Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kasulke
The book is told in the form of Slack conversations. The story is primarily an office-style workplace romp, with a key event being a storm that requires most people to work from home. One of the people battles with a slack bot, and ends up being stuck in there. It is a nice attempt, with some humor but will get dated very quickly.
Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar translated by Grace Frick
The Roman emperor Hadrian was a real man. This book contains many accurate events of his life wrapped in a fictional narrative addressed to his successor. This brings the emperor to life in a way that a simple non-fiction work cannot.
Dark Matter: A Novel by Blake Crouch
A middling professor gets abducted and beat up, but not killed. When he comes to, he relies he has been out for some time. The world seems about the same, but some things are different. His house is still his, however, there is no sign of his wife or child. He discovers that he decided to focus on his work instead of getting married. His work led him to some great discoveries and positions at elite universities before going to work for a private company. There he discovered ways of traveling into different realities. However, he had been missing for some time. He realizes it was the him from the future that had abducted him and they had now swapped lives. The book alternates stories of the two lives of the same man, but focuses on the original one. (The version of himself that had abducted him is now living the laid-back family life.)
The original version of the professor is now treated as insane and involuntary committed, but escapes. He is also chased by members of his company. He teams up with a psychologist and explores alternate realities. One is a Utopian version of Chicago with high-tech L trains. Others are dystopian. The book concludes with many versions of the man encountering each other. What would happen if we could go back and see how things would turn out if we went down different paths? What if a version of us from one path went back to travel down a version of the other?
Why Machines Learn: The Elegant Math Behind Modern AI by Anil Ananthaswamy
This book explores the math behind AI. It is rather straightforward, with a lot of vectors. However, it requires some close attention to grok. It seemed to be an interesting topic, bur I didn't feel I came out better understanding it after completing the book.
Big Fiction: How Conglomeration Changed the Publishing Industry and American Literature by Dan Sinykin
Publishing houses have consolidated over the years. This has led to the general "corporatization" seen in other fields. This has lead to a bifurcation of publishing where the "award winner" list is very different from the "best seller" list. The consolidation came about gradually. Initially book stores would carry a selection of books that were available. They would order direct from publishers and receive books when they came. There were many publishers concentrated in New York, as well as many other smaller regional publishers. Some innovations such as "mass market" paperbacks brought books to grocery stores and other venues. Wholesalers entered the picture, allowing booksellers to rapidly obtain any book. Then mall bookstores such as Waldenbooks and B. Dalton further emphasized the "popular" books. Borders and Barnes and Noble took it up a notch with superstores. Amazon came to dominate the mail order side of retail. The publishers also consolidated with some being part of giant conglomerates. Genre publishing focussed on certain niches like romance or Science Fiction. Some authors, like Danielle Steel have built up a strong brand in genres. (Interesting, Stephen King found that when he published books under a pseudonym, they did not sell well.)
Thing continue to evolve. Self-publishing has taken over the low end of the market, almost wiping out mass market books. The government has also been acting to prevent further consolidation on the publishing side.
The subtitle attempts to be more alarming than the content is. There are some interesting explorations of the lives of some key players such as Steel and publishing houses. However, the general flow seems like that of standard industrial consolidation.
The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez
People in a Dominican Republic village wonder what will happen to the land by the landfill. They think about all sorts of things. However, it was inherited by a writer who decides to use it as a cemetary of untold stories. The untold stories contain many characters that are tied to the history of the Dominican Republic and some of the key characters. The stories are tied together with the "real" people that live in the land. It was originally written in English, though it makes heavy use of Latin American culture.
Land Between the Rivers: A 5,000-Year History of Iraq by Bartle Bull
This long history of Iraq spent too much time drifting off to wider events in the area. There is a huge description of major religious movements, such as Islam. While that may be nice for context, Iraq was not really involved until it was conquered by Islamic groups. I would have rather read a more concise book of history as it impacted Iraq.
Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea: Journeys Through Ancient Literature by Emily Wilson
I have heard that in Japan, translators are well known and respected almost as much as authors. In the English speaking world, they are almost treated as an afterthought. However, translators play a huge role in how we experience works of literature. This can be especially important with ancient works. Most of the popular Greek works of today were experienced as popular culture. They were in the vernacular of the day and would be more akin to a superhero movie than work of literature. Alas, we often experience them in archaic translations. This causes a barrier to their understanding. Translators also struggle with the feel of the work. One word may be translated exactly with a 30 word phrase, but then you've lost the flow. A single word may be better even if it is not exact. How do you get the rhythm and meter in different languages? What about slang and scatalogical language? And what about different dialects present in the original?
