The History Book Club discussion

45. by Diane Mulcahy (no photo)
Finish date: June 29, 2018
Genre: Non-Fiction
Rating: C-
Review: Not sure what I expected from this book, but this wasn't it. There were a few good exercises worth completing, but mostly it was full of generalities including advice on retirement savings which would apply to anyone, not just someone embarking on a gig lifestyle. And if you are not a college-educated person looking for consultant, public-speaking, or other high profile business-related positions, the book will be useless to you. It also is more useful to the young.

Dave, in message 46 you need to preface your citation with
JUNE. Good job on your reviews.

JULY

46. by Mark Helprin
Finish date: July 8, 2018
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: A-
Review: This is not the type of book I normally read, but it came very highly recommended by a friend so I gave it a try. Helprin's tale of New York City from the dawn to the death of the twentieth century has no real plot, plays with time and is sometimes difficult to follow, but the imagery he creates is worth it. Magical realism isn't my thing, but I found myself really enjoying this book.

47. by Karen Armstrong
Finish date: July 9, 2018
Genre: Non Fiction
Rating: C
Review: I expected an overview due to the book's brevity, and Armstrong makes some interesting points, but she lost me at the very beginning when she made sweeping assumptions early in the book about beliefs of people who left nothing in writing to justify those assumptions. Her theories may be correct, or any one of a hundred other theories could explain the scant evidence left behind by these people. A later comment about literal interpretation of holy books being a relatively recent phenomenon also rang false for me. And while I didn't expect details on each region's mythology (it is, after all a SHORT history, I think more time could have been spent on the early goddess worship. And unless I missed it, there was no mention of northern European mythology.

48. by Karen Cleveland
Finish date: July 12, 2018
Genre: Spy Fiction
Rating: B+
Review: Summertime is the traditional time for some light, fun reading - no deep message, just escapism. Sometimes "light" can also be a somewhat dark mystery or thriller. Need to Know is that sort of book. It isn't perfect. The protagonist stumbles frequently despite you repeatedly shouting a spy thriller version of the classic horror movie advice - "Don't do that!" In the horror films, it's going into the basement or the woods alone. In this case, it can be anything from reacting impulsively to trusting the wrong person. Karen Cleveland is a former CIA employee and the book feels authentic. But if it truly resembles real life, Russian manipulation of the USA via the internet is the least of our problems.

49. by Peter F. Hamilton
Finish date: July 18, 2018
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: B+
Review: This is Book 5 of a massive six-book space opera. The Possessors from Beyond (our own dead spirits from millennia past if you've been reading the series) are gaining ground by most measures, although infighting is a bit of a hindrance to them. The human governments are beginning to find ways to resist them and their powers to some extent, but progress is slow and inconsistent. One group of humans is off on a desperate flight to the other end of the galaxy to try to learn how other species have battled this threat. Nothing is certain, especially as we begin to question the motives of one powerful group in the Earth government as we learn of some uncertain allies and actions. There is much in this book, and much has to happen in the final book

50. by Peter F. Hamilton
Finish date: July 24, 2018
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: B-
Review: After thousands of pages, we at last reach the conclusion of this space opera that has included threats from other dimensions, threats from revenge-seeking scientists, at least one certifiably mad man and bureaucrats with more power than they ever should have. And we wrap things up with...magic! Well, advanced alien technology, but you know what Arthur C. Clarke had to say about that. The ending may disappoint to some extent, but it's still worth the ride to get there.

51. by Fredrik Backman
Finish date: July 27, 2018
Genre: Fiction
Rating: A
Review: Another excellent book by Backman, although darker and only rarely displaying some of the humor that is evident in some of his other books. This is a sequel to "Beartown" and picks up where the earlier book ends. There are so many conflicts within these pages but you never lose track of who "us" is. The people of Beartown have to face the possible loss of their hockey team, a rival town's attacks, greedy businessmen, and a manipulative politician - all leading to a night of tragedy. Backman tells a good tale here - although his technique of foreshadowing events with a quick line at the end of sections and chapters began to wear on me by the end of the book. A minor quibble, though.

52. by Donald A. Ritchie (no photo)
Finish date: July 29, 2018
Genre: History, Museum Study
Rating: A
Review: This is a great guide to all aspects of conducting an oral history program, presented in a "frequently asked questions" format. Chapters include initiating a project, conducting interviews, using oral history as a research tool, archiving oral histories and incorporating video. There are a few topics in which I'd like to see a little more detail, but Ritchie does include information on other resources where that detail may be available.

