The Book of Records by Madeliene Thien

I picked this up because it was on Obama's Summer 2025 reading list and of the ten books, I had read three of them (admittedly, one of them I got out of the library by mistake and then read because I had taken it on a weekend vacation with me and felt committed rather than interested--but I read it none-the-less), I had two of them out of the library already and so while I had heard of none of the remaining five, the goal of reading them all seemed within my grasp so I put them all on my hold list. That is how I ended up with a slightly science fiction-y book that at the end of the day I am not sure waht happened. It takes place in the The Sea, which is the name given to a gargantuan migrant compound on the shoreline a decade or two in the future, and yet seemingly spanning into the past as well. Lina and her ailing father, Wui Shin, occupy an apartment where they can watch the refugee boats pull in and depart. The pair have fled the flooded Pearl River Delta in China, leaving behind Lina’s mother, brother and aunt but carrying three volumes from an epic biographical series entitled The Great Lives of Voyagers. These cover the respective histories of the German-Jewish philosopher Hannah Arendt, the Chinese poet Du Fu and the Portuguese-Jewish scholar Baruch Spinoza. They provide both a link to the past and a sextant to navigate by. The world exists in endless flux, Lina is told, and yet here in the Sea nothing ever goes missing. Its chambers fill and empty like locks on a canal. Different portions of the compound appear to correspond with different decades. As near as I can tell it is a novel of ideas--those from the past and how to apply them to the future--but like I said, I am not sure I followed this and so may be completely wrong about that!

Why Do We Keep Talking about 1930's Germany?

Because it seems so relavent. And also because whatever comes out of the president's mouth is the opposite of the truth--almost without fail. And sometimes it seems all too true, like this campaign video mentioning The Reich. The disappearing of people with brown skin, taken by people out of uniform and into unmarked cars to places we don't know--that sounds like people who the Nazi's found undesirable were sent away and murdered. So here goes: What is happening in America Actions against the judiciary: Concerns have been raised about actions and rhetoric that show a disregard for court decisions, including a instance where the Trump administration was held in criminal contempt for ignoring a court order. Attacks on the press: The press has been labeled as the "enemy of the people," a comparison that has drawn criticism. Civil Service and "Purge": There are concerns about plans to purge the civil service and replace bureaucrats with political loyalists, a move some have compared to Hitler's actions. Rhetoric and Legal Actions: Rhetoric concerning immigration has led to comparisons between immigration enforcement tactics and the Gestapo. Additionally, Trump has proposed using executive actions that some critics fear could be abusive, such as potentially suspending habeas corpus or using the Insurrection Act. Criminal Charges: Trump faced federal criminal charges for allegedly conspiring to defraud the government and obstruct the January 6 Capitol attack. "Dictator" Rhetoric: Trump has stated he would be a "dictator on day one" as a mode of governance, a statement that has been seen as concerning due to its potential for abuse. Where are we headed? Nazi Germany was responsible for systematic persecution, genocide during World War II, and crimes like massacres and forced labor. Comparisons to Donald Trump's America are often based on specific actions and rhetoric, such as attacks on the press and the judiciary, plans to remove federal employees, and rhetoric concerning immigration and potentially suspending legal protections like habeas corpus. azis used their state power, including the Gestapo (secret police), to persecute opponents and detain individuals without charge in concentration camps.

Mark Twain by Ron Chernow

This is comprehensive, meaning that it is long and could have used to be edited down quite a bit, pulling some material out and footnoted, so that it would be reduced to 1/2 the size, or equal parts book and notes. There is too much, and a lot of repetition. That said, you will not find more facts about Twain anywhere, I hazard to guess. Samuel Langhorne Clemens arrived with Halley’s Comet on November 30, 1835 in Hannibal, Missouri. He was the 6th child in a family that dreamed big. His best remembered books are set in the neighborhood of his childhood, but he traveled first the country and then the world, starting at an early age. In his lifetime, Mark Twain was the greatest literary celebrity in the world. In the US, he hobnobbed with presidents; on his many travels, he would dine privately with the German kaiser, the Austrian emperor, or the Prince of Wales. When he was in debt and unable to afford his sprawling mansion in Hartford, CT he inexplicably could live in hotels across Europe as an "economizing effort". He was famous and lived large. He was the bracing, irreverently humorous voice of America. He edited and published Grant's hugely autobiography, but was generally a failed businessman. He had a successful marriage, but a disturbing obsession with young girls. He spoke openly of equality for blacks and was anti-slavery even before the Civil War yet fought briefly for the Confederacy and has some cringe-worthy writing with racist stereotypes. He was complicated that way and Chernow doesn't do a lot to untangle that, despite this heroic effort.

