rabbi of the Enlightenment: a pious man willing to contend with the questions the Age of Modernity posed to religion. This book was groundbreaking in its time, and is also much shorter and less daunting than his later work on Jewish philosophy. It is written as a series of letters between an Orthodox rabbi and a Reform Jew, and it basically sums up Jewish faith. Unfortunately, the letters go in just one direction, so the book did not read like the dialogue I was hoping for, even though parts of it definitely inspired me. I plan to re-read it while taking notes next time. I want to understand each of the nineteen letters and how they build on one another. I’ll say this about my first completion of the book, though: the later letters are more compelling than the early ones.
Mod
MARCH9.
by Harriet Reisen (no photo)Finish date: March 6, 2018
Genre: Biography
Rating: A
Review: In 1994, the year I was a seminary student in Israel, the one and only movie I saw in a theater was “Little Women.” Some of my classmates treated me for my birthday, but it could have been any of our birthdays or even nobody’s birthday at all. We went because we grew up loving Little Women and because it still fit perfectly with who we were. Though it was the 90’s, we were all committed to abstinence until marriage, which means the March sisters were more like us than any other movie heroines. I was even a bit shocked when Amy walked around barefoot in front of Laurie in Paris; no self-respecting Jerusalem seminary girl would do that! But we all considered our commitment to modesty a form of feminism, and we were certainly studious and literary, so the scene in which Jo advocated for women’s rights really resonated.
“Miss March, you should have been a lawyer,” says one of the men.
“Mr. ___, I should have been a great many things,” she replies.
The thing is, I don’t remember that line in the original book. I believe the screenwriter added in the whole scene as a tribute to the suffragette, Louisa May Alcott.
That is my long route to explaining what drove me to this book. I loved Little Women for years, but I only had a vague idea about Louisa May Alcott’s unconventional abolitionist upbringing. This book filled in the gap for me, and boy, was I surprised. Louisa’s father Bronson Alcott was a close friend and arguably an influence on Emerson and Thoreau, but he was so idealistic, he could barely earn a living, and had to depend on his wife, her relatives, and ultimately, Louisa herself. There were times that the family had to subsist solely on bread, water, and apples. That crushing poverty in early childhood gave Louisa her all-consuming drive to support her family by writing. She churned out stories for decades, and she’d write whatever sold. Little Women was her most popular work, but she also wrote darker, racier love stories, too. I urge all fans to seek those stories out.
I also urge all fans to read this biography. It reminded me of the saying, “Well-behaved women seldom make history.” Louisa May Alcott was a willful child who grew into an occasionally crotchety middle-aged lady. The character of Jo, who is certainly her alter ego, was spunky and sometimes had a temper, but she was toned-down and conventional compared to her creator. Jo married the professor, had children, and taught others. Louisa never married and may even have had affairs out of wedlock. If you’re a fan, and you weren’t aware of that, I’ll bet you’re intrigued now. But what’s really important about Louisa May Alcott is certainly not her love affairs, and not just her literary legacy. It’s her fierce familial loyalty and absolute determination to succeed.
Citation:
by
Louisa May Alcott
10.
by
Lenora ChuFinish Date: March 10, 2018
Genre: Memoir/Sociology
Rating: A
Review: Comparisons between this book and "Tiger Mother" are inevitable, so here goes. Both books are written by American-born women whose parents were Chinese immigrants. Both married white American men. And both have respect for the Chinese aspects of their upbringing and try to implement it with their own kids, but they go about it differently. The author of this book is not a fierce tiger mother. Instead of staying in the States, she and her family move to China where she enrolls her four-year-old in a traditional Chinese school where she faces a whole staff of tiger teachers. Since she’s the soft-hearted American, she’s a more sympathetic narrator than Amy Chua. But had this book been merely a parenting and educational memoir, I would only have given it 4 stars. It earned its fifth when the author branched out from her own child’s experience and told the stories of other Chinese students. At that point, it became sociological reportage about a world I know little about, and it was absolutely fascinating.
As bad as the wealth and achievement gaps are in this country, the effects of the urban/rural divide in China are far worse. Because of the vast population, places in the best schools are scarce, and students are made to compete for them at a young age. If someone has the misfortune to have been born to a rural farm family, the picture is grim. For those whose parents leave the farm for factory jobs, it’s even worse. And amidst the middle and upper classes, there’s a whole lot of cheating and bribery going on to secure those coveted spots in the best schools.
Yet for all the faults of the Chinese educational system, the book will show you its advantages. The comparison between a Chinese math class and an American math class is especially illustrative. The Americans emphasize self-esteem whereas the Chinese emphasize acquisition of skills. They learn more, and in spite of it all, I don’t think we feel any better about ourselves. When a Chinese student makes a mistake in class, he seems less likely to berate himself or be made fun of than American kid, at least compared to my own experience. And if there’s one thing this book does, it makes you reflect on your own educational experience. If you like that sort of thing, which I most certainly do, then like me, you’ll find this an enormously absorbing book.
11.
by
Helen MacdonaldFinish date: March 23, 2018
Genre: Memoir
Rating: B
Review: It's easy to see why this book was so critically acclaimed. The writing is poetic, and the author comes up with some deep insights as she contemplates life and death. She is simultaneously mourning her recently deceased father while raising a wild hawk. Its raw animal nature puts her in touch with the life force in all of us, even though it is a death-causing predator. But literary as this book was, I found it too slow-paced. I'm a contemplative sort myself, but somehow, the story just didn't hold my attention.
12.
by
Lionel ShriverFinish date: March 31, 2018
Genre: Fiction
Rating: B+
Review: This book basically follows two tracks with two messages: the personal and the political. The protagonist is Edgar, a middle-aged lawyer who quits his boring but steady job to pursue a more exciting career in journalism. He’s always been the solid guy in the background, never the popular star of the show, and he’s sick of it. But once he arrives at his new beat in a fictional town in Portugal, he discovers that the journalist he’s replacing was the star of the show, and once again, he’s overshadowed.
