October 2015 Reading List

Obviously, this post is long delayed.  It should have been posted the first week of November.  I have been very busy with work and Fallout 4 over the past couple of months but that, alone, does not explain the long delay.  I somehow turned posting my reading list into an obligation to find something sensible and intelligent to say about every book I read or started to read.  While I am sure there is something sensible and intelligent to say about virtually every book, I discovered that I do not always want to be the one to say it.

Henceforth, I will try to publish my reading lists on time and say something intelligent only when I have something intelligent to say. 

On the other hand, my guilt over the delay in posting this list is significantly mitigated by the fact that I do not seriously believe that anyone is waiting to read it with baited breath.

Once again, the list is in chronological order.  (I have no explanation for the weird changes in fonts in this post but I am unable to figure out how to fix them.  I have managed to make them weird in a slightly different way from how they first appeared.)

Books Finished

A Call to Arms (Manticore Ascendant series Book 2) by David Weber; Timothy Zahn; Thomas Pope

I read all off Weber’s Honor Harrington books when they first come out.  He has started—in conjunction with a couple of co-authors—yet another related series this one taking place several hundred years before the events of the main series of books.  At this time, the Manticore Star System is an independent slightly primitive colony in an isolated location.  It faces external threats from space pirates and internal threats from politicians who do not adequately assess the danger of the external threats.  This is, unfortunately, a very Republican party (at least in American terms) view of the world.  The difference is the threats Manticore faces are real threats that actually threaten the survival of the Manticore colony and its current government.

This series of books will, presumably, trace how Manticore fought off the invaders who wanted to seize control of their system.  Since we know, from the primary series of books, that Manticore successfully fought off these threats and became a very wealthy Star Nation there is some reduction in the suspense because we know everything is going to turn out alright at least for now.

I cannot exactly explain why I enjoy reading military science fiction but I do.  Certainly, Weber’s future history is more interesting and plausible than most and for whatever reason I enjoy his writing.  That being said, this is not the place to start reading David Weber’s books.  The place to start is the first Honor Harrington book, “On Basilisk Station”.

Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942 by Ian W. Toll

The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands 1942-1944 by Ian W. Toll

For no particular reason that I can explain, I decided I wanted to read this new series coving the history of World War II and the Pacific.  The focus is on the navy and the naval battles rather than on the army and the land battles.  Anyone who is a fan of Douglas McArthur will feel short changed.

On the other hand, I had not read any World War II specific history since I was a teenager so there was much that was “new” for me.  The author’s style is quite readable and when the third and final book of the series comes out next year, I am confident this will be one of the better complete histories of the war in the Pacific.

I am in no position to judge whether there are historical controversies in which he is taken a side that is, perhaps, not well supported.  For example, his summary of the events relating to the code breaking process that led to the significant United States advantage at Midway emphasizes the critical importance of the code breaking operation in Hawaii and makes the code breakers in Washington D.C. look incompetent as code breakers but highly competent as political creatures who were able to take credit for the Hawaiian group’s success.  I really do not know if that is what happened but Toll certainly makes a good case for it. 

I am looking forward to the final book so I can see how the war ends.

Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie

Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie

Much to my surprise, the Ancillary series may be the best science fiction trilogy I have ever read even including the foundation trilogy by my all-time favorite author, Isaac Asimov.

As you can see I finished the second and third book in the trilogy this month having elected to reread Ancillary Sword so as to be fully up to date on events for my reading of Ancillary Mercy.  (I did not feel the need to go back and read Ancillary Justice although I did reread it right before I originally read Ancillary Sword.) 

Leckie does a tremendous job of creating an alien feeling future universe where humans are both basically the same and very different.  One of her techniques is to create a subculture of the human civilization in which the generic pronoun is female and make the narrator a member of this subculture.  As a result, throughout most of the book, it is not entirely clear what sex any particular character is—although, I suspect, that if you were intensely interested in this subject the clues would be there.  The importance of this is not that the series becomes focused on gender issues but in the way it makes them completely irrelevant to what is going on.  Nevertheless, I found that I still assigned genders to most of the characters although I have no clue as to whether I got any of them right.  (A friend of mine started reading the first book in the series and, in his mind, assigned the opposite gender to the main character.  On the other hand, he did not like the book (my friend—not the main character) so what does he know.)

The books take place in a future human universe where the technology is available to take prisoners of war and political prisoners and replace their thought patterns with those of the space ship for which they serve as Ancillaries.  The main character is the only surviving Ancillary of a ship that was destroyed by the Emperor of the Human civilization for reasons that are revealed in Ancillary Justice.  As a result, this Ancillary, the narrator, contains all that is left of the ship’s personality and memories and has something of an axe to grind. 

