Blueberries for Sal

Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey

A mother goes up the hill with her daughter to pick blueberries for winter canning. The daughter eats more berries than she gathers and eventually wanders off a bit. Meanwhile, a mother bear and her cub wander the same hill to eat berries in preparation for hibernation. The bear takes a break to sit and gorge himself. Eventually the cub starts trailing the human mother and the girl starts trailing the bear mother. The mothers eventually turn around and realize they are not being followed by their progeny. They slowly move away and then find their actual children. Both the bears and humans end up with plenty of berries and return home safely.

The book is nicely illustrated with a single color. The characters all have a degree of innocence and are willing to accept strange situations without getting stressed.

King of the Wind

King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry

The book takes place in Canada, Morocco and England. A horse has a poor pedigree (the documentation of which is later "lost") However, a boy has trust in the horse. The horse wins races and gains acclaim. It was written a few generations ago and takes place in the more distant past. People that like horses may like it, but I had trouble getting involved with the book. 

The Hour: A Cocktail Manifesto

Bernard Devoto was known for his popular American history stories. Alas, those are now out of favor. The one audiobook carried at the library was this whimsical drinking guide. This is a rare audiobook that is available at the local library, but nowhere to be found anywhere on Amazon. 

In it, he is strict on how a "cocktail hour" should take place. Certain drinks should be used. They should not be adulterated with anything sweet or even salty things like olives. Cookbooks are dangerous because they encourage women to try out bizarre combinations instead of sticking to the tried and true. It is a short work with very strong opinions. (I think it is meant to be taken seriously, but could just as easily be considered a joke.)

Walden Two

In Walden Two, B.F. Skinner outlines a modern "Utopia". A perfect society is created through social engineering. People are trained to not have "hard" feelings towards each other. They also are required to work, but have the option of choosing what they do. There is a mixture of "hard" and "soft" labor, with the manual labor required by everyone and used as a form of exercise. People have to pass a medical physical to be admitted. (Oops! That will not be allowed to pass muster today.) They also have a basic form of eugenics, with the unfit encouraged not to reproduce. (Another thing that will be regulated out.) Children would be raised by society, rather than families. Young people are encouraged to marry and have children at a very young age. However, they do not often have too many children. They are not encouraged to have bonds to their particular children. The work week is very short because people are all dedicated to efficient, productive work that they enjoy. People make use of all the latest innovations to make work more efficient - and then spend more time in personal pursuits. The society is slowly replicated in other Waldens (Walden Three, etc.) The pace of growth is deliberately slow as to not experience growing pains. It is also specifically part of the modern world.
The book uses some of the visitors to Walden Two to voice objections. Some of the visitors are just not convinced. They believe that Frazier, the "founder" has just created himself as another dictator. (The book was written shortly after World War II). They even accuse him of deifying himself - a claim that he acknowledge is somewhat grounded in truth. He does not deny religion, but sees science as a similar, great power. Tehy also object to Frazier's denial of freewill. The primary narrator, however, is convinced and decides to go live in Walden Two.
Science is seen as a savior that can eliminate all hardships. Behavioral engineering will allow people to live productive lives without experiencing harmful emotions or bad experiences. In theory, it sounds great. However, a half-century later, science is still not up to the task. With many supercomputers we can now predict the weather a week into the future with accuracy a little better than random guessing. As for behavioral sciences, scientific advances seem to help us understand how little we understand. I doubt we could engineer a few willing participants to behave in the utopian fashion. Add in the necessity of dealing with rebellious, unwilling participants and actively hostile "outsiders" and you are set for an impossible task. It makes for a nice dream, but is no where near practical.

Cheaper By the Dozen

This light read details the life of a family of 12 kids who lived in New Jersey around the time of World War I. The central character is the somewhat eccentric father, Frank Gilbreth, Sr. He was a proponent of using motion study to reduce wasted motion and increased efficiency. He would try out these methods of increased efficiency on his own family, resulting in unpredictable humorous outcomes.

The book spends a little time covering Frank Senior's early life and how he met his wife and had their first kids. However, most of the book details the misadventures of the father and the 12 young children. (Though some of these adventures clearly happened outside the time of 12 children, since he died when the youngest was still a toddler. However, knowing large families, things could have been so crazy during those years that they could fill a book.)

Aside from the family relationships, it is also an interesting account of changing culture and values in the World War I era and the "roaring twenties". Frank Sr. comes across as both very eccentric and very conservative. The book, even ending with his death, manages to stay light and cheery throughout.