1861 by Adam Goodheart

I've read a number of books since I last wrote here on the blog. I'll try and go back and write about them as time permits. My most recently finished text was 1861: The Civil War Awakening by Adam Goodheart. An excellent read, it looked at the commencement of the Civil War from a number of different perspectives like the contraband slaves leaving Hampton, Virginia for Fort Monroe or the college professor-turned general from Ohio whose religious views seemed to defy both tradition and his own new Stone-Campbellian faith. This general would go on to be one of the greatest proponents of equal rights for freed slaves, but his term as President would be cut short after his assassination. James A. Garfield.

Yes, the stories in this well-crafted book are many and provide a nuanced view of how emotions ran in the pivotal year: 1861. Much like in 1776 or 2001, the psyche of America shifted in 1861 and Goodheart does an excellent job setting the stage for this transformative period in American history. 

Dracula by Bram Stoker

I'd never read Dracula before, though if it had been assigned me in high school I wouldn't have read it anyway. I always hated having a forced reading schedule of a classic. Sometimes the books would drag, sometimes they would move fast and sometimes they were downright difficult to read.

Dracula, which was first published in 1897, is written in a very different style. Apparently the word is "epistolary" which means that it is written as a series of letters, diary entries, etc. written by the various protagonists. We all know the general plot: a man goes to visit Count Dracula at his castle in Transylvania to deliver a deed to the Count. The County then goes to his new home... in England. The protagonists - including the esteemed Professor Van Helsing of Amsterdam - go through a number of anti-vampire measures to protect the people of London (and their friends) from the unDead.

The book was quite good; I read it fairly quickly. It was a free download for my Nook and I again must say I'm reading more with my Nook than I was without.

Medium Raw by Anthony Bourdain

Chapters of this book were more titillating than a Harlequin romance novel. Especially the chapter about reading pho - the national dish of Vietnam. Myself, I eat pho (@ Lexington's Pho BC, prior post here) a couple times a month because I crave it. Bourdain admits that describing pho in a sexual way is one of the few times where such adjectives and descriptors are appropriate in the food context. I added tendon to my regular pho experience after reading chapter 8: "it should have just enough bite, just enough resistance, dissolving into fatty, marrow-like substance after just a few chews - a counterpoint to the wispy, all-too-brief pleasures of the beef." Yep... point on.  In fact, after the gluttony that was Thanksgiving a nice bowl of pho sounds pretty good!

Bourdain doesn't limit his language to the sexual - he curses like a sailor, but I knew that as an avid No Reservations fan. He eviscerates some of his fellow chefs, while lauding others - a reminder of his prior book (Kitchen Confidential).

The most important chapter - one which should be republished and sent to every parent, educator, lawmaker, and human in the country - is chapter 5: Virtue. There, Bourdain properly suggests that everyone should be able to perform the basics of the kitchen and have a few recipes so that they can properly prepare a meal. Doing so what combat both obesity and poverty. He noted that we lost so much when home-economics was removed from the classroom because it reminded the modern woman of their prior servitude. The problem wasn't home-economics being a requirement for girls, the problem was that it wasn't a required course for all students. Jamie Oliver had a similar mission in obesity-stricken Huntington, WV. Unfortunately, we aren't listening enough as a nation. To this mission, Bourdain ends with the command "Let us go forward. With vigor."

The book is great; read it.

Colossus by Michael Hiltzik

I have really enjoyed my NOOK and I truly have found more time to read since I purchased it. It is easy to carry and read. What is not as easy to carry? At 512 pages, how about Colossus: Hoover Dam and the Making of the American Century by Michael Hiltzik? The subject matter seemed interesting but potentially dry. With the NOOK, I was able to download the first chapter or so for free. I found Hiltzik's style to be engaging and the rest of the book was a great and surprisingly quick read.

This tome examined the social, political, geological and labor aspects of the planning and construction of the Hoover Dam. The lives of the men lost, the strikes which were crushed and a whites-only hiring policy were among the many social wrongs which occurred during the Boulder Canyon Project (despite being erected in the Black Canyon).