AUGUST

53. by Elizabeth Cobbs
Finish date: August 4, 2018
Genre: History
Rating: B
Review: This book tells the (until now) little-known story of women who traveled to France to support the American Expeditionary Force as telephone exchange operators because, well, because the men who were trying to do the job were not very competent. They suffered everything from artillery attacks to drafty, cold shacks as bunkhouses, and yes, bedbugs. They wore army uniforms and were subject to army discipline but, unlike the navy who also enlisted women, the army then disowned them and offered no veterans health benefits, even for some who developed TB while in France.

Cobbs weaves their story together with the fight for the women's vote, going on at the same time, and naturally intertwined because one key argument against women voting is that they couldn't defend the country and so are not entitled to full citizenship. Cobbs also follows events after the war as several of the women continue to fight for proper recognition until it is finally given sixty years later.

54. by Andrew K. Johnston (no photo)
Finish date: August 7, 2018
Genre: History and Science
Rating: B
Review: This book is based on an exhibit at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. It takes us from the earliest days of navigating by the stars to today's satellite navigation systems, examining the challenges of navigating on sea, land, air, and even in space. One of the key themes is that you can't accurately navigate without knowing both where you are and WHEN you are. Without accurate clocks, you can't determine your longitude. Today, without atomic clocks, our GPS devices would not be nearly as accurate as they are.

55. by Michael Ondaatje
Finish date: August 11, 2018
Genre: Fiction
Rating: A
Review: What does it mean to a 14-year-old when your parents suddenly leave you and your 16-year-old sister in the care of a family friend? And what if that family friend might just be involved with a criminal element? What the heck is going on? That is the premise for Ondaatje's latest book and it makes for wonderful storytelling. We start in 1945 Britain while the nation is still recovering from the effects of the war and German bombing. With that background, we shift to 1959 when the boy, now grown and working for the government, searches for clues to his mother's life. Ondaatje unreels these clues ever so deftly.

Dave wrote: "AUGUST

52. by Elizabeth Cobbs
Finish date: August 4, 2018
Genre: Histo..."
This one sounds right up my alley. Great review Dave. On the TBR it goes!

Excellent books - excellent progress

56. by Lawrence J. Haas (no Photo)
Finish date: August 15, 2018
Genre: American History
Rating: B+
Review: Harry, you've probably heard of. It's President Harry Truman. Unless you're from Michigan and enjoy history, you've probably not heard of Arthur Vandenberg. Vandenberg was a leading Republican U.S. senator and a leading isolationist before World War II. But the war opened his eyes to the perils of remaining isolated and after the war, he helped Truman shepherd key legislation through a sometimes resistant Congress. Without his help, the United Nations, the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, and NATO would have had a much tougher time and all might not have made it through Congress intact. This tells the story of their cooperation in the years immediately after the war. Imagine that! Two politicians from opposing parties actually working together for the good of the nation. Fantasy? No. History!

57. by S.C. Gwynne
Finish date: August 20, 2018
Genre: Native American History
Rating: B
Review: I have many quibbles with this book, yet I can't deny that it is a tale that holds your attention. It is also refreshing in some ways because so much has been written about the northern plains Indians but very little about the tribes farther south. The title implies that the Comanche rose with the ascent of Quanah Parker as chief. Very misleading. Quanah is actually most associated with the decline of the Comanche. Gwynne indulges in some stereotypes on both sides of the Indian-white battles and that can get tiring. But the core of the story - Cynthia Ann Parker, taken as a child in a Comanche raid, raised by the Comanche and marrying into a chief's family - it is all fascinating. We also get a look at the origins of the Texas Rangers - not quite the noble lawmen that the Lone Ranger stereotypes would like us to believe. The book covers a lot of ground in Texas history.

58. by Claire North
Finish date: August 23, 2018
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: A-
Review: Imagine if your job title is "Harbinger of Death." That's Charlie. As he says in his standard patter when keeping an appointment, sometimes he is a warning, sometimes a courtesy - but he never really knows which. The book follows Charlie on his rounds as he crisscrosses the globe, and is sometimes philosophical, sometimes blunt, but always warm. And as we follow Charlie, we catch brief glimpses of the other three horsemen (or women) of the apocalypse and their harbingers. Not a lot of plot, but a lot to think about.