My discussion is not doing the series justice.  I cannot recommend these books highly enough.  If you have any interest in current science fiction, you should read these books.

Life in Motion:  An Unlikely Ballerina by Misty Copeland

Misty Copeland is the first African American woman to become a principle dancer at the American Ballet Theater.  This is her autobiography.

My greatest dissatisfaction with the book is an inevitable one.  She is only 33 years old so we do not really know how her life turns out.  Given that I am 24 years older than her, I will probably never find out how her life turns out in the strictest sense of the word. 

On the other hand, she has led an interesting life including becoming famous as a child both because of legal struggles between her mother and her ballet teacher and because she was such a great ballet prospect despite starting dancing at a relatively old age.

Her journey is certainly an inspirational one which should offer hope that the apparent racism inherent in ballet can be overcome—although that is not the primary focus of the autobiography.  On the other hand, I did not respond to this book by running out and going to the ballet.  In fact, I am no more likely to attend the ballet now than I was before reading the book although I am more likely to watch Misty Copeland if she appears on a television show.

Rogue Lawyer by John Grisham

This is another of John Grisham’s many novels in which an ordinary lawyer struggles against the oppressive legal system and triumphs—at least in part.  Since I too am an ordinary lawyer struggling against the oppressions of the legal system, his books serve as a kind of wish fulfillment for me.  Fortunately, my cases do not put me in any significant physical jeopardy (at least so far) and I have not found a need to take the numerous ethical shortcuts that seems to be second nature to Grisham’s characters.  I continue to buy and read Grisham’s books whenever they come out so I am not complaining.  His books are not set in California so I have no idea how accurate the procedural technicalities are in his books and whether what happens is actually plausible or simply narrative expedient.  This book is different from Grisham’s other works in that it has multiple cases and plots instead of focusing primarily on one major case.  I am not convinced the disjointed nature of the book was worth the experiment by Grisham.  I certainly do not recommend that you start reading Grisham here.

Just Mercy:  A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

This book provides an interesting juxtaposition with Rogue Lawyer.  Stevenson is in many ways a real life version of a John Grisham character.  He has spent his entire career representing the victims of the American Justice System—persons who have been sentenced to death even when they are innocent and people who did not receive a fair trial because of the inherent corruption found in most prosecuting attorney offices and police departments. 

In a sense, Stevenson does the same kind of work I do but for higher stakes and, I assume, less money. 

My primary reaction to reading this book is a combination of admiration and frustration.  I do not think I would have had the patience and work ethic to go through everything Stevenson has gone through.  On the other hand, I am continually surprised (even though I should not be) by the inherent injustice in the American justice system and reading Stevenson’s story just added to my frustration.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who suffers from the delusion that the American criminal justice system works pretty well but I suspect relatively few people with that delusion will be reading my blog or care to have their misinterpretation of reality corrected.

Books Started

Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie

The Dread Hammer (Stories of the Puzzle Lands—Book 1) by Linda Nagata

Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie

The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands 1942-1944 by Ian W. Toll

Life in Motion:  An Unlikely Ballerina by Misty Copeland

Fortunate Son:  My Life, My Music by John Fogerty

For no particular reason other than his appearance on a talk show, I decided I was curious about John Fogerty’s life.  However I got distracted and have not progressed very far into the book.  I certainly anticipate finishing it because he claims to have been betrayed by his band and his musical publisher and I am curious as to what happened. 

Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith (J. K. Rowling)

The biggest surprise about this book is that it did not immediately catch my interest and I did not finish it in a day or two.  That was my reaction to the Harry Potter books and to the earlier books in this series by J. K. Rowling.  I certainly anticipate that I will finish the book.

America’s Bank:  The Epic Struggle to Create the Federal Reserve by Roger Lowenstein

I have read Roger Lowenstein’s non-fiction books about the financial system in the past and thought it would be interesting to read a historical book about the creation of the American Federal Reserve.  I was surprised that the book seemed much less interesting than his earlier books I have not completely given up on finishing it but it did not enthrall me.

Rogue Lawyer by John Grisham

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

This science fiction novel is told in the form of a hodgepodge of documents which, presumably, come together to tell a whole story.  The idea appealed to me more in concept than, so far, in execution but it is not fair to criticize the book yet because I have not read enough of it.

Keep Moving: And Other Tips and Truths About Aging by Dick Van Dyke

I bought this book because I enjoyed Dick Van Dyke’s previous book—a memoir of his life.  I am not enjoying this book nearly as much.

An Appetite for Wonder:  The Making of a Scientist by Richard Dawkins

The Football manager’s Guide to Football Management by Ian Macintosh

War Dogs by Greg Bear