Book Review: Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of the 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine by Hector Tobar

Non-fiction. I read this in April 2015, immediately after I read The Southern Tiger by Ricardo Lagos, to further my understanding of Chile and because my department chair recommended it to me. She is also an avid reader but tends to read mostly fiction, she is not terribly fond of non-fiction, so I thought if she found this particular piece of non-fiction to be a must-read that I definitely should give it a go. And it definitely is a must-read, even if you do not remember all the news broadcasts about the miners from 2010. I found the BBC site on the miners to be incredibly useful while reading the book, I kept it up on my smartphone while reading the book so that I could see pictures of the mine/miners and illustrations of the condition of the mine and the various pieces of equipment used to rescue them: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special_reports/chile_mine. I also found out after reading the book that is has been made into a movie called The 33 that is set to be released this November: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2006295/.

This book is successful because it is a story about the men, their experiences in the mine before the accident, mostly during it, the people who rallied for them and worked to rescue them, and how their lives turned out afterward. It does not read like a news report but almost like a compelling novel. It is hard to put down, you become heavily invested in the lives of the men, what they are doing to survive, and discovering their personalities along the way. If you want to know what really happened to the miners you can do no better than reading this book. I watched a trailer for The 33 and although it does look interesting, it seems very Hollywood, turning it into a sort of action flick (Juliette Binoche is a fine actress but not remotely Chilean or even South American in any way). 

This book is definitely one of the most compelling and interesting works of non-fiction I have ever read, I recommend it to all. I often read this in the dark on my Nook Glowlight, and I think that probably helped the realism for me: I was in the dark just like the men; but, I was free to get out of the dark as soon as morning came, I was free to go outside, to get fresh water, to see my loved ones in-person. It was an interesting juxtaposition for me. I suggest reading it the same way if you have the means to do so.

And so it goes...

Book Review: The Southern Tiger: Chile's Fight for a Peaceful and Democratic Future by Ricardo Lagos

Non-fiction. I read this for the faculty book group "Read Around the World" at the college where I teach, in March of 2015. I thought it was an excellent book! Before reading this I knew very little about Chile and its history, its struggle for democracy, and the part it has to play in international relations. Although there is much political content in this book, it did not read like a political speech or diatribe, Ricardo Lagos did an exceptional job at making it relatable for the average reader.

Ricardo Lagos is a former president of Chile, so he was able to provide a unique insider perspective on many issues, including but not limited to: the dictator Augusto Pinochet and the terrible deeds committed during his regime, the brave campaign waged to achieve democracy in Chile (they have the commercial and Lagos's famous T.V. interview on YouTube if you look them up), George Bush and the decisions he and others made that lead to the invasion of Iraq (mind-blowing stuff), why Chilean wine is so delicious, and why the world needs to pay attention to these emerging democratic nations in South America, they are going to be rather important I'd say.

I cannot recommend this one enough, I found it absolutely engaging and interesting in every way! I hope that more former leaders can write books like this in the future, ones that are informative, thought-provoking, educational without being dry, and perspective changing for those of us who are not in-the-know.

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Book Review: The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw

Non-fiction. I read this in March 2015. It is very hard to write a review for this one, I think everybody should read it, so I am heavily biased about this one. I have so many highlights and notes on my Nook copy of it that I think my notes have notes. It is one of the best books I have read for trying to understand why the WWII generation was considered the greatest and why they became the measuring stick for all generations to follow. It does not glorify war, it takes an honest look at the people of that generation: those who grew up during the Great Depression, sacrificed again for the sake of their family/loved  ones/fellow countrymen/ideals of a fair and just world, and then rebuilt their lives and shaped the future when the war was finally over.

Tom Brokaw is a straightforward writer with no pretense. He spent time interviewing people who were from that generation and involved in the war effort in various ways, including the women who went to work in the factories, grew victory gardens, and mourned the deaths of husbands, brothers, and fathers. This book is their stories. It is not a dry and historical treatment of WWII but the stories of the people who lived it, who did not complain, and who had no sense of entitlement. 

