May's Mammoth Tome

Well, April is basically done and so is the Steve Jobs biography. I'll write a review soon, but it was a good book and I enjoyed it. Isaacson is an excellent author. We've selected the book for May - The Power Broker by Robert A. Caro. It won a Pulitzer and Francis Parkman prize and is considered a must read. The book is on at least one "One Hundred Best Books of the Century" list. So it comes highly recommended, but whoa! The book's over 1100 pages long excluding the photos and the notes!

Now don't get me wrong. I love a good, big book and we certainly haven't shied away from reading them for the book club, but it's May. May means that the grass has to be cut, bushes have to be pruned, and the battle with the ivy and wisteria has commenced. I guess it's commendable that we make our selection based on the merits of the book, and I didn't pay any attention to the length until I picked up the box from Amazon on my front porch. (This book is definitely not made of lightweight recycled paper.)

Nevertheless, this is our selection. We have been known to extend a book through two months when necessary, but I'm going to give it my best shot. Who knows it may be worth every minute that I spend on it. I'll let you know how it goes. If you're up for the challenge, don't be afraid. Even though Carolyn and I are both former teachers, there are no tests at the end of the month!

The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas G. Carr
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. It includes a little for everyone who enjoys non-fiction. Carr goes into the history of different media and how they changed society, such as the written word, printing press, TV, etc. This sets the stage for how the internet is affecting us.

There is good news and not so good news. It seems that use of the internet is very distracting (as if we needed to be told that.) But it's not just distracting us from the rest of our lives, but distracting us while we are surfing. There are so many links, ads, banners, etc. that we are getting better at multitasking and filtering out what is important. But imagine this - You're sitting in a comfortable chair with a good cup of coffee or tea. It's raining softly, maybe a little chilly, and you're sitting there with a soft afghan and one of your favorite books. You quickly get absorbed into the book. Well apparently frequent surfing on the web can decrease our ability to think deeply about what we are reading.

Carr goes into the science of how our brains work, how memory works, and what it takes to hold knowledge in our working memory. He cites many different studies that show our ability to comprehend information that we read decreases in proportion to the number of links and distractions in our material. But this inability to concentrate carries over to reading off of the internet.

The internet is here to stay and we have to make adjustments. When reading material became easily accessible to the general public, the need to memorize knowledge was lessened. Eventually, educators began requiring less memorization which actually decreased our ability to memorize. Now with information at the touch of our fingertips, we are keeping even less information in our working memories. This is no problem for things that are not required for critical thinking, such as logarithms or functions that a calculator could perform for you. But for example, when evaluating current political events in light of historical events, you need to remember the things you've learned.

It's obviously more complicated that this, so I would recommend reading the book for yourself. It's readable and full of interesting information both historical and scientific, which of course made it perfect for me.

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Catching Up - New Books and Such

It's been a busy couple of months with spring and the Lenten/Easter season. Carolyn's yard is beautiful and well manicured. Mine is not, but a wonderful friend from church is helping me get a handle on the ivy and wisteria that have taken control, so I have hopes of being able to keep up this year after it's tamed. We are still reading though, in spite of my neglect of the blog.

For March we read The Path Between the Seas by David McCullough about the building of the Panama Canal. It was a feat that had a huge impact on the world by uniting the 2 great oceans. There was so much more to the story than I knew including scandal, civil and criminal court trials, conquering disease, and of course a lot of political maneuvering behind the scenes. The story spans 50 years and includes the monumental effort of both France and the US, not to mention countless West Indians who gave their back breaking labor and often their lives. McCullough is a master story teller and this book did not disappoint.

For the month of April we are reading Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. I'm about halfway through and enjoying it. Jobs is definitely an interesting person and Isaacson is an wonderful author. The combination makes for an excellent book. I will say this though, I knew very little about Steve Jobs before beginning the book beyond who he was. If you are well versed in his life and career, you may want to read a number of reviews before buying it. I rarely read biographies of contemporary people and it is interesting recalling the "old" days of key punch cards and personal computers with 128k of memory.

We are meeting on April 27 this month, so you still have time to pick up the book and join us if you like. The more the merrier!

February Book

As usual we had a great time last night at book club. We are finally finished with Team of Rivals and moving on to a little science. Our book for February is The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr. Should be interesting. Hope you'll consider joining us.

