MAYA CIVILIZATION: A HISTORY from BEGINNING to END (MESOAMERICAN HISTORY) (kindle) by Henry Freeman (Hourly History)

 

Published in 2020 by Hourly History.

Hourly History specializes in e-book biographies and histories that take most readers about an hour to read. In some cases, an hour to cover a topic seems about right. For example, I really enjoyed their book on the Cuban Missile Crisis. 

Of course there is a massive difference in the time involved with the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Mayan Civilization - one lasted for weeks, the other for centuries. That makes a big difference with what can be dealt with the series' self-imposed one hour time constraint and that difference really hurt this e-book.

I have zero problems with the facts presented in this book, but I do have a problem with the way they were presented. I found this book to be oddly written. My pet theory as I was reading it was that it was an early experiment with an AI author program - but there is an actual name attached to my kindle e-book - Henry Freeman. Oddly, the Amazon website does not list Freeman as the author. 

I rate this e-book 2 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Maya Civilization: A History from Begnning to End (Mesoamerican History.

I AM NOT YOUR YOUR PERFECT MEXICAN DAUGHTER (audiobook) by Erika L. Sánchez

Finalist for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature.
Named to Time Magazine's 100 Best YA Books of All Time.

Published by Listening Library in 2017.

Read by Kyla Garcia.
Duration: 9 hours, 41 minutes.
Unabridged.

Synopsis:

Julia is the daughter of Mexican immigrants to the United States. They live in pretty run down neighborhood in Chicago. She is in high school. Her family doesn't really understand her (basic YA fare) and she really loves writing. She is looking forward to moving on to college - like so many kids she wants nothing more than to get far, far away from where she grew up.

There is one presence that looms over everything - her dead sister Olga. Olga was older than Julia and has recently died in a bizarre accident - she stepped off of a city bus and was hit by a semi-truck. Her family is traumatized, of course. To make matters worse, Julia is constantly being compared to Olga - the perfect daughter who only gets more perfect in memory.

Julia digs around in her sister's bedroom (untouched since the day she died) and finds a few things that just seem out of character for Olga. Suddenly, there's a mystery and Julia just has to follow the clues...

My review:

At first, I found myself really liking this book. I was intrigued about the mystery element.

But, suddenly we are going from one YA (and Latino) stereotype to another. It got so ridiculous that I starting listing them. If only the author had just settled for 2 or 3 of them (instead of 15 or so.)

*****

This book is a frequent flyer on lists of books that MAGA parents turn in to be banned from local public libraries and school libraries. Here is a ban attempt from South Carolina and here is one from Texas, for example. It's not a book I would want to teach in my classroom (there are things that I would not particularly want to discuss in class) and I didn't particularly enjoy it, but I would be more than happy to have it in a classroom library.

I rate this book 2 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: I AM NOT YOUR YOUR PERFECT MEXICAN DAUGHTER (audiobook) by Erika L. Sánchez

TRAVELS with GEORGE: IN SEARCH of WASHINGTON and HIS LEGACY (audiobook) by Nathaniel Philbrick

Published in 2021 by Penguin Audio.
Read by the author, Nathaniel Philbrick.
Duration: 9 hours, 34 minutes.
Unabridged.

George Washington looked at the newly formed United States of America and saw what it had always been - 13 disunited states with nothing to bind them together. Washington may not have been the deepest-thinking founding father, but some things he just "knew" deep in his bones. What did he know in this case? He knew that they actually all did have something in common. They all had George Washington in common.

So, George went on a series of extended trips around the states until he had visited all 13 of them and he gave them a visible introduction/reminder (it depended on the state and the citizens) of what the new United States of America was all about. Travels with George is the story of those tours.

Each state had its own issues. For example, Rhode Island wasn't even a state when the started traveling - it was holding out. The Southern states, especially away from the ports, were always a little separate from the main political action between Virginia, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. Washington was aware of this and mostly traveled over rutted, muddy, rough roads south of Virginia. This also meant he was traveling in areas that were barely mapped. That had to be tough on a man in his late fifties.

