Spying on the South

Finished October 21

Spying on the South: An Odyssey Across the American Divide by Tony Horwitz

I've read one of his previous books about his travels in the Middle East, and enjoyed his writing, but what led me to this book was his wife Geraldine Brooks' book Memorial Days, about Tony's death and how his family coped. The death was sudden and occurred in 2019 while he was on tour for this book.  

Much of his travels for this book were in 2015 and 2016, just before Donald Trump was elected for the first time, and the state of the feelings about the United States situation and future were one of the things that this book looked at.

In terms of structure, Tony decided to follow, as much as possible, the second trip Frederick Law Olmstead made to America's south in a time where the country was also divided, just before the Civil War. Olmstead wrote articles under the name 'Yeoman' for the New York Daily Times, about his travels and the feelings about the country by the people he met then. Slavery was naturally one topic that came up often, and Texas had not yet decided on its future regarding this practice. 

The trip started in West Virginia, went along the Ohio river past Kentucky, made a sidetrip to Nashville, then back to the Mississippi river past Mississippi, and down to New Orleans. Olmstead then went by horse through Louisiana, across Texas, and into Mexico, returning through southern Texas. He travelled with his brother John

Tony followed the same route, mostly on his own, but sometimes with a friend, and did most of the land portions by car. He did have one brief excursion by mule in West Texas, but it didn't go well, and he resumed his trip a few months later in the fall of 2016. He had similar experiences in some places as Olmstead, and quite different in others, such as going into Mexico. The land itself has changed little, except what man has built upon it, and Tony has a knack for being able to gauge situations well, and talk with most people. He engaged with people at many levels across the trip, from barge workers to tour guides, chemical plant workers to farmers. I learned a lot and found his conversations eye-opening and in light of where we are today, sometimes haunting. 

A fascinating book about two interesting men nearly 175 years apart. 

So Far Gone

Finished May 1

So Far Gone by Jess Walter

The main character Rhys Kinnick has been living off-grid for the last seven years. Just before making the decision to move to his grandfather's cabin in the woods, he had punched his son-in-law Shane in the face at a Thanksgiving family gathering. He had agreed with his daughterBethany not to talk religion or politics, but Shane was talking both and goading him and with the recent 2016 election, he just snapped. 

While Rhys loves Bethany, he has never liked her taste in men. Doug, the father of her daughter Leah, was a musician who did drugs and was only too happy to sign away his rights as a father. Shane, a man she met at rehab, seemed a little too serious about religion, and in the years since he's spent time with the family, has gone even more right-wing, now belonging to a Christian church with a militia, with a headquarters in the mountains named The Rampart. 

When Rhys opens his door to a woman and two kids, he doesn't even recognize his grandchildren at first.  The woman, Anna, is a neighbour of Bethany and Shane's and Leah has come to her with a note explaining that Bethany has gone away for a while and Leah was told to take the note to Anna if Shane decided to go look for her. Rhys takes the kids in, and his grandson Asher explains that he has a chess tournament he really wants to go to.

When Rhys left the Thanksgiving get-together years ago, he threw away his phone, realizing that its constant stream of news had a lot to do with his anger. He had also recently lost his job as environmental reporter at the newspaper, and his girlfriend Lucy, who told him she never wanted to see him again.

At the location of the tournament, friends of Shane show up and forcibly take Leah and Asher with them, telling Rhys Shane told them to get them. As Rhys deals with his injuries from this encounter and vows to get his grandchildren, he resorts to asking Lucy for help and finds himself with another ex-boyfriend of hers, a retired cop with a bipolar condition that leads them both into a dangerous situation. 

As Rhys deals with his grandchildren, he also follows the trail to Bethany and finds that the distance between him and his daughter dates back much earlier, and he has to mend fences and rejoin the world to even start at making things right again. 

