Ideas, Opinions, Genealogy, and Book Reviews
Is there a God? What is God?
Do you believe in God? Which God? If you think there is a God what is this god like. What can god do? What has God done?
Continue reading “Outgrowing God: A Beginner’s Guide by Richard Dawkins”
I was going on vacation and was thinking I’d take a book along for those inevitable down-times when there is nothing much to do. Typically I end up watching a TV and not making much progress in the book. This time was different.
Continue reading “The Rosie Project: A Novel by Graeme Simsion”
I was just browsing Netgalley looking for something that would be an interesting read when the title The Atheist caught my eye. So I looked a bit further and the description seemed interesting:
“Jillian Campbell doesn’t believe in God. When local pastor Jim Preston claims to be an agent of God called a Deiform, and declares that Jillian is one too, she dismisses him as a kook. Two days later, Preston is dead, and Jillian stands accused of his murder.”
Continue reading “The Atheist: The Deiform Fellowship One by Sarah Ettritch”
OK, it is not the whole title. The title is – Without Their Permission: How the 21st Century Will Be Made, Not Managed – a bit too long for a reasonable headline.
Much to my surprise, I liked this book quite a bit. But I’m getting ahead of the story so let me begin where this book ended up on my Kindle. Continue reading “Without Their Permission by Alexis Ohanian”
I read Fighting for the Press: The Inside Story of the Pentagon Papers and Other Battles by James Goodale for several reasons. First there was a radio interview with the author on Radio Times and I listened to the podcast. It I found it very interesting and wanted to buy the book as soon as I could.
Second, I was in college at the time of the Pentagon Papers battles and it was interesting to re-visit this history and learn more about it. And third, this battle over the publication of the Pentagon Papers by the New York Times and other papers during the Vietnam War is very relevant to the freedom of the press disputes today.
James Goodale was the New York Times general counsel at a time when the Pentagon Papers were leaked to the NY Times. The Pentagon Papers was classified Top Secret, although that classification now seems excessive. After internal discussions at the Times, the paper battled Richard Nixon’s Department of Justice for the right to publish and won.
Why was this so important? The Pentagon Papers were a history of our involvement in Vietnam prepared for the government and classified ‘Top Secret’. Thousands of young men were being killed in the Vietnam War and the country was being torn apart with political protests, bombings, etc.
The Pentagon Papers showed that the case the government made for going to war was a pack of lies. These papers were leaked (stolen secrets) and the New York Times wanted to publish and, of course, the Nixon administration wanted to keep the secrets away from the public. It was a great story and is told well in this book.
So this is an insider’s story of what may have been the most important case on First Amendment and freedom of the press. I was expecting the book to be dry and legalistic in parts or even much of the story. I was surprised and pleased and it was not. Although this is a true story, it reads more like a legal thriller and kept me reading.
Most of the book discusses The Pentagon Papers case and other cases related to Richard Nixon’s war on the free press. The last few chapters move us into the present. And there is an extensive set of references. The G.W. Bush and Obama administrations have not been good for ‘freedom of the press‘ issues.
So who would I recommend read this? First, there are journalists and lawyers. Although I must repeat again the book is not at all bogged down by any technical aspects of the law or journalism that would detract from the experience of the general reader. Then anyone with an interest in the time period or freedom of the press issues. I find this last particularly important today since the balance of security, surveillance, privacy, and press freedom is so essential to our society,
Looking at the Amazon page, there are both Kindle and Paperback Editions and the Kindle version is much less than the paperback. I went with the Kindle edition since it was much cheaper and delivery was almost immediate.
A simple question and a complicated answer. Most of us think we have a clear sense of right and wrong but how do we think about these things>
About 50 years ago Continue reading “The Trolley Problem, or Would You Throw the Fat Guy Off the Bridge? by Thomas Cathcart”
The Penguin Pool Murder by Stuart Palmer is an oldie but goodie. This book was made into a movie in 1932 so it has obviously been around for a few years. And I would guess that there have been many reprints.
This incarnation is digital. I have placed a link to and picture of the Kindle edition to the left but if you look around you can probably find other formats. Maybe even an older edition in physical book form. Or if you follow my Amazon link to the Kindle edition, you can find a DVD of the movie.
The story itself was entertaining and an easy read. I’ve not seen the movie.
It opens in a New York aquarium (near the penguin pool , of course) with a small mystery of a purse snatcher and a teacher taking her class of third graders on an outing. And there is a hunt for the teacher’s missing hat pin. The first few pages did not seem very promising to me.
But a murder is quickly discovered. The teacher, Miss Hildegarde Withers, gets involved in the murder investigation. And the story gets interesting. So don’t give up too quickly.
Enjoy the story. It moves quickly. The case quickly becomes more complicated as the third grade teacher and the detective find many people with motive to kill the victim and many suspicious actions.
