The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories

The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories by Ernest Hemingway

This collection has a few of Hemingway's short stories. I had trouble keeping focus. It was mostly set in century-ago time. There is bits about hunting,travel and the War experience.

Spy School: Spy School Series, Book 1

Spy School: Spy School Series, Book 1 by Stuart Gibbs

A nerdy kid thinks he is going to a science school, but ends up in a CIA spy school. The school ends up to be more challenging than he anticipated. He stumbles his way through some "practical" tests and meets a "legacy" girl. Then a "real" incident starts to occur with people starting to attack him. The book has a light hearted balance of spy and comedy.

Wonder Drug: The Secret History of Thalidomide in America and Its Hidden Victims

Wonder Drug: The Secret History of Thalidomide in America and Its Hidden Victims by Jennifer Vanderbes

Thalidomide was once seen as a wonder drug that could help with many conditions with minimal side effects. It came from German pharmaceutical companies and was used in Europe. In the US, it was never fully approved. However, it had been used extensively in "trials". It was later determined that the drug could lead to birth defects when taken during pregnancy. This was thought to be a "European problem". Alas, the "trial" in the US had a much greater scope than anyone knew. The record-keeping was lacking and the doctors had little knowledge of the drug and had spread it to many others. Many people took it without knowing what it was. The book primarily covers the history of the drug and the politics involved with regulating the drug industry. The end drags on with quests for lawsuits and the difficulty in suing many years later. (You wonder what the point is doing this decades later. Would it really help people?) Only recently has the drug been approved by the FDA for limited use cases. The book tries to set up some heroes, but tends to focus more on the facts rather than narrative.

The Story of China: The Epic History of a World Power from the Middle Kingdom to Mao and the China Dream

The Story of China: The Epic History of a World Power from the Middle Kingdom to Mao and the China Dream by Michael Wood

Michael Wood writes a history of China from a western point of view. While the book covers the "long" history of China, the bulk of the time is spent on times where we would most likely no off or be able to see. It feels like it rockets through early history. Once Marco Polo comes to the scene it slows down a bit. Then we start to get into great detail with the opium wars. Mao comes into play in the context of the revolution. He fits well within the imperial narrative as a charismatic leader who made plenty of mistakes that could only be admitted at later times. Modern China is still waffling between canonization and condemnation of Mao. China is a modern country, but its modernity differs from that of Europe.

Half Magic

Half Magic by Edward Eager

Some kids find a magic charm that grants wish - sort of. It only grants half of what is wish for. How this half ends up outside your control. You may end up halfway there, or get half of something. The kids go oon some crazy adventures and have some bizarre things happen. They eventually realize that they can wish for double what they want to try to get it. It is short and must have been fun to write.

The Book of Difficult Fruit: Arguments for the Tart, Tender, and Unruly (with Recipes)

The Book of Difficult Fruit: Arguments for the Tart, Tender, and Unruly (with Recipes) by Kate Lebo

This book identifies a "difficult" fruit for each letter of the alphabet from A-Z. Some of the "fruits" are acknowledged as not really fruit (such as sugar cane). You have to make some compromises to get every letter. The reason for difficulty differ from fruit to fruit. Sugar requires elaborate preparation. Huckleberries have not been cultivated and must be foraged in the appropriate region. Blackberries are invasive and thorny. Pomegranates take significant effort to extract the arils. The author has lived primarily in the Pacific Northwest and those of the region are most represented. However, there are plenty from other areas (like durian aka stinky fruit.) The author includes personal experiences with the various fruits, which may be foraging, life experiences related to a recipe, or simply trying to find the fruit at an ethnic grocer.

Tetris: The Games People Play

Tetris: The Games People Play by Brian "Box" Brown 

Tetris is a simple, addictive game with an interesting history. It was started as a text-based pet project in the Soviet Union. He liked to play it on his own. He shared with others. Soon it spread and eventually made it out of the Soviet Union. The cold war was in process, and Russia was little understood by the west. However, when people saw the game, they saw the potential. There were various businessmen involved in negationations and trading rights to the game. Eventually, one guy managed to cold-call the Russians and get the rights to the game. Nintendo was able to use those to distribute the game on the Gameboy further contributing to its popularity. Initially, the creator made no money from the game. However, he was later able to immigrate to the United States and share in the proceeds. This book tells the story of Tetris (and Nintendo) in the form of a graphic novel.