This is a story that is timely in the American landscape, and deals with technology's reach, the huge rift in America in terms of politics and radical evangelical Christianity, as well as family relations. Shane is a gentle man that has been led through misinformation into a radical environment that he's not as ready for as he thought. Bethany loves her husband, but also remembers her earlier life with fondness. She's also not a fan of this church which seems to hold women as lesser people. This is a story that will leave you thinking. 

Red, White & Royal Blue

Finished March 21

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

This romance is focused on two young men, and is told from the point of view of one of them. Alex Claremont-Diaz is the son of the US president, Ellen Claremont, a woman who was married to Alex's dad (he's also a politician) and is a Democrat. Ellen is coming up on the end of her first term and will be running for reelection. This is one line of the plot. Alex has an older sister June who also lives at the White House and is trying to get into journalism, with her background becoming a barrier for her. Another young woman who is close to the two siblings is Nora. Nora is the granddaughter of the vice-president and a statistics whiz. 

The family attends the wedding of the eldest grandson of the British Queen (here the Queen is named Mary and has a daughter Catherine, who is the mother of the prince getting married, Philip, as well as two other children, Beatrice, and Henry). Here, an interaction between Alex and Henry causes a small disaster, and plans are put in place by both sides to do PR management to make things better. This involves getting Alex and Henry to spend time together showing that they are good friends. 

As the two young men get to know each other, they discover that they are both intelligent young men who want to make a difference in the world, and their positions lead them to some specific ways of doing that. 

They also find that they are drawn to each other in ways beyond friendship. Given that it is an election year, and their positions mean that any relationship will have international repercussions, there are many difficulties, decisions about what secrets to keep and from who, and things that most people in relationships don't have to consider.

This was a very enjoyable read. I liked all the young people at the centre of the story, including the ones we see a bit less of than the three Americans and the prince, such as Beatrice and Henry's best friend Pez. The older generation is less well-developed here, but seem like they have some depth to them as well. I liked the positivity of the larger story as well as the more personal ones, and the way that the intelligence of the characters comes out through both banter and the plot lines. 

Crazy Salad

Finished August 10

Crazy Salad by Nora Ephron

This collection of articles dates from 1972 to 1974 and was published in 1975. The articles all have a focus on women or issues relating to women. Some are related to social events of the times, some to politics (there are quite a few around Nixon and Watergate) and some to specific female figures. I really enjoyed the essays, and found many of them were still very relatable nearly fifty years later, which is definitely sad to contemplate. Ephron is a very good writer, and she lets her personality and some of her personal bias come through here, which makes the essays feel more intimate and relatable. Having recently read Dorothy Parker, I particularly liked the essay on her, and I also really enjoyed the two Crazy Ladies ones which speaks to expectations on women and women who defy those expectations. A few of these are reviews and Ephron does not mince words when she doesn't think a book lives up to its buzz. 

Altogether a great collection and one I found both enlightening and engaging.

My Discovery of America

Finished June 30
My Discovery of America by Farley Mowat

This short book is the story of a few days in the spring of 1985 when Mowat attempted to fly to the United States for a planned book tour and speaking engagement at a private college. At the airport, he cleared customs and immigration and was waiting at his gate when an immigration agent came to him and asked him to return to the immigration area. After an interview, he was denied entry with no explanation.
He didn't just return home. He contacted his publishers, and went to their office in Toronto, and he worked with them to find out what was happening and why. It turned out that the McCarran Act, enacted in the McCarthy era to keep certain types of visitors to the United States out with no transparency was still on the books, and that under Reagan, its use have been revived. Despite being told various stories of past actions dating back to 1968, Mowat had visited the U.S. many times, including other book tours. Perhaps it was the topic of his most recent book, Sea of Slaughter, that drew new attention, but the government wasn't going into details.
There are a lot of echoes here of more recent U.S. immigration barriers and attitudes, including one immigration staffer who was on record as saying "We also exclude rapists, drug pushers and terrorists -- not just Canadians." When I read that I was reminded of Trumps remarks about Mexican immigrants.
Mowat received extensive media coverage, in Canada, the United States and internationally. He also received many letters from individual Americans, and it is this discovery that the title refers to. With the exception of three letters, every letter he received was apologetic, embarassed, or otherwise unhappy with their government's actions. It is this that he discovered, that Americans are not necessarily the government that represents them.
One can only hope that that is still true.

Tiny Little Thing

Finished June 6
Tiny Little Thing by Beatriz Williams, read by Kathleen McInerney

This book is one I grabbed to listen to because I so enjoyed the author's Along the Infinite Sea. This book actually occurs in time just before that one, and features Tiny, the sister of Pepper, the main character of the other book. Pepper has a large role in this one too, displaying all the moxie she showed in the companion novel.
Tiny is less fearless than Pepper, and her life has been spent pleasing others, doing what's expected of her, even when she doesn't actually want to. Tiny cares about what people think of her, and she wants to be the daughter her mother has wanted her and raised her to be.
The novel moves back and forth between the summer of 1966 and two years earlier, when Tiny was reconsidering her choices. Which brings us to the other main character of this book, Captain Caspian Harrison, a career soldier, and a cousin to the man that Tiny is about to marry in 1964. Because of the two timelines, we know that Tiny did indeed marry Frank, but we don't know what happened between her and Caspian back in 1964, and we do know that Tiny is once again unhappy with her situation and considering her choices.
I was appalled at the actions of some of the characters, and feared for Tiny at one point. I enjoyed meeting Tiny's unconventional mother, and the character of Caspian. I liked seeing Tiny develop into a more independent woman, and take her life into her own hands.
This is a novel of secrets, of ambition, and of love.
Now I'm hoping to read more about this interesting Schuyler family.

American by Day

Finished July 12
American by Day by Derek B. Miller

I really enjoyed Norwegian by Night by Miller, and this is a follow-up book to that one. Set in 2008, shortly after the earlier book ended, but published this year, there are occasional allusions to some of the events of the present, which I enjoyed.
Chief Inspector Sigrid Ødegård has taken a leave after the conclusion of an investigation into the case covered in the earlier book, and finds that instead of relaxing on the family farm, her father is sending her to the United States to look for her older brother, Marcos, who appears to be missing.
Marcos was an adjunct professor at a small college in upstate New York, and Sigrid flies through Iceland, to Montreal, and then on to Watertown.
Sigrid's reactions to her environment, her questions about the things happening around her, and the reactions of those she interacts with are a big part of this book, and a source of humour, insight, and storyline.
When Sigrid arrives she finds that her brother is indeed missing, and that he is connected to the death of a professor at the same college he worked at, a professor he was involved with romantically, and a professor who was African American and wrote and researched race issues. There is another death connected to the professor on a personal level, also race-related, and Sigrid's view of the situation is vastly different than the one the police seem to have.
The sheriff of the area seems like a nice man, but he ignores the media to his peril, and sometimes bends too much to the political pressure of the state authorities. He takes a close watch on Sigrid, asking that they work together, but, as Sigrid envisions a different outcome she isn't always on board with his actions.
This is a story that involves American race relations, politics, the view of "outsiders," mental illness, police relations, motivations, and communication. There is also guilt, perceived and felt, and the search for what is right. A wonderful read.

A Higher Loyalty

Finished May 21
A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership by James Comey

I wanted to read this book to see what Comey felt behind the role he held, and this book met that expectation. Comey tracks his career journey from its beginnings, and goes into detail on some of the cases or situations that he dealt with. The details increase as we grow closer to the present, specifically regarding the Hillary Clinton email investigation, and Comey's dealings with Trump. Nothing actually surprised me, and I understood Comey's reasons for doing what he did.
Comey knows that nobody is perfect, including himself, and he does talk about a few actions that he is ashamed of, and details the struggles he had to make some decisions, including often asking for input from others or advice from people he trusted.
He outlines his ideas of what a good leader looks like, and what things a leader must keep in mind to remain a good leader. He talks about ethics, and his personal take on that and how it led him to the career he chose. He also talks about his lifelong goal of helping people, of righting wrongs and bringing those who betray others to justice. Through examples, he shows how he tries to give people chances to redeem themselves, to choose a different path, and how some choose it and others don't.
He talks about his wife, and the strong relationship they have, and how they've dealt with the struggles that life has brought them.
I enjoyed the book, and feel I understand the author better as well.

The God's Eye View

Finished September 9
The God's Eye View by Barry Eisler, performed by the author

This thriller builds on the Snowden story. Theodore Anders is the director of the NSA and he wants to know everything about everyone, so he can "keep America safe". But he is so used to having control that when he finds he has lost it, he will take extreme measures to regain it.
Evelyn Gallagher works as a computer analyst at the NSA and has been the primary creator of a program that draws images from cameras around the work and applies biometrics to them to look for patterns and anomalies. When she sees two people together who shouldn't be in normal circumstances, she reports it. But when something happens to those two people shortly afterward, she begins to wonder if the director has taken steps beyond legal limits. She also wonders what she can do, and who she can tell, and if she herself is in danger. These are all good questions, She is a single mom, struggling to make a good life for her deaf son Dash. When she meets Manus, a kind man at a baseball game, and he is deaf, she finds herself drawn to him. Is she thinking of Dash or is something else attracting her.
Manus has his own issues, including an extremely difficult childhood, and an unswerving loyalty to the person who took him out of the negative trajectory he was on and sent him in a different direction. The feelings he begins to have for Evie and Dash are new to him, and he isn't sure how to interpret them.
As Anders grows more desperate and takes more and more extreme actions, we also learn just how much access he has to people's lives and their secrets. This is a scary view of the world of security and intelligence and one that seems increasingly possible.
This book offers scenarios that are terrifying, and there is lots of violence in the plot. But the people and their motivations are well drawn, and I was both mesmerized and horrified as I listened.

A Girl Called Fearless

Finished June 15
A Girl Called Fearless by Catherine Linka

This teen novel is set in the present, but a different present that what we live now. It begins in California where Avie lives with her father in a gated community and goes to a school with other girls like herself. Ten years or so ago, women started getting cancer and dying at inexplicable rates. By the time they finally traced it to a hormone in beef it was too late and all women past puberty and before menopause who had eaten beef were dead or dying. At first, it was just dealing with the grief, but now women's lives are becoming more restricted and when Avie discovers that not only are U.S. colleges closed to women, but her own father has arranged a marriage contract for her that will save his business. Avie finds that she has been sold, and there is nothing she can do about it. Or can she?
Childhood friend Yates has become a student revolutionary and he is urging her to escape to Canada. Avie wants to listen to him, but is that just because she has stronger feelings for him than that of friendship?
There is a lot going on in this book. It draws from other dystopian novels with women losing rights, echoes of novels like The Handmaid's Tale show here. But it also speaks to the limited lives of real women in many countries now, where the men in their lives control what they can do and where they can go and what their futures hold. Avie has definite challenges, but she is luckier than many, having an education, connections, and training to make a real stand for herself.

Don't Buy It

Finished October 16
Don't Buy It by Anat Shenker-Osorio

I found this book fascinating. It deals with two subjects I find interesting, economics and language. The author talks about the use of language around the economy in the United States and how that use feeds the political arguments around the economy. She is progressive politically and shows how the conservatives language is dominant right now and how progressives can work to change that.
Right now the dominant view of the US economy (and indeed economy in general) is as an entity unto itself. Some refer to it like a god, with people being asked to sacrifice for the sake of the economy. Some refer to it as a living organism that does what it does without outside influence. Neither of these are true, but they work to the conservative's agenda.
One of the biggest problems is the lack of understanding by most people about how the economy actually works, that what we do changes the direction of the economy. One common fallacy is that spending is using up money. Spending money transfers that money to someone else, who can also use it and that can continue again and again. 70% of the US GDP is from consumer spending, which means that consumers have a huge influence on the economy. Another common fallacy is economic mobility, which conservatives sell as the ability of anyone to move up. Mobility actually works both ways, but no one mentions downward mobility. Financial literacy has actually decreased in recent years, with fewer people with a good understanding of how even basic finance like mortgages work. This makes it easier to create false stories that influence these people. As the author emphasizes time and time again, the economy is NOT an independent entity, but the result of our collective endeavours.
Progressives can change this in several ways. One, is changing the language to one that uses metaphors of man-made things like cars (i.e. drive the economy) to indicate that some control is needed and that the economy is something we created. Another is to tell people what they can do as individuals to change the economy to something that works for the people and the planet.
Many talk of economics as a science, with rules that govern it, but the author shows in vivid ways how these "rules" aren't rules at all, but merely convenient constructs to illustrate behaviours.
She also suggests four things that can be done to move the economy in the right direction, a direction that will  work for the majority of people and for the planet. If only everyone from politicians to those that vote for them would read and understand these lessons.

When I Was a Child I Read Books

Finished September 8
When I Was a Child I Read Books by Marilynne Robinson

This collection of essays by the writer Marilynne Robinson shows her dedication to detail, with constant references to facts over opinions and evidence of an amazing breadth of knowledge. Robinson shows her grasp of history, politics, religion, and literature in this volume. She has criticism for the failure of education in current society and how that leads to the current political and economic situation. She shows how many who tout themselves as religious don't actually follow the deeper tenets of the Bible. Throughout she backs her statements up with facts, using quotations and citations to make her points.
This is a book to read slowly and thoughtfully, to ponder, to reflect on. To enjoy.

Wild Thing

Finished April 7
Wild Thing by Josh Bazell
I loved Bazell's first book, Beat the Reaper, and was looking forward to the continuing saga of Pietro Brnwa, former hitman and now doctor in the witness protection program. Here, under the name Lionel Azimuth, he starts the novel working as a doctor on a cruise ship, an unhappy existence. Then he gets asked by a reclusive billionaire to go to a remote lake in the Boundary Waters area between Minnesota and Manitoba to see if the rumours of a legendary water creature are true. His job is to protect Violet Hurst, a paleontologist also on the trip. Violet is a character to love, outspoken and self-assured. Azimuth is drawn to her, but remembers what happened to his last girlfriend and is less than eager to get involved with someone.
He is also a bit nervous around water, given his recent experiences in the previous novel. But he is also tired of constantly looking over his shoulder, wondering when someone will have found his trail again.
The story of the water creature is an interesting one, with lots of things going on, some interesting characters making an appearance, and constant surprises.
But Bazell offers more. Following the novel action is an article by Violet on global warming and the possibility tipping point. Then following that, is a section on Bazell's sources for everything going on here, from politics to the environment, science to pop culture. Bazell is a man with varied interests and strong curiosity along with high intelligence and that comes out here.
Yes, a great thriller, but so, so much more.

Checkpoint

Finished August 18
Checkpoint by Nicholson Baker
This short novel takes place within a few short hours in a hotel room in Washington DC. The time is during George W Bush's presidency. Jay is upset about the political situation and feeling like he has to do something to change the course of history, to make a difference. He has asked his old friend Ben to drive up and talk to him, and bring a tape recorder to tape what Jay has to say. Ben is the kind of guy who, despite having a young family, also feels that he needs to nurture his friendships and be there when his friends need him.
Once Ben gets there Jay reveals his plan to kill the president. The book is a conversation between the two men, that from time to time goes back in time, over to other issues, and makes a number of diversionary tracks, but essentially is about the political situation of the time, the feelings of impotence about the reality by the common man and the need to make a difference in the world.
At first I was a bit put off, but gradually I felt myself drawn into the discussion, seeing the larger political picture, the origins of the political situation and its antecedents, and the differences a person can really make. I've always liked Baker's writing and meant to read this one ages ago. I'm glad I finally got around to it.

In the Garden of Beasts

Finished May 23
In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
I had an advance reading copy of this from Library Journal and spent part of the long weekend reading it. It tells the story of William E Dodd, the first U.S. ambassador to Hitler's Germany and the story of his daughter Martha. Dodd became the ambassador in 1933, and was not Roosevelt's first choice. He took along with him his wife Mattie, his 26-year-old daughter Martha, and his 28-year-old son Bill.
This book is based on extensive research, including Dodd's diaries (published by Martha and Bill after his death), other Dodd papers, and Martha's papers.
It really focuses on the first year the family spent in Germany, and how they gradually realized the true nature of Hitler's aims. You can see the move from skepticism to disbelief to disgust in their outlook. Dodd could hardly force himself to interact with the German government after the Night of the Long Knives.
Martha had a different path, but ended up at the same place. She played the party girl, going to nightclubs, socializing with Nazis and diplomats from other countries. At first she defended the Nazis as setting their country right, but gradually began to see the harm they were causing to their citizens.
This was a fascinating read, and opened another viewpoint to this period in history to me.

Possibly Nonfiction

Finished September 7
Where to Invade Next (part of issue 26 of McSweeney's)
This book, apparently based on a comment made General Wesley Clark about future plans by the United States, contains detailed analyses of seven countries that the U.S. considers dangerous and possible plans to deal with them.
The seven countries are Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Syria, Sudan, and North Korea. The book is well-researched, reads as plausible, and therefore is rather scary.
The book includes no forward or introduction other than the quote by Clark, and that makes it come across even more as a government document, rather than as a creation (albeit a well-researched one).
The given possibilities for U.S. action against these countries is very interesting reading and it will be interesting to see if any of it comes to pass.

Another Great Listen

Finished March 19
Run by Ann Patchett, performed by Peter Francis James
This novel kept me interested throughout. The majority of the book takes place within a twenty-four hour period. Bernard Doyle is a former mayor of Boston, and he has arranged to meet his two younger sons (adopted and black) at a political speech given by Jesse Jackson. He has high hopes for the oldest of these two sons to make something of himself in the political arena. Tip however is passionate about fish. He is studying science at Harvard and resents having to humour his father on these outings, as does the younger brother Teddy. Teddy is very closed to his uncle Sullivan, a retired priest who is very ill, and would rather spend his time with him.
After the speech the three men stand outside in a strong snowstorm arguing about where to go. Tip wants to go back to the lab and as he walks away he ends up in the path of a car. A nearby woman throws herself at him to get him out of the way, and ends up getting hit herself. As the woman, Tennesse, her 11-year-old daughter Kenya, and the Doyle family make their way to the hospital, the ways in which the characters lives intersect becomes more clear. Over the next few hours, as the Doyle family, including the oldest brother Sullivan, take charge of Kenya while her mother is incapacitated, the characters learn how the worlds of privilege and poverty, have and have not, can intersect in unexpected ways. The characters reactions to both the situations that arise and each other are fascinating, and this story has elements of politics, ethical decisions, and human frailties.
I found the interview included at the end of the book was a plus as the author described the process of writing and how she saw the book.

Collected Writings

Finished January 6
The Woman at the Washington Zoo by Marjorie Williams
This collection of writing by the journalist Marjorie Williams is divided into three sections. The first section is a selection of her writing on politics in Washington, D.C. and has very interesting insights into a variety of players. The second section is a collection of essays, many of them previously published in the Washington Post. They are about her life, her family, and insights into life in general and really show her intelligence. The last section is about her experience with cancer (which she died from in January 2005). Her honesty and insights took my breath away. We have lost an amazing writer with her death.