Lisa Napoli

Nonfiction 2021 | 340 pages

It was August 1971 when I drove away from my parent’s home in suburban Detroit, maneuvering my Chevy Vega, which was packed to the hilt with clothes, records, books, pens, notebooks, and probably chocolate chip cookies, for the hour drive to Ann Arbor.  Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan was my ticket into my real life. That same evening, I participated in a candlelight protest against the war in Vietnam.  On the drive to A², I discovered NPR for the very first time.  50 years later, almost to the day, NPR remains my primary source of news.  I was so excited when susan, linda, nina, & cokie was published; a tribute to the founding mothers of NPR.

This book takes place almost exclusively in the 70s and before, as we learn about how these women broke into the broadcasting industry, the fascinating stories of their education, their lineage, and how they came together as colleagues.  Inextricably woven with the creation, challenges, and growth of NPR, Napoli’s book also catalogs the development of public broadcasting in general and NPR specifically.

Delightful footnotes will lead you to audio and video clips from the signing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964; to the first All Things Considered theme song; to the first on-air original NPR broadcast, May 3, 1971, on the March on Washington Vietnam War protest; and ultimately to Cokie’s funeral mass.

I love this book and will be recommending it to my book club.

August 2021

Zakiya Dalila Harris

Fiction, 2021 | 368 pages

I don’t appreciate it when an author writes a second story line and doesn’t ground it … keeps you guessing well into the second half of the book who s/he is writing about in the smaller story she is interweaving into the larger story.  To me, this “clever” author trick makes me feel duped.  I don’t know where to hang the information I am receiving from the sub-plot.

So, let’s go the main plot.  Nella, a young Black woman, is an editorial assistant at Wagner, a major publishing house in New York City, and a second young Black woman, Hazel, is hired on.  What happens in their relationship?  Friends?  Enemies?  Are they out to help each other succeed or fail?  Or, perhaps, does the relationship grow beyond the workplace, and effect their personal lives and fears?  And why does Nella begin to receive anonymous notes, the first of which says “LEAVE WAGNER. NOW.”

Part mystery, part literature, part apparent tongue-in-cheek, especially about the care and styling of Black hair, Harris does a good job of developing Nella’s character.  You can understand her, root for her, feel her pain and her challenges and her joys.  Nella is the saving grace of this book, because otherwise it feels wooden and without depth.

I also felt talked down to.  If you really have read nothing about being Black in this country (and are not yourself Black), especially since the murder of George Floyd, you may find Harris’ writing enlightening.  If you HAVE been socially aware and conscious of injustice, you may find her descriptions of the experiences of these Black women to be a bit condescending.  I did.

Spoiler alert:  And ultimately, in the denouement, you will read that this book is actually about the betrayal of Black people by Black people.  I cannot imagine who would find pleasure in reading this bizarre concoction.  I cannot in good conscience recommend this book, whether you are white, Black, or a mystery reader.  (Sorry, Scott Simon).

August 2021

Joseph Selfie | Nonfiction, 2018

207 pages

Reading The Physics of God, I learned that meditation moves our brains from alpha-waves to theta-waves, which activate imagination, creativity, planning, concentration, morals, manners, and the opportunity for transcendence; offering a much richer space than I realized possible in my meditation practice.

AND, The Physics of God raises a myriad of questions …. and confirmation of truths I find difficult to comprehend.  At the core, there is considerable evidence that an object does not truly exist until it is perceived by consciousness.

In the 20th century, many physicists came to the conclusion that consciousness was the underlying foundation of reality, substantiated and coalesced as the "intelligent-observer paradox".  Intelligent Consciousness creates matter.  This, of course, is very challenging to truly grasp.  This is an argument for a God of some sort …. a Divine Intelligent Consciousness.  Read this short, clear book to gain a deeper level of understanding than I can begin to explore here.

And, still, I am left with a sense of “so what?”  How does this knowledge impact my life, or those around me?  It is interesting, yes.  And to what end?  What insight?  What manifestation?  Selbie argues that only science and religion together explain “Reality.”  I would love to hear your thoughts and questions after you have read this decidedly mind-expanding and thought-provoking book.

August 2021

Robin Wall Kimmerer

Nonfiction 2015 | 408 pages

How sweet!  I love the idea that anything alive is a being and not an “it.”  A chair is an “it” … an apple is a “who.”

Braiding Sweetgrass is unlike any book I have read.  Using the natural world as a vehicle for educating us about indigenous culture and history AND about how to protect, preserve, respect, and love the natural world in which we live, Kimmerer is an extraordinary teacher.

I was astounded at what I learned.  Just a sampling: The Three Sisters … corn rises, beans weave themselves around the corn, and squash grows across the ground, protecting the soil.  When these three are grown together, the yield is always higher than when they are grown separately.  She uses this relationship to teach us about collaboration and cooperation.

And, lichen, a complex life form that is a symbiotic partnership of two separate organisms, fungus and alga, demonstrates the vitality of even the most simple life forms on our planet.

We learn about cedars, pecans, salmon, sweetgrass, maple syrup, asters, goldenrod, lilies, salamanders, Windigo, and much more on this simultaneously broad and deep exploration of the natural world.  And she does it all with a writing style that is engaging and full of life.  I particularly enjoyed the stories she tells of her students on field trips (Dr. Kimmerer is a professor at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry) during which young people get their hands dirty and learn native ways and vital ecological and environmental lessons.

Kimmerer’s philosophical stand is she wants us to take only what we need, and do so with respect and gratitude.  She shows us over and over again how the indigenous people harvested only a percentage of plants, which assured their regeneration, protecting and growing the resources.  She teaches us to actively protect and deeply respect our planet.

Braiding Sweetgrass is important to our education.  It is best read slowly, a chapter here, two chapters there.  Her messages need time to sink in.  I recommend this book highly.

(Though this book decidedly earns four hearts, I will admit I struggled to conquer its length.  Because I could not get my hands on a paper copy in a timely manner, I listened to an audiobook.   I do not much care for audiobooks, so that probably was why I struggled. It is 16 hours and 44 minutes).

August 2021

Melissa Febos

Nonfiction Biography, 2021 | 320 pages

I certainly have earned my wings as a Feminist.  About 50 years ago and ever since.  However, some of you might want to banish them (or me!) when you read this post.

I struggled to finish this book (though I enjoyed her use of the language). I simply could not believe the truth of this biography, and I checked numerous times to confirm it was a biography and not fiction.

Febos talks about the difficulties and trauma associated with developing breasts and hips before her contemporaries, and how she was treated, what she was subjected to, and challenges to her own evolving sense of self.  She writes about events that occurred when she was 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14, as well as events as a young woman. Now, I know I do not have the best memory.  But the manner in which she replays these stories … with extreme detail, emotional understanding and maturity that could not have possibly existed at 12, intellectual understanding that I believe can only come with considerable time … caused me to doubt her veracity. I did not believe her stories.  I DO believe these stories exist; I DO believe she could have presented them as examples of experiences, if she was quoting a woman or girl who was just a few years from the experiences, but as biographical truth, I could not convince myself.

Further, and this makes me angry, later in the book she discusses “empty” consent versus “affirmative" consent versus “enthusiastic” consent.  Her very small sample of interviews confirms in her mind that every young woman has given empty consent to sexual experiences she did not want.  I believe she lets women off the hook and, more damaging, seems to make it “okay” for young women to use empty consent because everyone does it or did it.  (In simple words, “empty” consent means allowing a boy or man to do what he wants to your body rather than expressing your wishes, setting boundaries, saying no, angering the male, or, god forbid, embarrassing him).  To me, this is irresponsible, and likely the opposite of what she was writing to accomplish.

Finally, I do not have a prudish bone on my body.  I enjoy reading (and more!) about sex.  Girlhood, however is about sex, sex, and more sex. Though this enticed me early in, I became quite tired of it.

I do not recommend Girlhood.

July 2021

Mark Synnott

Nonfiction 2021 | 428pages

The picture in my mind is a mature tree, tall and strong, with many branches, limbs, twigs.  That's what The Third Pole brings to mind.  The trunk of the tree is the main story line … the search for the body of Sandy Irvine on Mt Everest, and for his Kodak camera.  Brits Sandy Irvine and Gregory Mallory have held the distinction of being the first to summit Mt Everest, in 1924.  Except, we don’t know for certain. They died on the mountain. Did they die on their way back down after summiting, or did they die on their way up?  This is the story of the author and a group of supporters who embark on a journey to find the answer.  And it is a fascinating journey!