As this generation is growing older and passing away, it is incredibly important that we preserve their stories, that we understand who they were as people, and that they did what they had to do: none of them believes they were special or that they deserve praise. My grandparents were all of this generation, my parents were essentially WWII babies (born in 41 and 42), and I think part of the work ethic that I have is due in large part that, to being raised with those ideals. I think everybody should read this book because it is uplifting, it is utterly devoid of entitlement and selfishness, and it inspires us to be better people.

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Book Review: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Non-fiction. This one is a must read! I read it for the March 2015 meeting of my library's non-fiction book club. It was a perfect fit for a book club, there was much to discuss, we all enjoyed it, and we have kept bringing it up in our meetings and when we see each other outside of book club. The college where I teach originally selected this for a campus-wide read in 2013-2014, but I was so busy in my first year as full-time that I put off reading it. As I told the book club, sometimes I feel like we do not read certain books until it is the right time for us, for some other reason than logic can explain, and I think if I had read it then, back in 2013, it would not have been the right time. When we read this for book club in 2015 I was ready, and it is an amazing and appalling story.

Medical science and ethics are a fuzzy area, as this book proves, especially back when they took her cells without her knowledge the 1950s. Most people who took any biology classes at all have heard of HeLa cells, the basis for cell research in the US and around the world, but most (like me) do not know they were named after a person He(nrietta) La(cks). Most people (like me) also probably do not know that the Hippocratic oath is a sort of suggestion and is not held up as law, or that its actual wording is not really followed at all. Try looking it up, I did, fascinating stuff. Most people (like me) probably do not know that pieces of their genetic material could be in use, right now, for experiments around the globe or are being kept in freezers, because when we agree to have pieces of us removed during surgery they are medical waste, garbage, and therefore we threw them away and anybody has a right to grab them and use them.

If you are even remotely interested in medical ethics, how modern medicine and the study of genetics is completely in-debt to this woman, and/or have ever wondered "what happened to my appendix when they took it out?" then this book is for you. I am not a scientist, a doctor, or involved in the medical industry and I found the book highly readable and compelling. It is much more fascinating than the book description on the jacket, I cannot recommend it enough!

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Book Review: Salt, Sugar, Fat by Michael Moss

Non-Fiction.  I was going to read this one on my own after I read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle but didn't get to it and then saw it was coming up for the Real World Reads book club at CLPL for February 2015, so I waited and read it for that discussion.  If you care even remotely about what you and your family put into your mouth, why we have had this meteoric rise in GI issues/diabetes/other illnesses, you should definitely read this book.  I had some inkling about how bad processed food is for us before I read this, but afterward, me and everybody else at book club, were totally shocked and appalled at what we have been sold, served, and convinced was good for us over the last 60 years or so.

This book explains why there is so much salt, sugar, and fat in our diets, why it was designed to be there, why we need to run away screaming from processed foods, why we sacrificed our health for convenience and working too much, and the author explains it so well, in a matter of fact and non-preaching manner.  This book is filled with visits and talks with the big companies, the food scientists who develop this stuff, and the reasons why we crave this stuff both genetically and because we have been eating it for years and expect it.  He does not rant and rave but lays it all out there and supports it with history and facts.  I appreciate that, I want the truth and not somebody just trying to pass on/sell the latest diet fad disguised as a book about real nutrition.  He talks about the very real items we buy from the grocery and the very real shopping we do on a daily basis.

I always wonder why all the food shows criticize the cooks on them to add more salt, and add more fat to the dishes "because it's flavor," and I see why now.  Our palettes are all out of whack.  These items are jam packed into everything.  I personally cannot even eat regular chips because it is like a salt lick, and now I know it is because we have been pumping that stuff up for years, to the point now where no person who doesn't add massive amounts of salt into their diet could possibly eat them without revulsion.  And cheese.  I love cheese, but I had no idea the reasons for putting it on everything now instead of having a little bit of the good stuff on the side, as a treat, had to do with the dairy industry, government excess and nowhere to put it: I kid you not, they had caves full of the stuff and nowhere to put it so they figured out how to have all those ads on T.V. and billboards to get us to consume it.  Cheese was not supposed to be on everything and it never used to be that way in the past.