The Rebound (2009)

This is something approaching a romantic comedy but it veers left and ends up on the drama highway. Sandy is 40, newly divorced, and living with her two kids in Manhattan. Her hustband is discovered to be a long time cheat, and while he doesn't contest her decision to divorce, he is less happy about her living in the city and basically thinks she will flail and come back to him, so he doesn't get ugly tight off the bat. Sandy'a apartment is over a coffee shop where mid-twenties Aram in also newly divorced--his wife married him for a green card, and once she got it, she went back to her boyfriend who was masquerading as her brother. Sandy gets a high powered job and is launching a career whereas he is aimlessly making coffee. They embark on a romance that is all too real to both of them, but she gets skittish when she sees herself through his parents eyes and realizes it can never work. They go their seperate ways, he to gain purpose and life expereince, she to advance in what she does and neither of them find love elsewhere. It is a bid for people to follow their hearts where these two do not.

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

I am going to Japan soon and am trying to steep myself a bit in the literature and culture ahead of time. It is an ancient civilization that is rich in art and food, two things that I love, and I want to make an effort to appreciate it (to the best of my ability at least). This seems to me like a commentary on the class structure in Japan, which seems to be the thing that is a struggle for twenty somethings. So here goes. Keiko has been a worry to her family all her life, bullied and friendless, until at 18 years old she gets a job at a a job at the local Smile Mart convenience store and, paying conscientious attention to the training video, realizes that she has been doing normal all wrong. She puts her mind to it and excels at the daily monotone of restocks and product promotions and difficult customers, and she finds contentment and self-respect among the brightly lit aisles and hot food cabinets. She finds though that everyone expects more of her, and she is not capable or interested in accomplishing more--though she gives it a couple of tries. It is sad, almost mournful, with nothing of the muted joy found in the film Perfect Days.

Osteria La Torre, Cherasco, Piedmont, Italy

This was a feast of Piedmont dishes that included rabbit as well as the wonderful pasta with so much egg yolks called Tajarin al Ragu. These were both excellent, but the two things that we had never had that prompted us to buy a cookbook (in Englsih) from the region were these: Firstly, Il Piccolo Carpione, which is served cold. Either fish or chicken, fairly thin, is seasoned and dredged through flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs and fried. The vegetables are put into a poaching liquid that is half vinegar/half white wine, gently poached, and then cooled, and the two are served cold with a bit of the poaching liquid. It was very simple and quite delicious.

The other remarkable dish was CIPOLLA RIPIENA DI CIPOLLE E AMARETTI, CREMA DI CAROTE, which is Onions that have been boiled slightly, and then all but the outermost layer are removed, and then choppe up--to be stuffed back into the shell and mixed with ground almonds or amaretto biscuits, seasoned with clove, then baked and served here with a carrot sauce. THe whole meal was amazing, and more importantly so different from food I had had that I could have gone back the next day, had the very same meal all over again and been quite pleased.

