it is Springtime and blooms are starting to pop
Department of Analysis: Audiobooks go by faster than “real” books, easier to spend more time listening than reading. And, the narrators are usually top notch.
Highly Recommended: Top Picks (9) in order of highest reco to lowest (and still ahead of all the rest)
The Exceptions, Nancy Hopkins, MIT, and the Fight for Women in Science, Kate Zerinke (narrated by Kathy Mazur): Hopkins was in the forefront of women entering into the good-old-boys field of science, documenting her frustrations in trying to get equal treatment, especially when she became a professor at MIT. Zerinke does an excellent job detailing how Hopkins, other women, and mentors helped guide her into transitioning MIT science departments (and ultimately all departments) into more equal opportunities for women.
Euphoria, Lily King (novel, narrated by Simon Vance and Xe Sands, pub’d 2015): Set in New Guinea and loosely based on Margaret Mead and two other anthropologists in the run-up to WWII, strangers come to villages and madness occurs.
Judgment At Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia, by Gary J. Bass (narrated by Simon Vance): a well-written history of pre- and post-WWII Japan with a keen focus on the trial of the major war criminals (with the exception of the Emperor). Also recommended is an oldie by Ian Buruma, Wages of Guilt pub’d in 1994.
Mr. Texas, Lawrence Wright (novel, narrated by Steve Weber, with musical interludes at the beginning of chapters by Gordon Wright, Lawrence Wright and Marcia Ball): This is a book that was at first a play, then a pilot for HBO, then a musical and finally a really entertaining look at how the the Texas state legislature works. The book is a satire, informed by the fact that when Wright started work on the story Texas was very Blue and is now extremely Red. If Marcia Ball comes to a venue near you, she kicks ass in a hony-tonk New Orleans way.
Fire Weather, a True Story From a Hotter World, John Valliant (narrated by Alan Carlson): An examination of a catastrophic 2016 fire (that lasted for 15 months) that burnt down a city of 100,000 north of Alberta then extrapolated to the recent history of ignoring the warming planet for 40+ years until it is now too late to undo the damage.
Bottoms Up And The Devil Laughs, A Journey Through the Deep State, Kerry Howley (narrated by Nikki Massoud): A jazzy review of various events over the last 20+ years demonstrating the power of government agencies to invade the privacy of US citizens.
Cobalt Red, How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives, Siddhartha Kara (narrated by Peter Ganmim): The essential mineral is used in the batteries that run our smartphones, tablets, et al, and those doing the mining are exploited to death.
North Woods, Daniel Mason (novel, narrated by an all-star cast of great narrators including Simon Vance): Interrelated stories revolving around a house in the woods of Massachusetts, ranging over 400+ years.THB wishes the book had ended 20-30 minutes earlier as the world is being consumed quickly by climate change and ghosts.
The Great Escape, a True Story of Forced Labor and Immigrant Dreams in America, Saket Soni (narrated by the author): starting in 2006, a group of Indian pipefitters and welders are signed up by corrupt agents, defrauded of their savings and loans in expectations of earning “green cards” and enslaved in work camps in the deep south and Texas by an oil rig construction company.
the world's largest unused parking garage nears completion
Recommended: Top Picks (15) in order of date read, earliest in the quarter torthe end of the quarter
The Vulnerables,Sigrid Nunez (a short novel, narrated by Hillary Huber): A writer shares a series of short vignettes about other writers while in Covid hibernation.
What An Owl Knows, The New Science of the World’s Most Enigmatic Birds, Jennifer Ackerman (narrated by author): A compendium of the current state of owls around the world (not good, birds worldwide are d0wn considerably). Alert: owls are way smarter than we thought (as most animals likely are).
Foster, Claire Keegan (novella, narrated by Aoife McMahon): a young girl is sent to live with a childless unrelated couple while her mother is nearing the end of her fifth pregnancy (in 6 years?).
The Quiet Room, a Journey Out of the Torment of Madness, Lori Schiller and Amanda Bennett (pub’d 1994, narrated by Brittany Pressley, Gregory Abbey, Cheryl Smith): In her early 20s in the 1980s,, schizophrenia took over Schiller’s life and for 10 years she went through a number hospitalizations until finally a new drug helped her get the illness under control.
Homegrown, Timothy McVeigh and the Rise of Right-Wing Extremists, Jeffrey Toobin (narrated by the author): An excellent recap with the underlying goal of explaining why so many ex-military men (75%) are supporters of white supremacy terrorism (e.g., the January 6 insurrection).