Empires of Ideas: Creating the Modern University from Germany to America to China

Empires of Ideas: Creating the Modern University from Germany to America to China by William C. Kirby

This book explores Universities around the world and how they have adapted and changed. While universities have been around for hundreds of years, ones we would recognize as "modern" are only a fairly recent occurrence. Germany had started schools that resembled the modern research universities. The United States adopted some of the principles. Some of the existing universities tacked on research focus to their liberal education. Some new schools (like Johns Hopkins) started with research first. There was a big boom in land grant schools that adopted the twin missions.

The World Wars significantly curtailed the influence of Germany. The iron curtain further divided the schools in the country. The German schools were almost entirely dependent on state support which differed from state to state. In the USA, the GI bill and the end of World War II led to a huge uptick in universities and attendance. Schools were nearly free for attendees. However, the good times did not last. Government cutbacks and tuition increases greatly increased costs. Schools turned more towards private fundraising. Engineering became a greater focus. They also branched out overseas.

Modern Asian Universities are much newer. Some of the earlier ones were started by foreigners. There were also offshoots of American universities present. They gradually began to grow in importance and add their character.

This book presents general themes of universities, with focus on a few schools, such as Harvard, UC Berkeley, Humboldt University, and Tsinghua University. There is a general theme of "passing the baton" from region and school as the innovators survive.

On Growth and Form

On Growth and Form by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson

Living things grow in patterns. This book has plenty of math to analyze the various forms that cells grown and divide. It is along and detailed, with many pictures and a lot of math.

Tracy Flick Can't Win

Tracy Flick Can't Win by Tom Perrotta

Tracy Flick cannot catch a break. Her career has not been nearly what she thought it was. Now she is working as an assistant principal in suburban New Jersey. The principal has announced his retirement and it seems she may finally get a chance to lead the school. Then football gets in the way.

The book is fast paced as it jumps around first-person views of many characters. We delve in the minds of many characters associated with this suburban high school. It can be difficult to keep the characters straight as we bounce from one to another. But the rapid pace and internal thoughts help the novel to shiine. There are many different concerns going on at once. The super star athlete made to the NFL, but now has health issues and has hurt many people on the way. The principal has had an affair. Others have skeletons and concerns in their lives.

The school has decided to create a hall of fame. The star athlete is a no-brainer. They are excited to get him back in town. The other award goes to the front desk secretary. (Other nominees included a diverse range of characters including a boy that died in Vietnam, a social media influencer and a guy that ate a giant sandwich.) The ceremony does not go as expected. 

City of God: Faith in the Streets

City of God: Faith in the Streets by Sara Miles

The Christianity practiced by the author in the Mission in San Francisco looks a lot different from that practiced in the Bible belt. The people look less clean cut, and more San Franciscan. That gay punk may be worshiping in church the next day. The Hispanic population also brings some of its traditions. In this book, the author looks at a cross section of people. She attempts to spread ashes on Ash Wednesday. Some people know what to expect and are eager to participate. Others are afraid. Some are just interested in the novelty. There are also stories of people that seek help and their struggles. The area is in a constant state of flux with many groups staking out their places. The teachings of Christ may look very different, but the principles of Christianity such as repentance are still important, even if very few people regularly attend church.

Joy Division: Piece by Piece: Writing About Joy Division 1977 2007

Joy Division: Piece by Piece: Writing About Joy Division 1977 2007 by Paul Morley

Paul Morley observed Joy Division from the very start (before they were even called Warsaw.) Their early concerts were nothing special. They were one of many bands that had some potential. They were mentioned here in there in the context of the many new bands that were popping up on the Manchester scene after the Sex Pistols concert.