So, back to the tree.  The main line of the story could have been told in about half as many pages. But Synnott adds an enormous amount of context — about many of the deaths on Everest; about the politics of the Chinese who claim to have been the first and are very protective of information and access; about the evolution of mountaineering clothing; about the many nationalities represented among the ranks of porters, climbing sherpas, cooks, guides and other support roles; the history of Everest climbs; the weather, etc. etc.  He dives into these contexts artfully.  I find the branches and twigs to be quite informative, though I occasionally longed for a return to the main story, with just a bit more focus.

One of the components of the search for Irvine that I particularly enjoyed was the team’s use of drones, for the first time at such an altitude, to gather footage for a National Geographic special.  There were political challenges to overcome, as well as interesting technical hurdles.  I have not yet watched Lost on Everest.

Yes, I recommend this long but engaging read.  Thank you Mary (?) for this suggestion.

July 2021, read while camping on the Oregon coast

Matt Haig | Fiction, 2020

288 pages

Nora Seed, depressed and suicidal, is stuck between life and death, in a place called the Midnight Library.  In the Midnight Library she selects books, with the assistance of her former school librarian, Mrs. Elm.  There are an infinite number of books Nora can select, and each takes her to a different life.  One decision away from her “root life” or one choice or a series of choices creates a plethora of lives.  We see Nora actually marry Dan, whom she left at the altar; not give up on an Olympic swimming career; stay with the highly successful band The Labyrinth and become a superstar; actually accept the coffee date with Ash; become a glaciologist in the Arctic; teach philosophy at Cambridge University.  She explores what she sees as “better” lives, guided by her own personal “Book Of Regrets.”  In the end, of course, it isn’t the circumstances of her alternative lives that are essential … it is her perspective.

This is a clever story line I think, with its bits of magic.  So I keep asking myself why I am giving it three hearts instead of four?  I believe it comes down to Nora.  I don’t really like Nora.  She is shallow and I cannot find her redeeming or endearing qualities.  I want a richer, deeper character.  More introspection, more angst perhaps, more joy.  I recommend Midnight Library with hesitation.

July 2021

Amanda Blake | Nonfiction, 2018

300 pages

Because of some jaw-dropping experiences in which I discovered that my body held wise answers to puzzling situations in my life, I began to seek a person or book to help me notice and read more clearly the wisdom of my body sensations.  I have to say, I don’t think such a resource exists.  Your Body is Your Brain came highly recommended, and it did not match my request.  However, I was able to glean a modicum of answers to the question I am pondering.  Particularly useful is chapter three, “Embodied Self-Awareness.”  Also, the author’s many case studies about how individuals were unaware of their bodies gives clues about how to be more attuned.  Most of the book, however, addresses how to use your body, not how to read your body.  Amanda Blake excels at this.  She takes a magnifying glass to leadership and writes about how your body can help you with courage, compassion, credibility, composure, confidence, collaboration, and other important characteristics.  If you are interested in that topic, you may find this book delightful and insightful.

July 2021

Kristin Hannah

Fiction 2021 | 464 pages

What I knew about The Dust Bowl could have filled a very small thimble.  This novel graphically teaches us an important piece of history about the Depression, the Dust Bowl, and the mistreatment of US residents who went west to find work after their farms and ranches were destroyed by drought.  Hannah’s characters are gripping, rich, and deep.  Her ability to tell a tale is astounding.  We follow the life of Elsa and her two children, Loreda and Ant, thrust into unimaginable poverty and the desperate struggle to survive.  We witness the physical, emotional, financial, and familial devastation of the Dust Bowl. And we are viscerally educated about the rise of the farm-workers’ rights movement in the west.  I highly recommend.  This is a good summer read that is hard to put down.

July 2021

Leslie Marmon Silko  |  Nonfiction Memoir

2010, 319 pages

I didn’t like her voice.  So self-centered, I could not find anything to grab on to.  I have a BIG pile of books awaiting me, so I will move forward.

July, 2021

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