I was surprised at least twice near the end. You may be too but in any case you’ll have an enjoyable read along the way.
We have so much information available but we need to learn how to use it wisely. Herbert E. Meyer takes you through the steps that are needed to turn the raw information into useful knowledge in his e-book – How to Analyze Information: A Step-by-Step Guide to Life’s Most Vital Skill.
This is more of an extended essay than a book. Amazon estimates it as 21 pages on the Kindle. My e-reader estimates it as 19 pages. For sure, it is not very long but it covers an import issue and does it well.
My picture of the book is a link for the Kindle edition. The book is also available as an e-book in iBook, Nook format and presumably other formats as well. As far as I can tell it is an e-book only. The ones I have seen are fairly inexpensive. ($1.99 seems to be the usual price.)
Herbert E. Meyer has an impressive resume as a thinker, analyzer of data, writer, and speaker. You may wish to look at the page of his publisher Storm King Press to see a summary of his accomplishments.
I found it an easy to read guide to this intellectual process – concise and well-written with wonderful examples to illustrate each step in the process to going from information to knowledge to using that knowledge.
A first novel by an established non-fiction writer, Black Irish by Stephan Talty is certainly a worthy entry into the crime-novel genre. This book is a first-rate thriller and promises to be a great introduction into a new series about Detective Absalom Kearney
As those who have seen my website know, I have been very interested in Irish genealogy and Irish history for several years. So the placement of this story into an Irish-American community added an extra interest for me.
The book grabs your interest right-off with a gruesome murder. Then you are introduced to Detective Absalom Kearney who is working a missing persons case of a utility worker from “The County” an Irish enclave in Buffalo.
The detective grew-up in the County but still is viewed as an outsider as her County tie is the result of being adopted by a now retired cop from the County. Absalom or Abbie left Buffalo after graduating from Harvard but returned to care for her father.
To make a long story short and grant you the pleasure of being able to read without any spoilers from me, let me just say the Detective Abbie Kearney becomes involved in the investigation of the murder and realizes before anyone else that she has a serial killer to deal with. But there is much too learn about who the killer is and why he is targeting residents of the County
I’ll not say much more (no spoilers, remember). But the clannishness of the Irish enclave and Irish history play large roles. The book is well written and it is a great story with many twists and turns. Just as Abbie has it figured out and it all makes sense, something else happens and you learn that you and she are both wrong. I liked this book very much and give it my highest recommendation.
Apparently other reviewers feel the same way. A few reviews that I’ve found:
Reviews
Why did I decide to read The White Cottage Mystery by Margery Allingham ?
I’ve been searching for information on the Allinghams and the name Margery Allingham frequently pops up. I had read she was a good mystery writer and I was a bit curious. Lately, I’ve been gravitating toward mysteries.
Why search for Allinghams? I do some genealogy and my great great grandmother was an Allingham.
So I thought that one of these days when I was at the library, I’d look up one of her books. I usually have a bunch of books waiting for me so that day was probably pretty far off. I often review current books and many of these are Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs). I get them as e-books from Netgalley.
Then about a month ago, I was browsing Netgalley to see if anything of interest was available. And to my surprise I ran across The White Cottage Mystery by Margery Allingham. It had been republished as an e-book by Bloomsbury about a year ago. The publicist at Bloomsbury was kind enough to approve me anyway. So my thanks to both Netgalley and that publicist.
So since this is supposed to be a book review and you’ve put up with my ramblings for so long, I should tell you right off that I liked the book. From what I’ve read, it seems this was her first mystery and at the time (1920s) it was published as a newspaper serial and much later edited into a short book.
But my thought was that if I was going to read Margery Allingham, I might as well begin at the beginning. It is a good mystery. It very quickly gets down to a murder and a suspect. But then there are too many suspects, each with a good reason to kill the victim, but none apparently did. I completely enjoyed this one and plan read more of her work.
Rise to Greatness: Abraham Lincoln and America’s Most Perilous Year by David Von Drehle was on my Christmas list for 2012. I did get it and I’m reading it now and thought this might be a good time to talk about the book. But let me tell you first why it was on my list.
I have long been an admirer of David Von Drehle’s writing. I had read Triangle: The Fire That Changed America
Skip ahead to last year and I subscribed to Time magazine. I started noticing articles by David Von Drehle. The name was familiar. So I checked and it was the Triangle author. Then late last year, an issue came out with a few big stories on the new Lincoln movie. And there was a mention of his book. So I added that to my list.
So enough background. What do I think of the book? The short version is “I like it!” But since this a book review, I really should go into a bit more detail.
