2014-24 - Us, by David Nichols

24 - Us, by David Nichols
WHY I PICKED IT: I loved One Day, and this is his next book.
ELAPSED TIME: 5 days
RATING: Very Good

I saw this in the book store and was immediately taken back to the beauty that is One Day: The story of two friends’ July 15^th.  This book has some of the same melancholy, style, and a character who you can like and hope is happy.

Douglas Pedersen, scientist, is married to Connie, artist.  They have been together for a long time, but she’s not happy and wants to leave him – after their son Albie goes off to college.  The family vacation to Europe is supposed to be their last trip as a family – and Douglas’ chance to win back his wife.

What follows is an engaging story.  Douglas is a character that speaks to your heart – you want him to figure out that, in Life, the journey is the destination… and in so doing, you hope that you are reminded of that yourself.

The alternating chapters telling the story of the present day, and some point in the past, are engaging and beautifully written, if not gut wrenching at times.  Nichols writes characters that are easy to like, and who you can’t help but root for.

2014-23 - Burnt Shadows, by Kamila Shamsie

23 - Burnt Shadows, by Kamila Shamsie
WHY I PICKED IT: Heard her interviewed on CBC Radio, and was intrigued
ELAPSED TIME: 10 days
RATING: REQUIRED READING


This book is really three inter-related sections.  The first section is set on the backdrop of the Nagasaki bomb and the partition of India. In this part of the book,Shamsie weaves in concepts of class and difference from a perspective that is rarely seen in North America. I would recommend this book on this section alone. So rarely does a writer introduce such concepts, with prose that is captivating. 

The second section brings us to a neighborhood in Karachi during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. We can see how some characters thrived, and others, despite having let pride get in their way, have made lives for themselves. Here Shamsie shows us that character is really a defining feature in who we are; more so than the opportunities that were available to us (by virtue of race and where we were born).

Finally, we have Afghanistan and the USA in a post 9/11 world. 20 years have passed. This part of the story builds on the themes from earlier in the book. Subtle commentary becomes more a feature in the story as issues of nationalism and opportunity show us how North Americans value a human lifedepending on where they were born and where they died, and the impact of US interventionist policy 20-years after they left Afghanistan to the Taliban. This is beautifully written, but (to me) didn't fit with the rest of the story as too much action and intrigue detracted from the characters and ideas that Shamsie had built up.

Shamsie writes characters that have warmth and depth, and that are beautiful and flawed. Best of all, she writes about nationalism and class, about war and the value of a human life.  This is a book, and these are characters, that will travel with me for some time to come.

2014-22 - Sugar Falls, by David Alexander Robertson and Scott B. Henderson

22 - Sugar Falls, by David Alexander Robertson and Scott B. Henderson
WHY I PICKED IT: Heard about it on the CBC
ELAPSED TIME: 2 days
RATING: Very Good

This is a great little story.  A graphic novel with only 40 pages tells the story of a high school kid asking his friend's grandmother about her experience in a Canadian Residential School.

These schools were run by the Catholic Church, funded by the Canadian government, and imposed on the native population... These churches were the home to many native children who were forced away from their families, to sacrifice their own language and culture, were beaten when they didn't comply, and frequently abused in other ways too.

This story shows all of that... A stark reminder that this history is not that long ago. A worthy read.

2014-21 - The Rosie Effect, by Graeme Simsion

21 - The Rosie Effect, by Graeme Simsion
WHY I PICKED IT: Loved the Rosie Project
ELAPSED TIME: 1 week
RATING: Not Good

Oh what a disappointment. The Rosie Project was a surprisingly fantastic book. The follow up had logical fallacies (what are the odds of anybody in NYC scoring themselves a free apartment in Manhattan) and unlikely events (friend-of-a-friend who flips out at dinner turns out to be the social worker who forces him into therapy!)... oh the hijinks. No. Sorry. Fail.

2014-20 - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith

20 - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith
WHY I PICKED IT: Bought it in a bookstore in NYC
ELAPSED TIME: 2 weeks
RATING: REQUIRED READING

Mary Francis Nolan is a first generation American at the turn of the century, and this is the story of her childhood.  The strong women who keep her family together, the love of her father, the camaraderie with her brother. Francie listens a lot, and reads a lot... all the while trying to understand her world.  She dreams of a better life - and works for it.

