Cars in America edited by Andrea C. Nakaya
The essay collection is available at the library in "Gale in Context", which has one of the most horrible UIs for reading. That is probably for the best, because the content is fairly worthless. The essays I read felt like they were written by middle-schoolers. There were discussions of cars making you fat, fuel cells, teen drinking and various other topics. Nothing I read was very enlightening or well done, so I just skimmed over the other titles.
Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine
A fifth grade girl with Aspergers lost her brother in a school shooting. She continues to struggle with talking and behaving appropriately. She is working through her feelings and what happened to her brother. She has no real friends. Then she befriends a young boy who had lost her mother in the shooting. She struggles with relationships with other kids. She offends some by being too literal, while offending others by trying to use her coping mechanisms on them.
With a title of "Mockingbird", I immediately associated To Kill A Mockingbird. The author did too. The girl has seen the movie and was sometimes called scout. This tied in with her brother's Eagle Scout project, with the double scout meaning. (He was building a chest that they later finished for "closure" - would building a chest really be a scout project?)
In an afterward, the author mentions the Virginia Tech shooting and early intervention for aspergers are important. It does make an interesting combination. Having the novel through the mind of the girl does seemingly make the emotions seem more "distant".
Heartstopper: Volume 1 by Alice Oseman
Heartstopper is a cute British gay teen romance story. One "rugby lad" sees a known gay boy run fast and asks him to join the rugby team. They become friends. The become even closer after The rugby guy protects the gay guy from an "in the closet" former boyfriend who did not understand no. The rugby connects with the girl he previously kissed at a party and learns that she is gay. He later kisses the known gay guy. The tale of developing relationship is fairly universal.
What Is a Hate Crime? by Roman Espejo
This book has a series of essays on hate crimes, mostly structured in pairs of opposing views. A lot has changed in the two decades since this was written. The concept of hate crimes has become much more widely accepted. However, the underlying concerns still exist. It is almost as if we have got the worst of both of worlds. "Hate" has become an arbitrary option to apply to crimes that continues to be il-defined. After all, just about every major crime has involved some hate. The concept of "hate speech" has become even more convoluted and arbitrary. Can we regulate speech, yet still have free speech?
Stealing from the Saracens: How Islamic Architecture Shaped Europe by Diana Darke
European architecture was influenced by Islamic architecture. Europeans looked down on the Muslims, but then adopted many of their concepts for design of their grand buildings. Many of the key churches in Europe, such as Notre Dame thus owed a debt to Muslim influences. Architects from Christopher Wren to Antoni Gaudi were influenced by the Islamic world. The author was inspired to complete this book after the fire necessitated rebuild Notre Dame in Paris. It comes across as a laundry list of all Islamic influences.
Just Food: Where Locavores Get It Wrong and How We Can Truly Eat Responsibly by James McWilliams
Eating local will not do much to help the environment. Going vegetarian will. That sums up this book. There are a lot of other details in here to think about. We need to be able to feed a vast population of the earth. Eating some local produce may be nice, but easily feed the world. Local food can also consume more energy than food produced far away (even when transportation is considered.) Local eating has also been co-opted by other entities, resulting in less beneficial results. People may be encouraged to eat "local" Iowa food, even if it is trucked across the state.
There are a number of other discussions of spurious agricultural practices. Fear of genetically modified crops was spurred by bad butterfly research. Fertilizer is helpful when consumed by crops, but detrimental when it runs off to waterways. Preventing overflow by applying the right amount of fertilizer can help reduce the negative impacts, while still allowing high levels of production. Organic agriculture tends not to be scalable (and has it's own list of "approved" chemicals.) Eliminating tilling can be very helpful. The author is very keen on Aquaculture when done right. (but could "proper" aquaculture really be scaled appropriately?) Deforestation for meat production is a significant issue in the world.
The big takeaway is that we have to consider both the local impact of food as well as the global impact of our food choices.
The Scientific Method: An Evolution of Thinking from Darwin to Dewey by Henry M. Cowles
The subtitle is the key to this book. The book looks at how the sociology of science evolved from the time of Dewey to Darwin. While "hard science" is covered in passing, the primary interest is in social sciences. The idea of using science to study human activity is something new in the book. The book rambles on about various practitioners and does show a connection of thought. It doesn't present much to show we should care. Science did move from primarily observational to hypothesis evaluation. The concept of evolution was moved to apply to social science. Social scientists studied animals and children to get new insights. The book has the feel of a student that just dumped a lot of facts into a paper.
Russia: Myths and Realities by Roderic Braithwaite
Rather than a myth-debunking book, this is simply a history of Russia. It takes the "long view", starting with the early migration of the "Russ" people to the area and the birth of "Russians" a millenia ago. Kiev was once the center of the area. They converted to Orthodox Christianity. The leaders consolidated power, The arts become important. Then there was extended class warfare, with both Lenin and Stalin consolidating power in phases. Putin feels like an heir to the repetitive process.
William Tell by Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller
When I think of William Tell, the first thing that comes to mind is Rossini's Overture. Then I see an apple shot off a head. And that is about it. This play is based on the William Tell legend. Rossini's opera was in turn based off this play. In it William Tell does shoot an apple off of his son's head. He was promised that doing so would be the only way to preserve his life. However, the leader that made the promise then realizes that he is too dangerous to have around, so he imprisoned him. However, he is asked to guide the ship over rough seas. He does so, but then uses the opportunity to escape. He later uses a well-placed shot to kill the leader as he is traveling. This foments a revolution. At the end, the emperor his shot by one of his relatives. Tell does not agree with this, but does talk with him as he visits and asks him to atone for his action. I got lost in some of the convoluted parts, but the apple scene was quite clear.
Level 7 by Mordecai Roshwald
I was concerned when the introduction droned on a while about why this book was so important and that the author chose "fiction" to better communicate his ideas. Luckily, the book itself was well written and did not seem problematic. In the book, "Level 7" refers to the 7th level beneath he ground. This was the most secure fallout shelter. The "button pushers" are located there. They will be the ones that will push the button to nuke the enemies if hostilities break out. There are resources to sustain life for hundreds of years down there. The higher levels have greater populations of gradually decreasing importance.
The structure of the novel is the journal of one of the inhabitants of Level 7. At first he doesn't realize why his there. He gradually learns and steadily adapts to the monotony of life underground with the repetitive music and bland food. They picked people with few attachments in the world, however, they do allow the people in this level to get married. Eventually the time comes and the buttons are pushed. They learn the world has been mostly destroyed. Some of the "button pushers" struggle with their role in the operation. The non-belligerents suffer almost immediate destruction. The belligerents each claim victory. However, those on the upper levels soon fall ill and die due to radiation poisoning. The sickness gradually comes down to the lower levels. The 7th level is initially preserved. Alas, the nuclear reactor powering the level starts to leak radiation leading to their poisoning. The book has a grim warning of the futility of nuclear war.
Trust in a Polarized Age by Kevin Vallier
Trust is critical for any society. If there is no trust, markets and governments will not function well. People must trust government policies for them to be effective. However, different sides disagree with what to implement and lose the trust of public. Those whose side is in power will have greater trust than those that don't. Homogeneous societies have a high degree of trust and can implement policies that require high government involvement. Policies that apply equally to everyone tend to engender higher trust. A moderate welfare state with universal benefits will work well. Means-testing welfare benefits can reduce trust. Non-recipients feel that others are free-riders and look down on those that receive benefits. Means testing also brings out incentives to manipulate the system, thus requiring greater costs in managing the program.
One interesting point brought up is how zoning is a sly means of contributing to income inequality. Those with the property encourage zoning to drive up the price of property. This makes housing hard to come by for those without. "Solutions" to the high housing costs often involve various income distribution schemes that take from everybody, rather than a simple elimination of zoning. The people that benefit from the high property costs encourage the plans as a means to deflect from the rent-seeking benefits they receive from the high property costs.
The book drifts from a discussion on trust to a general discussion of politics and government. There are criticisms of socialism and dismissal of anarchy, with the preferred structure being a liberal democracy. There are also discussions of who "dominates" a democracy and how to improve it (though with few workable solutions.)
The Titanic Sinks! (Totally True Adventures): How the Unsinkable Ship Met with Shocking Disaster by Thomas Conklin
The Titanic was the largest passenger ship at the time. It was thought to be unsinkable. On the first voyage, there were many of the rich and famous riding on the historic voyage. There were also "regular people" who just wanted to travel from Europe to North America. This book provides brief history of some of the people as they are traveling and experience the ship and then moves on to the iceberg strike. There were a number of events that lead to the sinking. High speed and evasive maneuvers may have contributed to the sinking. Many half-empty life boats were deployed early on as people preferred to stay on the ship. The cold water left little time for survival outside a life boat. Another boat rescued the passengers that survived the night. This book is a riveting, quick account of the disaster.
A Matter-of-Fact Magic Book: Secondhand Magic by Ruth Chew
Kids fly a kite. Then it turns magic. Somebody named Clem is also involved.
The People in the Trees: A Novel by Hanya Yanagihara
A scientist goes with a group to explore a population in a remote Micronesian island. He keeps an open mind as he observes some peculiar practices. The people claim to have lived to be extremely old. They don't wear clothes and have some peculiar sexual practices. When somebody turns 60 they undergo a strange ceremony that involves killing and eating most of a turtle themselves.
The scientist later observes that people can live to be 100s of years old, yet lose some of their mental capacity. He takes turtle samples back to study. When feeding them to mice, the mice can live over three times their normal lifespan. However, beyond three times their lifespan, they start to act strangely. He publishes the results. This sets off a pharmaceutical stampede for the island. The island is pretty much destroyed and the turtle population eradicated in pursuit of the fountain of youth. The people end up moving to a neighboring island where they adopt more western habits, such as wearing clothes, eating spam and drinking.
The scientist's life took a similar turn. After his study was replicated, he achieved renown in his field. He eventually received a Nobel prize. When returning to the island he felt sympathy for the natives and would adopt or orphans or children that parents no longer wanted. He enjoyed the comfort of the children. He wanted children, but he did not want a spouse. He eventually had a few dozen children. One of the boys continually acted up and caused trouble for him. Eventually, the boy led charges against the scientist, resulting in the scientist being imprisoned. (He feels upset that his brother supported the boy - even as his brother had a boyfriend a fraction of his age.) In a postscript, a very disturbing account of the scientist raping one of his kids is included with implication that this was not a unique occurance.
The book is told as a scientific monograph assembled by a third party. The friend of the scientist provides accounts as well as personal footnotes in the story. On the audiobook different narrators handle the different parts -with one being harder to understanding the other.
The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going by Ryan P. Burge
People with no religious belief have been growing significantly since the 1990s. Why is this so and who are they? The author dives into social survey data to come up with a number of explanations. There are a few different surveys that look at a group of people at a point in time. They don't look at the same people, so it is difficult to find individual changes. The surveys also have different buckets. (The oldest one has a smaller sample size and just "Protestant, Christian, Other and None". Newer ones have larger sample sizes and more options, but don't go back in time as far.)
The United States has been an anomaly. Typically, countries have become less religious as they have become wealthier. The US is very wealthy and religious at the same time. Could part of this be a reversion to the mean? What could be driving it? Some people may simply feel more comfortable reporting no church affiliation. In the past, they may have felt the need to report a religious affiliation, even if they never attended church.
Different churches are being impacted in different ways. Mainline protestants see most of the fall. "Other" religious, such as Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Muslims see growth. Jews continue to be a social group even if they do not actively practice. The religious right may have galvanized some believers while turning off others. While the religious tended to be politically balanced before, they are now overwhelmingly right wing. Scandals such as that in the catholic church may have also hurt.
Demographics also play a role. Youth and parents tend to have high church attendance, while young adults have lower church attendance. Today people are marrying and having kids later in life. They are is in more non-traditional relationships. Family sizes are also smaller and people are moving further from families.