The social dynamics between Edgar and the other journalists make up the first half of the book. If you like thinking about social politics, you’ll enjoy it, but for many readers, it might be too much talk and not enough action. The action starts when the terrorism starts, and though much of what the author is conveying is relevant for today, it seems absolutely prescient when you realize when she wrote it. Not only did she write it pre-Trump; she wrote it in the 90’s, i.e. before 9/11. In fact, the reason she couldn’t publish it at first was because of 9/11. Moslems do play a role in this, but as immigrants that the natives resent. They aren’t the terrorists. Actually, the author said that she modeled her fictional town and its struggle on the conflict in Northern Ireland.
I definitely liked the personal thread of this book more than the political. Lionel Schriver creates compelling, three-dimensional characters. She also describes her style as “quasi magical realism,” which is a way of saying that even though she doesn’t use supernatural elements, what you see is not necessarily what is really happening, and you have to wait till the end to really get it.
None of the characters in this book are admirable. Edgar is likable, but he’s sometimes a jerk. But if you’re like most people and you felt you were on the outside looking in while the cool kids ran the show, you may enjoy the insights this book has to offer.
APRIL13.
by
Kathryn HughesFinish date: April 11, 2018
Genre: Biography
Rating: A
Review: As I’ve mentioned before, for many years, it’s been my ambition to research whether or not George Eliot had any contact with Rav Hirsch’s community in Frankfurt when she researched her final philo-Semitic novel. I’ve taken a few steps toward that goal in recent months, and reading this biography was one of them. It was impressively thorough, so I learned plenty about the life and work of Marian Lewes/George Eliot, but not a whole lot that would help me with my specific thesis. No matter, I’m one step closer to being a George Eliot scholar now, and because the book paints such a kind and maternal portrait of her, I love her as a person even more.
14.
by James Comey (no photo)Finish date: April 18, 2018
Genre: Memoir
Rating: A-
Review: Review to come when the group read is over.
15.
by
J.D. VanceFinish date: April 21, 2018
Genre: Memoir
Rating: A-
Review: I read this book immediately after James Comey’s, and while both are considered essential for understanding the Trump phenomenon (albeit for very different reasons), from a literary point of view, I found this book superior. The storytelling was top-notch; every time life forced me to put the book down, I was itching to get back to the story of J.D. and his Mamaw.
J.D. journeys from “forgotten America” to the elite Ivy League with a stop in the military in between. He makes an excellent case for how military training builds character, but as I’ve learned from a Vietnam vet I know, combat destroys everybody, even the ones lucky enough to survive.
Unfortunately, I didn’t feel the conclusion measured up to the rest of the book. If not for that, I might have given it 5 stars.
16.
by
Terry PratchettFinish date: April 21, 2018
Genre: Humor
Rating: A-
Review: Pure fun for cat lovers and one goat joke to boot!
17.
by Joy Mangano (no photo)Finish date: April 26, 2018
Genre: Self-help memoir
Rating: A
Review: I've given this 5 stars not because it's great literature, but because it's exactly what it was intended to be: an inspiring self-help book. Joy is such a likable narrator, I began writing a letter to her, which she actually encourages at the end of the book. She's got a great message and the life experience to prove it. I especially recommend it to women, and Moms in particular. Her advice is tailor-made for us.
First, what Joy makes clear about herself is probably true for most Moms: as important as her business and her inventions are to her, her family comes first. To this day, her business employs her parents, her ex-husband, and her now-grown kids. But the years that her kids were growing up coincided with the early years of her business, and she wasn’t afraid to lean on her family to help her take care of them. She also involved her kids in the business whenever she could, even when they were little. Sometimes they joined her on business trips, so they got to see new places. Once, she employed her two youngest to unwrap paper-covered drinking straws she was using to construct one of her inventions, and of course, they did it kid-style with spit balls. Involving little kids may not work for every business or creative venture, but it sure beats resenting your kids for cutting into your creative time.
Second, she said she always celebrated small successes, and she involved her kids in those, too. Many people embark on all kinds of creative projects with enthusiasm, but it’s a long, hard slog until success, so many people lose steam and get stuck along the way. slog dip more enjoyable, which will help you reach your ultimate goal.
My favorite bit of advice is that just as you should celebrate small gains, you should take small steps toward your goal. You don’t have to take big risks or up-end your life. Most parents are risk averse and can’t up-end their lives anyway, so this particular bit of advice was not just practical but empowering.
Finally, she urged us women to stand up for ourselves. If you’ve seen the movie “Joy,” then you know that one of the manufactures she worked with tried stealing from her. The way she tells it in the book, her being “just a Mom” making household products made them think she’d be easy to take advantage of. But the business world can be cutthroat, and women have to be prepared, even if that means leaning on attorneys for help, just like leaning on family for babysitting. Note that Joy uses the phrase “lean on” as opposed to Sheryl Sandberg’s “lean in.” I’ll get to Sheryl in a future review, as I read her book as a follow-up to this one, but I preferred Joy’s approach. Perhaps even that difference in phrase is part of it. “Leaning on” others may sound needier, but Joy points out that there's no shame in it. Nobody's a superhero. We all need each other.
I highly recommend Joy’s book, even if you’ve already seen the movie. The strength of her message is that she really lived it. By taking small steps toward the creative life you want while simultaneously staying near to the people that you love, your accomplishments might just exceed your dreams.
18.
by
A.A. MilneFinish date: April 28, 2018
Genre: Peace manifesto
Rating: A-
Review: I loved A. A. Milne as a kid and loved him even more when I became a parent, but I only learned of his pacifism and his writings for adults through of the movie “Goodbye, Christopher Robin.” I tend toward pacifism myself, so I was deeply intrigued by this discovery of his mature work.
