Playlist for the Apocalypse: Poems by Rita Dove
I had my firephone read this book to me. It may have been better to read the poems in print. There were some that dealt with watergate and slave politics. Also other bits of random poems. They went in one ear and out the other.
Luna: New Moon by Ian McDonald
This is a long space opera about people on the moon. There are big families that control a lot of the moon activity. Law is primarily carried out as contract negotiations, thus there is little need for appeal. A marriage between two families goes bad and conflicts arise. The book is long and boring, and is lies much more in the "soap opera" realm.
The author came from an immigrant Chinese family who wanted what was best for their daughter. They were frugal and were able to save for her to go to University of Chicago. Now she dispenses financial advice to Millenials. It seems to be "save more than you spend, but still enjoy things." There are also long discussions about treating marriage and kids as financial endeavors. Oh millenials.
Early Riser: A Novel by Jasper Fforde
There is a world where it gets very cold during the winter. Humans hibernate. They need to make sure they have enough food. Companies dominate part of it. There are dreams and other conditions. The protagonist thought a character from a painting disappeared. There are some rebels that try to live as "british" in the cold. I got lost in the book. It seems to have some criticism of big business influence and environmental destruction, but it goes on for too long.
Travel Talk Korean by Penton Overseas
I recognized some of the Korean here from other Korean language audiobooks. Alas, this one was lacking. There is little time to repeat the phrases. The organization is lacking. Many sections are just "common phrases" again. The voice and tone are both somewhat muted. There are much better 1 hour introductions to Korean out there.
Pimsleur Korean Level 1 Lessons 11-15 by Pimsleur
In the third installment, there is a lot of time spent ordering bottles of wine or cans of beer. These lessons are not particularly useful and are difficult to stick. The numbers are covered in various times, but just don't seem to stick either. Korean does have a couple numbering systems, making it even more confusing. This is a time where drilling or using audio and video together would be more useful.
William Blake and the Sea Monsters of Love: Art, Poetry, and the Imagining of a New World by Philip Hoare
What would happen if you tripped out and started relating William Blake to every artist that interests you? You would end up with this book. It is a not very coherent exploration of various artists, with a focus on the early 20th century. They relate to Blake with some direct and indirect experience. The book rambles on for much too long without saying very much.
Asian American Histories of the United States by Catherine Ceniza Choy
What is the history of people from Asia in the United States? You won't find much of that hear. However, if you are interested in the role that Asians have played in labor movements and community organizing. Business and culture are barely mentioned. The "Donut King" of Southern California gets much more coverage than Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. Chinese and Japanese culture is barely mentioned until it is under stress. In an attempt to be show the importance of Asians in the US, the book portrays them as dependent on the non-Asian culture. The focus is on Asian Americans adopting American-style organizing to get more privileges from the government. We could have a much better Asian history.
Take a Girl Like You (NYRB Classics) by Kingsley Amis
In the 1960s, young adults behaved badly. The book centers on a man that is trying to put the moves on a girl. The girl likes him, but doesn't want to go all the way. There is also a girl that is pretending to be French that puts the moves on her. There is also a married couple behaving badly. Everyone is depraved in a different way. The book ends with the girl getting drunk and being raped by the guy that was trying to put the moves on her. They treat it as something normal and meet afterwards - though she says she does not want to be with him. It's hard not to feel sick after reading this dated book.
Parade: A Novel by Rachel Cusk
There are artists. Female artists can be conflicted in their artistic and family responsibilities. Somebody committed suicide in an art gallery. Some parade was going on. There is not much to recommend in this book.
Fearless by Lauren Roberts
This conclusion to the Powerless series is filled with tons of twists and turns - way too many of them. The girl is going to be married to the "wrong" boy. It would have been nice to see her end up with the "true love" instead, but you knew it would not happen. A single twist could have done it. Instead there were dozens. She kills thet rue love, only to later find out it was somebody in disguise. She finds out that she is actually an abandoned royal daughter. A friend is not actually a friend. There was a plot to spread the plague around and the King was both noble and crazy. In the end, the king dies, she discovers that she is the royal rather than the guy she loves and they get to live happily ever after and have kids. Remove three quarters of the sub-plots and this could be a good book.