Humanly Possible, Seven Hundred Years of Humanist Freethinking Inquiry and Hope, Sarah Bakewell (narrated by Antonia Beamish): not for everyone, THB liked this “greatest hits” of humanist’s most well-known proponents, sort of like checking off baseball stadiums, national parks.
Forager, Field Notes for Surviving a Family Cult, a Memoir, Michelle Dowd (narrated by the author): covering the years from 1977 to 1988 (age 7 to 17), Dowd recounts her years living in a cult led by her grandfather, focused on the environmental and “family” relationship living in a strict patriarchy.
Like, Comment, Subscribe, Inside Youtube’s Chaotic Rise to World Domination, Mark Bergen (narrated by Sean Patrick Hopkins): based on the current status of YouTube as a money making behemoth, this could be a highly recommended listen. Really, it is more the story of a start-up that morphed in a traditional tech/corporate world stalwart, and thus not all that unique.
Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel (novel, narrated by Ben Miles, pub’d 2009): THB (in order) read the printed version of WH (part 1 of a trilogy on Henry VIII), saw the play on Broadway, watched the TV version, and now listened to the book. It is not easy to follow all the characters, dates, etc., when listening without the pre-work (all great), yet it is worth it, a great work of historical fiction.
Bring Up The Bodies, Hilary Mantel (novel, narrated by Simon Vance, pub’d 2012): Katherine dies, Anne dies, and Jane somehow enchants King Henry.
King Rat, James Clavell (novel, narrated by Simon Vance, pub’d 1962): THB read this classic in the early 1960s and decided to listen to Simon Vance produce another gem. Not a Hollywood ending, just men having to adjust to life after years in a concentration camp.
Thee Great Oklahoma Swindle: Race, Religion, and Lies in America's Weirdest State, Russell Cobb (narrated by Lloyd James): recently, THB has read about the 1921 Tulsa Massacre, the Killing Flowers Of The Moon retelling of the white "guardians" stealing and killings of Indian to get their head rights, and the running into the ground the health and education budgets of the state by government officials. Does that make Oklahoma weird or just plain racist in the mold of the Deep South states? THB thinks it makes them racists. Note: Neutral if you already know the history of Oklahoma.
Empress Of The Nile, the Daredevil Archaeologist Who Saved Egypt’s Ancient Temples from Destruction, Lynne Olson (narrated by Lisa Flanagan): Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt’s life spanned the 20th century and she was deeply involved with understanding and bringing the pharaohs to the public, including the King Tut exhibit that drew millions around the world in the process. You don’t learn much about her private life, you do see how she was able to navigate the political issues among nations and museums.
Your Face Belongs To Us, a Secretive Startup’s Quest to End Privacy as We Know It, Kashmir Hill (narrated by the author): The history (it is all recent) of using tech to identify everyone by their face by linking pictures scraped from the internet. Scary? Crime stopping? Autocratic usage? Some big tech outfits have backed away (for now).
High Exposure, an Enduring Passion for Everest and Unforgiving Places, David Breashears (pub,’d 2000, narrated by Micheal Gross and the author): Breashears died March 22 was a cinematographer known best for his IMAX movie of Everest. He also was in the process of making his IMAX movie during the same climbing season that Jon Krakauer made famous in his Into Thin Air (a great book) and Breshears brings a different perspective to the tragedy: the cautious one.
Neutral (11) Something of value, not enough to actively encourage reading (or listening)
The Sentence, Louise Erdich (novel, narrated by the author): a bit too much fabulistic as an indigenous women is beset by a ghost; embedded in the story, most of which takes place in a book store, is a list of some of THB’s well-loved novels. https://hc.a.bigcontent.io/v1/static/Sentence_enhance
Liliana’s Invincible Summer, A Sister’s Search for Justice, Cristina Rivera Garza (narrated by Victoria Villareal): The author goes through her younger sister’s memorabilia in an attempt to recreate and possibl find the sister’s killer 30+ years after her murder.
The House In The Pines, Ana Reyes (thriller, narrated by Marisol Ramirez): Can you hypnotize someone enough to kill them? This is not up to the level of the Manchurian Candidate or Silence of the Lambs, and probably more listenable than readable.
Davos Man, How the Billionaires Devour the World, Peter S. Goodman (narrated by Michael David Axtell): The poor stay poor, the rich get rich, that’s how it goes, everybody knows (L. Cohen). O:, I no share.
Breaking Twitter, Elon Musk and the Most Controversial Corporate Takeover in History, Ben Mezrich (narrated by Will Collyer): THB is not a Tweet-guy, no lover of Musk, and thus he enjoyed listening to the story of Musk devolving into a paranoiac and misguided CEO, all in a few short months, all to show he can destroy lives with the best of them. If you are an avid tweeter then this moves up to the “recommended” category. And, if you go back far enough, it also isn't the most controversial takeover ever.