Then the author fell in love with Joy Division. He wasn't even allowed to review Unknown Pleasure because he loved it so much. He got to know the band well. He could not say enough about the band and their music. He knew the musicians and all the people around them (The producer, Martin Hannett; Factory records owner Tony Wilson; Designer Peter Saville, etc.) He was just a much a member of the scene.

The death of Ian Curtis put his Joy Division love on overdrive. They became almost deified. His favorite band was now frozen in time.

The writing is incredibly verbose. A lot of parts must be rapidly skimmed just to keep the context. Names and bands are dropped with abandon. while some essays were explicitly about Joy Divisions, others are only tangentially related. (A long essay on a band may mention that Joy Division was an influence.)  The tone feels like that of a zine written by somebody deeply embedded with the musicians who could not be concerned with editing. He is not an impatient observer, but likely played a role in the legend of Joy Division.

Flash Boys: Not So Fast: An Insider's Perspective on High-Frequency Trading

Flash Boys: Not So Fast: An Insider's Perspective on High-Frequency Trading by Peter Kovac

Peter Kovac eviscerates Michael Lewis in this response to Flash Boys. He goes chapter by chapter, pointing out the problems in Michael Lewis's arguments. He points out that some of the "bad behavior" Lewis complains about is impossible - it violates exchange rules, laws or even physics. Some of the examples given in Lewis' book are just wrong. (Kovac is kind enough to chalk it up to sloppiness, rather than outright fabrication.) Other examples are correct, but have the wrong attribution. A trader that tries to sell some stock may see the market price change simply due to economics - more demand tends to increase price. Similarly, the price of Chinese ETF may change even when the Chinese market is closed due to demand from those in other markets.

Kovac spins the tables on the HFT story by portraying the traders as Davids against the Goliaths of the big firms. The big brokerage houses have highly paid employees that earn much more than those in the HFT house. They have capitalized on market inefficiencies to make millions and billions of dollars. The High Frequency Traders have helped make the markets more efficient, reducing the opportunities for the "old bot" network. Retail investors now have better trades with improved pricing. The traders that have been significantly impacted are the big hedge funds. Their easy "rent seeking" has been reduced.

Kovac does point to areas where Lewis has got things right, such as with trading types and other issues. Somewhat surprisingly, Kovac, like Lewis before him, does not provide a clear definition of what a High Frequency Trader is. (Though to be fair, he does provide more details than Lewis.) In the end, he admits that Lewis is a writer who wrote an interesting story that is a little loose with the facts. Lewis may have let his trading background color his view of the traders. Flip-flop wearing techies are not the same as Alpha-male techies.

Sky's End

Sky's End by Marc J Gregson

In a universe, status is important. People can challenge others to achieve their status. There are special creatures as well as a bit of hidden technology. People have conflicts. Family relationships are important. People have opportunity to audition to be selected for jobs. There is a crew of people that work together. They want to work together to make things right and win competition to kill bad things. It is really hard to distinguish from other YA "crew" science fiction/fantasy books.

Skulls: An Exploration of Alan Dudley's Curious Collection

Skulls: An Exploration of Alan Dudley's Curious Collection by Simon Winchester and Nick Mann

Skulls is book full of photographs of various skulls interspersed with a few short essays by Simon Winchester. It explores various members of the animal kingdom, with demonstrations of classes of skulls that animals have. There is significant variation. The pictures include a photograph of the animal for reference. Some skulls are easily recognizable, while others are not.

Religion of a Different Color: Race and the Mormon Struggle for Whiteness

Religion of a Different Color: Race and the Mormon Struggle for Whiteness by W. Paul Reeve

Mormons today are viewed as being very "white". in the past they were viewed as being of an inferior race (even as they were "whiter" then than they are today.) This book explores the odd injection of "race" within non-genetic areas. It uses the cartoon of "Elder Berry" and his multi-racial offspring to explore the view of Mormons to the American public.

At first the religion was viewed as "different" than other mainline protestant religions. The different beliefs and practices resulted in a shunning. There were also economic and political implications as Mormons occupied land and tended to vote as a block. Later they adopted polygamy which gave people more ammunition for haring them. They were viewed as a degenerate people that had evolved backwards. They were lumped with blacks and other minorities as being "inferior".