As suggested by the title Rise to Greatness: Abraham Lincoln and America’s Most Perilous Year this does focus on one year. And that year is 1862. Since it is a calender year story, it makes sense to tell it chronologically and that is what Von Drehle with 12 monthly chapters. But before the monthly chapters comes a prologue to set the stage. And a chapter on New Years Day to flesh out the prologue, introduce some key characters, and get us into the chronological part.
It is clear that the United States is in big trouble. Many states have seceded. The federal government is broke. The was costs are several times the previous federal budgets. Even among the states who stay in the Union, there is widespread disagreement on several issues but most especially slavery. The rebels are doing well militarily. And the future of the United States is in doubt. Then there are international issues. It is really unclear if the country lawyer can handle all of this.
But during 1862 Lincoln becomes the leader we need. I’m over half way though the book now. I just finished June. I can’t comment on the end because I’m not there yet. But so far the author is doing a great job at describing the progress of the war and the political pressure on the new president.
My one quibble is maps. There are some and they really help in following military campaigns. But I am a big map fan and wish there were more maps.
So here are a few reviews I found:
Overall, I’d say this was a very good book. All the reviews I’ve seen seem to agree on that. And there are another 50 or so reviews on Amazon if you just click on the image of the book above.
It does focus on one critical year in Lincoln’s presidency so it is not a full biography or a full telling of the civil war. But it is a wonderful book about a very critical year. I highly recommend it.
Brooklyn Bones begins with an incident any parent can relate to. A teenage daughter calls about something terrible and, of course, it is all your fault. The terrible thing gets your attention and then the story slows down a little but definitely keeps your attention as the main characters are fleshed-out.
Then the action speeds up and never stops until the end. The book is Brooklyn Bones and the author is Triss Stein. This book is the first in a series featuring Erica Donato. Continue reading “Brooklyn Bones by Triss Stein”
A Little History of Science by William Bynum is hard book to review. But that is mostly because it is exactly what the title promises.
Science is a very big area. It would be impossible to cover it all in a very large set of books and certainly very hard to summarize in a large book but William Bynum attempts it in small book (about 270 pages). And succeeds!
I found myself fascinated by some parts and merely interested in others. But I think this is to be expected as the subject matter varies so greatly.
So I guess the reader is doomed to find parts that are of great interest which a reader would wish were covered in more detail. But that is the nature of short histories. This work gives us an overview of many areas of science. And if the reader is interested in any or several, he or she can explore those in more detail in other books.
I liked the book but am a bit unsure about a target audience. I am a retired scientist (human genetics) so I was already familiar with large parts of what was covered but this book did fill in some significant gaps. So I would say it is suitable for the adult reader who wants a quick view of areas of science they are not familiar with. This would range from someone with science knowledge (since there are not many who know it all) to someone who knows nothing of science but is curious. I think it would also be suitable for a teen interested in a quick overview of science.
Today I found a comment on my review of Harmattan by Gavin Weston with a notation that the commenter had reviewed this book on her blog and liked it as well. So since it had been a while since I reviewed the book and there were few other reviews then, I thought I would give an update with a list of reviews. By the way, I liked the book very much and thought the message very important.
First, for the latest information on the book, you might want to visit the author’s website, http://www.gavinwestonbooks.com/. On another site is also a guest blog by Gavin Weston about why he wrote this book.
I looked at Amazon and saw the Kindle edition is out (and only $5.99 when I looked) but the paperback won’t be released in the US until June, 2013. It is already out in the UK. So your options in the US appear to be buy the Kindle version or pre-order the paperback (or just wait). Or I guess you could buy from a non-US store and have it shipped.
That link is to the Kindle edition but you can easy move to the print edition if that is your preference.
So here are a few reviews I found:
All the reviews I’ve seen are favorable. I would say almost all reviewers think this is a very good book and/or highly recommend it. So at least now I know it is just not me. I hope Mr. Weston continues to write.
Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by Jon Meacham is a wonderful book. I had done some reading about Jefferson before but never a full-length biography. I had heard this was the best so I was eager to tackle it and I’m glad I did.
In my previous readings, I had always felt Jefferson was a very gifted man and with that rare ability to hold 2 contradictory beliefs in his mind without being a hypocrite. For example, he was firmly against the idea of political parties, yet the most partisan of politicians.
The list of these internal contradictions is massive. But Jon Meacham spends a good bit of time on the early Jefferson and his love of control and dislike of conflict. This was paired with a strong set of beliefs about what was right or ideals (Jefferson, the Philosopher) with a realization of what was possible and how to get there (Jefferson, the Politician). And the latter is the art of power as in the subtitle.
This is a large (but still 1 volume) biography. I have seen blurbs calling it the best but I’ll have to leave that judgement of others who are more qualified. I’ll just say that I enjoyed it and feel that I understand Jefferson much better than before.
Here are some other reviews:
