I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman

I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman by Nora Ephron

I've enjoyed many of Nora Ephron's rom-coms. However, I am clearly not the target audience for this book. She talks about many of her experiences and concerns as an older woman in Manhattan. She is concerned that as she has aged, her neck does not look good in the fancy dresses she likes to wear. Her life centers in New York where even a move of a few blocks can change the way life would live. She has "first world problems". There is some humor, but it is hard to relate to.

Crisis of the Common Good: The Fight for Meaning and Connection in a Broken America

Crisis of the Common Good: The Fight for Meaning and Connection in a Broken America by Chris Murphy

Chris Murphy is a Democrat and is upset with what Trump has done to the presidency. However, rather than jump into partisan attacks, he looks at the root cause. Trump is able to tap into resentment felt by many in America. The town where people know each other and work together has been replaced by a homogenous culture. People don't have the community and the desire for the common good. People are much more siloed. Community organizations and churches are much less present.

He sees the problems as many "cults". Cult of Profit, Cult of Globalism, Cult of Technology, Cult of Consumption, Cult of Credentialism, Cult of Corruption. Given his political leaning he left out the "Cult of Other" - the look for somebody else (like the government) to solve the problems. He tries very hard to be politically neutral, and for the most part succeeds, though the partisanship does occasionally eek out.

In one section, he stated that he would like for the government not to provide any services dependent on income. He was focussing on "fast lanes", but it would be a great idea for all services. There is a huge application needed to apply for low-income housing or rent assistance. Other resources require regular validation that you are in fact poor. This is demeaning and encourages one to keep income low to maintain benefits. What if we just provided everything to everyone? The administration costs would go down. The negative aspects would go away. It would cost more, but everyone would benefit from it. It is similar to the public library. Wealthy people could just buy the books (and many do.) However, everyone has access to the library regardless of how much they earn. What if we did that with our many other programs? Instead of charging low-income bus riders $1 and everyone else $3, just charge everyone $1. Provide basic health care for everyone. Provide free school lunch for everyone. Eliminate anything that requires you to validate that you are poor to receive some benefit. The rich would need to pay a little more in taxes. The middle class would probably be a wash. Administration costs would go down. There would also be incentive for everyone to make the system better. There would also eliminate the "income penalty". There is more incentive for people to earn more above-board. Alas, things are moving in the opposite direction. Washington even started a "low income toll", where low-income people pay less. This is like butting a band-aid on a broken arm.

The Tale of Genji

The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu, translated by Dennis Washburn and short version translated by Sumatsu Kencho

The short translation was one of the first, made over a century ago. The Washburn translation was more recent and much longer. I finished the short one and started the Washburn one, but never finished. Washburn had a lot of "about this text" at the start. The story is of a woman that hangs out with the rulers. It did not keep my interest.

The Rainbow: A Novel

The Rainbow: A Novel by Yasunari Kawabata, translated by Haydn Trowell

People are living in post-war Japan. A family comes to terms with different relationships and a father with multiple mothers. A train and rainbow play an important role. The book p=pretty much happens, with out much to draw me in.

Our Hidden Conversations: What Americans Really Think About Race and Identity

Our Hidden Conversations: What Americans Really Think About Race and Identity by Michele Norris

The book started with the "race card project". People were asked to send back 6 words describing how they felt about race. Then additional anecdotes were added. The book is a mixed bag that goes on too long. It is interesting how people get wrapped up in some notions about race that were given to them, yet fight against others. White is viewed as a "pure" race, while others are viewed as diluted this purity. It feels society should have moved on from that long ago. There were some cases that talked about how they were the "non-white" race before but are now considered "white". Is talking about race causing the problems with race? After all, race is a social construct. Government classifies people in buckets, so those buckets get an identity. A century ago, people saw themselves as Irish, Italian, etc. Now those are just "white", and there is no box to check to identify as those. Will we get that way with others? There is talk about the US being majority-minority by some date. But hasn't the country been majority-minority for decades if not centuries now? As more mixing takes place people it will make less sense to try to categorize.

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen

A fantasy world has demigods and "undead". People must take out funeral insurance policy when they enter, just in case. An arrow through the appendix of the undead is needed to eliminate them. Rather than create a dark fantasy tale, the author writes with a light tone filled with humor. It worked very well.

The story centers on Hart, a demigod marshall who hunts the undead and Mercy the daughter of an undertaker. They seem to hate each other, but there is some attraction. Hart starts spilling out his heart in anonymous letters. These are received by Mercy. They have a You've Got Mail relationship. They fall in love by mail, yet continue to dislike each other.  He discovers that she is the letter girl, and even tells her, but she doesn't believe him. Later he ends up saving her life from zombies and they fall in love. End, right? Nope. Still a lot more of the novel left. They seem to have a good relationship, but they freak out over him knowing about the letters and her not. Seems a bit contrived. He later discovers that he has the ability to stop the zombies by "going home". He saves the world, and then they live happily ever after.