In this book, the author explores her experience with different ancient works and the art of translation. It is filled with interesting examples of trade offs made in translation and how she feels about it. I would love to see more translated works accompanied by a discussion from the translator.
Thinking Strategically: The Competitive Edge in Business, Politics, and Everyday Life by Avinash K. Dixit
Applied game theory helps guide decision making and identify some "bad outcomes". People will often alter their decisions based on what others are doing and how they perceive the outcomes will be. Even the type of way a decision is made can significantly impact the outcome. (The Roman method of focussing on possible punishments first will produce different results than American method of deciding guilt first then punishment later.) I recall Chicago's Olympic bid, which was thought to be the overwhelming frontrunner being derailed in part because may thought others would vote for it. That example was way past those in the book which was written decades ago. The book includes many examples from sports hall of fame voting to union negotiations. The "Tragedy of the Commons" even makes an appearance.
What's Next Is Now: How to Live Future Ready by Frederik Pferdt
The author worked as an innovation specialist for Google. The book explores ways we can have a growth mindset and innovate. We should not reject ideas immediately. We should be willing to change our activities and experiences. Instead of looking immediately to "how we can fix this problem", we can instead look at "how can we make this worse". When we disagree try to find a way to agree and explore that. It is fairly normal discussion. The tone makes it feel like it should be read while barefoot in a dark room with incense burning.
The Hidden Nazi: The Untold Story of America’s Deal with the Devil by Dean Reuter, Colm Lowery, and Keith Chester
The book posits that Hans Kammler, a Nazi SS general and special weapons leader, was brought to the US by the allies and helped transfer weapons technology. The book explores Nazi rocket technology and the impact that it had on the war. It also delves into Hemler's history as a Nazi. It also explores other Nazis like Wernher von Braun who left Germany for America. von Braun became a respected American engineer and was never prosecuted for his Nazi crimes during his life. (Though he likely would have if he lived longer.) The authors conducted interviews and pieced together documents to come to the conclusion that Hemler's knowledge of weapons made him valuable to Americans. The past experience of bringing in Nazis and hiding them made that plausible. The contradictions in the accounts of his death also enhanced the plausibility. The book's tone differs from typical histories in that it provides an underlying narrative of the history and writing. The primary author was a lawyer who was brought in by two hobby historians. He gradually came to believe in their research and get drawn into their story. It feels like a well-researched conspiracy theory.
When Driving Is Not an Option: Steering Away from Car Dependency by Anna Zivarts
One third of the residents of the US cannot drive. Our transportation infrastructure is built for drivers, thus disenfranchising a huge section of the population. Often the "solution" is to try to provide ways for them to be driven, rather than provide overall mobility. Young children are expected to be driven by their parents. The elderly are expected to be provided for by a caregiver. Undocumented immigrants are offered driver's licenses. Those that are poor are given subsidies. Those with disabilities are given expensive adaptations to support driving or expected to get others to help them.
A better solution would be to steer away from car dependency and allow universal mobility. However, transportation policies that make things a little bit better for drivers make things difficult or impossible for non-drivers. Wide streets with distant crossings make it difficult to cross. This is made worse when there are no sidewalks or safe walking places along the side. Transit systems are often designed by people who don't use them. Schedules and transfer can be difficult, with routes not necessarily going when or where needed. It is treated as generous charity rather than a legitimate means of transit. Sidewalks are often an afterthought. They may be il-maintained or missing altogether. Curb cuts could be missing. Construction may block sections.
This book points out many of the challenges faced by non-drivers. However, it goes a bit to far in the identity politics. Do we really need to focus on the race or ethnicity of non-drivers? It would be better to focus on universal needs rather than narrow the focus to small subgroups. Everyone is young or old at some point in their lives. Many have disabilities or even injuries that limit mobility. Most people have had some time in their lives when it was difficult to make ends meet. These universal experiences could serve as a better point for building this universal coalition. What if we changes the mindset. Instead of accommodating people, we built the infrastructure for them and then accommodated cars? This can enable freedom of mobility for all.
Come and Get It by Kiley Reid
A writer goes to visit the University of Arkansas. Then things get weird. She interviews some students in a dorm for a book on weddings. However, she ends up being more attracted to the them as people. Meanwhile, one student (Kennedy) who loved the author's work keeps on missing out on meeting with her or her classes. The RA falls for the writer and has a lesbian affair. They happen to be making out when the Kennedy accidentally cuts her wrist with a pizza cutter kitchen-cleaning conflict with roommates. They all somehow manage to escape guilt, with the writer "patching things up" with money for one of the roommates and the RA. Sometimes it is best for people to stick with others their age. Seemingly small indiscretions can slowly spiral out of hand.