Milne was a veteran of World War I, and according to the movie, he suffered from PTSD flashbacks afterward. From what I’ve learned from other veterans, I have no reason to doubt it, no matter how much Hollywood is inclined to fictionalize in biopics. World War I was definitely a foolish war, and as Milne wisely puts it: does it make sense to sacrifice thousands of lives all because of the assassination of two? The book continues to make many more sensible arguments about the senselessness of war, but then you have to consider that it was written in 1934. Hitler had just come to power, and Milne could see what a danger he was, but his book, and his approach to peace in general, was appeasement. We all know how well that worked out, but I don’t think we can use Hitler and the Sudetenland as proof that appeasement never works. It didn’t work with him because there was no United Nations or international court of law to watch and control him. The only way to respond to his aggression was with war. As Milne puts it, he opposes war, but not police, and the difference is that when police use force, they’re not supposed to act as judge, jury, and executioner also (and yes, I know they sometimes do.) War does that. Nations sacrifice their citizens’ lives to protect their interests, and then, if they win, they dictate the terms instead of some independent third party, like a court.
Milne also calls for disarmament. When one nation stockpiles weapons, it guarantees that its neighbors, especially the smaller ones, will do so also, and so war becomes a perpetual cycle. It makes perfect sense, except that I wouldn’t want to see vulnerable Israel disarm when their neighbors aren’t. But was Iran really complying with the United Nations watching them? Many experts say yes. It’s true that Iran had to be appeased to agree to the deal, but there was a neutral force to police it. Perhaps it was exactly the scenario Milne was talking about. And to those parts of the deal that were distasteful, Milne would argue that peace comes with sacrifice – but not with the sacrifice of human life.
Though I like most of what Milne had to say, I can see the holes in his argument. He has a follow-up book written in 1940 when England was already in the war, so I really must get hold of that and see how his thinking evolved. I certainly don’t have the answers, and I don’t know that I believe that any single person does, but it surely has been interesting to discover this side of the beloved father of Christopher Robin and creator of Winnie the Pooh.
MAY19.
by Lily Bailey (no photo)Finish date: May 1, 2018
Genre: Memoir
Rating: A-
Review: Someone in my life has OCD, so you will be seeing more of these OCD memoirs in my feed. As a memoir, this was a good one; the author brings the reader right into the obsessions ruling her life. Hers were all about social faux pas, though, and not contamination fears, which is the variety of OCD I’m dealing with. But as I said, the picture she paints of her intrusive thoughts and her belief in her own “badness” is disturbingly vivid. She’s equally detailed and vivid with the various kinds of therapy she tried – from medication, to hospitalization, to a plain old support group. Best of all, the book has a happy ending.
For people like me who might be drawn to an OCD memoir because a loved one is suffering from the disorder, please recognize that you won’t find a cure in someone else’s memoir. The best you can get is a better understanding of what your loved one is going through. It may not be the ideal outcome, but it’s definitely a start. Good luck on your journey!
20.
by
Sheryl SandbergFinish date: May 10, 2018
Genre: Career self-help
Rating: B
Review: This book has had such an impact on the culture, its title has become a catchphrase. Naturally, I'd heard of it when everyone else did and recognized that I needed to learn its lessons of assertiveness, but other books always seemed to take precedence. I finally got around to it as a follow-up to Joy Mangano’s inspiring memoir, but I didn’t like it as much. The first half was pretty good, but after a while, it just made me feel bad about myself. I’m a middle-aged secretary, and even if I fulfill my dream of going to grad school, I still don’t know if I can “lean in” enough to become a college-level lecturer. I’ve got a lifetime of habits to break, plus there’s all that outside negativity and stereotyping that I’d have to combat. I don’t know if I’m up for the fight.
Joy’s approach seems more within my reach. She was talking about family, creativity, and taking small steps. Sheryl Sandberg talked about family responsibilities, too, but her world is just too high-powered for me to relate to. Joy was motivated by belief in her own creations; Sheryl seems motivated by power and success. And while it’s true that it’s good for women overall if more women get into positions of leadership, that’s not enough to motivate me. But my own creativity, my own writing? I procrastinate there, too, but at least there, love of the process has some shot at driving me. Corporate America? Not so much. But good luck to you, Sheryl Sandberg. Facebook could use some good leadership right now.
21.
by Emily Colas (no photo)Finish date: May 12, 2018
Genre: Memoir
Rating: B
Review: This is the second OCD memoir I’ve read of late, and while it takes a more comic tone than the previous one, the writer turned out to be much less likable. She has contamination fears, which is relevant to my situation, so there were sections I could read aloud to the OCD sufferer in my life to ask, “Is this what it feels like?” I made sure to read the conclusion aloud also. But as much as this is a book about OCD, it’s also a book about a challenging marriage. The author’s husband was an absolute saint for putting up with her. She says as much herself, and one of the book’s two clever poems is about him. (The poems are the best part of the book.)
In the end, though, her behavior was unforgivable. I lost almost all my sympathy for her, and I think most readers would have the same reaction. Still, it’s a short book and a quick read, so if you’re on the same quest I am, reading this book is worth the investment of your time. But remember: don’t expect anybody else’s bout with OCD to provide even a fraction of the answers of how to emerge from it. The best you can hope for is greater understanding.
22.
by
Brooke GladstoneFinish date: May 15, 2018
Genre: Media analysis
Rating: A
Review: I’m a big fan of Brooke Gladstone’s radio show, so when she mentioned this book on the air, I immediately ordered it from my library. I was surprised that it turned out to be in comic book/graphic form, but that turned out to be an added boon. The pictures allow for more snark, which gave a whimsical tone to an otherwise heavy topic.
Brooke’s specialty is media analysis, and she did a thorough job of it here, covering such topics as the use of Alien and Sedition Acts throughout American history and the evolution of television war coverage between Vietnam and Iraq. She also quotes from many thinkers. Marshall McLuhan and Neil Postman were no surprise, but imagine my pleasure at seeing George Eliot, not just quoted but depicted in cartoon!
Though written in 2011, the book perfectly describes some of the factors that gave rise to the Trump presidency: fake news, news as entertainment, and Internet-enabled echo chambers. It did not specifically foresee the problem of social media manipulation by Russian bots or Cambridge Analytica, but the analysis shows that media reporter that she is, Brooke Gladstone she has had her ear to the ground all along.
