So, Jo is watching a replay of GB vs Italy in mixed doubles curling so since we do know the result, I'm doing a Feb reading update.
Books Completed (since last update)
"I previously read On Freedom by American historian Timothy Snyder and found it a thought - provoking work. I had been toying with the idea of getting his other book and when I saw a graphic edition, I purchased On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century - Graphic Edition, it looked so well put together that I bought it. The illustrations within are by Nora Krug and the edition of her artwork and the photos that she included in this edition make even more powerful.
On Tyranny is quite short and has chapters such as; Do not obey in advance; defend institutions, beware the one-party state, etc. In each he looks back at the history of fascism, tyranny, providing examples that relate to what was happening in the early campaigning and presidency of Donald Trump (having said that, he never mentions Donald Trump by name, but you can often read between the lines...
"What was novel in 2016 was a candidate who ordered a private security detail to clear opponents from rallies and encouraged the audience itself to remove people who expressed different opinions. A protestor would first be greeted with boos, then with frenetic cries of "USA" and then be forced to leave the rally. At one campaign rally, the candidate said, "there's a remnant left over. Get the remnant out." This was in the chapter entitled, be wary of paramilitaries.
It's not new information. Since 2016, we've been hearing similar ideas and warnings almost on a daily basis, but to have it all laid out before you, succinctly and with historical references to back up his points, makes it so clear and terrifying.
The chapter I found particularly powerful was, Be patriotic. He starts off with what patriotism is not.
"It is not patriotic to dodge the draft and to mock war heroes and their families. It is not patriotic to discriminate against active-duty members of the armed forces in one's companies, or to campaign to keep disabled veterans away from one's property. It is not patriotic to compare one's search for sexual partners in New York with the military service in Vietnam that one has dodged....."
That chapter ends "A nationalist will say that 'it can't happen here,' which is the first step toward disaster. A patriot says that it could happen here, but that we will stop it.' (at this point, I thought of the wonderful patriots in Minneapolis and everywhere else in the US who are fighting back)
The last chapter is short and clear.
"Be as courageous as you can. If none of us is prepared to die for freedom, then all of us will die under tyranny."
Please read this book. (4.5 stars)"
"The Warsaw Document is the 4th book in the Cold War Spy series, Quiller, by English author, Adam Hall. I've read a few of this series and I will readily admit that I find them a difficult read, but at the same time, as I get going, they do grab your attention.
Quiller is a code name for the executive, as they call him, who is assigned various missions for a secretive British spy organization that works outside the purviews of MI-6. In this case, his manager for this story is Egerton who calls Quiller down from a training program in Norfolk (where he is honing his close fighting techniques) to undertake a mission in Warsaw. In the next few days, reps from Russia and the West will be meeting to discuss the status of Poland.
Egerton wants Quiller to keep an eye on a new agent, one Merrick, who will be going to work as a junior rep at the British embassy but will in fact be spying for Egerton, linking with Polish protestors / activists working as a group Cyn, who plan to disrupt the talks with bombings. Merrick is very inexperienced and Egerton wants Quiller to keep him in rein and to keep him safe. Quiller will work under another name and link up with Merrick and the agitators and report back to Egerton.
That's as simple as I can describe it. It's quite an involved story, deep with spy craft, involving the Poles, double agents, a British traitor who now works for the Russians. I find myself getting lost in the story at times.. is it the present, just Quiller's thoughts and ruminations? It gets somewhat obtuse (if that's the correct word) that I would find myself wandering off, wondering if I should keep reading it. But the story is ultimately quite fascinating. There is well-described car chases, action sequences and the intricacy of how the Russians and Polish police monitor and follow Quiller are also quite interesting.
In the end, I found myself getting into the story very much and enjoying the conclusion. Quiller is a bit of a counterpoint to Bond, definitely a cerebral, if somewhat cynical, character. I have all of the books, so will continue to work through them. (3.0 stars)"
"I've been enjoying so very much exploring the works of American author, Ursula K. Le Guin. She is a true legend, author of Sci Fi and Fantasy stories, fiction, poetry and non fiction, even children's stories. I saw Ursula K. Le Guin: Conversations on Writing in her catalogue and thought it sounded interesting. And it was.
Sadly, as co-writer / interviewer David Naimon says in a prologue, Ursula died as they were doing their final edits for the book.
"I was in the midst of doing just that (final edits) when I learned she'd passed away.
More than a week has gone by and I still haven't been able to do my part. I read tributes to her by the greats - Gaiman, Atwood, Walton - finding myself without words...."
But thankfully Mr. Naimon managed to put the book together and get it published. It provides a fascinating look at Ursula's writing style, breaking it down into three sections, On Fiction, On Poetry and On Nonfiction.
It's an interesting book. Le Guin discusses the importance of grammar, the proper use of words. She compares the differences between the various styles of writing, the rhythm of the use of words. In poetry, which I found particularly interesting, she says that style of poetry that influences her work, e.g. the use of the quatrain especially. The style of the poem greatly influenced her individual poetry.
"The Small Indian Pestle at the Applegate House
Dense, heavy, fine-grained, dark basalt
worn river-smooth all round, a cylinder
with blunt round ends, a tool:....."
The examples used portray a lovely picture of the title Pestle... a poem about a pestle, imagine that.