59. by David Farber (no photo)
Finish date: August 28, 2018
Genre: American History
Rating: A-
Review: David Farber gives us an excellent overview of the culture of the 1960s, He doesn't get bogged down in too many specifics but gives an excellent look at the major movements of the 60s: anti-communism, civil rights, the Vietnam War and the anti-war movement, the war on poverty, the women's movement - a pretty complete big picture. The fact that it is a very readable account certainly helps.

60. by Elizabeth Strout
Finish date: August 30, 2018
Genre: Fiction
Rating: A
Review: Olive Kitteridge, a math teacher and resident in Crosby, Maine, is the focal point of this collection of stories reminiscent of "Winesburg, Ohio" for modern times. She isn't always at the very center of the story, but she definitely brings a lot of life to the ones in which she is featured. Mostly these are tales of everyday people getting by and making life work for themselves. Most of the time, anyway.

SEPTEMBER

61. by Kai Bird
Finish date: September 10, 2018
Genre: American History, Biography
Rating: A+
Review: J. Robert Oppenheimer, based on his early years as outli9ned in this thoroughly researched biography, did not seem the most likely choice to lead a group of theoretical and experimental physicists in the Manhattan Project's development of the first atomic bomb, but it turned out that he may have been the perfect choice. This book follows his well-to-do upbringing, early signs of scientific genius, the war years in Los Alamos, and his painful security clearance hearings in 1954. It also brings to vivid life the panic and fear of communism in the 1950s and the lives it ruined. A great book.

62. by Paul S. Boyer
Finish date: September 16, 2018
Genre: American History
Rating: A-
Review: Paul Boyer focuses his attention on the reaction of Americans to the atomic bombs in the five years after the first two were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1945-1950). It may be surprising to know that even at that early date, there were many who felt it was wrong to use this new weapon. It was also interesting to note that, even though the United States had a monopoly on the bomb during this period, a common reaction among the public was already fear - thinking that if we would drop this bomb on others, others would not hesitate to use it on us. In fact, many writers and letters to the editor cast the U.S. as almost the victim in this situation. It was also amusing to see almost every professional group, from philosophers to scientists to attorneys giving advice on how to live in this new nuclear age. All in all, a very interesting look at a very short slice of time.

63. by E.L. Doctorow
Finish date: September 19, 2018
Genre: Fiction
Rating: B+
Review: In The Book of Daniel, Doctorow tells a doctored fictional account of the American couple executed for spying for the Soviet Union in 1953, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. In this novel, the couple's last name is Isaacson, and the story is told from the perspective their son Daniel. But the perspective is tricky. Doctorow shifts from third person to first person or vice versa - sometimes within the same paragraph. It takes some time to get used to it and I'm still not sure it was worth it. But what do I know? I'm not an award-winning author. The story was difficult enough as it was for me, though. Daniel and his sister, who has attempted suicide more than once, are still having trouble coming to grips with their parents' trial and execution, even in young adulthood. One thing the book does is bring the insanity of the McCarthy years vividly to life.

64. by John Grant Fuller Jr. (no photo)
Finish date: September 23, 2018
Genre: History
Rating: B
Review: In October 1966, a nuclear breeder reactor 30 miles north of Toledo and 30 miles south of Detroit experienced a failure in its cooling system that endangered millions in the two metropolitan areas. It received almost no coverage in local media. Nine years later, Fuller wrote this book examining in detail what went wrong, what engineers knew at the time, and paints a pretty scary picture of what might have been. Many accused Fuller of scaremongering. After all, no radiation was leaked and the world is safe. But the fact is that this type of reactor, a particularly dangerous type, was no longer used after this incident because of safety fears. And it is also true that the accident occurred when the reactor was still in testing mode, operating at a small fraction of its full power. Had the plant made it through the testing phase safely and then experienced the cooling problem at full power, the story would likely be very different. Among the most interesting elements of the story is the period of the 1950s when the Atomic Energy Commission, the federal agency assigned to monitor nuclear power and weapons, seemed to be an employee of the nuclear power industry. they were in such a rush to make people stop thinking about bombs and start thinking of the wonderful benefits of nuclear power that they seemed willing to let almost anything pass inspection.

OCTOBER

65. by Tom Holland
Finish date: October 1, 2018
Genre: Ancient History
Rating: B+
Review: Persian Fire tells the story of the wars in the 5th century BC between the Greek city-states and the Persian empire. What sets this book apart is that most popular histories focus on the Greek side while this one is more even-handed, giving us more background into Persian history than is common. Holland's main thesis, as implied in his subtitle, is that this was truly the battle for how the Western world would develop. Had the Persians won and continued to expand their empire, what would today's world look like? No Roman empire? No Christianity or Islam? When would the principles of democracy have developed? And what about all of that Greek philosophy at the heart of so much of western philosophy? Who knows? This is definitely one of the big "what ifs" of history.