Because of this, perhaps I can let myself believe her optimistic conclusion. She argues that media in general, and the Internet specifically, contains the cure for the disease it is causing. After all, aren’t we all here on Goodreads discussing books? So perhaps people aren’t always so stupid and gullible after all. We just have to remember where our weaknesses lie and deliberately counteract them. It’s work, but it’s worth it. As Brooke reminds us, in the words of Thomas Jefferson: “the price of democracy is eternal vigilance.”
23.
by
Pamela PaulFinish date: May 21, 2018
Genre: Memoir
Rating: A
Review: Everyone active on Goodreads is doing precisely what author Pamela Paul did with Bob, her Book of Books. We track everything we read. So if you enjoy this site, you’re guaranteed to relate to Pamela and you’ll probably like if not love her book. But even though she’s the editor of the New York Times Book Review, this is not an anthology of her best reviews or even a sneak peek at her best entries in Bob. It’s a memoir told through the prism of books. She takes us through her childhood and college years, world travel, and relationships and break-ups by juxtaposing these milestones with the books she read while going through them. The emotions between life, the books, and Bob all bleed into one another.
As a parent, I definitely appreciated the chapter on the books she shared with her own kids. That’s a special phase of parenting, and I miss the days of reading aloud. I also added quite a few of the books she mentioned to my to-read list here. But actually, my favorite parts of all were what she said about college. She put words to the very problem I had in college with the pervasive goal of developing critical thinking skills.
“Books assigned for class were read as competitive sport,” she wrote. “The more critically, the better.” And also, “A surfeit of criticism swirled around campus, yet I still didn't understand what it was we were meant to critique. I still wanted to take in what they wanted to tear down. I wanted to believe, not disdain. I wanted to absorb, not fend off.”
That’s exactly how I felt as a college freshman. All the books we were assigned were so well-crafted, how could I possibly find fault with them? If I had been asked to absorb first, to tap into the human message the author meant to convey and then to research the author’s life and times to understand why he or she held that view, I could first point out everything I agreed with in the book – which was bound to be quite a lot – but then the individual that is me would have bubbled up and put her own spin on it. That to me is genuine critical thinking. The other stuff is just what you spit out because you think it will please your professors.
So, thank you, Pamela Paul, for a really enjoyable experience. I’m upping your book to a 5, and if I ever become a professor myself, my students will start their own Bobs (or Goodreads pages) you’re your college sections get read aloud in class. But getting there. . . ah, now that could be the work of many years.
24.
by
William Makepeace ThackerayFinish date: May 24, 2018
Genre: Humor
Rating: B
Review: I’ve never been able to get through even the first chapter of Ivanhoe, though I have tried, if only for the literary history of the positively portrayed Jewish character, Rebecca. I knew the story from the movie, and not the classic Errol Flynn version, but a made-for-TV adaptation from the early 80’s starring Anthony Andrews. Naturally, I was enthralled by Rebecca, though I did understand precisely why Ivanhoe would choose Rowena in the end. But many people have felt differently, including satirist William Makepeace Thackeray, so this novella is his light-hearted attempt to right that literary “mistake.”
Now, not only have I never read Ivanhoe, I’ve never read any Thackeray either, though I did go in with positive feeling toward him because he encouraged Charlotte Bronte when she sent him her manuscript of Jane Eyre. I did enjoy the satiric tone of the book; this is classic British humor, and it’s applied to that most foolhardy of times, the age of chivalry knights. But my husband, who read the book before I did, forewarned me about the ending. So to all you Jews drawn to Rebecca for the more or less the same reasons that I am, prepare to be disappointed.
25.
by
Amy ChuaFinish date: May 26, 2018
Genre: History/Sociology
Rating: A
Review: I’m really glad I went into this book knowing something about Amy Chua, or it would have been much tougher to get through. For those who don’t recognize the name, Amy Chua is the famous “tiger mother” whose parenting memoir hit the book charts and stirred up controversy a few years back. She doesn’t portray herself in a flattering light there, but I also got to know her through a more humanizing portrayal in J.D. Vance’s memoir. Amy was his professor at Yale, and he doesn’t describe her as a “tiger” at all, but as a kind and thoughtful advisor. She is the one who encouraged him to write his own memoir, and both of their books explore the ethnic backgrounds that shaped them into the people they became. That theme intersects perfectly with the theme of this new book, which is all about “tribes,” the groups we identify with, and how they are used for good and for ill in the world at large.
This book is not a memoir, but history and sociology, which is why I found parts of it dry, complicated, and hard to get through. That’s no different than my experience of most histories; I find they all seem to have some dull or confusing parts. I’ve always tried to push my way through for the sake of the knowledge and insight I stand to gain, but I don’t necessarily hold myself to the standard of remembering every detail. That was especially true for the first few chapters of this book. The very first chapter introduces the theme that America’s blindness to tribal divisions has made for disastrous policy decisions, both domestic and foreign. The next several chapters explore different countries where these tragic failings were at their worst: Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Venezuela gets a chapter, too, but it’s different than the others in that there was no American military intervention there. The Afghani chapter was the hardest to follow because its tribal structure was the most complex, but the main theme came through just as it did with every other chapter, and it struck fear into the heart of this Jew: whenever an ethnic minority dominates the economy of a particular region, tribal resentments fester and eventually blow up in the most violent and ugly ways possible.
The Venezuela chapter was a good transition to the U.S. chapters, which was the focus for the remainder of the book. Chua draws some clear parallels between the rise of Hugo Chavez and the rise of Donald Trump. Venezuela also has its own sort of caste system based on skin color in which the light-skinned had more power and favor. In other words, though their systematic racism is not precisely the same as ours, discussing theirs made for a good springboard to discuss ours.
Chua didn’t shy away from anything. She argued that Americans have to be honest about its racist origins and continued inequities, but at the same time, she echoes the criticism I’ve heard from so many of my right-wing friends: the concepts of “microaggressions” and “intersectionality” are being used to alienate and divide people, not bring them together. I was pleased to learn that Kimberly Crenshaw, the Columbia law professor who originally coined the term “intersectionality,” also feels the term has been misused, calling it, “identity politics on steroids.” So between Fox News propaganda and the drive for political correctness on the Left, the U.S. is becoming increasingly divided into the political tribes that give the book its title. How bad can it get? As bad as the Sunnis and the Shias?