She talks about her influences, Virginia Woolf is mentioned quite a bit, her flow of words, her rhythm... She also talks about the sexism towards woman authors, comparing Woolf to James Joyce. Woolf was so involved with writers, her own stories, doing reviews while Joyce was basically an introvert, yet she was always that 'woman' writer who wasn't too bad, whereas he was a genius. Also interesting comparisons between William Gibson and C.J. Cherryh and a particular story about Mary Foote and Wallace Stegner, a story that still made her quite angry.
For a small book, there is so much in it and if you are a writer, a budding author, it might be worth looking at. And if you just like Ursula K. Le Guin, it provides some more insight into this wonderful woman. And it gave me some ideas of more books, by her and other writers.. particularly Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral. The excerpt of one poem, both in Spanish and English, really grabbed me. Anyway, please check out this book. (4.0 stars)"
Currently Reading (started in February)
"When eight-year-old Timothy Decker finds his parents brutally murdered, it's clear the Deckers weren't the intended victims: Timothy's own room--ransacked, all traces of his existence expertly obliterated-- is the shocking evidence. Timothy's nanny, Mona, is certain about only one thing. Timmy needs to disappear, fast.
Only Jane Whitefield, a Native American "guide" who specializes in making victims vanish, can lead him to safety. But diverting Jane's attention is Mary Perkins, a desperate woman with S&L fraud in her past. Stalking Mary is a ruthless predator determined to find her and the fortune she claims she doesn't have. Jane quickly creates a new life for Mary and jumps back on Timmy's case . . . not knowing that the two are fatefully linked to one calculating killer. . . ."
When Ensign Bluemage Honor Renn is rescued from the wreckage of her first naval post, she expects death or disgrace. Instead, she wakes aboard the Touchstone, a mythic vessel whispered of in dockside ballads and royal war rooms alike. With a crew of misfits. A mysterious, elven captain. And a mission tied to the Dreadwall, the crumbling barrier that has kept the Overland and Nethersea from open war for a hundred years.
But the tragedy that sank her last ship didn’t just take lives―it left something behind.
Now Renn carries a secret everyone wants. A magik that’s chimeric, arcane...and slowly killing her. But the captain’s mission may be her only chance to survive, even if he still doesn’t trust her.
Caught between privateers, princes, and spies, Renn knows each choice could sink her future―or set the sea on fire.
Ship of Spells is perfect for readers who crave the raw grit of Arya Stark, the world-building of Samantha Shannon, and the slow-burn tension of enemies who should never trust or want each other."
When We Love You, Bunny opens, Sam has just published her first novel to critical acclaim. But at a New England stop on her book tour, her one-time frenemies, furious at the way they’ve been portrayed, kidnap her. Now a captive audience, it’s her (and our) turn to hear the Bunnies’ side of the story. One by one, they take turns holding the axe, and recount the birth throes of their unholy alliance, their discovery of their unusual creative powers—and the phantasmagoric adventure of conjuring their first creation. With a bound and gagged Sam, we embark on a wickedly intoxicating journey into the heart of dark academia: a fairy tale slasher that explores the wonder and horror of creation itself. Not to mention the transformative powers of love and friendship, Bunny."
An algorithm is more consistent and less prone to error of judgement. Yet a human can look you in the eye before passing sentence.
You need a liver transplant to save your life. Who would you want in charge of organ allocation?
An algorithm can match organ donors with patients, potentially saving many more lives. But it may send you to the back of the queue.
You’re buying a (driverless) car. One vehicle is programmed to save as many lives as possible in a collision. Another promises to prioritize the lives of its passengers. Which do you choose?
Welcome to the age of the algorithm, the story of a not-too-distant future where machines rule supreme, making important decisions – in healthcare, transport, finance, security, what we watch, where we go even who we send to prison. So how much should we rely on them? What kind of future do we want?
Hannah Fry takes us on a tour of the good, the bad and the downright ugly of the algorithms that surround us. In Hello World she lifts the lid on their inner workings, demonstrates their power, exposes their limitations, and examines whether they really are an improvement on the humans they are replacing."
On an unnamed island off an unnamed coast, objects are disappearing: first hats, then ribbons, birds, roses--until things become much more serious. Most of the island's inhabitants are oblivious to these changes, while those few imbued with the power to recall the lost objects live in fear of the draconian Memory Police, who are committed to ensuring that what has disappeared remains forgotten.
When a young woman who is struggling to maintain her career as a novelist discovers that her editor is in danger from the Memory Police, she concocts a plan to hide him beneath her floorboards. As fear and loss close in around them, they cling to her writing as the last way of preserving the past.
A surreal, provocative fable about the power of memory and the trauma of loss, The Memory Police is a stunning new work from one of the most exciting contemporary authors writing in any language."
THE DETECTIVE
Bristol detective DS George Cross might be difficult to work with – but his unfailing logic and determined pursuit of the truth means he is second to none at convicting killers.
THE CRIME
When the police dismiss a man's death as a squabble among the homeless community, Cross is not convinced; there are too many unanswered questions.
Who was the unknown man whose weather-beaten body was discovered on Clifton Downs? And was the same tragedy that resulted in his life on the streets also responsible for his death?
THE COLD CASE
As Cross delves into the dead man's past, he discovers that the answers lie in a case that has been cold for fifteen years.
Cross is the only person who can unpick the decades-old murder – after all, who better to decipher the life of a person who society has forgotten than a man who has always felt like an outsider himself?"
