Heart Berries: A Memoir by Terese Marie Mailhot

Heart Berries: A Memoir by Terese Marie Mailhot
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is hard and heavy and ... joyless? I like the writing, it feels fresh and straightforward, different than other memoirs. But the lack of chronology made it difficult for me to understand who was who and who did what.

The afterword is a question and answer session and is especially interesting because Mailhot's voice is a little different, possibly its a transcript of her speaking instead of writing?

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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This story is so magical and moving. The story deals with so many interesting things. Benjamin suffers so much judgment based on his appearance from both those who don't understand him and even those in his family that do. I am not certain what to think about his family's uniform but peculiar reaction of blaming him for something he can't help. There are so many things about his life cycle that aren't different despite the inversion because babyhood and extreme old age have some things in common. In any case, the story gives you a lot to think about. The end of the story really rips your heart out though.

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Time Enough for Love by Robert A. Heinlein

Time Enough for Love by Robert A. Heinlein
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

It's not just that there was incest in the book, or that it was long and boring, it was that it was a long and boring book almost entirely for the purpose of justifying incest and almost entirely full of stories of incest in various different futuristic variations. Taboos are taboos for a reason, but Heinlein postulates what if the genetic reason was totally gone?

My answer is that it would still be totally gross because it's still an emotionally messed-up relationship. (Did Heinlein even have children?) For example, the story of Dora- arguably one of the more interesting stories in this novel- is still gross even though she is not related to him. That's because he knew her since she was a child (sufficient in my opinion) and took care of her as if she were his own family.

Heinlein tries to mask how totally abusive these relationships are by writing all the situations in the following format: the girl or woman begs him to ignore their family relationship and sleep with her. He has the women be the aggressors 100% of the time, even though this would never happen in such cases of incest, in order to shed the responsibility of the parent-figure. He knows a more realistic portrait of the adult male being the instigator wouldn't be helpful to his point that incest is okey-dokey.

Even assuming that there's a futuristic world where incest is not a genetic problem and all these women are begging for it, I still have the following objections: 1) as the adult and/or parent-figure he should still say no to Dora, the twins, etc. 2) this futuristic mentality wouldn't account for his mother being exactly like all the futuristic women (it also can't be explained in the inverse, as the futuristic women being her ancestors, as Dora is not related), 3) he doesn't tell his mother who he really is and that's unfair and immoral, though I suppose that in Heinlein's universe she still wouldn't care because he has written everyone as basically amoral.

I am also deeply troubled by Heinlein's inability to distinguish physical attraction from romantic love, and especially from platonic or maternal love. I am also troubled by his general rejection of ethics as linked only to religion and therefore antiquated.

Finally, I am really troubled by some of the reviewers that said things to the effect of, "the incest in this novel didn't bother me that much." Well, did it bother you that the entire book was just a vehicle to argue in favor of incest? No? Well, then maybe time to switch to books about ethics, philosophy, behavioral economics, and parenting because you might be missing some relevant information that you need to add to your worldview. Just a suggestion.

I liked entire concept of Minerva, the computer turned flesh-and-blood human. That would have been a more interesting novel.

P.S. I really hope this isn't your first Heinlein book. I recommend The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Stranger in a Strange Land instead.

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To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love this book a little, but it also leaves me so sad, and so out at sea - to borrow the author's metaphor. And that's how I already felt even before reading this book, so maybe it's not exactly what I needed.

Also, is it strange that Mr. Carmichael is my favorite character in this book?

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Death, Dying, and the Afterlife by Mark Berkson

Death, Dying, and the Afterlife: Lessons from World Cultures by Mark Berkson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This covered a variety of topics about death without going into a great deal of depth on any of the topics. For example, Berkson gave an entire lecture each to the Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Hindu, and Buddhist, and Confucian concept of death and death rituals (6 lectures total). I see why that's important but the course is already a summary of the concept and experience of death in human society. Throwing in summaries of all the world's religions - mostly information of which I was already aware- didn't leave a lot of time for everything else about death. I also felt like the lecture on vegetarianism- again, something I've read about at length in other more through sources- was really not to the point.

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Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion

Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a great weekend read. Didion's writing is so good it's not fair to everyone else. How did she write this well in her early 30s?