Luckily, Chua does not conclude that it will get that bad. Her epilogue is highly optimistic, especially in comparison with the rest of the book. She cites numerous of examples of ordinary Americans trying to bridge the gaps between us, and she’s inspired me to do the same on a larger scale than I have been. So 5 stars to this important book. Some parts were tough, but the message rings absolutely true. But whether the book is a clarion call to action or a cautionary tale of our future is entirely up to us.
JUNE26.
by
Michael RobertsonFinish date: June 4, 2018
Genre: Literary history
Rating: A-
Review: The word “utopian” has come to connote naivete at best and hidden fascism at worst (case in point for the latter: how the theory of shared wealth evolved into the Soviet regime). But I’ve always been drawn to small-scale utopian endeavors, which is the title of this book immediately grabbed me. It covers four utopian thinkers who wrote when such ideas were reaching their peak: the years between the Industrial Revolution and World War One. I’m not going to go into details on each thinker, but what all their visions had in common, with varying degrees of emphasis, were income equality, equality between the sexes and for homosexuals, and a drive to get back to nature. Those themes continue to dominate utopian efforts today.
The book argues that utopian literature fell out of favor after World War One because wars in the machine age showcased humanity’s savagery like never before, so people could no longer believe in utopia. After the bloodbath of World War Two came the next logical step: not only had utopian theories gone out of favor, dystopian literature was on the rise, beginning with George Orwell’s classic 1984. As we see, as a genre, dystopian literature is still going strong today. We modern folks can accept cautionary tales about how badly humanity can mess up, but visions of a bright future for all seem pretty shaky.
But if literature is no longer the vehicle for utopian visions, small-scale utopian communities are. Thousands of them cropped up around the county in the 1960’s, and some of them are still in operation. Other types have started since then, but usually without that hedonistic 1960’s tint. The final chapter of the book is dedicated to these “intentional communities,” and it was definitely my favorite part. I added quite a few of the books cited there to my to-read list. And I might as well share that I’m deeply attracted to the few “intentional communities” that I know of and would love to move there, even though most of them these days keep their utopian ambitions modestly within their own borders and no longer strive to remake the whole world in their vision.
The author’s overall message is to redeem the image of utopian thinking and literature. He makes the case that it allows people to speculate about future solutions to societal problems, just as science fiction has been known to inspire technological invention. He is an academic, though, and his focus on the nineteenth century authors may be too narrow an interest for many readers. That's too bad because I suspect more people harbor utopian hopes than they’d readily admit. But if the phrase “utopian studies” resonates with you, I recommend this as a good intellectual background. Then, like me, you’ll have been introduced to an academic discipline you never even knew existed.
27.
by Sonia Nazario (no photo)Finish date: June 15, 2018
Genre: Sociology
Rating: A-
Review: Latin American immigration to the U.S. has been much in the news lately, but even though the author researched this book in 2000 and updated it in 2012, I still believe it’s an accurate picture of what goes on now, at least south of the border. Enrique’s mother Lourdes left Honduras when he was five and his sister was seven. She called when she could and sent back money so that the grandmother, caring for the kids, could afford to feed them, pay school fees, and even buy some extras, like soccer balls. But even if Enrique’s life improved materially because of his mother’s choice, he suffered emotionally without her. By the time he became a teenager, he’d gotten into drugs, fathered a child, and then decided to make the exact same trek his mother did: get to America, reunite with her, and send money back to Honduras. Along the way, he is repeatedly robbed and beaten by gang members, starves at times, and is always trying to stay a step ahead of law enforcement. The overall picture is a real rock and a hard place for all who face the choice: stay in Honduras with little hope of raising your kids out of poverty and violence or escape to the United States in an inevitably treacherous journey with no guarantee of a happy ending. And now Trump and Jeff Sessions are doing their darndest to make sure happy endings are less likely for these immigrants than ever.
One of the points made in the book is that experts say that the best way to solve the immigration problem is to improve conditions in the Latin American countries so that people won’t have to leave. Indeed, the only light in this whole dark story came from those church networks who housed and fed migrants on their journey. I’m a big believer in the power of charitable action to mend the world, but it will take law enforcement to protect the people from the rampant gang violence bolstering the drug trade and the corruption that allows it to go on. The solutions will be complex and difficult to execute, but on this I am clear: making life even harder for the Enriques of the world is not the answer.
I recommend this book to all Americans. Whatever laws undocumented immigrants have broken do not merit such harsh punishment, especially in light of the brutal conditions they are trying to escape.
28.
by
Gary ShteyngartFinish date: June 23, 2018
Genre: Fiction
Rating: B
Review: I got to know and love Gary Shteyngart through his memoir, in which he paints himself as a lovable loser in the Woody Allen insecure Jewish intellectual mode. The protagonist of this book is very much like that, and since the other half of this love story is a much younger Korean woman, I guess that fits, too, though neither the fictional Lenny nor the real Gary come across as perverted. Larry's just a middle aged guy who longs for youth and beauty, just like everyone else in our increasingly superficial culture. That superficiality is REALLY what the book is about: it's a social commentary on a possible near future. Everyone carries around "apparats," which seem to be cell phones, publishing details of their lives while keeping an eye on their popularity scores. In other words, it's our current world taken to the extreme.
I'm not a big fan of dystopian fiction, so I wasn't that blown away by this book, even though many others were, and it got quite a bit of acclaim. It *is* rather predictive; perhaps that's the reason. But even if this book didn't really do it for me, I still admire Gary Shteyngart, so perhaps I'll give one of his other novels a try sometime.
29.
by Yascha Mounk (no photo)Finish date: June 30, 2018
Genre: Political Science
Rating: A
Review: Yascha Mounk, the author of this book, is a political science professor at Harvard University, but I’ve become familiar with him from his podcast on Slate, “The Good Fight.” The fight he is talking about, both on the podcast and in this book, is for nothing less than saving democracy.