This story is a bit slow, but that is part of its charm... you slowly grow to love Francie and her family, and share their path for a few days.

2014-19 - Your Fathers, where are they? And the Prophets, do they live forever?, by Dave Eggers

19 - Your Fathers, where are they? And the Prophets, do they live forever?, by Dave Eggers
WHY I PICKED IT: Saw it in a bookstore, and it's Dave Eggers
ELAPSED TIME: 4 days
RATING: Good

This book is bizarre.  Thomas kidnaps a NASA Astronaut to ask him some questions. As the answers leave holes, Thomas continues down a troublesome path in order to gain an understanding of the world around him... but goes deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole.

Not sure if the book is supposed to be funny, but some of the conversations in the book are really well defined.  This book is written to be a play.

But this book is also not earth shattering.  Eggers' writing is inconsistent with fantastic books: Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and Zeitoun... and terrible ones: You Shall Know Our Velocity and A Hologram for the King.  This book falls somewhere in the middle... high enough up that I'll keep reading his work.

2014-18 - Confessions, by Kanae Minato

18 - Confessions, by Kanae Minato
WHY I PICKED IT: Saw it in a bookstore, and it looked good
ELAPSED TIME: 1 week
RATING: Good

The book starts out fantastic.  A teacher on the verge of retirement tells a story to her class about why she's retiring so young.  This story reveals two of their peers' sociopathic behaviour, and her revenge against them for a heinous act.

The remainder of the book, sadly, does not live up to this beginning.  Twists and turns and too much action take the story from gripping to a poor man's Hemingway: this happened, and then this happened, and then this happened... without richness of language or depth of character.

Disappointing, if not for the first 50 pages.

2014-17 - Five Star Billionaire, by Tash Aw

17 - Five Star Billionaire, by Tash Aw
WHY I PICKED IT: Saw it in a bookstore, and it looked good
ELAPSED TIME: 2 weeks
RATING: Meh

Four hardworking people trying to make a life in Beijing. Four intersecting lives. Old money, new money, no money... all facing the challenges of a growing city.

This book was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2013, and I could see why it ought to be interesting... unfortunately, it just wasn't.  You could see the characters making bad decisions for themselves in advance of those choices.  You could see one of them walking into a scam, but have to read about it for 100 pages....

All in all, a good premise, but poorly executed.

2014-16 - The Street Lawyer, by John Grisham

16 - The Street Lawyer, by John Grisham
WHY I PICKED IT: Wanted something quick and light
ELAPSED TIME: 3 days
RATING:Good

The 12th in my library of John Grisham, this book doesn't disappoint. A quick and easy story that follows Grisham's standard story... good lawyer navigates his case against a big bad firm. If you like Grisham, you'll like this book. It's not his best work, but it is quick and light.

2014-15 - The Secret Language of Doctors, by Dr. Brian Goldman

15 - The Secret Language of Doctors, by Dr. Brian Goldman
WHY I PICKED IT: Met him at the Fail Forward Conference
ELAPSED TIME: 2 weeks
RATING: Meh

I'm counting this book as complete, despite getting through only 230 of it's 340 pages.  Goldman shares the slang that hospitals use to convey information quickly between people.  In it, he shows that the slang is a necessary component of communication, but also the biases and failures of the system to retain its humanity.

The challenge that I have with the book is that half way through he seems to stop conveying how language is the factor (the interesting component) and has entire chapters dedicated to single terms ("frequent flyers" are definitely a drain on the system, and there are systemic issues in the health care industry that enable the continuance of them, but I learned one concept in 20 pages... got it, moving on).

2014-14 - The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P., by Adelle Waldman

14 - The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P., by Adelle Waldman
WHY I PICKED IT: Saw it in a book store and it seemed interesting
ELAPSED TIME: 3 days
RATING: Not Good

Nate is a smart guy.  He broke out of his middle class upbringing and made it through Harvard and has (with work) started to make it as a writer.  Nate is also a bit of a sexist prick.  He finally breaks out of his mould and starts to date a woman who is his intellectual equal.

What follows is frustrating.  He pulls away, he plays games, he acts like an ass... What the hell?  Waldman writes well, but Nate is not a character whose life I would want to impose on anybody, and without any underlying value, why would you do it?  This book is a portrait of an anti-feminist.  It may be reasonably well written, but he's not a protagonist that I'd recommend.

2014-XX - Worst. Person. Ever., by Douglas Coupland

XX - Worst. Person. Ever., by Douglas Coupland
WHY I PICKED IT: Coupland is generally quite great.
ELAPSED TIME: Weeks... and quit on page 74
RATING: Not Good

Wow.  This book was terrible.  I loved Coupland's early work almost without question.  His last few, however, have been so bad that I think I may be done.  Coupland is off the must-read list for me.

Raymond Gunt is an ass.  A B-unit cameraman who is on a downward spiral... and his constant failures are supposed to be... Who the hell knows?  I can tell you that I didn't even bother to read the last chapter to see if he turned it around.  Rare is it a character that I am utterly disinterested in experiencing life in their shoes.  Coupland's latest book is amongst the Worst. Books. Ever.

2014-13 - The Circle, by Dave Eggers

13 - The Circle, by Dave Eggers
WHY I PICKED IT: Eggers is generally quite great.
ELAPSED TIME: 1 week
RATING: Meh

In an update to Orwell's 1984, Eggers seeks to show a possible near future.  Mae Holland takes a job with The Circle, the world's most powerful internet company - consisting of the functionality of all of Google, Facebook, Twitter, and then some.  Seeking to push all privacy into the public space, they seek to create a utopia.  Or do they?

This book is not great.  Not as good as a Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, and not as good as Zeitoun... but it does raise interesting questions.  And in that, tells a good story.

2014-12 - The Lowland, by Jhumpa Lahiri

12 - The Lowland, by Jhumpa Lahiri
WHY I PICKED IT: Book Club
ELAPSED TIME: 1 week
RATING: Very Good

Spanning 50 years, this is the story of two brothers, born in Calcutta just after Partition.  One goes to America to study, the other joins up with the communists to try and forge a better society.  Any more details than that and the story would be ruined.

Needless to say, if you're interested in the experience of immigrants, or about what India was like in those first years after partition, this is a fantastic read.  If you're not, but like good literature; a story that will suck you in and entertain you for the time it takes you to get through... this is still a fantastic read.  Highly recommend!

2014-11 - The Checklist Manifesto, by Atul Gawande

11 - The Checklist Manifesto, by Atul Gawande
WHY I PICKED IT: A client of mine uses it
ELAPSED TIME: 10 days
RATING: Good

Dr. Gawande, a surgeon, makes the case that the simple checklist is a mechanism that can help improve communication and teamwork, reduce errors, and improve the operation of a highly technical operation.  Leveraging checklists from aviation, he shows how they can be applied, not just to his field of surgery, but also to making investment decisions, large scale construction projects, and beyond.

Taking us through the case of US Airways Flight 1549, Dr. Gawande shows how the use of checklists helped Captain Sullenberger III and First Officer Skiles safely land their Airbus A320 on the Hudson River.  These two pilots, who had never worked together before, had key reminders of things that needed to be done in that crisis, executed them perfectly, and saved the 155 people on board.

Dr. Gawande shows how checklists have been developed by his research team for broad deployment around the globe by the WHO.

Dr. Gawande also highlights the biggest challenge with checklists: Getting buy-in.  Developing a useful checklist is a significant challenge, but getting people to agree and use it (despite overwhelming evidence to their usefulness) is a significant roadblock.  Next up, a book on change management? :)

2014-10 - What the Dog Saw, by Malcolm Gladwell

10 - What the Dog Saw, by Malcolm Gladwell
WHY I PICKED IT: Was working my way through Gladwell's older wolks
ELAPSED TIME: 4 weeks
RATING: Good

 This book, a collection of Gladwell's New Yorker essays, is quite reflective of Gladwell's mind - curious and interested in telling a story.  From breaking down why there is only one ketchup, but space for more than one player in the mustard category, to analyzing the difference between an athlete who chokes (reverts away from their muscle memory to rely too much on their explicit memory) versus one who panics (forgets what they know entirely).

It's not Gladwell's best work... but somewhat entertaining.

2014-XX - Static, by Amy Goodman and David Goodman

XX - Static, by Amy Goodman and David Goodman
WHY I PICKED IT: They sent it to me (signed!) when I donated money to Democracy Now!
ELAPSED TIME: 3 Days
RATING: Very Good

This book, about how the US Government lies and the Corporate Media perpetuate and communicate those lies to Americans (and others around the world), is brilliant.  However, I couldn't finish it because it made me very angry.  (VERY!).