The internet and communications may also play a role. People would often adhere to their local community standards, even if they didn't share the beliefs. Today, it is easy to find an online community with the most obscure beliefs. Black churches were also the hub for black social and political activity. Now that can also be had elsewhere.
All "nones" are also not created equal. In a survey that distinguishes between atheists, agnostics and "no religion", there are significant differences in the three groups. The "no religion" are more likely to attend church and to later claim a religious affiliation.
The Lies of the Land: Seeing Rural America for What It Is―and Isn’t by Steven Conn
After World War II, the population of central cities declined while the suburbs grew. However, the growth of the suburbs vastly eclipsed the loss in the cities. Much of this extra population consisted of people leaving rural areas. In some cases it may have been forced upon them as suburban areas encroached on farmland. In other cases, it was a more conscious decision. They sought more opportunities, yet didn't want to go all the way to the city.
In America, rural living represents many of the core tenants of individuality. However, rural living rarely lives up to the "ideal". People also desire many of the resources of the cities. Suburbs are often the "compromise". Today, rural areas tend to be poor. Many "food deserts" appear in the areas of food production. Medical care and even education may be missing or require long distant travel. Retail in general is missing. Dollar stores are the most recent retail area that has taken to rural and small town areas. They are the latest in the series of "downtown dominators", after 5 and dime and Wal-Mart/K-Mart type stores.
The explores the definition of what "rural" is. It can be more of a state of mind than an actual location. "Not city" may be the key part of it. In then wanders into various physical and economic characteristics. It is a bit unfocussed, but interesting.
Waiting for Fitz by Spencer Hyde
The protaganist is a teanager with sever OCD. She goes to an inpatient treatment center in Seattle in hopes of getting better treatment. There she meets other patients with different challenges. Discussion of Waiting for Godot occupies some of their time. With a friend, Fitz, she escapes for a little excursion around. Eventually they get separating, and get the police and family to help them. Fitz was in one of his different personalities digging a grave. They all get back and work on different solutions. She decides to go outpatient, but not before seeing a rare bird that they are interested in. The people displayed her all have great challenges, yet are also very intelligent. It is difficult being "different" in this world.
In the Dark: The Science of What Happens at Night by Lisa Deresti Betik and Josh Holinaty
This book starts with a look at things that happen at night, then it goes to the stars. We learn about the different eyes of animals that help them to see at night. Then we learn why we see stars and the moon. It goes further to explore various planets and the outer reaches of space. It is hard to identify the audience. It is a "picture book", the text is fairly dense, leading it to more of an older kid crowd.
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers
Men can have a huge impact on black women. That seems to be an underlying theme of this vast epic of multigenerational black history. The novel goes back and forth in time from the civil war era to the modern day to explore a fairly well-to-do black family. Creeks also come into play as they are treated as a not-quite-white, but not black group. The modern family has Creek, African and white ancestry. There are legitimate marriages, rapes and out-of-wedlock affairs. Sex and pregnancy comes to impact the lives of women in different ways. One woman had her educational prospects cut short by an unplanned child. She made sure this didn't happen to her daughter by having her get an abortion. However, this daughter ended up getting addicted to drugs and really ruining her life. There are also various modern and "slave-era" rapes as well as standard relationships. It is all quite a mess. In general, the women are running things, while the men are fooling around. However, there are some "good" men that are helping things to move forward. There are not many whites in this novel, and those that appear tend to "not understand" the life of the main characters. The book concludes with the main character learning about history and understanding the efforts to protect an old church site from being trampled by tourists.
Drama Queen: One Autistic Woman and a Life of Unhelpful Labels by Sara Gibbs
If you've met one autistic person, you've met one autistic person. Sara Gibbs was diagnosed with autism in adulthood. Her version was a very social type of autism. She talked too much. She constantly had crushes on people. She lived in a dream world. Her boundaries were not good. She struggled with all social activity. However, she grew up in an "odd" environment, with a family that was very much into new age anti-vax and Waldorf education. Her father had multiple affairs and was distant from the family. However, he was the one that helped her when times were the hardest, and they grew closer in adulthood and she cared for him near his death. She seemed to have a constant stream of boyfriends, with plenty of drama and obsessiveness. She eventually landed with a caring husband and found a job writing comedy. Her outgoing nature likely helped her to manage - even if it also the source of her problems. The book ends with her diagnoses with autism. This helped her to vanquish some of her "problems" and better understand herself.