Professor Mounk argues that democracy is in crisis, and not just because of Donald Trump, but because of the rise of authoritarianism in Europe, which is where he was born and raised. He argues that if you interview young people, you’ll discover that they take democracy for granted to such an extent that they disdain it or will even say they don’t think it’s that important. I’ve seen this with some of the adults I know, too. One even went so far as to say that the concept of human equality came from Karl Marx, not the Enlightenment thinkers who preceded him, so it should be ignored. According to Professor Mounk, students disdain the Enlightenment, too, throwing the baby out with the bathwater because the Enlightenment wasn’t PC enough. This, I think, is an example of what he calls “undemocratic liberalism” in which PC thinking and speech are held to be more important than freedom of speech and thought. It’s a criticism I hear from my right-wing friends, which may mean that Yascha Mounk could have broad appeal to both right and left.
The opposite danger to democracy is what Professor Mounk calls “illiberal democracy.” Of course, the United States was founded as an illiberal democracy, in which only white land-owning men had voting rights. Over time, our democracy has grown to include more and more people, to have liberalized, to use an unpopular word, but now we’re seeing the backlash. Increasingly, because of Citizens United and the power of lobbyists and special interests, American democracy has become much more of an oligarchy than a liberal democracy. And those two factors - both liberalism and democracy – are what Professor Mounk argues are the keys to preserving a good future for all of us.
So why else doesn’t democracy have its old appeal? One reason is simple illiberalism and dislike of difference. Rights only belong to “real Americans,” and everyone else can go blow. But there’s also the simple fact that liberal democracy is notoriously inefficient and takes commitment to maintain. When everybody has a say, debates can seem interminable, and reaching consensus can seem like an impossible goal. People prefer quick solutions, so an undemocratic approach can hold definite appeal. To return to the right-wing side of Mounk’s argument, law carried out by administrative agencies like the FDA or EPA are much more specialist-based than democratic. These agencies are more efficient at carrying out their jobs than having Congress vote on every little thing, and it’s probably necessary because we all want safe food and drinking water, but if I understand correctly, this is another example of undemocratic liberalism. The best illustration the book gives of truly representative democracy came in the title of another book Mounk cited, "Freedom is an Endless Meeting." In other words, those boring and often contentious meetings in which local people attempt to solve local issues are the backbone of democracy. And too few of us are truly committed to participating in them. But when we don’t, special interests wheedle their way in and take our place.
Overall, Mounk’s book is as scholarly and well-argued as you’d expect from a Harvard professor, and though my mind wandered in spots, he was clear and concise enough that he held my attention most of the time. The concluding chapter was especially good, but before you embark on his book, I highly recommend his podcast. It’s a good way to get to understand his philosophy and discover whether he’s a voice you want more of. I most certainly do.
JULY30.
by
Suki KimFinish date: July 14, 2018
Genre: Memoir
Rating: A-
Review: to be added after group read
AUGUST31.
by
Ayelet WaldmanFinish date: August 1, 2018
Genre: Memoir
Rating: A-
Review: I went into this book with a bit of a misconception. I knew it was about microdosing, the new trend of taking a small dose of a psychedelic chemical like LSD or psilocybin, but I thought the title was literal and that the author was going to describe a single day on which she microdosed. It turns out that she went on a month-long preprogrammed schedule of drug use with days on and days off. The book also explores other subjects I’ll get into, but my misunderstanding led me to an analogy that tickles me, so I’m eager to share it.
Advocates of microdosing argue that psychedelic chemicals are better mood-enhancers and lead to more psychological insight than the prescription drugs that people typically take for mental health today. Psychedelics also have fewer unpleasant physical side effects and would therefore be good replacements.
Personally, I’m inclined to agree. A microdose is too small to cause hallucinations, yet it did improve the author’s mood. And as many who’ve taken a trip on a full hit will attest, it can be a positive, life-changing experience that’s more effective than years of therapy.
So here is where my misconception about “A Really Good Day” comes in. It reminded me of Professor Slughorn’s introduction to Felix Felicis, the lucky potion in the Harry Potter series. Slughorn said he took it only twice in his life, but those were “two perfect days.” Frequent use, he warned the students, would result in recklessness.
That is what I think about psychedelics. They are here on this earth for their healing potential but can wreak havoc when abused. Therefore, take only once or twice in a lifetime. Or, as this book puts it, taking psychedelics is all about “set and setting:” how much you take and the surroundings you’re in when you take them. You don’t want to take too much, and you’ve got to make sure to surround yourself by things that will make you happy when you do. And even if you decide you will never take psychedelics, not even in a microdose, setting is everything in a normal, happy, drug-free life, too.
As I said, the book covers more than the author’s trips and mood changes. She talks about her life before microdosing and its concomitant challenges, particularly her mood swings and her marriage. She was also an attorney in drug enforcement for a while, so she’s got plenty to say about how punitive the system is and has suggestions for its reform. There’s also a thorough section on the history of psychedelics, from its discovery to the boom of the 60’s to the research happening right now. I really liked the mix of personal narrative with historical and scientific information. The author struck the right balance and didn’t overdo either side.
The people who would most likely be interested in this book are people who probably have actual experience with psychedelics. Certainly, you have to be open enough to having your mind expanded to the point of entertaining the possibility that psychedelics don’t drive everyone crazy, even if you can’t accept the next step, which is that they’re actually healing. But I think the author makes a good case for them, and so I hope the research continues. . . with all due caution.
32.
by
Elizabeth Jarrett AndrewFinish date: August 9, 2018
Genre: Writing
Rating: A-
Review: I’m getting back into writing again, thank G-d, and because I try and live a religious life, writing about my own “sacred journey” is only logical. This was the first writing book I’ve ever found that specifically addresses the topic of spiritual memoir writing, and it was a good beginning, but by no means the end. Unfortunately, I don’t think I used the book to its full potential. I didn’t do any of the suggested writing prompts since I’m busy with the ones I’m being assigned in my current writing class. Perhaps I’ll buy a copy for future reference. So it was a good writing book that addressed my religious interests in ways that no other writing book has, but as for craft, it wasn’t my favorite. If you’re serious about writing, don’t rely only on this one.