The church dropped polygamy and Utah became a state. Then they moved to become more acceptable to "white America". The role of blacks in the priesthood was reduced, with the "seed of Cain" doctrine used to prevent blacks from holding the priesthood. The book explores much of the history of the arguments used. (There seemed to be a lot of hearsay and selective sources.) Eventually, the LDS church was seen as being very white. It finally achieved the goal of "whiteness" just as whiteness was going out of style in the civil rights era. Now the church has enabled everyone in leadership positions and is widespread throughout the world. It celebrates mixed marriages. Yet, it fights the perception that it is just a "white" church.

Natural: How Faith in Nature's Goodness Leads to Harmful Fads, Unjust Laws, and Flawed Science

Natural: How Faith in Nature's Goodness Leads to Harmful Fads, Unjust Laws, and Flawed Science by Alan Levinovitz

Natural is better, right? But, what is natural? It is essentially meaningless as a food label. Even a term like "organic" with strict interpretation does not have a guarantee of meaning. Much of our "natural" produce has never occurred in nature. It is instead, the result of centuries of selective breeding and agricultural farming processes. 

There is also often a fetishization of primitive lifestyles and practices. Though these people will often adopt more modern practices when given a chance. Is the practice really better?

Today "natural" is often a means of exclusion. Expensive natural products can be sold as an alternative to the cheaper conventional products. Is natural really better? Or is it just made exclusive. The quest for "natural" has often been seen as more of a religious belief than a logical best practice.

There are often benefits and drawbacks to both natural and non-natural products. Sometimes the negatives take time to be discovered. We can find the best path forward by objectively evaluating the costs and benefits of both. That is the principle argument of this book. Don't let "natural" cloud judgement.

The Forgotten Creed: Christianity's Original Struggle against Bigotry, Slavery, and Sexism

The Forgotten Creed: Christianity's Original Struggle against Bigotry, Slavery, and Sexism by Stephen J. Patterson

Primitive Christianity was just a "very inclusive" sect of Judaism. It later morphed into a European state religion that became a key badge of identity to separate Christians from others. This book argues that a lot of the exclusivity came from false interpretations of the works of Paul as well as those creating forged documents in the name of Paul. He also points to early creeds that may have been the base of Paul's teaching. The author also looks at many non-Canonical works to evaluate teachings.

It is an interesting historical approach to putting the Christian teachings in modern ideals. If the church had followed the inclusiveness of Paul's early teachings, the world history would likely have been quite different. However, the difference is most likely that Christianity would have never become the state religion of Rome.   Inclusiveness is often present at the start of a movement, but an identity tends to gradually evolve. Also, why should the teachings of Paul be more important than those of other early church leaders? There have been a number of different writers and editors of the Bible. They each have had their own areas of emphasis. Paul attempted to make the teachings of Jesus more appealing to other groups (in part by not mandating circumcision.) Others made it more appealing to different groups. As a historical exercise, it can be interesting to analyze different viewpoints.

Strange Things Happen: A Life with The Police, Polo, and Pygmies

Strange Things Happen: A Life with The Police, Polo, and Pygmies by Stewart Copeland

Stewart Copeland was the drummer in the influential band The Police. He was an American in a British band who loved improvisation. He also head a reputation for not getting along well with bassist/singer Sting. The first part of the book covers some of his adventures. He played polo and beat British royalty. He found himself chained to a bench in Africa. He also was able to defend himself from a lion attack by playing his drums loudly. He also wrote numerous film scores and even composed an opera.

The end of the book focuses on the final tour with the Police. It is quite easy to see why they had so much conflict. There are a couple of strong personalities that liked to make music his way.  They seemed to get along personally, but would be at total loggerheads when it came to making music. There was a lot of extreme self-criticism. The conflict may have helped make the music better, but made the band unsustainable in the long term.