That a government that purportedly stands for Human Rights and Democracy knowingly seeks to violates the first of those values and undermine the second of those values is maddening.

2014-09 - American Rust, by Philip Meyer

09 - American Rust, by Philip Meyer
WHY I PICKED IT: Recommended by the saleslady at Small World Books, in Venice Beach (highly recommend that bookstore!)
ELAPSED TIME: 6 days
RATING: Good

Isaac English and Billy Poe are best friends, stuck in a dead-end Pennsylvania steel town.  Isaac, left to take care of his aging father after his mother committed suicide and his sister went to Yale, and Billy who turned down a football scholarship in order to do nothing.  As Isaac finally decides to leave town, the two friends get caught up in an act of violence that leaves one person dead.

The story of the weeks that follow this are told through their eyes, as well as Billy's mother, Isaac's sister and father, and the local police chief.  Meyer writes warm characters that you can't help but empathize with and root for, and provides a glimpse into a community in small town America.

2014-08 - The Color Purple, by Alice Walker

08 - The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
WHY I PICKED IT: Book Club
ELAPSED TIME: 2 days
RATING: Very Very Good

What a fantastic story.  Celie is a black woman in the Southern USA, and this is her story.  Told through letters that she writes to God, and her sister (Nettie), and letters her sister writes to her. 

Walker does a great job at writing a story that raises so many issues (and in a believable voice!):
- Race - From the prison-industrial complex, to the lynching of successful black people. From the impact on white kids of being raised by black women, to how white people treat black folks.
- Gender - From forced marriage and rape, to gender roles within the family.
- Sexuality - Homosexuality occurs without any internal bias; it's simply about emotional connection and physical gratification.
- Family - A family can be many different things, and is ultimately what you make for yourself.
- God and Religion - Love that poor and relatively uneducated people also ask questions like: What is God? and Why do we exist?

More than these themes though, this is a story of a woman with few choices who navigates a life and builds a family for herself.  It is warm and loving, and I highly recommend it.

2014-07 - The Yellow Birds, by Kevin Powers

07 - The Yellow Birds, by Kevin Powers
WHY I PICKED IT: Recommended by the saleslady at Small World Books, in Venice Beach (highly recommend that bookstore!)
ELAPSED TIME: 2 days
RATING:Very Good

This is the melancholic tale of two American soldiers in Iraq in 2005.  Private Bartle and Private Murphy become friends during basic training and go off to war together.  The two friends are initially numbed to the death that they see all around them, and then Murphy decides that compassion and humanity are more important than preserving his mental health.  It's not pretty and it doesn't end well; it's war

Powers writes lyrically when describing the environment, and clinically when describing the war.  It's a beautiful contrast that draws you in, opens you up, and shows you the pain.  Knowing what's coming, fairly early on in the book, doesn't soften the blow when it does finally happen.

I recommend this book.  It will take you to an uncomfortable place, and open your eyes to how we compromise their humanity when we send young men and women to war.

2014-06 - The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell

06 - The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell
WHY I PICKED IT: I wanted to catch up on Gladwell's older works.
ELAPSED TIME: 1 week
RATING: Meh

This is Gladwell's first book, and articulates how an idea or trend goes from being a niche idea into being a broad phenomenon.  This can be a crime wave or the resurgent popularity of hush puppy shoes.  The concept that there are people who connect to others, and their behaviour drives copycats is interesting.

Gladwell has since enhanced his style of making an point about social behaviour and augmenting it with good stories.  This is clearly an early work, and simply not that great (although I can see why it was popular almost 15 years ago).

2014-05 - Illusion Dweller, by Stimson Bullitt

5 - Illusion Dweller, by Stimson Bullitt
WHY I PICKED IT: Alia thought it would be a good read for me, as I am really getting into climbing.
ELAPSED TIME: 3 days
RATING: Not Good

This book is a collection of thoughts and experiences by and of Stim.  Early on, he writes about how mountaineering and climbing are his way of proving his manliness (to himself?), and then seemingly uses much of the book to list his accomplishments in short paragraphs, leading me to think: “Yes, I get it, you’re manly!”  Not an enjoyable read.

His chapter on the personality of the mountaineer is poorly written – simply his thoughts on their physique, mind, and so forth.  Not really a compelling read – for a budding climber, or likely anybody.