The collection is mostly essays about California in the 60s, Didion really puts you there, even if, like me, you've barely ever been to California. What she failed to explain to me is why people live in a state that is so clearly hostile to humans and human settlement. Besides the earthquakes-- which she barely mentions, there are the mudslides, fires, deadly rivers, snakes, desert everywhere, and an entire essay is dedicated to the maleficent Santa Ana winds. She does dedicate an entire essay to why living in New York City when you are no longer young is crazy, with no special reasons except her own depression and cold weather. I am not the biggest fan of New York City either, but the ground in New York rarely tries to eat people alive.

Spoiler alert: In real life, she moves back to New York. Is there an essay about that?

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Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's a masterpiece, but I just didn't like it. It reminded me a lot of Anna Karenina, except that I liked Anna Karenina.

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Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet, Book 1 by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet, Book 1 by Ta-Nehisi Coates
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Before reading this collection (Volume 6 #1-4, as well as the original Fantastic Four comic where Black Panther is introduced- but not the one where he gives his backstory) I had no previous knowledge about Black Panther. I haven't even seen the movie yet. So I was pretty confused for the first half (#1-2) but by the end, I understood the basic plot and characters which is this: the current Black Panther and ancestor of previous Black Panthers, aka T'Challa, is the king of Wakanda. For reasons that remain unclear to me, he's been out of town for a while and his country is now being ripped apart by civil war. The Queen mother and T'Challa's stepmother Ramonda wants him to get it together and reunite the country and win the people over. There are at least two or three factions that oppose the royalty. One group is the all-female Dora Milaje, led by Aneka and Ayo who want to implement democracy. (Woo!) Another is a terrorist group "The People" that possibly also want to institute democracy? But this is unclear. And a third group seems to be a bunch of warlord opportunists.

I especially love the characters Aneka, Ayo, and a philosophy professor Changamire. The illustrations are beautiful, and I particularly like the subtle science fiction component- though I might prefer if it were less subtle.

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The Ballad of Peckham Rye by Muriel Spark

The Ballad of Peckham Rye by Muriel Spark
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I picked this book because I like Muriel Spark and this book is short. This was not a good one. I'm not sure if I properly understood this book, but contrary to a lot of the other reviews I don't think Dougal Douglas is actually responsible for everything (anything?) that happens. It seems to me like the residents of Peckham are very deeply flawed all on their own and just blame the new Scottish guy in town. Granted Dougal is a jerk and "likes taking the piss" but this hardly seems to make him responsible for everyone else's choices. Note that at the very beginning of the book Dixie even blames Dougal for Humphrey not being a germaphobe, but in fact, Dougal hates sickness.

"I feel as if I've been married 20 years instead of 2 hours." - Dixie

Well, I feel like I've been reading this book for 20 years instead of 2 days, so I can relate.

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Books for Living by Will Schwalbe

Books for Living by Will Schwalbe
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was a little dubious about this book and its reading recommendations for the first half or so (I’ve read most of the books at the beginning). By the end of the book though I was fully invested in Schwalbe’s autobiographical notes and musings, as well as his book recommendations.

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Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut

Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a long collection with a lot of short stories. They're all at least pretty solid, and some of them I love. I think my favorite- and I suspect this is a strange choice is "Who Am I This Time?" which I find to be exceptionally odd and romantic in a novel way.

The title story, "Welcome to the Monkey House" is very rapey and doesn't hold up to modern scrutiny at all, so it's really a shame that the entire collection is named this. Not surprisingly it was first published in Playboy. Ugh, boys and men growing up in the late 60s were reading this story basically justifying rape.

I particularly enjoyed the futuristic sci-fi/fantasy stories like "Report on the Barnhouse Effect" and "Unready to Wear." ("Harrison Bergeron" on the other hand seemed a little bit juvenile to me as a rather simplistic dystopian realization of liberal ideals.) The last story, "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" could have been a full-length dystopian novel but maybe it would have been too big a bummer and is kind of darkly humorous as a short story.

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Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker

Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress by Steven Pinker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this because Bill Gates said we should all read it (here's his review: www.gatesnotes.com/Books/Enlightenment-Now). I thought this book was pretty interesting and engaging even if at times I found it unpersuasive. the concept is basically that things have gotten better throughout history (I believe this) and that they will continue to get better. Furthermore, a belief that they will get better is inspirational to people to make it so, whereas a belief that everything is on the decline is discouraging and causes people to give up. So far so good.