The last part of the book seemed needlessly tacked on. The first part was really good. A light, humorous romantic fantasy is so much better than the dark droll that fills the shelves today.

Motorhome Prophecies: A Journey of Healing and Forgiveness

Motorhome Prophecies: A Journey of Healing and Forgiveness by Carrie Sheffield

The author had an interesting upbringing heavily influenced by her father. He was an accomplished musician, but then felt he had a calling to preach patriotic and religious values. He would travel the country with his family, busking and distributing pamphlets. The kids had various education experiences, from home school, suburban schools and inner-city schools. They were faithful members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but outside the mainstream. Her father would eventually go too far in falsely accusing others of malfeasance. She remained faithful in the church until she read some historical information she did not like. That sent her off the deep end and caused her to abandon religion and her moral framework altogether. (It was interesting that her faith was strong enough to handle all the weird behavior in her family, but not enough to withstand reading some history.) She eventually realized the loss and later converted to the Episcopal church.

The first part of the book detailed a very unique experience. She had a somewhat concilitary view. She acknowledged both the negative and positives of the people involved and explored how their past experiences impacted them. The second half pivoted to her career and faith journey. The pace slowed down and switched from a family history to internal. It felt like two different books (with different audiences) clubbed together.

Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future

Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future by Elizabeth Kolbert

Humans of gone to great effort to engineer nature to their designs. While this has often worked well in the short term, the long term is quite a different story. There are many cases of plants or animals that were introduced to help with a local issue, only to have caused even greater issues. People have also built many structures to combat one problem only to have another problem surface. The water control structures in Louisiana have helped prevent floods (when they work). Yet, the floods are what deposited sediment to keep the land.

After discussing the many unintended consequences of engineering the planet, the book pivots to climate change. We have spewed so much carbon into the atmosphere that we are impacting the climate. By some accounts, even if we stop all carbon emissions we are still on a bad path. That leaves reducing carbon in the air as a potential solution. How could that go wrong? The book first explores various carbon sequestering schemes in a positive light. Then puts on the cautious hat. Humanity does not have a good record looking at all the long-term consequences and impacts of the big projects. Alas, we are still continuing down the route. Will switching to electric cars really make a difference when the freeways themselves are impacting ecosystems? Could carbon captures just encourage more bad behavior? Or will it lead to a negative feedback loop in the other direction? Climate change does not have easy solutions.

Road to Surrender: Three Men and the Countdown to the End of World War II

Road to Surrender: Three Men and the Countdown to the End of World War II by Evan Thomas

The United States had an atomic bomb. Japan was still fighting. Should the bomb be used to end the war? This book explores the decision made by American and Japanese to end the war. There was a delicate balance made to help allow the Emperor to end the war without losing power. Did the bombing save lives? Maybe? But situations also changed. Fire bombing or an invasion may have been worse for both sides. Dealing with Japanese culture and an unwillingness to surrender was a huge challenge to navigate when ending the war. The Russian involvement was also forthcoming. This book brings in the "bigwigs", but the big focus is on the underlings that are steering policy. It provides a different view of what led to world-altering decisions.

Old School Indian

Old School Indian by Aaron John Curtis

I originally thought this book would be about Asian Indians. It didn't take long to realize it was about Native American Indians. The main character has some rare disease. He has had various life struggles and goes back to the reservation to meet with his ancestral identity. There were various anecdotes about Indian life and identity. It rambled on a until it reached some sort of conclusion.

The Origins of Woke: Civil Rights Law, Corporate America, and the Triumph of Identity Politics

The Origins of Woke: Civil Rights Law, Corporate America, and the Triumph of Identity Politics by Richard Hanania

The origins of woke is a case study in unintended consequences. What started out as civil rights legislation to end Jim Crow segregation in the south ended up encompassing many more "rights" and "identities". Many groups exist only because of the regulations. The many groups lumped together in "Hispanic" have little in common other than the Spanish language. (And even that can be very different.) However, they are combined together into the "Hispanic" classification. New identities have sprung up. Many more people have disabilities. Trial lawyers have become some of the greatest beneficiaries. Should they win against companies, they can collect fees. If they lose, the company cannot collect legal fees. Thus, companies are often willing to settle even somewhat frivolous cases.

Title IX is a bizarre case of unintended consequences on top of others. Original protection for women was added to civil rights legislation an attempt to scuttle it. It stayed. Then later through judicial fiat, equity of roster spots was required in college sports. It did not matter if women wanted to compete or not. (In fact, cheerleading was declared not a sport, despite it being something that women wanted.) A strict equality was enforced and many men's sports were dropped. Interestingly, this was applied to sports, yet not academic or arts programs. (Perhaps they were prescient in guessing how sports would dominate society.)

