Review of "The Invisible Library"

Ordinarily I don't care for fantasy, but it has come a long way in the last few years. Case in point: "The Invisible Library," by Genevieve Cogman. She's got a whole series of these now, but this is the first one, and it's really good. Densely plotted, intriguing, and all about books.

Review: How Music Works, by David Byrne

David Byrne has written an unusual and interesting book not on music per se, but on the cultural forces that shape what kind of music can be written and performed in specific environments - from intimate salons to gigantic arenas, from live concerts to recorded forms in multiple technological formats, from one person listening to a CD to thousands participating together. He covers a lot of ground, and shows how each form impacts the others.

Highly recommended. 

I received a copy of this book in return for a review.

Available on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/How-Music-Works-David-Byrne-ebook/dp/B01JWDZ7Q2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497476144&sr=8-1&keywords=how+music+works

Short Review: Sandalwood Essential Oil from First Botany

Sandalwood oil is a "cosmeceutical," which along with "natural," "pure," and "aromatherapy" are marketing terms for natural products not regulated as drugs (and consequently without detailed labeling requirements from the FDA.). The material has an ancient and honorable history in Ayurvedic medicine and meditative practices, but the amount of blather written about it and other essential oils is truly astounding - all kinds of unsubstantiated claims, arguments, and general web-spinning. I'm going to put that noise aside and simply describe my interaction with this particular product.

I mixed a couple drops with coconut oil and used it as a perfumed skin cream. Very nice, with a lovely and long-lasting woodsy fragrance. It works well in a diffuser to scent a room, too. Most references indicate that it is important to mix the product with another oil or cream - and try on a small patch of skin first - because the full strength material can be irritating. Its normal price is substantial for just 30 mL, but you only need a little for each application, and the dropper bottle is handy.

Recommended.

I obtained this product at a discounted price in exchange for an unbiased review through Honest Dragon Reviews.

Snapshot: "The Magic of Math"

Arthur Benjamin has been doing math magic for some years now, and is one of several mathematicians writing engaging books on their subject for the lay person. (See John Allen Paulos and William Dunham for two other excellent examples.) In this particular tome he shows off a number of mathematical tricks that make learning number concepts easier, including algebra, counting, fibonacci numbers, pi, calculus, and infinity.

Highly recommended, particularly to teachers - this gives you a lot more ammo than the average blah textbook.

I got a free copy of this book in exchange for a review on NetGalley.com.

Short Review: "Elgin Park"

Michael Paul Smith is an artist who constructs and photographs open air dioramas of an imaginary town, based on memories of his boyhood home. He uses his own extensive collection of die cast model cars, beautifully constructed architectural models (he has some training in the field), a good camera, and outdoor scenes for perspective.  Fascinating for anyone who loves dollhouses, old cars, puzzles, or any kind of nostalgia.

Oddly, the actual text of the book, written in third person rather than first and at times self-congratulatory (this strikes me as the fault of his co-author) strikes a rather jarring note. Additionally, the quality of the images in the book is not as good as it could be, compared to the actual photos on Smith's Flickr page.

Look past that, though. Smith's voice is there, in answers to questions, in descriptions of the images, and in tutorial information on how to construct these kinds of scenes.

Recommended.

I received an e-book of this title in exchange for a review on NetGalley.

Snapshot: "Zen and the Art of Donkey Maintenance"

Robert Crisp was an eccentric Brit - a famous Cricket player who dropped out of sight except for some articles he wrote for a publication, which were eventually worked into a memoir by his son Peter. At age 50 or so the elder Crisp settled in a free two-room shack in Greece near a beach, and made efforts to live on 10 pounds sterling a month, gardening, keeping some livestock and generally living a Thoreau-style existence. It's well-written and engaging, although not particularly unique - I've read books like this before.

Worth a look.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review on NetGalley.com.