This is not just a whimsical fanboy look at this tour - it discusses the dangerous politics of the time (Rhode Island was one of the dangers) and it discusses the uncomfortable topic of slavery thoroughly and honestly in my opinion. 

This is a thoughtful and enjoyable book. I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: TRAVELS with GEORGE: IN SEARCH of WASHINGTON and HIS LEGACY by Nathaniel Philbrick.

BEARSKIN: A NOVEL (audiobook) by James A. McLaughlin

Published in 2018 by HarperAudio.
Read by MacLeod Andrews.
Duration: 9 hours, 49 minutes.
Unabridged.

Synopsis:

Bearskin features Rice Moore as the caretaker of a piece of Appalachian Virginia wilderness for a foundation. His job includes is walking the property, cataloging what he finds, remodeling the house on the property, and keeping poachers out. 

He's also hiding. A few years back he was caught smuggling drugs across the border from Mexico and ended up serving time in a Mexican prison. In the prison, Moore killed a man who was highly connected to a Mexican cartel and now he has taken on an assumed identity in the middle of nowhere in Virginia. 

When someone starts killing bears on the foundation property just to harvest organs to sell in Asia, Rice knows that he has to do something, even if it risks blowing his cover...

My Review:

This book sounds interesting and exciting. I found it underwhelming in so many ways. 

The book started out with tons of description. That's not unusual, especially early on. The book continued that way every time Moore entered a new scene - even if he has been in that setting a dozen times already. It just bogged things down to describe the same things over and over again in hyper-detail.

There were so many threads of a plot that started and were never acted upon. I understand that there are red herrings in stories, but these felt more like the author was exploring some ideas and then just walked away from them.  I don't want to provide spoilers, but at least half of the book is dedicated to plot lines that have no resolution.

The ending was just that - an ending. Three was no resolution to the main plot points. The book just ended with so many unresolved threads. A lot like real life, but not very satisfying in a novel. It's like the author just got tired of the whole thing and said, "Screw it!" and sent the manuscript off to the publisher. 

I rate this book 2 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Bearskin: A Novel by James McLaughlin.

GOD BLESS YOU, MR. ROSEWATER by Kurt Vonnegut

 

Originally published in 1965.

After a steady stream of science fiction books, Kurt Vonnegut delivers a straight out social commentary with God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. 

Synopsis:

Eliot Rosewater is the heir to a family fortune built on selling munitions in the Civil War and every war after that. The family fortune was built in Indiana but the family has moved to Providence, Rhode Island where it has a family mansion along with all of the others along the waterfront. His father is one of the senators from Rhode Island.

The Rosewater family avoids paying income taxes on this vast fortune by funding the Rosewater Foundation. Generally speaking, the foundation has been a legal way to not pay taxes and instead pay Eliot a whole lot of money to do nothing but supervise a foundation that does next to nothing.

A mural of Vonnegut in his
hometown - Indianapolis.
Photo by DWD

Eliot is suffering from PTSD (called "combat fatigue" in this book) from his experiences in World War II and drowns in troubles in bottle after bottle of alcohol. His only interests are science fiction and volunteer fire departments. He often gets black out drunk and comes back to his senses in a new town. He checks out the nearest volunteer fire department and sees if they have any new techniques or if they need any new equipment. Either way, he gives them something with foundation money.

Eliot is convinced to settle down in Rosewater County in southern Indiana. This is where his ancestors came from. He moves the foundation headquarters to Rosewater, Indiana and becomes the de facto caretaker of the people in this small town. People come to him with their problems and he listens. Sometimes, they need a little money to get over a rough patch or to help with a medical expense. It's all tedious, but the town needs him - even if it is to be someone to yell and scream at. 