Judges are not the only ones to expand the definition. There are many executive orders that apply to policies for government contractors. There are no quotas, but many things that might as well be quotas. It is expected that people match their local population that can be even worse than quotas. There is a lot of "good intentions" in much of the policies. However, it has resulted in a whole "human resources" industry that is now dependent on the existing policies. There has been an industry built up around the policies making them difficult to take away without sound heartless. Yet the policies provide more difficult than benefit. The solution is hard to find.

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir by Bill Bryson

Bill Bryson grew up in the Des Moines, Iowa in the 1950s. His dad was a sports journalist who extensively covered baseball (and liked to wear just a shirt to bed.) Things were "safer" in the 1950s, with kids roaming around without safety gear. The family also had a trip to New York where they stayed at a cheap hotel in Harlem, and even had the cops ask them to leave. (They stayed.) Bill had a friend who would always get the rap for getting in trouble, such as nearly burning down the house. For drinking, they started making fake ids out of old checks. Then the friend discovered it was easier to just steal from the grocery store and then grab pallets worth from the distributor. The book title refers to his superhero alter-ego.  The book is a funny, short tale of growing up in a different time.

Self-Made: Creating Our Identities from Da Vinci to the Kardashians

Self-Made: Creating Our Identities from Da Vinci to the Kardashians by Tara Isabella Burton

People have been famous for being famous. "Social identity" is something carefully crafted to appeal to the others. Why do we care? Alas, I'm not sure. The book spends a while talking about "dandys" and people that have some particular public persona. People do seem to care a lot about about the Kardashians, so there is a market there somewhere, just not for me.

Goodbye Russia: Rachmaninoff in Exile

Goodbye Russia: Rachmaninoff in Exile by Fiona Maddocks

Rachmaninoff left Russia for the US. He didn't have much interaction with fellow Russian musician Leonard Bernstein. Russians wanted to claim him back later. He did stuff and had family. Honestly, his life in the US did not seem very interesting. 

Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World

Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World by Henry Grabar

It depressing to read about how car parking space took over our cities. Parking sucked livelihood out of cities. Those that sought to play the "suburban" game ended up most bombed out. Most communities adopted very precise parking standards that had no basis in reality. They were pretty much pulled out of thin air and propagated. The end result was massing overproduction of parking that needlessly drives up the price of all real estate. The cost of parking that a car occupies is greater than the cost of of the car. The solution is tough. People get upset when the "free" parking is taken away. However, cost is the best way to regulate supply and demand. Typically when people complain about "no parking" there is plenty of parking available nearby, though it may be more costly or restricted to other users. Parking requirements have become one of the last remaining venues for bigots to fight housing. When parking requirements are fully removed, the market does not demand as much parking. Is there any hope for a future of American cities built for people rather than cars?

Death in a Shallow Pond: A Philosopher, a Drowning Child, and Strangers in Need

Death in a Shallow Pond: A Philosopher, a Drowning Child, and Strangers in Need by David Edmonds

Is this a history of philosophers? Or thought experiments? I'm not sure what the full goal of this book was, but it was a fun time. There are a number of thought experiences that boil down to "would you allow harm to come to somebody if it would reduce harm to a greater number of people?" In many cases, we we would do things that would not maximize total value. However, things are not that simple. When we know we cause harm or death to somebody, we feel the pain. The "saving" of others is often a theoretical. The book even pops in a real life "experience" similar to the thought experiments. Things end up a bit different in real life. 

Father Time: A Natural History of Men and Babies

Father Time: A Natural History of Men and Babies by Sarah Blaffer Hrdy

Fathers play some role in nurturing their young. This book explores that by grabbing facts from all across humanity and the animal kingdom. It appears to be reaching for any example it can find, rather than having a coherent narrative. There is still debate over the physical vs. social reasons for men and woman's role in caring for children. There doesn't seem to be any strong conclusion here.

The River Has Roots

The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar

The book was short. That was about all it had going for it. There was something about fantasy and animals and humans. This is not something for me.

A Spirited History of Milwaukee Brews and Booze

A Spirited History of Milwaukee Brews and Booze by Martin Hintz

Milwaukee's history is tied with Beer. Miller still stands as a big beer brand. Schlitz was once a dominate brand that ranked number one or two nationally. Then they tried to cut costs to disastrous consequences. Pabst is another big one that declined in part due to limitations of the charitable ownership. All have been acquired by other companies. Miller is the only one that maintains a large brewery presence in Milwaukee.

The book touches the surface and feels like a series of college essays rather than one coherent work. Chapters typically focus on a single company from their origin to modern times. The chapters on the big brewers are interesting including covering ones that have lost significance (like Gettelman). Then things dive off. Modern craft brewers and distillers don't have nearly as much historical panache. The book also suffers from lack of maps to understand where things were happening geographically.

