Author Title and Description Recommended
by
Tara Westover Educated , This memoir follows Tara’s journey from rural Idaho to Anne Helm
the PhD program at Cambridge University as she struggles
against her family’s devout, isolationist religious beliefs and fights
for an education, learning along the way that to be educated is to
learn much more about the world than what’s contained in books.
David McCullough The Pioneers, Pulitzer Prize–winning historian David McCullough Anne Helm
rediscovers an important and dramatic chapter in the American
story—the settling of the Northwest Territory by dauntless
pioneers who overcame incredible hardships to build a
community based on ideals that would come to define our
country. It’s so much about our area of the U.S., and lots about
how individual people who stand strong for what they know is
right make a huge difference ( in this case both against slavery,
for education, and about who owns property). I think it a very
good one for us to discuss in October!
Sally Rooney Normal People, I found this book to be very interesting with lots of Anne Helm
issues to discuss –especially thinking of our grandchildren’s
generation and who are “normal people”. It deals with H.S. and
College Life, rich and poor, what is “love”, what is it to be truly
educated, who is a friend
Marie de Hennezel The Warmth of the Heart Prevents Your Body from Jane
Rusting: A French Recipe for a Long Life, Well-Lived, picks up
where we left off with Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal.
Martin Walker I recommended anything by Martin Walker, my BIG DISCOVERY Jane
of 2019. He is a Brit. Journalist/historian. His fiction about a
police chief in the Perigord region of France is wonderful
escapism. (15 books in the series to date). Read them in order.
His non-fiction is even better. Earlier this year I read “The Cold
War” “America Reborn” , “Makers of the: American Century A
Narrative in 26 Lives”……. Still to read are “The Caves of
Perigord” and “Germany, 2064”
Andrew Krivak The Bear. A poetic fable, in some ways a saga, or perhaps a Charlie
legendary depiction of the last humans on earth. A quick but
compelling read.
Richard Powers The Overstory, A thick book that follows six characters whose Linda
lives are changes by a tree. (Yes, really!)
Roberta Pianaro and Brunetti's Cookbook, recipes by Roberta Pianaro, culinary stories Linda
Donna Leon by Donna Leon, creator of the Inspector Brunetti mystery series
set in Venice.
Edward Snowden Permanent Record, about his outing the CIA/NSA info Charlie also
gathering. Snowden is absolutely fascinating, and right on point in Jane and Ron
what he says
A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal, Maybe
Ben MacIntyre more detail than you might desire, but wonderful picture of
"spycraft" from the 30's into the 60's. And a pretty damning Charlie
picture of the "entitlement" of the British upper crust throughout
the era: Philby could not, despite all the clear evidence, be guilty
because, after all, "he's one of us".
A.A. Milne how long has it been since you have looked at Winnie the Charlie
Pooh? Not the !&@*! Disney Pooh, but the books. Go back and
enjoy. Pooh will make you glad.
Carl Zimmer She has her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Ellen
Potential of Heredity. The author is a fine scientific writer, and he
makes the topic really interesting to the lay person. The first few
chapters were a good parallel to the recent PBS mini-series “The
Gene”
Benjamin Carter The Death of Democracy: Hitler's Rise to Power and the Downfall Phil
Hett of the Weimar Republic If you are watching the Netflix series
"Babylon Berlin, you might also read this book. It is a history of
the time between WW I and the Reichstag Fire and shows how the
social and political climate in Germany led to Hitler's rise. There
are some frightening parallels to our own time. This reading will
also illuminate some of the political and military figures in
"Babylon Berlin."
Jared Diamond Collapse, How Societies Choose to Either Fail or Succeed. Bill
Diamond identifies five factors that contribute to collapse: climate
change, hostile neighbors, trade partners (that is, alternative
sources of essential goods), environmental problems, and, finally,
a society’s response to its environmental problems. The first four
may or may not prove significant in each society’s demise,
Diamond claims, but the fifth always does. The salient point, of
course, is that a society’s response to environmental problems is
completely within its control, which is not always true of the other
factors. In other words, as his subtitle puts it, a society can
“choose to fail.” 2005
Jared Diamond Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis A well researched Bill
and well written exploration into considering how nations come to
grips with crises and adapt. The author uses personal crises and
the way in which individuals manage them and seeks to see
whether a similar process may play out with nations. He explores,
in depth, nations which underwent crisis and which he has some
level of personal experience 2019
Madeleine Albright Fascism, a Warning, Albright (with Bill Woodward) draws on Susan
with Bill Woodward her personal history, government experience and conversations
with Georgetown students to assess current dangers and how
to deal with them. Albright does this via an examination of cases
in Europe and America from World War I through the present
day. From this, some patterns emerge. 2018
Rupert Isaacson The Hose Boy This book is a memoir of a father’s search for healing for Susan
his you son that is severely autistic. His search takes the family to
Mongolia to work with several shamans. A documentary movie of the
search for healing is available for streaming on Kanopy or Amazon
Prime
Fatima Mirza A Place for US, the epic story of an Indian-American Muslim family that Elizabeth
is a tender examination of identity and familial roles, of faith, and of
what it means to be home.
Colson Whitehead Undergound Railroad, ‘One of the remarkable things about this novel Elizabeth and
is how Mr. Whitehead found an elastic voice that accommodates Susan
both brute realism and fablelike allegory, the plain-spoken and the
poetic — a voice that enables him to convey the historical horrors of
slavery with raw, shocking power.’ NYT
Bryan Stevenson Just Mercy (also the movie) ‘A powerful true story about the Jane
potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix our
broken system of justice—from one of the most brilliant and
influential lawyers of our time’ Goodreads
Daniel Torday Boomer1 ‘Set in 2011, the novel reimagines the Occupy Bob
movement as an explicitly intergenerational conflict: millennials
hitting back at the profligacy of baby boomers in a campaign of
“domestic terrorism,” waged largely online and coalescing around
one bitter, balding man whose mother still makes his sandwiches.’
NYT
FOR OCTOBER
Christiana Figueres The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis Part of our Al
and Tom Revelle- population believes that “global warming” is a hoax. Another portion
Carmen believes in its reality and are striving to ameliorate the problems. A third
major portion believes it is a real threat, but, not knowing what to do
about it, are paralyzed into inaction. This excellent book, whose authors
had major roles shaping the 2015 Paris International Climate
Conference, will not convince the first group and is not necessary for the
second. It is directed towards the third group. It sketches out many
interrelated problems: politics, economics, jobs, health, the natural and
built-up environment, the availability of required resources, etc Its focus
is to develop the proper mental attitudes necessary to create a livable
future. The last half of the book presents ten steps, big and small,
mental and physical, that individuals, and their society, can take to deal
with the real, impending crisis of global warming facing all of humanity.
Abhijit Banerjee and Good Economics for Hard Times In this revolutionary book, renowned Susan
Esther Duflo MIT economists Banerjee and Duflo take on this challenge, building on
cutting-edge research in economics explained with lucidity and grace.
Original, provocative, and urgent, Good Economics for Hard
Times makes a persuasive case for an intelligent interventionism and a
society built on compassion and respect. It is an extraordinary
achievement, one that shines a light to help us appreciate and
understand our precariously balanced world.
Immigration and inequality, globalization and technological disruption,
slowing growth and accelerating climate change--these are sources of
great anxiety across the world, from New Delhi and Dakar to Paris and
Washington, DC. The resources to address these challenges are there--
what we lack are ideas that will help us jump the wall of disagreement
and distrust that divides us. If we succeed, history will remember our era
with gratitude; if we fail, the potential losses are incalculable.