66. by Laura Elizabeth Hein (no photo)
Finish date: October 5, 2018
Genre: History
Rating: B
Review: In this book, the editors have compiled essays from both American and Japanese writers reflecting on the cultural impact of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. From Americans, we hear everything from celebratory notes to feelings of regret that ours is the only nation to ever have used atomic bombs on people. From Japan, we hear everything from the expected sorrow over the pain and losses to the occasionally expressed unapologetic feeling that Japan had a right to go to war and should not be blamed for the eventual outcome. Quite the range of viewpoints and emotions.

67. by Pat Frank
Finish date: October 9, 2018
Genre: Fiction
Rating: A
Review: This is a work of fiction that could only plausibly be written in a narrow window of time - the late 1950s when the United States still believed that there was a missile gap between it and the USSR. It tells the story of the aftermath of nuclear war in a small Florida town that is fortunate to escape the worst of not only the bombs themselves, but the radioactive fallout that followed. It is probably the most optimistic of fiction revolving around the atomic bomb, relatively speaking. Bad things happen, people do die, but with good leadership and a bit of meteorological and geological luck, a number of main characters grow as a result of the disaster and find their place in this new world. It really is well written and is worth the read.

68. by Tim O'Brien
Finish date: October 12, 2018
Genre: Fiction
Rating: B-
Review: In this novel of the nuclear age, there is no nuclear wa5r, just great fear of it by the protagonist. GREAT fear. From building a shelter as a young child to apparently digging his own bomb shelter as a married adult, we are constantly involved in his phobia. His protest of nuclear war in college leads to greater protests against the war in Vietnam and even to a brief stint in a radical terrorist organization. There are surprise turns mixed in with predictability before you finish.

69. by Stephen E. Kercher (no photo)
Finish date: October 18, 2018
Genre: History
Rating: A-
Review: This book, being on the scholarly side of history rather than the popular side, took me a little time to get into. But within a couple of chapters, it picked up, or I adjusted. This is a look at political satire during the first twenty years of the Cold War, approximately 1945 to 1965. Kercher covers all forms: editorial cartoons, radio, television, music, comedians and groups like Second Space (did you know that they have been around since 1959?). Of course, not all the stories have a happy ending. the anti-communist witch hunts of the House, Senate and the FBI saw to that. But it is a really interesting look at humor during a time when many felt there wasn't a lot to laugh at.

70. by Robert F. Kennedy
Finish date: October 20, 2018
Genre: History
Rating: A-
Review: You may have seen the movie version of the Cuban Missile Crisis, but did you know that it was based on a memoir by Robert F. Kennedy of those days when the world came the closest it ever has to nuclear holocaust? That is not hyperbole. We came close! Had we listened to Air Force General Curtis LeMay, I'd probably be writing with pencil and paper rather than an amazing thing like a computer because we would still be crawling out of the dirt. The memoir is truly a behind-the-scenes look at the discussions and deliberations of that period when the Soviet Union placed missiles in Cuba and the U.S. said "Remove them." Khrushchev did, and within a year or so, he too was removed from power. Robert Kennedy wrote this memoir three years or so after the events, but didn't have time to edit them before he was assassinated.

71. by Jonathan Schell (no photo)
Finish date: October 25, 2018
Genre: History
Rating: B
Review: Written in the 1980s, this book is divided into two parts. The first is a through scientific examination of what the results would be from the (at the time) current state of megatonnage in nuclear bombs stocked by the US and the USSR. The second part gets into a whole lot of philosophical stuff that was a bit more difficult for me to wade through. The first part was chilling enough. Schell makes the excellent point (among many others) that our entire experience of atomic bombs are the two dropped on Japan in 1945. They were miniscule by today's standards. So should all of our nuclear fury be released now, there would be no survival. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were devastating and somewhere near 200,000 people died. Between the immediate destruction and the lingering effects of higher megatonnage today, Schell makes you truly wonder whether anyone would survive. Even the cockroaches would be hard pressed.

72. by Simon Winchester
Finish date: October 27, 2018
Genre: History
Rating: B
Review: This is one of those books that makes me crazy. Really - a split personality. And it isn't just affinity for the madman of the title. The reader in me loves a book that can take what might for many be a very dry event - the creation of the multi-volume Oxford English Dictionary - and turn it into a very entertaining read. At the same time, the historian in me objects to the lack of sourcing and the liberties taken - especially early in the book - to increase drama. The reader won, overall. I enjoyed the book.

