Recent Books -- Sea of Tranquility, The Year of Peril, Overstory, Boys and Men, Sandworm, Fortune Favors the Dead

17 December 2022

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel. What if our world really is just a simulation? An OK tale but not a knockout.
The Year of Peril: America in 1942 by Tracy Campbell. Interesting look at the stresses in American society in 1942. We look back now and feel like our victory in WWII was inevitable and that all Americans pulled together. Reality is much messier.
The Overstory by Richard Powers. I don’t get it. Plodding. Couldn’t be bothered to finish it.
Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do about It by Richard B. Reeves. Very thought provoking. This is not some apologist text about men, it is a very critical view of how we are raised and molded and demands that we do better. It is also very critical of Democratic Party approaches to the issue. The solutions are a little too straight line but worth reading.
Sandworm: A New Era of Cyberwar and the Hunt for the Kremlin’s Most Dangerous Hackers by Andy Greenberg. I don’t know, just didn’t really grab me. Something about the narrative was just kind of boring.
Fortune Favors the Dead by Stephen Spotswood. Oh what a great detective story, two wonderful main characters in the Holmes/Watson tradition, vulnerable and very human. Really liked it.