I also agree with some of his cultural complaints about the left. I am a liberal so I'm not being snarky but vitriolic reactions from the left seem to be getting more common among regular people (as opposed to leaders of movements, politicians, and celebrities).

But there were some issues with his ideas and facts better explained by some angry environmentalists: www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/07/environmental-calamity-facts-steven-pinker. To be fair, he definitely does NOT deny global warming/climate change or the potential of a human calamity, he just thinks we're going to pull it with an informed increasingly progressive populace and new technologies.

And just more generally, you can't dismiss "black swans" based on statistics. That's the whole point of black swans! So yeah, I'm not convinced that something catastrophic won't suddenly smite us, whether it's an unexpected consequence of advancing climate change or something totally unanticipated.

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Jacob's Room by Virginia Woolf

Jacob's Room by Virginia Woolf
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I love Virginia Woolf but this one is not my jam. I don’t care about Jacob or any of the other characters. The concept is interesting: understanding the main character through his life primarily through the eyes of other characters. But for me, it just didn’t work.

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The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump by Bandy X. Lee, Craig Malkin

The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President by Bandy X. Lee, Craig Malkin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a collection of 27 essays by mostly experts in psychiatric medicine. I was surprised and interested that many of the essays examined a different angle.

First, the authors discuss the ethics of this book. The author-psychiatrists have not personally met Donald Trump to diagnose him, so the American Psychiatric Association's Goldwater Rule states it is unethical for psychiatrists to give a professional opinion about public figures they have not examined in person. They note that they disagree with association rule where public safety is at great risk as they believe it is, that members of the APA did not vote on the rule, that if they had met with him as a client they would be forbidden to give a public opinion based on confidentiality, that no other profession is barred from expressing an opinion regarding the mental health of the president except the people who are actually experts on mental health.

Also, they briefly mentioned the Tarasoff Rule, which is a legal standard in American. I'll quote in its entirety here: "When a therapist determines, or pursuant to the standards of his profession, should determine, that his patient presents a serious danger of violence to another, he incurs an obligation to use reasonable care to protect the intended victim against such danger."

The essays present different points of view regarding the president's mental health both as a general idea that Democracy needs to address, and as it specifically relates to Donald Trump. Despite the different angles of the essays a few themes emerge.

1) Donald Trump is likely mentally ill in that his behavior is not beneficial to himself, is harmful to individuals he attacks- which he does frequently, and is harmful to the country generally. In addition to the harm that he has already caused, he might present additional dangers to the country and world.

2) Whether or not he is mentally ill, the more important question is whether he is dangerous, which he definitely is according to his own statements and actions. No psychiatric expertise necessary to understand this point.

As an aside, I often read reviews that disagree with my views in order to find points which I should concede. In this case, the one-star and two-star reviews make no sense to me and seem to be more emotional than logical.

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Understanding the Koran by Mateen Elass

Understanding the Koran: A Quick Christian Guide to the Muslim Holy Book by Mateen Elass
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Pluses and minuses here. This book is a short guide to the Koran/ Quran for people trying to get an overview. I read it at the same time as I read the Koran itself. This is probably most helpful for Christians. The author was raised Islamic and converted to Christianity so he's mostly respectful towards Islam.

I found the author to be biased at times though because of his strong Christian affiliation. Rather than cite historical or academic arguments, the author typically relied on Christian evidence, so I didn't think it was a good book if you're trying to understand the greater history. Still, it was a concise overview of the actual book of the Koran, some Islamic religious beliefs, with some cultural context from a reliable ex-practitioner.

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Quran / القرآن الكريم by Anonymous

Quran / القرآن الكريم by Anonymous


I don't rate religious or holy books. There was a lot in the Quran/ Koran which sounded familiar to me from the Jewish Old Testament, but there was less of a narrative regarding the events and persons. There were also some things from the New Testament such as Jesus, hell, and the end of days. The middle of the book seemed largely devoted to fighting the Infidel and the end was a discussion and assurance that would punishments inflicted on the infidel in the afterlife.