73. by Herbert Block (no photo)
Finish date: October 30, 2018
Genre: Politics
Rating: A
Review: I've known art directors and artists who freely admit they are lost when it comes to words. Not so for Herbert Block, editorial cartoonist for the Washington Post whose career ran from the Great depression to the dawn of the 21st century (not all at the Post, but most of it). His opinions are expressed as strongly in the commentary that accompanies his cartoons as in the artwork itself. And he was not a big fan of Richard Nixon and others who stoked the Red Scare of the 1950s. This collection of cartoons is mainly from the mid- to late-'50s.

NOVEMBER

74. by Herbert Block (no photo)
Finish date: November 3, 2018
Genre: Politics, Biography
Rating: A-
Review: This memoir by syndicated political cartoonist Herbert Block is a well-written review of his life and work - which is to say, a review of politics from the Depression era to the turn of the 21st century. He had a long and successful career, drawing until shortly before his death. The wit in the memoirs is generally more amiable than the sharp stings of his cartoons, but it is still an interesting tale. He slips into some celebrity stories that are not related to his work, but what the heck. It's his life. Let him tell what he considers the highlights.

75. by David King Dunaway
Finish date: November 8, 2018
Genre: Music, History
Rating: A-
Review: What a great collection of reminiscing and illumination of the folk music revivals by key movers and shakers - performers as well as those behind the scenes - of the 1930s, 1950s, and into the early 21st century. The authors conducted interviews with key players and condensed some of them for this book around themes like early collectors, the Greenwich Village scene, the Red Scare, and even folk-rock. It is fascinating to hear, not only from Pete Seeger in his own words, but from his father, musicologist Charles Seeger (Like father, like son - Like Pete, Charles had his own problems with the federal government). It is great fun to just pick it up and read a few quotes from these interviews.

76. by Stephen J. Whitfield (no photo)
Finish date: November 11, 2018
Genre: History
Rating: B+
Review: The title of this book is a bit misleading. The Cold War ended around 1989-90, but Whitfield takes us up to around 1965 in this book. It is an interesting look at the culture of the early war, including books, movies and music. Without footnotes, I question some of his assertions, but he does make some good points. His personal leanings are a little too evident, especially early in the book.

77. (no image) Great Day Coming by R. Serge Denisoff (no photo)
Finish date: November 14, 2018
Genre: Music, History
Rating: C
Review: In this look at the folk music of the 1950s and 1960s, Denisoff tries really, really hard to convince us that all of the major players in the protest song movement were communist, even linking some of them directly to the Soviet Union. Sorry. I'm sure that some did join the Communist Party in the '30s, especially when the Spanish Civil War pitted Socialists against fascists, and the only nation that helped to fight the fascists was the Soviet Union. The folksingers and songwriters were certainly all left of center, and I gu3ess that is enough for some to label you a communist - especially when you sang in favor of - gasp - peace. He just takes it too far in this book.

78. by Tsuyoshi Hasegawa (no photo)
Finish date: November 21, 2018
Genre: WWII History
Rating: A+
Review: This is a phenomenally well-researched book by the only historian to tackle the subject of the end of WWII who could read the three key languages, English, Russian, and Japanese. The result of his digging through the three nations' archives and the fact that he was writing in 2005 after many more documents of the era were declassified make for a more complete view of all the negotiations, plotting, and fighting that brought about the end of the war. And it is not revisionism to say that the atomic bomb played a much smaller role than Americans were led to believe from the beginning. It is simply that more information is now available. This is a fascinating, occasionally complicated examination of history that we thought we all knew.

79. by Lawrence S. Wittner
Finish date: November 26, 2018
Genre: History
Rating: B-
Review: If you are r3esearching the anti-nuclear weapons movements from 1945 to the early 21st century, you probably won't find a better source. For casual reading, though, it is dry. Decade by decade, nation by nation, we see how protests against the bomb waxed and waned. Wittner's conclusions, though, are hard to dismiss. Grassroots movements by hundreds of thousands of people DID make a difference. Even Ronald Reagan, who entered the White House talking quite casually about using the bomb, realized that kind of talk would not get him reelected and he not only toned down his rhetoric but actually cooperated to some extent with the Soviet Union to reduce both testing and the number of nukes each country had. The movement is currently (late 2018) at a low point, but it appears that we need to rev it up again.