The Florentines: From Dante to Galileo: The Transformation of Western Civilization by Paul Strathern
Florence played a key role in the Renaissance. It was democratic. The Medici's were able to find religious loopholes to lead a banking empire. Artists, scientists and inventors were present. The book catalogs all in a time series, but is little too long and rambly.
The Domestic Revolution: How the Introduction of Coal into Victorian Homes Changed Everything by Ruth Goodman
Coal changed the life of the British population. The takeover of coal followed a meandering path. It was seen as something to help the "lower classes", but gradually spread to upper classes. It changed the way of cooking and brought about the overcooked British food. Chineys also came about at a similar time. They did keep some away, but they also let much of the heat escape. At first they were only for the rich, but they gradually spread. Heating changed the way we live and sleep. Coal fire led to more furniture elevated above the ground. A central fire encouraged everyone to socialize together in a small house. Not until central heating did people spread apart into big houses. The method of home heating is an important part of daily life, yet is not well documented. Much of the history of coal adoption had to be pieced together from fragmentary sources.
Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI by Ethan Mollick
This book takes a balanced view of AI. It is here. It can help us do a lot of powerful things. It will also cause a lot of changes. It can succeed at many complex tasks, yet can stumble at seemingly easy tasks. It likes to please, and will "hallucinate" to provide answers we want. We need to stay involved to make sure it doesn't spin out of control. Education and work will change. We still don't know the limits of AI. Maybe it will get much better. Maybe we are near it's limit now. There can also be many negative and positive outcomes. It will require work to be on the good side.
Every Version of You by Grace Chan
The physical world has gone to pot. People spend most of their time living in a virtual reality world, Gaia. Their physical body is often in a basic lift-support pod while they spend time in the virtual world. Through a technological breakthrough, people can now "clone" themselves so that they can live full time virtually and dispose of their physical bodies. The book centers around Navin and Tao-Yi. Navin is done with the poor condition of his physical body and is eager to enter the virtual world permanently. Tao-Yi has doubts. She also endures the death of her mother, a real-world hold out. The book explores transhumanism and what it means to be "alive". Hidden beneath the surface is how we can be controlled and willingly surrender rights and abilities.
The Art of Uncertainty: How to Navigate Chance, Ignorance, Risk and Luck by David Spiegelhalter
This book was not bad, but I feel I have read a few very similar books before. Uncertainty is a thing in life. We often do a poor job understanding and acting on the true odds. We also need to be make sure we are communicating properly. Sometimes what we may take as expressing a certain probability may be interpreted by the listener as expressing something different. It is also important to update our probabilities as we get more information (Bayesian logic.) We may even need to update the initial odds if that was totally off base. The book was well written and conversational.
Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare by Edward Fishman
Economic warfare seems like a option - until it doesn't work. The book explores some types of economic warfare that have had various degrees of success. Iran worked out pretty well at first, but then there started to be some confusion as to what the goals were. It perhaps lasted a little bit too long. The US dollar is a unit of global trade, so the United States has power to flex its muscle to get others to agree to demands. Alas, this works best with smaller entities. Russia and China are big enough to look for alternatives (thereby diminishing America's power.) They also have natural resources that America needs. Sanctions against Huawei had a some success, though the company is still doing well. Russian sanctions have done little to impact the Ukraine War. Europe needs Russian fuel. Carving out the greatest export limits the power of sanctions. The United States is probably reaching its end period of economic hegemony.
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
Pachinko tells the story of multiple generations of a Korean family in the 20th century. There is somewhat of a rags to riches story as they rise from great poverty in Korea to respectability in Japan. However, it is not quite that simple. Koreans were looked down upon by the Japanese in both Japan and Korea. During the occupation, Koreans were treated poorly at home and at Japan. Afterwards, they were still not treated well. They were not Japanese, even though they lived for decades in Japan. As a young girl, Sunja was impregnated by an older married Korean from Japan (Koh Hansu). She didn't want to be a mistress and took up a pastor's offer to marry her. She moved with him to Japan where he had Korean expatriate family. Koh continued to keep an eye on the family and clandestinely helped them out - but the help often ended up being a faustian bargain with negative things happening. (For example, his son with the woman ran off and did well while posing as a Japanese. Once his family found out, he committed suicide.) The story goes through World War II and includes a family member getting harmed by the atomic bombs. The family builds up businesses, including Pachinko parlors. Some later generations are educated in America. However some of the relationships continue to haunt them. The characters lived through key events in modern Korean history as commoners. The characters have roots in Pyongyang, they live through World War II and the Korean War. However, they do not control the events nor have much active participation. They are just trying to live their lives.