Anyway, lest I make this more of a frightening tangent, read this book, if you have concerns about nutrition, if you have GI issues and want to improve them, diabetes, etc. and if you want to get away from the processed stuff.  Even if you think you know, trust me you do not, our lives are designed around this stuff and we missed it, they sneak it in there beautifully by giving us huge chemical names we don't recognize, like 14 different names for sugar.  My coffee creamer now frightens me to death.  And it should.

And so it goes...

Book Review: The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

Non-fiction. This is another work that I read because it was mentioned in The End of Your Life Book Club.  I am not quite sure why, but for some reason or other I was under the impression that this was a work of fiction until about halfway through it.  I believe this work would be a good read for those who are mourning themselves, or who are interested in the topic of mourning in contemporary American society.

I found her writing annoying at times.  She has these bizarre digressions in parentheses in the middle of sentences, and they are rather awkward and long to boot.  Eventually I learned to skip over them, to finish reading the actual sentence components, and then I would go back to read the information she put in the parentheses.  It would have flowed so much better if she simply put her odd digressions at the end of her sentences.  Although the book was interesting, it will fade from my mind fairly quickly and I have no real desire to read much else by the author.  Reviews hailed her brilliance repeatedly, but when I looked up other works by her they seem to be either spin-offs of this work (another one grieving her daughter's death which is dealt with in this one), or they are about the swinging sixties in California.  I personally do not have any major motivation right now to read any of those topics, so I am moving on.  If I get really, really, really, desperate I may one day look up one of those other works that do not have to do with the death of her family, but I do not see that happening anytime in the near future.

And so it goes...

Book Review: Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

Non-fiction.  Memoir.  I have intended to read this book for a long time and I am really glad I finally read it, I love Anthony Bourdain!  He is absolutely hilarious, but only if you like sarcasm and dark humor, if you do not then this book is probably not for you.  I have enjoyed his T.V. shows for years, so I think that made it even easier for me to read it: I could hear his voice and see his expressions in my mind as I read the work.

The book is a sort of memoir about how he became a cook and then a chef, some advice for those who want to cook better meals at home (only a tiny bit), and insights into the life of a professional chef.  He is honest about his mistakes, and the tale is a much darker and a much grittier side to things than you see on Food Network: he really dislikes Emeril Lagasse, openly mocks Bobby Flay, and other things/people which makes for some pretty hilarious commentary.  After reading some fairly heavy works recently, this was definitely a humorous and informative breath of fresh air.

Tony started his career in a place during the summer off from college (Vassar where he was not doing much), up in a tiny fishing/beach/summer town called Provincetown (MA).  Delightfully for me, the day after I finished this book CNN ran a mini-marathon of his T.V. show "Parts Unknown" where he went to this town and then spent the rest of the episode talking about the growing heroin epidemic in the U.S.  So I was able to see some of the places, kitchens, and foods he discussed in the book, which was marvelous.  After reading this work, I have also decided that if/when I visit NYC in the future I will never eat at the Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center, I do indeed need to invest in better pots and pans and learn how to use those bigger and scarier chef's knives, and I have learned that the life of a chef can vary greatly depending on opportunities and the goals of the individual (e.g. Do you want to learn or do you want money?).  I highly recommend this book to fans of Anthony Bourdain, those interested in the world of chefs and cooking, and anybody looking for a few deeply sarcastic belly laughs.

And so it goes...

Book Review: 12 Steps to a Compassionate Life by Karen Armstrong

Non-fiction.  I started reading this over a year ago, as part of a group that was reading one chapter a month and meeting once a month to discuss it.  I had to abandon going to the group because of my teaching assignment (I had a night class).  So, after going to an excellent talk about mindfulness in the classroom, I finally picked it back up and read it cover to cover.  Armstrong suggests doing that, and then going back, chapter by chapter, and not moving on to the next chapter until you have successfully worked on each concept.  It is a marvelous work and inspiring.  It is not cheesy but a guide to sincere self-reflection.  I do not even want to call it "self-help" because that would imply gimmicks and hokey stuff.  This work is based on a lifetime of her exploring the world's religions and looking at the commonalities, as well as explaining how our brains work and how our actions affect it and us.  I highly recommend it to anyone trying to better themselves.

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Book Review: The Price of Justice by Laurence Leamer

Narrative non-fiction.  I read this for my local library's non-fiction book club (October 2014).  This is an excellent book and very heartbreaking too.  My best friend's stepfather died in a coal mining accident in the 1990s, but to my knowledge I do not think it had anything to do with Don Blankenship (or Massey) or the evils he has done to people.  I know most of the bigger cities and some of the smaller towns mentioned in this work, I have been to many of them, and as I said I am friends with the daughter of a coal miner, so it was very easy for me to picture these places and the people discussed in the book.  Regardless, even if you are not familiar with any of that, I do believe it would be an interesting book for those who want to know what people go through in coal mining, what it is like for the little businesses going against big operations, and also for anybody interested in law cases, the courts, and corruption.  Apparently a John Grisham book called The Appeal was based off of the real life events explained in this non-fiction work.  If you remember the Upper Big Branch mine explosion, these are the people and events leading up to that event (it is also discussed), through a fight of over 15 years, one which led all the way to the Supreme Court due to corruption in electing judges in the state supreme court of West Virginia.  I highly recommend this one, definitely a good read!

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Book Review: David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell

Non-fiction.  From the title and description I thought this one sounded interesting, and it is in parts, but loads of it feels like the author is stretching it a bit.  I think it can provide some historical and mythological inspiration if you feel like and underdog yourself.  It was worth my time to read it, but I would not go around recommending it to the whole world as something they had to read.

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Book Review: Saturday Night Widows by Becky Aikman

Non-fiction.  I read this for my non-fiction book club at my local library (April 2014).  I did not care for this book.  I thought it was both boring and shallow.  Maybe I just couldn't relate because I am not a widow, I am not in the same age bracket as the women, and I do not have so much money and time to waste.  I thought the stuff they did was bizarre, like group underwear shopping when they tried stuff on and showed each other how awesome and empowered they supposedly were, or when they went out to the desert to a roughing it spa for privileged women who have the time and money for such an extravagant vacation.  I found not a single woman in this book relatable or interesting.  I think we have a bored reporter looking to write something, anything, and failing.  This book was not remotely my cup of tea.  I definitely do not recommend it, thank god it was free from the library and I did not pay to read it.

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Book Review: Unbowed by Wangari Maathai

Memoir, non-fiction.  Excellent book by an amazing woman!  Good for addressing gender roles, the environment, politics, manipulation, and perseverance.  This is an inspiring book I would recommend to all.  I was downright giddy that I had coincidentally planted a tree about three days before I begin reading this book.  Now I feel even more proud about planting that tree and all that it can stand for in this world.

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Book Review: Lost in Shangri-la by Mitchell Zuckoff

Non-fiction.  I read this for the non-fiction book club at my local library (May 2014).  I thought this was an interesting read about a group of people who go through a plane crash and end up stranded in one of the least touched places in civilization (at that point anyway, one other explorer had been there but they did not really know too much about that).  It is set during the last months of WWII in New Guinea.  Apparently at the time, people followed the story of their search and rescue closely for a few weeks, but after the war ended people stopped paying attention to it.  This would be a great read if you want to know one of the many many many stories out there related to WWII or if you want to read a real life rescue adventure.

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Book Review: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

Non-fiction.  I read this to catch up with a month I had to miss at my local library's non-fiction book club, they read it for August 2013.  A truly eye-opening book. I cannot believe how much I did not know about where my food comes from or why things are "more expensive" but really are not when you realize the hidden costs and poisons in most supermarket foods compared to the farmer's market/buying local. I think everybody should read this book, I 100% recommend it to all.

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Book Review: The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer

Memoir, non-fiction.  O.K., not earth shattering, but not as horrible as many reviews said it was when I looked it up.  I thought it was a fine, easy, light read.  I think the way he told his coming-of-age story was sweet and endearing; however, others I spoke to, who had very unhappy run-ins with alcohol in their family, did not look too favorably on him spending so much time in the bar.  I think it was quaint and I liked how he explained the connections he made to the various men in the bar and what he learned from them growing up.  I thought it was a slice of Americana, and I enjoyed his reflections on what it meant for him to have some sort of male role models, since his father was never there for him, throughout his entire life.

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Book Review: Gulp by Mary Roach

Non-fiction.  I read this for the non-fiction book club at my local library (July 2014).  Really interesting book, though I may have found it more so than the average person because I have GI issues.  Our bodies are really interesting machines.  The author has a good sense of humor and goes to some funny places that do some unusual experiments.  Mary Roach visited people who are professional taste testers (e.g. olive oil), some people who explain why only smell is important to dogs when choosing their food but that cats only really care about texture so you can call their food whatever you like and it makes a difference only to the owners, scientists who determine the smell factors and components of flatulence, she enthusiastically gets a colonoscopy, and other bizarre, funny, and informative adventures.  Boy the history of medicine has been quite bizarre at times.  I enthusiastically recommend this one.  It really helped me learn quite a bit about my own GI issues in an entertaining way and about some of the new research being done about bacteria and its importance to our digestive and overall health.  I look forward to reading some of her other books, if they are half as interesting as this they will be worth the read.

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Book Review: The Journal of Best Practices by David Finch

Memoir, non-fiction.  I read this for the non-fiction book club at my local library (August 2014).  Interesting account of a man who learns he has Asperger Syndrome at age 30, and a local author for me, he lives in this area of north of Chicago.  Insightful information about what the journey was/is like for him, and very funny in parts too.  We all thought his wife was very patient and many thought she was a saint.  I found it very helpful with trying to understand how a person with Asperber Syndrome functions and behaves in a world of "neurotypicals."  To me, knowledge breeds understanding, understanding breeds patience, and I think the ideas here will help me with my interactions with others, with extending compassion to all.  I highly recommend this book, it funny, informative, and a real eye-opener.

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Book Review: Burying the Typewriter by Carmen Bugan

Read for CLPL "Real World Reads" non-fiction book club for July 2013.  I read it early because July might be a very busy month.

I really enjoyed this book!  It is a memoir by Carmen Bugan about her time growing up as a child in Romania during the Ceausescu regime.  If you did not know that she wrote poetry, you could guess it once you start reading the book.  She does not really write as an adult looking back with mature observations, but writes the memoir in a way that makes you feel the same emotions and sensations she did as a child.  The thoughts and observations grow up as she does in the memoir.  It takes place primarily in the 1970s and 1980s, mostly in Romania, and ends with her immediate family's arrival in the U.S. (Michigan), with an afterward written in the early 2000s.

Although her father was a political activist, you do not find out too much about this until later, because she did not know about it until later, so you have a kind of sweet and naive veil over your eyes while reading the book, the same that she did as a child.  It is written with such beautiful descriptions that it really makes you long for those simpler times, with pure enjoyment of flowers, making bread, canning vegetables and fruits, small village life, the kindness of grandparents, and so on.  And as she becomes more and more repressed and goes through more and more hardships because of the government and her father's rebellious actions, you see the tragedies but do not feel depressed because of her lyrical writing.