33.
by S. Ansky (no photo)Finish date: August 11, 2018
Genre: Play
Rating: B+
Review: I read this play because I was curious as to how literature embraces Jewish mystical concepts, but it turned out that the author’s biography interested me more. He was raised religious in Eastern Europe, and it’s clear that he knew Hasidic history and thought. In the very first scene, the characters are arguing about the splendor of the Rizhiner Rebbe versus the poverty of the Rebbe, Reb Zusia. Another religious argument that I liked even more came a few pages later. “Talmud ties you too much to this world,” says the ‘hero’ of the story, Elchonon. “Kabbala lets your soul soar.” As Elchonon comes to a bad end, I’d say Talmudic earthiness is a good thing. But the author, S. Lansky, rebelled against Judaism for a long period of his life, so he might regard Elchonon as heroically defiant. Religious Jews protested the play in its time, and if you’re Orthodox and you read it, you’ll understand precisely why.
But as I said, I was most fascinated by S. Lansky, first a Hasid, then a maskil, and in the end, not just a Jewish ethnographer and folklorist, but someone who loved his people enough that he advocated and fundraised for them through World War One, which wasn’t as devastating as the Holocaust of World War Two, but was most definitely the precursor to it. So while I didn’t think the play was all that great, it did give me what I was looking for: an example of a writer who could weave Jewish faith and legend into his work.
34.
by
William ZinsserFinish date: August 17, 2018
Genre: Writing
Rating: A-
Review: This book was cited by the previous book I read on the craft of religious writing, and I liked it even better. It’s a collection of essays by six religious authors, and they represent a variety of religious traditions. The two Catholics both took St. Augustine’s Confessions as a model. David Bradley, who descends from a long line of African American preachers and who chose writing instead, turned out to have my favorite essay because he talked about the emotional cost of writing. Naturally, I’m partial to the Jews also, even though Hugh Nissenson doesn’t seem to be Orthodox, and Allen Ginsberg identifies more as a Buddhist and poet. He got the last word in the collection, and deservedly so. Like David Bradley, he connected the craft of writing to spirituality in a way that I recognized from my own experience, even though I don’t do a whole lot of meditation. Perhaps because I’ve read a bit of Natalie Goldberg’s concept of writing as spiritual practice, I was open to that Buddhist message.
What I liked best about the book was its serene and contemplative tone. Serenity is what people seek in religion, and these authors conveyed it. So while I can’t really point to anything that the book gave me in terms of craft, it was encouraging to read more accomplished writers who share two of my dearest passions. I’ll probably be checking out more of their work as well as the works they recommended in the near future.
35.
by
Liane MoriartyFinish date: August 19, 2018
Genre: Mystery
Rating: A
Review: Though I’d heard of the TV show with this title, I’ve never seen it and didn’t know it was based on a book. I probably would never even have read this book if my sister hadn’t pressed it on me the last time I visited. It turns out that all her enthusiasm was well-founded. What a page-turner!
The story is about three friends whose kids are in the same kindergarten class. The dominant character is Madeline, who is 40 and is on her second marriage. Celeste is the beauty of the group with the seemingly perfect life, and Jane is the youngest, a single Mom who’s new to town. You’re told from the very beginning that a death occurred and that it may have been a murder, but not only don’t you know whodunnit, you don’t even know who the victim is. That keeps the pages turning, and the minor characters keep chiming in with their opinions about what happened that night, kind of like a Greek chorus, but if you keep track of who said what, you’ll see their voices aren’t in unison, and the character of each is consistent.
This is very much a woman’s book. Not only does it lampoon female cliquishness and cattiness, which we all love to hate and laugh at, it addresses big issues like marriage, parenting, body image, and domestic violence. Another of my reviewer friends called it “4 star junk food.” I don’t think so. I think it’s 5 star masterful storytelling with enough fluff mixed in to make it a blockbuster. Great stuff!
Mod
36.
by
Jane YolenFinish date: August 24, 2018
Genre: Writing
Rating: A-
Review: There’s a famous quote that my tenth grade English teacher had hanging in her office: “There’s nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.” That and a similarly brutal quote begin this book, but as you can tell by the title, they’re the precise opposite of what the author hopes to convey. It’s true that good writing means exploring your emotional core, but it’s also true that at the end of it all, you might not get published anyway, so you’ve really got to enjoy the process. That doesn’t mean writing has to be all pleasure all the time, but it does mean that achieving the end result of a finished piece has to give you more joy than whatever pain it will take you to get there.
I liked that perspective, so I liked the book, though some parts were more useful than others. The ABCs of writing seemed a little gimmicky to me, but the basic outline of every story – that I wrote down for future reference. Call it formulaic if you like, but I’m grateful to be clued in. May G-d help that if it’s the right thing, I should finish my own book. At any rate, I do expect it to be a therapeutic journey.
37.
by
Maria KonnikovaFinish date: August 31, 2018
Genre: Psychology
Rating: A-
Review: Maria Konnikova is an expert on con artists. A year or so ago, she did a podcast based on this book called “The Grift,” which is the original name for a Ponzi scheme. She’s also a frequent guest on Mike Pesca’s podcast in a regular feature they call, “Is That Bulls***t?” So I went into this book with a fair bit of familiarity with what she’d say, but I really recommend both the book and the podcast. There’s definitely overlap, but there are also unique stories in each, and let’s face it: there’s something delicious in learning about the elaborate hoaxes that con artists put together.
People always think they’d never be so stupid as to fall for a con artist, but what both the book and the podcast make clear is that it can happen to any of us. The podcast illustrated the point with a story about a Chinese graduate student who got bilked of her tuition money by a psychic who promised to help her with her love life. Now falling for a “psychic” is something most people feel especially immune to, but consider how lonely it would feel to be in a foreign country, far away from your family, and having to built up a social circle from scratch. If a kind-hearted person entered your life with promises of help, wouldn’t you be tempted? The vulnerability of the victim is the key, and at one time or another, we’ve all been vulnerable.