I'm trying to read a few books about the Quran to get a better understanding of the history and current practice as well.

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By Night in Chile by Roberto Bolaño

By Night in Chile by Roberto Bolaño
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

As far I can tell, the surface of this story of a jerky priest who has literary interest and regrets his complicity with the Pinochet regime at the end of his life. Overall, it seems a condemnation of intellectuals who just go along with repressive regimes even if they are opposed to them. This also appears to be written in a way in which only an intellectual could stomach reading so... maybe Bolaño didn't want to openly critique intellectualism, perhaps because it is not the problem on its own.

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The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima

The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this! It's solidly YA genre fantasy and there's nothing especially new here but it was fun. I like the main characters a lot: Raisa ana'Marianna, princess heir of the Fellsmarch, and "reformed thief" Han Alister. It has a lot of the stuff that makes Game of Thrones fun without all the painful stuff that bogs it down. Royalty, soldiers, and wizards vying for power.

I love the world building. The world has a specific though somewhat unclear history. Hanalea was a legendary warrior queen who killed the Demon King and saved the world, except maybe that's not what happened at all. My favorite part of the world building is the lifestyle of the clan. The clan characters are also particularly interesting especially Han's clan friend, Dancer, and his mother the potions maker. Raisa's father and grandmother are also from the clan and add a lot to the story once they appear.

A lot of it is predictable, and it's a bit slow at the beginning but it's just really fun. I'm excited to read the next book and see what happens now that all the characters are finally in motion.




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Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Here are the things I liked: the writing, the main character, the world-building, the main character's culture, and her mathematical skills, interests, and basically magic. What I didn't like: the plot and the simplistic resolution thereof. Given the level of violence in the story, the resolution is just impossible for me to move past.

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Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit

Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities by Rebecca Solnit
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read an updated version. This was a pretty good pep talk to participate in and continue with social and political activism even when we are discouraged. There were some tips regarding activism and some history regarding the long-term success of activism. Overall, it felt kind of disjointed though, so I wasn't able to really sink my teeth in. But again, a happy, hopeful, and simultaneously realistic pep talk. We certainly need that right now.

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Cape Cod by Henry David Thoreau

Cape Cod: Illustrated Edition of the American Classic by Henry David Thoreau
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Some interesting parts but mostly really boring even for me, who really cares about and regularly visits Cape Cod. Highlights included the mentions of the sea animals, and everything and everyone who washes ashore- though I don't hear about treasure washing up anymore.

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The Bright Hour by Nina Riggs

The Bright Hour: A Memoir of Living and Dying by Nina Riggs
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book wrecked me. The author is a wonderful writer, daughter, wife, and mother. She is 37-39 in the course of this memoir. She goes through the loss of her mother to cancer and describes it in great and accurate detail. I lost my dad to cancer when I was 31, and my mother to the same cancer when I was 38, and the details really resonated- particularly with what I went through with my mother.

And she gets sick with terminal cancer at the same time, and ultimately loses the battle. As a mom, I can really feel her sense of devastation over leaving her kids. My heart really aches for her sons, and I hope wherever they go in life people are always extra kind to them. I can also relate to her protectiveness of her husband- forbidding him to get a vasectomy in case he wants more children with his next wife. That's real love.

She says so many beautiful, brilliant, and accurate things in the book. I borrowed the book but I plan to buy a copy so that I can underline basically everything.

“I am reminded of an image...that living with a terminal disease is like walking on a tightrope over an insanely scary abyss. But that living without disease is also like walking on a tightrope over an insanely scary abyss, only with some fog or cloud cover obscuring the depths a bit more -- sometimes the wind blowing it off a little, sometimes a nice dense cover.”

“My friends ask a new kind of question: How is today? I hope the pain is manageable today.”

“Sometimes I'm sad about everything; the way my grilled cheese sandwich tastes, how nice my socks feel, a song John is playing in the kitchen. One time he puts on this goofy Loudon Wainwright song that was on a mix tape I used to listen to during my commute from the boys' school in Bethesda back into the District when we were newly married and everything was about to begin and it makes me burst into tears about the shortness of everything.”

Amen, Nina. Sounds like you would have been an amazing person to know and with whom to talk.

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