Every year, I purchase a pile of books to read. I haven’t bought as many this year because my piles have become too high. Typically, my list is made in December, but I’ve read quite a bit this year and I have another large stack on my desk that I expect I will have finished reading by December. This is a list of what I have been reading during the first half of 2018.

Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff

“Fire and Fury” provides a behind-the-scenes look at the Trump presidency. The book was a hit across the nation. I wasn’t too impressed solely because I already knew most of the details just from paying attention to the dozen or more news sources I read each day. If you don’t read the news as I do, much of this information will be new to you.

The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich

This is the English translation of the ground-breaking oral history of women in World War II in Europe and Russia. It won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

I really enjoyed her book “Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of A Nuclear Disaster” and decided to pick it up. While the book was good, I still preferred Voices from Chernobyl better. This is entirely due to subject matter and my own personal interests. I like her style and how she conveys her message. Alexievich has a few more books she’s written and I’ll be picking them up due solely to her name and the quality of work she does.

There have been thousands of wars on earth, but war remains, as it has always been, one of the chief human mysteries. Nothing has changed. I am trying to bring that great history down to human scale, in order to understand something. To find the words. Yet in this seemingly small and easily observable territory – the space of one human soul – everything is still less comprehensible, less predictable than in history. Because for me are living tears, living feelings. A living human face, which the shadows of pain and fear pass over as we talk. Occasionally a subversive hunch even creeps in of the barely perceptible beauty of human suffering. Then I get frightened of my own self …

There is only one path – to love this human being. To understand through love.

pg. 139

One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America by Kevin M. Kruse

We are not a Christian nation. We never have been. Author and Historian Kevin Kruse details in his book how this idea was created in the 1930s.

From the dust jacket:

As Kruse argues, the belief that America is fundamentally and formally a Christian nation originated in the 1930s when businessmen enlisted religious activists in their fight against FDR’s New Deal. Corporations from General Motors to Hilton Hotels bankrolled conservative clergymen, encouraging them to attack the New Deal as a program of “pagan statism” that perverted the central principle of Christianity: the sanctity and salvation of the individual. Their campaign for “freedom under God” culminated in the election of their close ally Dwight Eisenhower in 1952.

It got worse from there. Eisenhower started inaugural prayers and the National Prayer Breakfast. Congress added “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance, something I have serious reservations about, and made an official motto “In God We Trust.”

These changes all became champion causes of the right. If you want to know how all this came to be, pick up a copy and prepare to be angry. I recommend the book because it covers topics I have tried to discuss with people. Maybe if they read it from a stranger they will listen.

Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions by Johann Hari

Johann Hari attempts to find out what really causes depression and anxiety. Throughout the book he gives examples from his own life as well as others. I give the book a resounding “meh.” I didn’t learn much of anything new, but I’m also well-read on the topic. You can sometimes see his journalistic opinion weaved into something he is trying to be factual about, which often distracted me. The one thing I do agree with him on is that we don’t need to shove a pill down your throat as the solution to life’s problems. I also recognize that a pill is sometimes a person’s lifeline. We just dish them out too often. It’s a worthwhile read to think and ponder on your own however.

Heart Bags and Hand Shakes: The Story of the Cook Collection by Dorothy Cook Meade

Written by James Cook’s granddaughter, the book covers some of the more important artifacts given to Cook by Sioux Chief Red Cloud and other American Indians in the late-1800s.

The Story of Agate Springs Ranch by Dorothy C. Meade

You can get a copy of the book on Amazon, but consider driving up to Agate Fossil Beds National Monument or calling Agate and getting a copy from them. They’d appreciate it.

On Writing by Stephen King

This book was recommended to me by a friend. This book is part memoir and part writing class. There are some good tips to make your writing better and tighter. One of the few things that annoys King is when people write after a quote things like “he said while smiling.” Sometimes, these are distracting, but, done right, I think they are useful. I understand his argument against it, but I still do it.

How to Die: An Ancient guide to the end of Life by Seneca. Edited, translated and introduced by James S. Romm.

Seneca (c. 4 BCE – 65 CE) was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and satirist. This book gathers together his writings on death and dying.

Just as with storytelling, so with life: it’s important how well it is done, not how long. It doesn’t matter at what point you call a halt. Stop wherever you like; only put a good closer on it. Farewell.

~ Seneca, Epistle 77.5-20

This was a really interesting read. I don’t necessarily agree with Seneca about ending your life, but he was consistent in this thought throughout his life.

 

The List by Amy Siskind

Since Donald Trump’s election to the U.S. Presidency, Amy Siskind has been keeping track of things that are not normal and how Trump has been a threat to democracy. This list covers the first year of his actions.