80. by Gerald C. Gardner (no photo)
Finish date: November 27, 2018
Genre: History, Humor
Rating: B
Review: No, this has nothing to do with the current (2018) or even a recent administration. This is a survey of campaign humor from Eisenhower (1952) to Reagan (1984). The author inexplicably decided to tell this story in reverse chronological order, making for some awkward segments where he mentions prior presidents but hasn't told us their story yet. It is an amusing but superficial look at presidential humor.

DECEMBER

81. by Marc Peyser (no photo)
Finish date: December 3, 2018
Genre: History
Rating: A
Review: I don't give five stars very often, and here I am with two books very close together that seem to me to be worthy. A good month of reading, I guess. In this case, I was pleasantly surprised because so much has been written about the Roosevelts that it must be difficult to come up with anything new. The authors of this book managed to do just that in this dual biography of two Roosevelt women - Alice and Eleanor - cousins born months apart who had an impact throughout the 20th century. Eleanor's impact was more obvious and had repercussions worldwide, especially during her work with the United Nations. But Alice, who married a prominent congressman did much behind the scenes in Republican politics to influence policy in the party. One of the things I appreciated in this book was the fact that the authors did not hesitate to point out stories that are more myth than fact, whether the subject was Eleanor, Alice, Teddy or Franklin. A well-balanced tale.

82. by Harry HarrisonFinish date: December 6, 2018
Genre: Alternate History
Rating: B-
Review: Harry Harrison turns his skills to one of the classic alternate history venues, the American Civil War. Well, most of his skills, anyway. this is not his best effort, but I really enjoyed it anyway. Rather than one of the standard tropes of the South winning the war, he throws in a twist that really stretches believability but takes things in a very different direction from other authors and makes for an enjoyable time. And we get a hint of the application of the political and economic theories of John Stuart Mill by the man himself. Yes, the main characters are hopelessly idealized rather than human with real faults. Yes, the villains are too villainous and often can't seem to shoot straight (sometimes literally). It's still fun and I'll be back for the remaining two books in the series.

Wow Dave, you’ve been reading up a storm! Great reviews on here prompting some additions to the TBR. Well done, sir!

Alisa wrote: "Wow Dave, you’ve been reading up a storm! Great reviews on here prompting some additions to the TBR. Well done, sir!"

Thanks. I was taking classes (one of them on nuclear culture, if that isn't obvious from so many of the books) and the semester has ended so I finally have time to post them.

83. by Robert Silverberg
Finish date: December 11, 2018
Genre: Alternate History
Rating: A
Review: I guess this is my month for alternate history. In this book, Silverberg delivers a collection of related stories that tell of an alternate world in which the Roman Empire, rather than falling to "barbarians," continues to rise and rise and rise right through to the Space Age. In doing so, he weaves in actual events from our history - such as the Reign of Terror and the space shuttle Challenger disaster - and spins them into an account of how the same events might have played out in a Roman world. It is a very well thought out work.

84. by Viktor E. Frankl
Finish date: December 15, 2018
Genre: Memoir, Psychiatry
Rating: B
Review: Written in 1946 very shortly after his release from a Nazi concentration camp, the first part of psychiatrist Viktor Frankl's book is stunning. In this memoir of his experiences, you are taken first of all by the cruelty and horrid conditions, and then by his capability for forgiveness. Incredible! The second part of the book, written later, is an outline of his theory of logotherapy, which bogs down even as it helps explain his own way of dealing with the pain and tragedy of his concentration camp existence.

85. by Terry Pratchett
Finish date: December 23, 2018
Genre: Fantasy, Fiction, Satire
Rating: A
Review: What happens when a city cop is pressed into service as a diplomat? In the hands of Terry Pratchett, a wonderfully amusing tale that includes mystery, spy craft, cultural references that satirize everything from death to Captain Queeg of "The Caine Mutiny." Trust me. It works.

Dave, what wonderful progress and a variety of interesting books.

One housekeeping item in Post #96. Please remove the second Review, Finish date, Genre and Rating, all pertaining to the book by Viktor E. Frankyl.

Thank you,
Lorna, Assisting Moderator (T) - Civil Rights and Supreme Court

Hello Dave - I noticed the same issues in message 96 - when you get a chance just take a peak at the comments made by Lorna in message 97 and do a quick edit.

I am setting up your 2019 thread next and I will provide a link to the archived 2018 thread. This thread is being archived but your 2019 thread will provide a link to the archived location of your 2018 one if you want to add any other books you completed in 2018 and/or do the above edit.

Your set up is next.