As a law student, my property professor spent nearly three days teaching his passion: water rights. Hiltzik covered much of the same material in an understandable and succinct few pages. The distinction between prior appropriation and riparian rights was a major issue for the seven states who take their water from the Colorado River basin; the debate itself nearly prevented the dam's construction.

Anyway, Collosus is an excellent and easy read. I'd highly recommend it!

King Coal by Upton Sinclair

I am a huge fan of Upton Sinclair. The muckraker of the early twentieth century wrote a number of books causing great change in our country. Among these, none was greater than his unveiling the truths of Chicago's meat packing industry through The Jungle. I have since devoured other Sinclair books like Oil! (the excellent book behind the not-so-great movie There Will Be Blood).

The format of King Coal is very similar to the plot of Oil!. It's protagonist, Hal, leaves behind his wealthy family to understand the labors of working men while sympathizing greatly with the laborers who otherwise have no voice. Hal leads the effort to unionize the work force while an underground explosion results in a great mine tragedy.

As a reader, I was drawn to the plight of the workers as I recognized how they are exploited by the companies. There was no concern for the workers' safety ("Damn the man! Save the mules!"). Sinclair goes on to note that neither elected officials nor the unions provided the protections necessary for the men's safety and well-being.

Based on the Colorado mine strikes of 1914-1915, the situation for American miners had not much improved by the mid-1970s. While reading this book, I also watched the excellent documentary Harlan County USA. After all of this, my thoughts are with today's coal miners who continue to suffer tragedy.

nook

So I bit the bullet last month and bought an eReader. I contemplated and had been tempted by the Amazon Kindle since it was first released. And finally, the price fell below $200 which I viewed as a more reasonable price than the introductory $400. Priced now at about $150, I nearly bit the bullet.

But I decided I wanted to touch the eReader before I bought it. I wanted to see if I liked it, if I could really read a book on it and whether or not it would "feel right." Basically, I needed to confirm that I could willingly sacrifice Guttenburg's invention for an electronic device designed solely to do the exact same thing as the traditional book.

It turns out, I really like the technology. But I wasn't terribly impressed with my ability to "try out" the Kindle. Here is what happened. I went to Target (they carry the Kindle). I thought great! I go to the demo model which is anything but a usable Kindle. So I prepare to purchase a Kindle just the same with only an inquiry about the return process (in case I don't care for the Kindle or how it performs in direct sun conditions - not a concern with products from Guttenburg's press!). Target's response: we cannot accept opened electronics. WTF? If I were to order from amazon.com, I could try it out for a couple weeks and make my informed decision. But Target soured me, and I thought I would wait a while longer.

But I ventured to my local Barnes & Noble. Walking in the door, a nook (their eReader) expert awaited me with two full-featured nooks. The interface includes a small touchscreen panel (rather than the Kindle 2's clunky joystick). The extended warranty actually covers a number of potential real-life problems (something amazon couldn't promise). The technology is not as proprietary as amazon's. There are some other benefits, too. But the BIG thing was that I could touch and experiment with a real nook. Not giving into impulse, I waited a full 24 hours before making my purchase. I've enjoyed my nook tremendously and would (and have)  highly recommend it to others.

Review: Exodus

Leon Uris' Exodus is an incredible novel about the founding of the modern state of Israel. Broken into five parts, the first is the source of the book's name - a ship carrying Jewish children from a British camp in Cyprus to Palestine against all odds.

The 1948 creation of Israel cannot be told without first telling of the Nazi final solution. Many of the children aboard the Exodus were Holocaust survivors, who were then again interred by the British in a colony on Cyprus as the English sought a decision as to what should be done with its Palestinian Mandate. Not all of the characters surived these camps; others were survivors of the Russian Pale of Settlement (the geographic area in Imperial Russia where Jews were allowed to locate). Two young Russian Jews walked on foot the great distance to Palestine.

The stories of the pogroms are not ignored, neither is the early battles with neighboring Arab states who sought the annihilation of the newly created Jewish state (during which fight the same children who have suffered so much are against transplanted to safety).  In all, the book is a fantastic history, an inspiration tale and incredibly enjoyable to read.