Commodore: A Company on the Edge

Commodore: A Company on the Edge 2nd edition by Brian Bagnall

How would the story of Commodore be told if it had survived as a computer powerhouse until modern times? The PET was one of most important early computers. It had a strong place in the education market. The Vic-20 was the first "computer for the masses", selling over a million copied. The Commodore 64 was the best selling computer of all time. However, this often gets ignored or placed as a small footnote in computer history. The Apple II is often seen as one of the first "home computers" in Apple revisionist history. The Apple II series was produced over almost 2 decades. However, even added together, they were outsold by Commodore 64s. They were also more an amalgam of available components, while the commodore systems had more chipset innovation.

Commodore was led by Jack Tramiel. He could be just as demanding as as Steve Jobs, but lacked the cultural appeal. Tramiel also had Irving Gould as a playboy chairman getting in the way. It feels amazing that Commodore was able to accomplish what it did. The company was notoriously cheap. Tramiel would launch lawsuits against people that left. He even rescinded employee stock plans after they became "too generous".  There were great people that left because of this. Tramiel also had a hardware focus due to his calculator background. Software and compatibility were not seriously considered. 

Commodore had purchased a chip company (MOS) and designed chips in house. Chuck Peddle was the visionary behind the entry into computing. He wanted to build  a personal computer. At one point Commodore even considered buying Apple, but decided it was too expensive. (Would Apple just have faded away if that happened?) Apple was already using a MOS chip. Commodore came out with the PET and licensed Microsoft Basic for it. Could Commodore have single-handedly changed the fate of two of the big companies of today?

In the quest for cheap computers, Commodore rushed to production and forsook backwards compatibility. There was a chip design produced to enable fast 1541 disk drives on the commodore 64. However, somebody cut off some parts of the design, and thus left the world with slow disk drives. The Commodore 64 also used an older version of basic, making programming quite kludgey (with a lot of pokes). Commodore would also demo many models, and only produce the ones that looked most successful.

Commodore eventually fell apart after Tramiel was "ushered out". Commodore lost some of the decisiveness after that. Could Commodore have survived until today with different leadership? 

Red Roulette: An Insider's Story of Wealth, Power, Corruption, and Vengeance in Today's China

Red Roulette: An Insider's Story of Wealth, Power, Corruption, and Vengeance in Today's China by Desmond Shum

Despite an "opening up" of capitalism, China is still ruled by an all-powerful communist party. The author details his experience working in the Chinese system. He was born in Shanghai, but later moved to Hong Kong, and eventually attended college in the United States. He was not the greatest student, but he did have some athletic experience. He was interested in business ventures and attempted to navigate the Chinese system. He met his wife who had similar interests. However, she was much better at currying favor with officials. They worked together on projects including an airport project. This project required approvals from a large number of different people and thus many relationships. 

The relationship process can be challenging in China. If a person falls out of favor, the relationship can fall apart, and possibly drag you down with it. Everyone risks falling out of favor with party leadership. A person that is a perceived threat could be accused of corruption and find themselves in jail. Spouses and children will often use their family relationship for personal gain - which can lead to the downfall of the entire family.

This book details some of the wheeling and dealing that is needed to survive in China as well as the problems with those that fall out of favor. Though the author had divorced his wife, they still remained on friendly terms. However, she eventually was seen as a threat to somebody in leadership and disappeared under suspicious circumstances. 

The rule of law seems to be the antidote to the internal schmoozing for favors in countries like China. But are things really that much different in the west? Much of business and politics is built on relationships. Those in power can help accelerate or delay approvals. There are more open rules and processes, but things are still not fully transparent. Often the "rules" can just be bent to help justify the outcome developed by the relationship. The problems still remain, though they are perhaps not quite as extreme as China.

The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis: Complete Collection

The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis: Complete Collection by Lydia Davis

Often with short story collections, I will try to list the titles of the stories. However, that would go on for pages with this collection. There a lot of stories in here. Some are long, while many are just a few words long. For the short ones, the overhead of the audiobook is distracting. The story and narrator are announced. The few words of the story are read. Then it is announced that the story is complete. There is more "overhead" than story. I feel reading would work better for these.