Fifty Years on the Old Frontier: As Cowboy, Hunter, Guide, Scout, and Ranchman by James H. Cook

I finally picked up a copy at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument. Park Ranger Lil Mansfield recommended it to me and I wasn’t disappointed. Cook was a pivotal personality in the West. He covers topics from his life and the times in which he lived. He was a rancher, cowboy, big game hunter, Indian scout, and a deeply devoted friend to the Sioux.

On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder

This neat little book can be read in a day. The book is more than “Trump is Hitler.” It draws attention to how society can easily slide into fascism through small steps that are easily missed. The book gives a good historical context, albeit focused on the 20th century, to our current issues. Seriously, you can read the book in an hour. Go get yourself a copy.

The Prodigal Tongue: the Love-Hate Relationship Between American and British English by Lynne Murphy

Yep, us ‘mericans fixed that there language and we speak gooder than the Brits.

All Minus One: John Stuart Mill’s Ideas on Free Speech Illustrated 

Jerry Coyne brought this version to my attention on his blog, “Why Evolution is True.”

I agree with Jerry that you should read the entire “On Liberty” from which this is based, but this illustrated version covers just chapter two (out of five) where the heart of Mill’s arguments are. The end result is a 7,000 word essay that is easily read by everyone.

There are several versions to choose from, including a free pdf copy.

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

It’s Neil Gaiman telling Norse Mythology. What else do you need? Go get yourself a copy.

Anabasis by Xenophon

Someone on Reddit recommended this to me and I’m glad they did. The text was written c. 370 BCE as Xenophon was accompanying a large army of Greek mercenaries hired by Cyrus the Younger. Cyrus had planned to take the Persian throne from his brother, Artaxerxes II. Cyrus was killed in 401 BCE at Cunaxa in Babylon and his men were stranded. Most of the leaders were killed, but Xenophon lived. He got 10,000 men to march north through deserts and mountain passes and fight to survive their journey back home to Greece. Then eventually made it to the Black Sea but that was not the end of their journey. Read the book to learn the entire story.

Since the book is more than 2,000 years old, it’s in the public domain. You can obtain a Librivox audiobook and other copies/versions of the book on the internet.

Scottsbluff in ’62: A Rock n’ roll Retrospective of Smalltown America by Steven J. Rothenberger

Written by a former Scottsbluff resident, this book explores the history of the town and the music that shaped America. You read about Rothenberger in a story I wrote for the Star-Herald.

The Lied Scottsbluff Public Library has copies of the book and you might be able to purchase them from Rothenberger’s sister, Jana Kehn. Give her a call at the library at 308-630-6250.

Serenity: No Power in the ‘Verse by Chris Roberson

Neither Joss or Zack Whedon wrote the storyline and it shows. While it’s nice to get a little Firefly fix, I’d rather have something better written by Joss no matter how long it takes. It’s a fun read, but not at the level I had hoped for. Leaves on the Wind is much better.

The View from Flyover Country: Dispatches from the Forgotten America by Sarah Kendzior

The book is a collection of essays that Kendzior wrote while she was working for Al Jazeera from 2012-2014. They are not dissimilar to the things I have written about in my columns. She discusses the problems that continue to plague American society, including race, exploitation of labor and the media. Overall, it’s a good book, but I found that too often she found a way to wedge in the story of the adjunct professors who get paid peanuts. It’s a topic she apparently knows well, so I understand her reliance on it, but it was sometimes jarring and I thought, “here we go again.” In essays spread out over time, it probably wasn’t as noticeable, but in a book, it is.

While the essays should be read and are thought-provoking, it isn’t what I thought it would be going in. None of the essays have been updated and while the topics can still resonate, I wish she had taken the time to go back and update some of the essays to be a bit more relevant. It’s a book and she could have lengthened each essay to dig a little deeper into the deeply complex matters she was writing about.

Chronicle of the Narvaez Expedition by Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca

Kudos to the Harold Augenbraum (Editor), Fanny Bandelier (Translator), and Ilan Stavans (Introduction) for the fantastic book. The introduction, which is about the first third of the book details the task involved in translating Cabeza de Vaca’s book. It also explains some of the problems that may arise with reading Cabeza De Vaca’s recollections, including his racism and choice of words. It’s a great preparation before jumping into the book.

Cabeza de Vaca was a Spanish nobleman who sought treasure. The book recounts his nine-year journey through America after he and his men were forced to travel on foot. The journey began after a shipwreck in present-day Florida, through Lousiana, Texas and into California. It is a tale of survival and an early anthropological account of life in the southern United States. Along the way, Cabeza de Vaca becomes an advocate for indigenous populations.

I will upload part 2 of my list in December.