Among The Bros, Max Marshall (narrated by Stephen Graybill): a story of drugs run rampant among the college kids in Charleston and Atlanta in the 2010s and 2020s. Not a good ending for them when authorities finally catch on that these frat boys were up to no good and making good money.
Murder On The Red River, Marcie Rendon (novel, pub’d 2017, narrated by Sirii Scott): mystery taking place in Minnesota bordering on an Indian reservations with Cash Blackbear and Officer Wheaton solving the crimes. Book 1 of now 3 (?) in the series. THB liked this one enough to buy #2.
Girl Gone Missing, Marcie Rendon (novel, pub’d 2022, narrated by Sirii Scott): short, not very intricate, no need to read #3.
The Snakehead, an Epic Tale of the Chinese Underworld and the American Dream, Patrick Radden Keefe (narrated by Feodor Chin, pub’d in 2009): Remember the ship that beached in Queens and hundreds of Chinese refugees tried to stumble ashore? This is the pre- and post-story of how and what happened to those involved in the smuggling. Too old to feel pertinent (some events took place in the early 1980s) in today’s environment regarding immigration politics.
The Naked And The Dead, Norman Mailer (novel, pub’d 1948, narrated by John Buffalo Mailer - author’s youngest son): A psychological look at a single platoon involved with capturing a remote island held by the Japanese near the end of WWII. THB read this when he was a kid, liked it then, and now remembers none of it. It's a very long listen, and profiles of the platoon’s members grow duller and duller as the book progresses, and there are almost no battle scenes.
The Wealth Hoarders, How Billionaires Pay Millions to Hide Trillions, Chuck Collins (narrated by Paul Heitsch): short, and could’ve been shorter on the “what” and a lot longer how the regulations would just have the truly wealthy find different loopholes for protecting their assets. Or, you could just follow the career of DJT as he maneuvers through the world of finance.
God Save Texas, a Journey into the Soul of the Lone Star State, Lawrence Wright (pub’d 2018, narrated by the author): If THB had listened to this one first instead of Mr. Texas, it would probably be Highly Reco’d and Mr. Texas would be just plain old Recommended. Wright lives in Austin and is clearly a Blue guy, married for 50 years, plays in a band, lived across the street from Matthew McConaughey for 3 months, and is clearly disdainful of what Republicans have done for Texas. Will Texas go Red again when Hispanics (now a majority) realize that Republicans are not their friends.
the Carmel Beach has been wiped out, Sandy now gets to go off leash on beach in Sand City : Blue Jellies are back
trying to prevent the raging sea is hard to do
In the Something Else Category (1):
Raising Kids, Your Essential Guide to Everyday Parenting, Olaf Jorgenson and Sheri Glucoft Wong (narrated by Nan McNamara): THB and DB love Sheri, has been our couples therapist for over 25 years (not every week let alone every year) and we’ve come to rely on her insight and recommendations to help us “find our spot and stay on it.” This audiobook probably is better used as in a paper version since you’ll want to make notes in the margin on situations you’re facing with any child of yours (and not just “kids”). Not sure Sheri is taking on new clients, she sure is sticking with us!!
Not Recommended - and high likely not finished (4):
Enter Ghost, Isabel Haamad (novel, narrated by Nadia Albrina): THB read far enough to realize the title is from Hamlet, and not far enough to make sense nor enjoy the dialog of two Palestinian sisters reuniting in Gaza after a large number of years.
Forbidden Notebook, Alma de Cespedes (novel, translated by Ann Goldstein, originally pub’d 1952): Diary of a mad woman? Unrelenting paranoia, so unrelenting THB stopped about 45% of the way through.
Wonder Boy, Tony Hsieh, Zappos, and the Myth of Happiness in Silicon Valley, Angel Au-Yeung and David Jens (narrated by Kurt Kanazawa): Hsieh was a comet streaking across the sky until he started to lose interest when he succeeded in making Zappos a $1.2B purchase by Amazon. THB got tired of the life lived on a downhill slope…Tony could not buy happiness by surrounding himself with others that he supported with his untold millions.
Wandering Stars, Tommy Orange (novel, narrated by a whole bunch of people): the third generation of stars wandered too far, getting high, addicted, lost, irresponsible, after the first two generations of Native Americans spent most of the time explaining how they were woke and others not. Semi-redeeming feature: lots of the inaction took place within a few miles of LB’s home. Ed, note: THB suspects that this book is better read than listened to.
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