Abundance by Ezra Klein & Derek Thompson

I put this on my library hold list (which is essentially my reading list) when it showed up on Obama's 2025 Summer Reading List--I had read 3 of the 10, had 2 more on my shelf to read, so decided to try all 10. I am glad I got this one--added bonus is that it is a largish font, so I took it to an eye appointment and was able to read it while I waited. I didn't know this but read it in a review. Late in 2021, Ezra Klein wrote a New York Times op-ed titled “The Economic Mistake the Left Is Finally Confronting”, in which he called for a new “supply-side progressivism”. Four months later, Derek Thompson wrote an article in The Atlantic titled “A Simple Plan to Solve All of America’s Problems”, in which he called for an “abundance agenda”. Many people quickly recognized that these were essentially the same idea. Klein and Thompson recognized it too, and teamed up to co-author a book that would serve as a manifesto for this new big idea. It is about combating the GOP policy of scarcity, which underneath all the prevarication is that we are running out of things and need to secure what we have, guard it, kick out anyone that doesn't look like you with a policy of abundance, that we have more than enough and we need to stop letting billionaires run the show and start leaning in to our strengths.

A Tourist's Guide To Love (2023)

This movie, a made for Netflix production, ticks all my boxes for a movie to watch when my spouse is on call. Since there is so little to feel good about these days, it is a way to escape for a couple of hours. I have a hand sewing project that I can make progress on as well. In the next couple months I will start watching Oscar contenders in earnest, but in the mean time this sort of movie is what I am looking for. Amanda Riley is an uptight, high powered Los Angeles-based travel agent living a safe and predictable existence with her boring accountant boyfriend, John. Amanda’s world gets turned a little upside down when John tells her--with a lot of excitement--that he is taking a job in Ohio, so they should hit the pause button on their relationship. Amanda's boss Mona, who is also a friend, sends her on an undercover scouting trip to check out a Vietnamese tour company that is coming up for sale. The company is a bit seat of the pants, operated by two charming cousins who go off script to show Amanda the real Vietnam--their tour is the opposite of the one my spouse and I took, going from Saigon to Hanoi (yes, it is Ho Chi Min City but no, nobody in Vietnam calls it that it seems) with stops in Hoi An, My Son, and Hue in between. The scenery alone is well worth watching this, but it is a charming rom com that totally down plays just how hard it is to cross a street and the humidity, but is a taste of Vietnam as well.

When Javi Dumped Mari by Mia Sosa

I have been doing the Goodreads challenges for about a year, and have mostly been happy with the things that I have read to complete them--none have been clunkers, some have been very good and are also books I might otherwise have missed out on. So when I say that is why I read this one, it is a neutral thing. September is Hispanic Heritage Month, and this fits the bill for that--written by an author who identifies as half Puerto Rican and half Brazilian about Javier, who is of Puerto Rican heritage and Marisol, who is of Brazilian heritage. It is a pretty classic sort of romance novel. Javi and Mari have been friends and attracted to each other since college. They managed to salvage the friendship by icing the romance and so many things happen over the ensuing 12 years that keep them more or less apart. Mari's father does not think Javi is good enough for Mari, a fact he doesn't bother even a little bit to hide and that doesn't quite resister with Mari. Mari leaves college for law school and knows where she is going from the get go whereas Javi meanders around a bit and doesn't want to be a ball and chain. It all comes to a head when Mari impulsively decides to marry the man her father is mentoring in their law firm and asks Javi to be her man of honor. This does not go off script for a romantic comedy, and as is so often the case with this genre, that is what the reader is hoping will happen.

Enoteca Regionale del Barolo, Italy

I loved this place--I particularly love the ability to try a number of different barolos before buying, and while only manned by one person, Adriano, he was knowledgable and helpful, so we got our feet on the ground about barolos. Housed in the Castle of Barolo, the “Enoteca Regionale del Barolo” was established in 1982 by a specific regional law. It is the prestigious showcase of wine production in the eleven municipalities that make up the area of origin of the “king of wines”: Barolo, Castiglione Falletto Cherasco, Diano d’Alba, Grinzane Cavour, La Morra, Monforte d’Alba, Novello, Roddi, Serralunga d’Alba, Verduno. It currently represents 195 producers, whose wines are allowed only after an examination of a special wine tasting committee, operating strictly on anonymous samples to make an objective judgment. We were able to buy from several different wine makes, and ship from here. All in all a fun stop that I would recommend. The town of Barolo is quite charming as well (but I am glad that we stayed in Alba).