The problem is, a lawyer at the law firm that handles the foundation business has found a different Rosewater from another branch of the family. The lawyer thinks he can remove Eliot as the head due to insanity. He will replace him with this other Rosewater and then make a fortune by representing him...

My review:

Vonnegut's report card

I am reading the Vonnegut novels in order of publication. This one is my favorite so far. Eliot is both a great man and a terrific loser. In a way, he is an imitation of Jesus and in a way he's a pathetic drunk that reads too much science fiction. This book is also the introduction to Vonnegut's literary alter-ego, Kilgore Trout.

Vonnegut famously graded his own books in the essay collection Palm Sunday. He gave God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater an A and I agree. 

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater.

TIGER CHAIR: A SHORT STORY (kindle) by Max Brooks

Published in 2024 by Amazon Original Stories.

The premise of Tiger Chair is that it is a frank letter from a mid-level Chinese officer to a friend back home. World War III has been going on for a while. It started over the invasion of Taiwan and has now spread around the world. Chinese forces are active on many fronts, including India.

China has also attacked the United States in the mistaken belief that America's racial diversity and political animosities would cause American resolve to crumble and it would be a short war.

This has turned out to be wrong and the invasion has turned into occupation duty and occupation duty has always been terrible. 

I think Brooks has an actual agenda with this book and it is a warning. It is not a warning about China. It is a warning about over-dependence on technology and the foolishness of war. On top of that, it is so easy for one country to think that they have a realistic take on another country's internal politics and culture when they really have no idea at all.

Max Brooks

Brooks lectures in military circles about successful military organizations developing blind spots and becoming incapable of conceiving of strategies that will defeat them (or make it too costly to stay.)

It is an easy thing to observe in recent history. Americans have seen it in Iraq and Afghanistan. In both situations, their governments were deposed and it was assumed that new governments would be formed and the political differences would be worked out. Instead, the different rivalries fought one another with amazing ferocity. But, they also fought the Americans because there was one thing they all agreed on - they didn't want a bunch of outsiders telling them what to do.

It is the same in this story. I'd say that it's been this way forever.

I rate this short story 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: TIGER CHAIR: A SHORT STORY by Max Brooks.

MARCH: BOOK THREE (graphic novel) by by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin

 

Published in 2016 by Top Shelf Productions

Written by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin.

Illustrated by Nate Powell.

2016 National Book Award Winner for Young People's Literature

2017 Printz Award Winner

2017 Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner

2017 Sibert Medal Winner

2017 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Winner

2017 Walter Award Winner

Congressman John Lewis (1940-2020) continues his life story in book three of the March series, focusing on his struggles in the Civil Rights Movement. The book starts with the 16th Street Birmingham Church Bombing in September of 1963 and ends with the signing of the Voting Rights Act in August of 1965.

These were, by any account, much like the famous Charles Dickens line from A Tale of Two Cities: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair..."

It was the best of times in that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were passed. It was the worst of times because of these landmark laws were passed due to great sacrifices. As noted on page 91, in the state of Mississippi in the summer of 1964 during an attempt to mobilize and register black voters there were "more than 1,000 arrests, 80 beatings, 35 church burnings, and 30 bombings."

A theme that runs throughout the trilogy is that every success is soured by a violent response. I was particularly struck by an act of pointless violence at the end of the book. When the march from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery, Alabama finally happens (it had been turned back on other attempts by violence and by court order) there is a rally, there are speeches, and a concert given by an amazingly diverse crowd of artists - diverse in race and in musical styles. What should have been a beautiful moment is marred by the murder of a volunteer driver named Viola Luzzo from Detroit. She was shuttling people back to Selma. She was heading back to Montgomery to pick up more people when a car pulled alongside. A single shot was fired and she was killed (see picture.)

This is an excellent trilogy and an excellent way to tell this history. I rate this book and the entire trilogy 5 stars out of 5. 

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: MARCH: BOOK THREE (graphic novel) by by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin.

Click here for March: Book One.

Click here for March: Book Two.