Short Review: "The Divine Madness of Philip K. Dick"

Kyle Arnold has written a gripping analysis of Philip K Dick`s work in the context of his psychological torments, and their genesis in his upbringing.  Dick barely survived near starvation as an infant, and his twin sister died. His mother blamed him somehow for that death, and many of his other childhood experiences piled on worse. Arnold is convincing when showing how those experiences informed Dick`s fiction. (There are multiple excellent examples.)

He goes a little over the top when he psychoanalyzes Dicks behavior,  in places almost trying to explain it away rather than just explain it. (Dick was a charming misogynist and drug addict, battling mental illness his entire life.) Never the less, this is a thorough, though-provoking addition to PKD criticism.

Recommended particularly for devotees of PKD's fiction.

I received a free e-book of this title in exchange for a review.

Three short reviews of Island Press books

Island Press publishes books on environmental subjects. Here are three that consider important issues in urban renewal, the built environment, and sustainability.

Urbanism without Effort
Charles Wolfe has managed to articulate what has always troubled me about city renovations - no matter how professionally done, they often look fake, superficial. Wolfe has conducted what he calls photocentric archaeology in old cities that developed according to people's needs over time, and has come up with some interesting observations. The loss of human scale is a problem with overly planned spaces - some of them look like people don't belong there at all. He notes that modern architecture is often static, controlling rather than supporting human movement, comfort, and flexibility. A thriving city needs organic growth and adaptive reuse in order to stay authentic.

Conservation for Cities
Conservation for Cities, by Robert McDonald, is an engaging look at the potential for "natural infrastructure" in urban areas - the role that greenery and other natural constructs can have in keeping a densely populated city cool, safe, fed, and financially successful while still having the lowest possible negative effect on wildlife. Contrary to some opinions that cities are evil, McDonald suggests that they can be environmentally beneficial: resource efficient, protective of wildlife, and better able to manage water and waste.

The Shape of Green "Does sustainability change the face of design or only its content?" An interesting question for those of us who get a little tired of considering how much we'll have to "give up" to create a sustainable world. Yes, we should probably give up gasoline and meat and big houses and maybe even capitalism, but what do we get besides bare bones survival? Do we have to give up beauty, too? No. Great design and green design are not mutually exclusive, despite the common wisdom that says sustainable design is not only ugly, but necessarily ugly. After reviewing the reasons builders separate green from pretty, the author (a writer for Architect Magazine), argues that beauty is inherent in sustainability. Interesting, well-referenced, knowledgeable and thorough.

All three highly recommended.

I received free copies of these books in exchange for a review on NetGalley.

Snapshot: "Microgroove"

How did I not know about John Corbett? Music criticism as literature (a notion James Wood, the literary critic and Harvard professor, would agree with) - what a concept! Incisive, fascinating, and very, very knowledgeable. He starts with a preface that explains how his father taught him to listen deeply to music by listening to the sounds of nature, particularly the patterns of frogs croaking in a pond. He "finds little meanings in big music, and ...big meanings in little music." I'm looking up some of the artists he mentions now.

Highly recommended.

I received an e-copy of this book in exchange for a review on NetGalley.com

Snapshot: “About Women”

Rarely does one get to hear (read) an extended conversation between two accomplished older women who are interested in each others lives and creative activities. Lisa Alther, a writer who lives in Appalachia, and Francoise Gilot, a painter who lives in France, became close friends, and their correspondence here is fascinating. They talk over their early histories (one was born just after WWI and the other during WWII), their art, their influences, and their views on everything from gender to education to slavery to DNA.

Highly recommended.

I received a copy of this book in return for a review on NetGalley.com.