We Wait You - A Book Review

We Wait You by Taryn R. Hutchison
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Taryn Hutchinson goes to Eastern Europe after the fall of communism with Campus Crusade for Christ. In this memoir she recounts her life there over a period of ten years. Ultimately, what began as a short one year mission trip became a life choice that changed her outlook on life and her feeling of belonging in the world.

Hutchinson began her life as a foreign missionary in Eastern Europe in Romania as a "college student" studying the Romanian language. She and her colleagues ministered to the other college students. As Romania became more open, they were able to be more forthcoming about their intentions in the country and openly minister to students and their neighbors. She does an excellent job describing the living conditions in this newly free country and the openness of the people there.

After a couple of years in Romania and in Hungary, Hutchinson takes on a more supervisory role and begins to work with staff and volunteers in the other Eastern European countries. She weaves in information about the history of the region, the living conditions in each country, the varying receptions they received from the people, as well as more personal information. She doesn't shy away from describing her own difficulties in dealing with the lack of basic necessities or the spiritual struggles she experienced.

At the end of 10 years there with only short trips home to see family and connect with sponsors, she returns to live in the US. The transition is not an easy one. Life in Eastern Europe has changed her. Returning in 2000, she has missed the 1990s and has to adjust to many new things. Most of the people she knows don't understand her perspective, and she often feels like she doesn't belong in either world. She takes the reader on this personal journey of reintegrating into life in the US.

This book is on the recommended reading list for the United Methodist Women for 2012. I picked it up because I have always been interested in Eastern Europe. I was not disappointed. The book is funny, sad, sometimes a little scary, and very informative. I would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the area or in mission work.

A Jerusalem Memoir - A Book Review

It's Easier to Reach Heaven Than the End of the Street: A Jerusalem Memoir by Emma Williams

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Emma Williams' memoir of her time living in Israel is an important book to read if you want to understand the nuances of the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Williams and her family moved to Israel just prior to the beginning of the second Intifada in August, 2000. Her husband works for the UN; she is a doctor who tries to work and provide some normalcy for her 3 children and a 4th born in Bethlehem. They live in Jerusalem in a village with one Jewish family and an extended Palestinian family.

Throughout the book Williams weaves personal stories and events with the bigger picture of the struggle between Jews and Palestinians. She is in a unique position to develop friends and colleagues on both sides of the issue and tries to convey the fears, desires, and attempts to maintain daily life on both sides. She is also open about her own attempts to understand and how difficult it is at times to face the reality. She quotes frequently from conversations with journalists, soldiers, politicians, and ordinary people. Keeping close and frequent communications with friends and family in the US and Britain, she is also able to compare what appears in the press in those countries with what is happening in the country. We definitely don't see the entire picture here.

The Williams lived in Israel until 2003, just before the invasion of Iraq, when her husband was transferred to another country. She continued to visit frequently through 2006 when the book was first published in Britain. The edition I read was an updated edition published in the United States in 2010.

It isn't necessarily an easy book to read. It's beautifully written, but the reality is harsh. As with any emotion packed issue, there are people on both sides of the issue who have extreme views, but also people on both sides who above all else want peace. I get the feeling that this is a situation that is almost impossible to understand unless you've lived with it. For that reason, this is an important book to read, especially if you think that you understand the issues you owe it to yourself to read this. It might give you a different perspective or at least a more in depth understanding of the situation.

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December Book Club meeting

Don't forget the book club meets on Friday Dec 2 at 6:00 pm at Tokyo Bistro in Wingate. We are discussing Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Don't worry if you haven't read or finished the book, I'm not finished either. It's good and flows nicely, so it's easy to read, but it is long. After this meeting we won't meet again until the last Friday in January.

I got sidetracked by a book for the UMW Reading Plan It's Easier to Reach Heaven Than the End of the Street: A Jerusalem Memoir by Emma Williams. Emma Williams is a doctor who moved to Israel in 2000 with her husband and three children. Her husband worked for the UN. They were there during the second Intifada living in a village in Jerusalem that was home to a Jewish family and an extended Palestinian family. She made both Israeli and Palestinian friends during her time there and began writing news articles to send home. In this book she provides a unique insight to both sides of the ongoing conflict. I'm not finished with it yet, but hopefully I'll have it back on the shelf at the church soon, so that others can read it.

If you're interested in American History, or just good conversation, please consider joining us next Friday.