A Guide To Korean Characters: Reading and Writing Hangul and Hanja by Bruce K. Grant
I checked this out intending to learn Korean writing. It does cover the writing systems. However, the Korean characters are only in the inside cover. The rest of the book covers Chinese characters. From what I have heard, these Chinese characters are only rarely used in Korea today. I'd rather find a book that focuses on Korean writing.
Apprentice to the Villain (Assistant and the Villain, 2) by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
This is a "middle book" in the villian series. There seems to be a lot going on, but it is unclear why it is going on. The villain and the girl seem to like each other. Family members come out to influence the plot. They are trying to find the girl's mother with the goal of understanding things. However, they seem to run into other family members instead. I was a little bit lost with this plot. It seemed to be a vehicle for humor rather than a story.
Dream With Your Eyes Open: An Entrepreneurial Journey by Ronnie Screwvala
The author started out convincing Indians that they needed toothpaste before branching out into media production. The book is filled with the standard "Here is what I did to succeed in business. You can do it too". There did not seem to be much original about what he wrote. It may be more interesting to those that are familiar with the media empire that he created in India.
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny: A Novel by Kiran Desai
Two South Asian Indians knew each other at a young age. Their lives diverge as they go about many things, however, they end up back together. They spend much time in America where they have experiences straddling the two cultures. They have different relationships and have excitement in newness, even if it means walking around naked. However, they also need to occasionally hide from others in part to adhere to some classical standards. The book seemed to go on forever, with similar things repeating themselves over and over.
A Brief History of Equality by Thomas Piketty, translated by Steven Rendall
Piketty sees the world as moving towards a state of more equality, using the definition he gives. The argument is filled with contradictions and redefinitions. There are various ideas that make sense, but are not carried out well. Including negative externalities in calculation of wealth seems like a smart move, but it becomes challenging in practice. Equality across different groups seems like a noble goal, but how far do you go in defining groups. Is equality a good thing? There is conflict between equality and freedom. People are richer with more material possessions, but are they happier? If what matters is relative difference, wouldn't equality just make everyone feel "blah"? The author is an advocate of reparations. Would these benefit the people paying or the people receiving? He gives the example of "reversing" the suffering of Haiti by returning payments made to France. Would you also make Russia pay back payments made by Finland? What about Germany's payments after World War I? Making payments can encourage thrift and hard work. Receiving payments can end up causing harm and hurting the economy. (Even in rich economies, natural resource abundance can have negative impacts. Would loads of cash in previously disadvantaged groups result in short term boost of "others" and along term negative for the community impacted? You don't often hear of dynasties started with lottery winnings.)
The author also criticizes the conservatism and slow change of current institutions. A drastic change would be a preferred way to launch communism. Alas, the track record of this has not been good. If we enable more dramatic changes, what is to say it would happen to the left? Trump is an example of taking power to change in the opposite direction.
Cause and effect are also uncertain. Does equality lead to economic growth? Or does growth provide the ability to provide more societal benefits for all? What is the end goal for growth and equality?
Wag the Dog: A Novel by Larry Beinhart
This was originally called American Hero and later reissued as Wag the Dog after the name of the movie based on the book. This is something about politicians staging a "fake war" to help get re-elected. However, this part barely appears. Instead, it is mostly about a detective and a movie star. It rambled on and tried to blur the line between fact and fiction.
The Air-Conditioned Nightmare by Henry Miller
Henry Miller grew up in New York and fled to Europe. Shortly before World War II, he returned to America and wrote this book about his journeys in the country. His tone is extremely negative, and comes across as an "apostate" from the country. He hates America and criticizes just about everything he sees. His positive views are on things like France and the Baha'i faith.
The journey was made in 1940, shortly before the US entered World War II. The most interesting parts are the side notes about the country in the time. Hitler was rising, but it was not clear what the end result would be or whether the US would become involved. The prices at the time were ridiculously low compared today. Big tourist attractions still attracted tourists doing the tourist things. In some ways it does not seem different from many more modern road trip travelogues.
Archive of Unknown Universes: A Novel by Ruben Reyes Jr.
El Salvador and Cuba. Gay and Straight. Real and alternate history. Past and Future. This book contains a number of contrasts. A couple are having some relationship trouble. They have the ability to use a device which can show alternate histories. In the past, there is a gay couple in El Salvador. There are challenges with the revolution that occurred. There are a few different stories that sort of go together, but it is not quite connected.