New Deal Law and Order: How the War on Crime Built the Modern Liberal State

New Deal Law and Order: How the War on Crime Built the Modern Liberal State by Anthony Gregory

Crime was really bad in the United States before World War II. Kidnappings, shoot outs and other incidents were common. Part of the New Deal helped encourage law and order. Policies could be somewhat contradictory and reflected the interests of those in charge. Alcohol was legalized to reduce crime. Marijuana was criminalized to reduce crime. Kidnapping penalties were increased. White collar crime was also attacked. Crime fighting also had to deal with political coalitions. Blacks wanted lynching to stop, while white southerners wanted to continue to lynch. The FBI and national crime fighting grew in importance, while states still maintained their jurisdictions. The book covered a lot of crime fighting, but struggled to have a common thesis.

The Money Illusion: Market Monetarism, the Great Recession, and the Future of Monetary Policy

The Money Illusion: Market Monetarism, the Great Recession, and the Future of Monetary Policy by Scott Sumner

This book had interesting somewhat counter-intuitive views of the impacts of monetary policy. I didn't fully grasp all the details, but felt it could be a good way to look at things. "Easy" money is a key way that the government can help the economy. However, interest rates are often only a part of this. Often the anticipation of rates can be more critical than the actual rates set themselves. Common explanations we hear of for economic crashes are often side correlations. For instance, housing production had already stalled before the great recession. Some "fixes" may also make matters worse. (Encouraging unions and high wages at the start of the Great Depression likely stalled employment gains and production.) Macroeconomics uses the same terminology as microeconomics to describe something very different. Getting the right policies in place can help keep things humming along well, while the wrong policies can make things worse.

The author is very cautious about his beliefs. While he holds them strongly, he also feels that common culture is not likely to take them up until ready. He also notes that "liberal economics" will almost always "win", though the definition of "liberal economics" is always changing. Could we really keep the economy moving around nicely for a long term? Or would the thought of bubbles and crashes mean they must occur?

Dead Souls

Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol, translated by Richard Pevear

Dead Souls pokes fun of Russian culture and bureaucracy. The protagonist goes about the country attempting to purchase "dead souls" from landowners. These are people that have died, yet are still on the tax roles. He believes that owing a great number can help him to get loans and be rich. He also has a scheme to create a fake will to inherit the lands of a rich lady. Alas, that scheme falls apart because he forgot to cancel previous wills. This second part is a bit fragmentary, with sections missing and the end cutting off in mid-sentence. The tone is much less serious than other historic Russian novels.

Deep River

Deep River: A Novel by Karl Marlantes

This book explores the history of a few related Finnish people who came to the Pacific Northwest around the turn of the 20th century. They were primarily attracted by the logging industry. It was a tough industry with hard work and serious chances of injury and death. Men were attracted to the income with some looking at the chance of going on their own. One woman was attracted with the possibility of organizing a large union to help the loggers. The book slowly goes through their experiences and struggles with the local impacts of widespread events like wards, union activities and prohibition. At times it has interludes describing events instead of having the characters live through them. Even so, the book is quite long and it can be difficult to tell the characters apart. The historical settings can almost be identified, but even parts of that have been fictionalized. The female union organizer gets a bit too much coverage, while I would like to see more coverage of the evolution of the society from rough-and-tumble to legitimate towns.

The Thinking Machine: Jensen Huang, Nvidia, and the World's Most Coveted Microchip

The Thinking Machine: Jensen Huang, Nvidia, and the World's Most Coveted Microchip by Stephen Witt

After ending with the exploration of doomsday AI scenarios, the book ends with the disclaimer that it cannot be used to train AI. Ironic or prescient? 

I found this book a better exploration of Nvidia than Nvidia Way. While that book focussed on business process, this book puts the emphasis on the people and what is being achieved. The founding of Nvidia and the evolution from graphics to GPU and AI is covered. However, more emphasis is given to the AI part here. Are we moving into dangerous territory now? 

Absalom, Absalom!

Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner

The novel fails like it should be a drama with a great musical score. The novel straddles the civil war, with Thomas Sutpen coming to Mississippi and building up a great plantation. He has strict racial views and disowns a wife and child after he learns that she has some black blood. He desperately wants a true heir. His next son seems good, but he flees after murdering his half-brother with white blood. Another woman births him a daughter. He is upset with this, which eventually leads to the woman's grandfather murdering Sutpen. The runaway heir later returns in tatters and dies in a fire. The dynasty is officially gone. The story is told from the view of people with connections to the Sutpen in the early 1900s. The strict southern beliefs end up leading to a similar downfall for a man. The narrator (now at Harvard in the early 1900s) ends by saying he does not hate the south. The book has great pageantry, though it is difficult to grasp the plot.