Short Review: "The Dean's Diaries"

I'm always a sucker for a good academic satire, and this one is spectacular. Sometimes satire gets too heavy or cloying. Not here. The eponymous Dean (the narrator) is funny from beginning to end, and even the forward is hilarious. We begin with a description of the college's resident pets, including a squid "with suckers the size of soup plates," a chimpanzee with a disputed soul, and banned dog that is allowed to stay by re-classifying it as a cat. We continue with a chapter on how a bus was dragged into the college by an unshielded Tesla magnetic field, collecting up the staff canteen cutlery on its way to the women's restroom, and followed by a garbage truck and an ATM machine, leading to charges of armed robbery from the ATM's bank owner.

The whole book goes on like this in a calm, matter-of-fact tone, never flagging. Highly recommended.

I received a copy of the Kindle version of this book in return for a review. The image above links to the book's hardcover Amazon page.

Snapshot: "Out on the Wire"

It's always interesting when someone mashes up disparate elements to make something new. Jessica Abel does just that in Out on the Wire, a non-fiction book on radio storytelling that is illustrated like a comic book. It should be helpful to anyone who creates stories, whether filmed, printed, or spoken. Ideas, characters, voice, structure, sound, and editing are the six main parts. 

Recommended.

I obtained a free copy of this book in exchange for a review on Netgalley.com.

Short Review: An Important Biography of a Radical Black Feminist

I've got a new hero (not only feminist, but a fierce warrior against all forms of discrimination), and she doesn't look anything like me. I had never heard of her before reading this book, in fact (a symptom of a significant problem in itself.) She reminds me of a black Molly Ivins, although she predated her by several years. (Perhaps I should say Molly Ivins resembled a white Flo Kennedy). In any event, this is a must-read.

The author, Sherie Randolph, worked with Kennedy's remaining papers - much had been destroyed for various reasons - but there was enough to craft an in-depth biography of a remarkable woman (a lawyer by training) who fought for justice during the 1960s and '70s against insane odds. I haven't heard "Black Lives Matter" activists mention her, but they're on the same page.

Highly recommended.

I obtained a free copy of this book from Netgalley.com in exchange for a review.

Short Review: "Essential Turkish Cuisine"

The best cookbook is one from which you can learn something new, and I'm always on the lookout for cookbooks from specific cultures, so when Essential Turkish Cuisine came up for review, I grabbed a copy. Not just recipes - although there are about 200 of them - but also Turkish history, habits, traditional spice mixtures (some I'd never heard of), and food customs of both peasants and royalty. (Did you know the Turks started out as nomads in Mongolia? Me neither.)

Perfect. The author runs a cooking school in Turkey, and it shows. She explains how to make everything from homemade tomato paste to Borek (stuffed pastry).

Highly recommended.

I received a pre-release copy of this book for review. The image above links to the book's Amazon page.

Snapshot: "Pop Sonnets"

You don't exactly read a book like this, but rather hunt around for your favorite - or at least most familiar - songs and see what kind of sonnets Erik Didriksen was able to turn them into. I think it's no accident that a number of other reviewers have found this useful in teaching classes on literature - this approach hooks 'em right in. There are dozens of titles here, from YMCA to Material Girl to Tubthumping, and they for the most part manage to capture the original content of the lyrics in semi-Shakespearean language very effectively.

Recommended.

I received a Kindle copy of this book in return for a review. The image above links to the book's Amazon page.

Short Review: Connecting with the City

I'm not exactly this book's demographic (the author - Nora Lum - is young enough to be my granddaughter), but the information in here is insanely useful - not politically correct, not reverent, not necessarily polite (her profile of Staten Island includes the information that Ben Franklin probably pooped there) - USEFUL. Like the kid in the "Emperor Has No Clothes" story, Lum is observant, direct, unvarnished, knowledgeable, and confident. She was born in New York of Chinese and Korean parents, and grew up there, so she knows the place well. Much of the text is lists and short vignettes, interspersed with some critical street knowledge - where to pee, how to make money recycling bottles and cans if you're broke, how to eat a soup dumpling, and brief descriptions of the human characters (subway, homeless, new arrivals) -  you're likely to meet, but most of the book covers some genuinely interesting and offbeat parts of the City in ten walking tours (each includes subway directions, brief history, appropriate warnings, and sights to see). For example, the one she calls the Men in Black Tour gives directions to Flushing Meadows Park, site of two worlds fairs and some filming in the movie. I had to look up some of the urban slang (betch?) and I'd want an experienced New Yorker as a companion on most of these jaunts, but well worth a read. 