The long stories can also be fairly unconventional. One "story" is a detailed analysis of letters written to a young classmate who has been injured. The different closings for the letters are tabulated. The length of letters are compared and grouped by gender. Other various components and mechanics are analyzed in detail. It seems a long exercise in something that is not typically analyzed.

While there are some duds, the super short stories do often hit their mark. Why go on for pages, if you can get the same thought out in a few words? Some of the stories feel at least partially autobiographical. Others have inspiration from some everyday event or correspondence. Some of the Kafka influence can be seen. 

Game On: Why College Admission Is Rigged and How to Beat the System

Game On: Why College Admission Is Rigged and How to Beat the System by Susan F. Paterno

College is very expensive today. Efforts to "democratize" college have been appropriated by the "elite" to maintain the status quo. The start of the book is loaded with anecdotes and superficial analysis. She keeps going back to Reagan as the cause for expensive college. (But it was still easy to work your way through college in the 90s, well after Reagan left office.) US News and World Report also is seen as a source of problems. The attitude is that college are almost innocent bystanders who have been "forced" to behave like businesses. 

The criticism of capitalistic influences in student loans glosses over the government side of the issue. Colleges charge ridiculous prices, then provide some "financial aid" packages. Huge loans are offered without any guarantee that the borrower could pay. If it was truly free market, the loaners would have more stake in the game. Would a lender really loan $100,000 for somebody to get a degree that has an average starting salary of $20,000? If the government exited the picture, then the gregarious loans would not be made. This would leave a lot of the most disadvantaged students unable to attend the priciest colleges, and that could be ok. Alternatively, what if funding was unbundled from tuition. You get only a certain amount to borrow. If that covers school, great. If not, go some place cheaper. The author consistently attacks the "free market" forces in education, barely touches on the big problems caused by schools themselves. They are the ones encouraging created the country club and then expecting the government to foot the bill. The for-profit schools have come in to fill a niches that other colleges are lacking, such as catering to working adults. Even as "nonprofit" schools have started similar offers, they are often more expensive than the for-profits.

The author has a few good points, but seems blinded to the big picture. Her kids attended well-to-do suburban LA schools and she works as a college professor. The college admission consultant racket she criticises primarily impacts people in those circles. Despite the faults, American colleges are still respected more than many of the lower-priced foreign counterparts. Why is this so? How can Universities retain their edge without costing a fortune?

Chapter and Verse: New Order, Joy Division and Me

Chapter and Verse: New Order, Joy Division and Me by Bernard Sumner

Bernard Sumner is the lead singer of New Order and guitarist for Joy Division. This book is his contribution to the history of Joy Division and New Order. The narrative is much different than Peter Hook's. It feels much more polished than Peter Hook's. Sumner has had a more significant role in New Order and the book shows it. The book starts with his early life and quickly goes through time with Joy Division. Ian Curtis's suicide is a small blip. It gets about as much coverage as the death of others associated with the band (such as managers.) While this book is polished, it is easy to see the roots of the falling out between Sumner and Peter Hook. It feels that he is trying to paper over some of the bitterness and anger the two had. It also becomes clear that Sumner had been exerting more control though he appears to feel somewhat oblivious. (He feels his side project was a nice outlet, but is critical of a bandmate DJing.) There seem to be some interesting communication issues.

The narrative is primarily chronological and focuses more on the personal experiences than detailing all parts of the band. There are extensive details of recordings of certain albums, while others are skipped over. There is very little discussion of individual songs. More of the focus is on process and life events. It feels different than typical rock memoirs, but New Order has always been a little bit of different band.

Castles: Their History and Evolution in Medieval Britain

Castles: Their History and Evolution in Medieval Britain by Marc Morris

What are castles? Why we seem to understand what castles are, defining one can be challenging. The book attempts to define castles and trace their history in England. British castles were heavily influenced by the French. William the Conqueror has a giant castle in Normandy. He later conquered England. Many minor nobles had their castles which were used for both defense and display of wealth and power. Castles eventually fell out of popularity as the rich created country estates instead. In addition to the history of the buildings, this book details some of the key castle owners and interesting events that occurred in British castles.