I would definitely recommend this book!  It is wonderfully written, a quick read (I read it in two sittings), and looks at what could be a depressing and horrible time with the simple and joyful eyes of a child, surrounded by her loving grandparents, and enjoying every moment of life.

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Book Review: Fordlandia by Greg Grandin

Read for the fiction book club "Bookies" at CLPL for June 2013, but this is a non-fiction selection.

Although the actual events of what happened in the Amazonian jungle with Henry Ford creating "Fordlandia" was interesting, I did not like the book.  It was dry, extremely repetitive, and could have been accomplished in fewer pages.  It made for an O.K. discussion, with us talking about how inept the Ford men in the jungle were, the arrogance of imposing "Americanism" on different cultures, and why people blame Henry Ford for making America into a fast-paced consumer culture.

The beginning of the book is kind to Henry Ford and praises his inventiveness and determination to pay his workers good wages, but probably only as a means to sucker people into reading the rest of it (that is what one woman in our book club thought, and I probably have to agree with her).  The middle is terribly repetitive and dry, with the author rarely telling you what year it is while simultaneously jumping around in time.  This makes it confusing to know what happened in what order, since it is not chronological at all, and also makes it seem like they were in the Amazon for decades when they were only there a handful of years.  The end concentrates on the author blaming Henry Ford for everything bad that has ever happened with consumer culture for the last eighty years because of his interest in trees, soybeans, and assembly-line production.

My advice would be to look up this information somewhere else and save yourself about sixteen hours of reading severely dry and repetitive text.  I really had to force myself to finish this one, I was tempted many times to put it down and walk away from it forever.  I only finished it because it was for book club and that is saying quite a bit, I always finish books I have started, no matter what.

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Book Review: Argo by Antonio J. Mendez (and Matt Baglio)

     I read this for the CLPL Real World Reads Book Club (non-fiction club) for May 2013.  It was a really easy read and since I did not see the movie or any trailers for it I was not sullied by it before reading.  I plan on getting the movie from the library now that I have read it to see if it is any good compared to the book.  Apparently they are very different, as the actual rescue does not happen until the last 20 pages of the book, and I was told that the rescue itself is what the entire movie focuses on, so the film must be quite different in feel from the book.
     The book's author had a really nice writer's voice, it was not tense or scary, it was informative and fun, a pretty light read actually compared to other non-fiction books I have read.  It was a quick read too, you kind of blink and you are halfway through the book.  It was interesting to find out how makeup artists helped the CIA improve their disguise tactics over the years, and little details like making sure you have the right staple on a fake passport because a certain country uses cheap ones that rust on purpose.  We also never find out the real name of the makeup artist who worked with the CIA for so many years, so I am curious if anybody has put all the little fact crumbs the author gives the reader together and has figured out who the makeup artist really was/is...
     I am still a little up in the air about how I feel about the government spending $10,000 in the late 1970s (must be an enormous amount in today's terms) to rescue only 6 people who were pretty safe in a nice mansion and hosted by the Canadian ambassador.  They spent their time tanning, enjoying a few beverages, and playing scrabble, so the amount of money spent seems a bit excessive for people not in any kind of serious and immediate danger.  I also could not believe how the rescue of the rest of the people held hostage in the U.S. embassy for 444 days went so terribly wrong and that the head honchos of the government agencies  were not smart enough to try and use the cover story again in some way.  Since I was extremely young when all this happened, it helped put the time period into context for me, and also why the U.S. tried to keep up diplomatic relations with Iran, how it overlapped with the USSR making their way into Afghanistan, and why this helped motivate many people to not re-elect Jimmy Carter.  Pretty slick timing on the part of the Ayatollah Khomeini.
     Definitely worth a read, it is interesting, informative, and a fairly light book considering it is a pretty heavy political topic and shares some working methods of the CIA.  Their ability to find people who can look like multiple ethnicities, speak multiple languages, and go unnoticed as an average Joe makes me wonder how many times we have actually seen them in airports and just do not know it...

And so it goes...