The Life of Language: The Fascinating Ways Words are Born, Live & Die by Sol Steinmetz and Barbara Ann Kipfer
Though this book is well structured, each chapter could easily be read independently. There are explorations of various ways that works enter the English language. Some words are formed by moving existing words to a new part of speech. Others are coined, come from foreign languages or come from proper names. There are many other sources for words. The book provides details on how words enter the language and provides abundant examples. English is especially flexible. While it has Anglo-Saxon roots, there have been various waves of strong influence, such as Viking and Norman French. The language does not have a governing body, and thus is very flexible in adding new words that are found useful. The global spread of the language helped to allow words get adopted from many sources. Words continue to be added from many sources, such as technology. Some words gradually lose popularity as they have "better" words for their use. (However, retronyms are common to refer to items such as "acoustic guitars" that need modern clarification.)
Letters by Oliver Sacks
As per the title, this is a posthumously published collection of letters written by Oliver Sacks. He was a prolific letter writer. There are a mixture of different types of communication. Some are personal letters that deal more with his experience in life. Others are more science focussed, responding to concerns about research and publications. Through the letters, we can learn about the unfolding of Sack's career. He is concerned with the "mechanical" approach to medicine. He doesn't want to treat everybody as a statistics, but wants to explore the person to reach a solution. He has done work with people with neurological conditions. Some may appear commotose, but can be awakened. Others are essentially "dead", but kept alive mechanically. Drugs can help those with Parkinson's, but they may also have negative side effects. He does not believe there is a possible "miracle drug". He has struggles with medical bureaucracy and education. His Jewish background and sexuality come out at various times in his life - especially near the end as he is diagnosed with cancer. It makes for an interesting "biography" told all from primary sources.
Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle by Dervla Murphy
In 1963, an Irish woman went a on a long solo bicycle trip to India. The world at that time was much different than it is now, yet many similarities remain. A long distance cyclist (especially a woman) is an oddity. She traveled the long distance on minimal expense. On many occasions, people would offer her a ride. She would often refuse. However, she did include trips on buses or planes as part of her journey.
During the travel involved a journey through the soviet block. There were were challenges getting across borders as well as limited amenities. Afghanistan was something of its own. The roads were horrendously bad. Things happened when they happened without much regard for schedules. In Pakistan, the weather was perhaps the main enemy, with 100+ temperatures. There are a various observations of the culture and government of the countries as well as fond memories of the people.
Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud
What are comics and how do they work? Defining comics becomes somewhat challenging. The author uses "sequential art". This covers comic books and most comic strips (but leaves out "single frame" comics.) It also goes on to include cave paintings and various other art forms.
Comics have a number of unique aspects that help to tell a story. They are a form that actively combines pictures and words to tell a story. This has contributed to their reputation of "lower class" work, in part due to the differing evolution of pictures and books. Comics have also produced innovations to explore time and emotions. Abstraction can be used to bring out or hide details as well as help be relate to certain parts of comics. There is a create deal of complexity in what seems to be a "simple" art form.
Horizons: The Global Origins of Modern Science by James Poskett
The common narrative is that Europe "invented" modern science during the renaissance and used it to help dominate the world. Other civilizations such as China and the Islamic world had key scientific innovations earlier, but they "lost their way". This book refutes that narrative and posits science as a global endeavor that has continued on throughout the world. People in one region have built off those from others. Science is in some way "national", but this national science is part of a global endeavor. It was once common for scientists to read journals in various languages published throughout the world. There have been instances of politics pushing science back. (Genetics in Communist Russia is a specific example.) However, various local conditions can help provide the unique impetus or situation for innovation. The growth and sharing helps the world.