He does make a great points about risk:  A recreational climber is more likely to take unnecessary risks because they are more likely to view the experience as a one-off, less willing to return and try another day, and therefore more willing to push themselves beyond where they should.

All in all, I would not recommend this book.

2014-04 - This is the story of a Happy Marriage, by Ann Patchett

4 - This is the story of a Happy Marriage, by Ann Patchett
WHY I PICKED IT: I read everything by Ann Patchett
ELAPSED TIME: 9 days
RATING: Good

This collection of essays is almost a memoir.  Almost, because there is other stuff too (want to know how to be a writer? write!) and also because it doesn't follow a standard narrative, rather it weaves various topics together that only just brings it to the title at the end... The essay of how she and her husband got together is good, that it is followed by an essay about her and her dog and ends with one about her friendship with a nun is fantastic.

What keeps this book from being Very Good is that the first few essays were more of a grind. A better way to frame it is to reverse the question: What keeps this book from being Meh is that the final few essays were truly a joy to read.

(as an aside, I LOVE that she started her own independent bookstore; I now want to do the same!).

2014-XX - The Lazarus Project, by Aleksandar Hemon

XX - The Lazarus Project, by Aleksandar Hemon
WHY I PICKED IT: Something else by him hit my to-read list, and I found this at a used book store
ELAPSED TIME: 2 Weeks
RATING: Meh

In 1908 Lazarus Averbuch, an Eastern European Jewish immigrant is killed by the Chicago Police Chief.  100 years later, Brik, an Eastern European immigrant decides to write about what happened.

Hemon does a great job with some things: Cultural differences between Brik and his American wife are beautifully described (the American need for Truth, versus the Bosnian willingness to believe a good story). The description of feeling at "home" in Sarajevo versus Chicago is evocative and relate-able.

Despite those real strengths, but that wasn't enough to overcome a fatal flaw: Brik is written as a weak character, and that makes him someone hard to root for.  And it was because of that that I skipped most of the second half of the book...

2014-03 - How Bad Are Bananas?, by Mike Berners-Lee

3 - How Bad Are Bananas?, by Mike Berners-Lee
WHY I PICKED IT: Recommended by my friend Chris
ELAPSED TIME: 1 Week
RATING: Good

This is an interesting read.  Advocating for people to make smart decisions that impact their carbon footprint, Berners-Lee takes a cut at identifying the carbon footprint of various items.  He shows quite well how you might be missing the point if you spend ages worrying about how you dry your hands (<10grams of CO2e) if you also own a pool (>100 tons).

He makes the case for eating food that is less CO2 intensive in multiple ways:
a) Veggies are less carbon  intensive than meat in multiple ways: Not just amount of space required for animals, but also the gases that come out of cows and sheep.
b) Local is generally better than transported in, but the manner of that transport is also important (bananas come by ship, asparagus comes by plane), and also the seasonality (greenhouses growing things out of season in your own locality aren't good either!).

I appreciated that he starts by acknowledging the limitations of his methodology, but accept the argument that the logarithmic scale when comparing things that are dramatically different is more than sufficient in the context of decision-making.

This book is probably best read in short chunks rather than front-to-back (as I did).

2014-02 – The Hungry Tide, by Amitav Ghosh

2 – The Hungry Tide, by Amitav Ghosh
WHY I PICKED IT: I have enjoyed lots of Ghosh’s other work
ELAPSED TIME: 2 Weeks
RATING: Good

Piya is an Indo-American marine biologist who is studying the Orcaella (an endangered river dolphin) in the Bay of Bengal.  Fokir is a local fisherman who she hires as his guide (despite not speaking any language in common.  Kanai is an Indian businessman, returning to a place he had visited as a child at the behest of his Aunt, to read a notebook left to him by his long deceased Uncle.  

 The story switches between the present day, where Piya is seeking to understand an unusual daily migratory pattern, while navigating an unfamiliar physical and social environment, and the 70s, through a tale told in the notebook, of Bengali refugees settling and forcibly removed from the Morichjhanpi Island.  That tale is a comparatively minor part of the story, but plays a key role in describing several characters’ backstory, and educating the reader on a forgotten piece of history.

As an early work of Ghosh, you can see that he is honing what has become his style – multiple, intertwined, characters and stories and a lot of forgotten history – but it is nowhere near as polished as his more recent work.