What the book added to this insight is how well-constructed most confidence schemes actually are. A respected art dealer, for example, was repeatedly tricked by a forger because both the paintings and the sales pitch were that good. If there’s money to be made, somebody somewhere will put plenty of time and effort into crafting as foolproof a scheme as possible.
When con artists fail, it’s usually because they overreach. Konnikova says there’s a triad of character traits that every con artist possesses: a Machiavellian attitude (they’ll do anything), nonchalance (they don’t care who or how many people they hurt), and narcissism (they believe in their abilities and their right to behave this way.) It’s the narcissism that does them in. They get to believing in their abilities so much, they think they’ll never get caught.
Fundamentally, this is a book about psychology in which quirky true crime stories are the case studies. I think most people would find it fascinating, though the middle part draws heavily on the work of behavioral psychologists Kahaneman and Twersky, so that part, if you’re already familiar with their work, drags a bit. For me, the most interesting part was the final chapter, which is about religion and cults. I wish there had been more discussion of that kind of exploitation and less of the Ponzi schemes. But the main thing to remember is not to disdain others for falling for a con or to feel ashamed if you’ve been the victim. A whole lot of people have been conned by the rigged swamp that Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, and Fox News have built up. As it crumbles and people wake up, we ought to understand the dupes and help them through. Understanding and cooperation are the only ways we’ll ever restore democracy.
SEPTEMBER38.
by Jeffrey S. Victor (no photo)Finish date: September 8, 2018
Genre: Psychology/History
Rating: B
Review: I was a teenager in the 1980’s, and though I played D&D and actually dated a guy who called himself a pagan and seems to have ascribed to LaVeyan Satanism, the Satanic panic didn’t really touch my life. Perhaps that’s because I was a secular Jew from Queens, New York, and the phenomenon was more widespread amongst Protestants in rural areas, though one of the worst scares seems to have been not terribly far from my university town, which was a weird coincidence, especially since that was where I met my pagan ex-boyfriend.
I read this book mostly as research into what might have motivated that guy, and although the focus of the book was more on the church leaders and psychotherapists who were accusing people of Satan worship, I did learn some things. The most important were the terms “ostension” and “legend trips,” in which teenagers act out the claims being made about the group in question. In other words, the media reports Satanic rituals involving animal slaughter, and some kids, hearing it, leave some bloody animal carcasses around. The believers take it as evidence, and the kids get a thrill. That is part of what I believe my ex-boyfriend was doing in his claim of being a Satanist.
The overall lesson of the book, however, was a rather negative one. Each chapter opens with a quote from another writer, and I kept thinking of one I was familiar with even before I found it in this book. It’s from Eric Hoffer: “A mass movement can exist without G-d, but never without a devil.” In other words, people have a deep-seated need to scapegoat others. Before the Satanic Panic, it was the Red Scare. In medieval Europe, it was witch hunts and blood libels against Jews. The Jungian term for it, which I also learned from this book, is “projecting one’s shadow.” It’s a pretty pessimistic view of human nature, but it seems to me the flip side, if someone wanted to avoid scapegoating, would then be to think more about G-d and less about the devil, or, to transpose it to more secular terms, focus on self-perfection and less on berating others.
Other reviewers found this book boring. I disagree, though I will concede that parts of it were repetitive and could have been left out. But aside from all the psychology lessons, it was also interesting to compare the pre-Internet 1980’s to today. The description of the people who fell for the Satanic rumors perfectly matches the typical characterization of today’s Trump voters. So I can only conclude that after the Cold War, the perceived internal threat of Satanists amongst us became the “shadow,” but since 9/11, people are back to othering foreigners. Like I said, it’s a pessimistic view of human nature, but still a thorough treatment of recent American history and culture. Perhaps it’s a niche interest, but it was good source of research for me, so I’m grateful.
39.
by
Yaakov HillelFinish date: September 10, 2018
Genre: Religion (Jewish)
Rating: B
Review: I read this as part of my research into the occult as a sociological phenomenon, and as far as I can tell, it is the only Torah book on the subject (in English, anyway). It was published in the early 90's, just at the tail end of the Satanic Panic, so perhaps there really was an increased interest in the occult in those years. In any case, the point of the book is that it's better to practice righteous behavior and to put your trust in respected rabbis than to attempt Kabbalistic practices or rely on those who claim they can do them. The book argues that so-called Kabbalists are all a bunch of quacks. So it's a simple message of faith perhaps, but it suits me just fine.
Mod
Mod
I am archiving this thread.
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
The History Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
Faith and Folly: The Occult in Torah Perspective (other topics)Satanic Panic: The Creation of a Contemporary Legend (other topics)
The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It . . . Every Time (other topics)
Take Joy: The Writers Guide To Loving The Craft (other topics)
Big Little Lies (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Yaakov Hillel (other topics)Jeffrey S. Victor (other topics)
Maria Konnikova (other topics)
Jane Yolen (other topics)
Liane Moriarty (other topics)
More...
Please follow the standard required format below - I hope you enjoy your reading in 2018. Here is also a link for assistance with the required guidelines:
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Our Required Format:
JANUARY
1.
Finish date: January 2018
Genre: (whatever genre the book happens to be)
Rating: A
Review: You can add text from a review you have written but no links to any review elsewhere even goodreads. And that is about it. Just make sure to number consecutively and just add the months.
IMPORTANT - THE REVIEW SHOULD BE SHORT AND SWEET - THERE ARE NO LINKS OF ANY KIND IN THE BODY OF THE REVIEW ALLOWED. NONE. DO NOT REFER TO ANY OTHER BOOK IN YOUR BRIEF REVIEW. THE ONLY BOOK CITED IN YOUR REVIEW IS THE ONE YOU ARE REVIEWING - NO OTHERS. ALL LINKS TO OTHER THREADS OR REVIEWS ARE DELETED IMMEDIATELY - THERE WILL BE NO WARNING. WE CONSIDER THIS SELF PROMOTION AND IT IS NOT ALLOWED AND IS IN VIOLATION OF OUR RULES AND GUIDELINES.