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of the paperback version in exchange for a review. (The Kindle version is much cheaper). The image above links to the book's Amazon page.

Short Review: "State of the World 2015"

The subtitle of State of the World 2015 by the Worldwatch Institute is "Confronting Hidden Threats to Sustainability," but they might as well have called it "Rearranging Deck Chairs on the Titanic." The book describes the various environmental problems and their current (alarming) status - familiar to those of us who study these matters - but the overall theme is how weak and ineffectual our current political and industrial leaders are in addressing the problems. From disbelief to greenwashing to outright fraud, the growth-oriented champions who actually have a chance at making some of the needed changes give lip service to environmentalism, but they are very far from actually engaging in it. Worldwatch makes the case that capitalism itself (at least in its current incarnation of grow, grow, grow) is a systemic part of the problem.

Rather dry, as one might expect from a serious tome written by a committee of scientists, but very important and worth the time to read.

Highly recommended.

I obtained a copy of this book free of charge in exchange for a review. The image above links to the book's Amazon page.

Short Review: "Thug Notes"

Greg Edwards is a comedian, actor, and writer. One of his web series is "Thug Notes," which aims to educate people about literature using street language. The character who does the educating is Sparky Sweets, Ph.D (played by Edwards). Hilarious.

A selection of Sparky's teachings have been collected in this book, and it is impressive. The street language is no more difficult to decipher than some of Shakespeare's work, but it is best read aloud to get the most meaning and full effect. I actually like this book version better than the performed version because there is more depth: character sketches, themes and plot descriptions, Several of my personal favorites are here: Hamlet, Pride and Prejudice, and Fahrenheit 451.Would have liked to see Siddhartha and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man in the written collection, but no matter; they are available online.

This could be the new Cliff's Notes. (It's more interesting and the online version is free.) Edwards admits that this project came about in part to combat the "exclusionary" way that academics present the classics. I think he's on to something. (YouTube list of all the Thug Notes performances here.)

Very highly recommended.

I obtained a free copy of this book in exchange for a review. The image above links to the Amazon page for the book.

Short Review: "Seeking Surrender"

The author of this short book, Colette Lafia, had a number of trying life experiences (death of a sibling and inability to have children, among others), and she started a spiritual journey to try and make peace with herself. She first visited a Trappist monastery in Kentucky, where she made friends with one of the monks, and much of the book is their written correspondence over several years.

Although the content is written from a Christian and specifically Catholic point of view, the first thing I noticed was its resemblance to Buddhist practice. A few rituals when needed, very little dogma, but much emphasis on acceptance (the 'surrender' of the title), presence, compassion, searching, and meditative prayer.

Very simple, unadorned, and moving. Recommended.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review. The image above links to the book's Amazon page.

Short Review: "Clockwork Lives"

Wow. Just wow. Kevin J. Anderson and Neal Peart (yes, the drummer from the rock band Rush) have written a scintillating steampunky novel - structured like the Canterbury Tales as a framework around a collection of stories told by their owners. (Apparently there is a Rush album to accompany it, although I did not obtain a copy of that to review.)

The framework takes up the story of Marinda Peake, who cares for her ailing father in an unusually regimented world. When he dies, she is forced by the terms of his will to leave her circumscribed life to seek out other life stories. Evocative, thoroughly imagined, and magical without a single dungeon or dragon, but with a very Alice Through the Looking Glass mirror. Marinda finds danger, death, love, and gold on her journey through other people's stories.

Very highly recommended.

I obtained a review copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review. The image above links to the book's Amazon page.