'To Say Nothing of the Dog' by Connie Willis

To Say Nothing of the Dog (Oxford Time Travel #2), Connie Willis (3.0)

This is the second time travel book by Ms. Willis. Set a few years beyond the time of ‘Doomsday Book’, time travel has been highjacked by a rich sponsor in order to rebuild a cathedral with all the details confirmed by many historians going back multiple times to before it was bombed in WWII. When the hero of the book makes too many trips, he has a time travel sickness and it sent back farther (to the late 1800’s) to rest in those bucolic times. This book is a much lighter and funnier companion to the plague themed ‘Doomsday Book’. I liked the juxtaposition of modern-day people in Victorian Oxford, but it was a bit too loose with the time travel concept – people were popping in and out in a very non-serious manner.

'Doomsday Book' by Connie Willis

Doomsday Book, Connie Willis (4.0)

I first read this book many years ago and was surprised how little I had remembered. While it won both the Hugo and Nebula award, I would not classify it as Sci-Fi. It’s a combination of the history of 14^th century Oxford, England and time travel from ~2040AD. In that future, the time travel is used by historians to verify their understanding of past events, so the majority of the book is set in the Middle Ages. The book was published in 1992 and Ms. Willis was amazingly prescient. As the historians of future Oxford send a student to the Middle Ages, a flu pandemic arises in the area and they are all quarantined. What a time to read this book! While the student has been inoculated for the diseases of the 1300’s, she brings the flu through the net with her. It becomes obvious that she also has missed the time (i.e. slippage occurred) and she is really smack dab in the days of the plague. The book has some humor to deflect the horrific details of a life in plague, but what was really scary reading this in 2020 was how unphased many people were to the seemingly common-place occurrence of a new flu pandemic.

'The Crystal Shard: Forgotten Realms, Icewind Dale' by R. A. Salvatore

The Crystal Shard, R. A. Salvatore (2.5)

Always looking for a worthwhile fantasy book to be the heir of LOTR, I read this very short and reasonably well-regarded Forgotten Realms: Icewind Dale trilogy. Sadly, early into the first book, I realized it was patterned after a Dungeons and Dragons game and very derivative of those who have gone before (dwarf, elf, human, Halfling on a quest – sound familiar?). Very few original ideas here, but with lots and lots of battles with orcs and goblins. I found the bad guys were one-dimensional and the heroes a bit too heroic. I did like the idea of a troubled dark elf and who doesn’t love a magical panther that lives on another plane of existence? But, that is not enough for me to recommend this series except to someone wanting a novel to replace an AD&D game.

'The Red and the Black' by Stendhal

The Red and the Black, Stendhal (3.0)

I found this book among our ‘100 Greatest Books’ collection and was surprised that I had never heard of it. Stendhal is a pseudonym for Henri-Marie Beyle who wrote this as a thinly veiled autobiography. The book centers on Julien Sorel, a carpenter’s son with grand ambitions to move up in life. It is set in the mid 1800’s – post Napoleon with the politics that go with that time. Sorel moves up in the world due to his remarkable memory and good looks. The neighborhood clergy sees an opportunity for him to tutor a rich man’s family and off he goes. The book is mostly about his ambitions and the two affairs he engages in as he moves through society. I’m sure the writing was considered scandalous at the time, but it was so obtuse I found it hard to understand how far these ‘affairs’ had actually gone. I was eventually clued in when one character got pregnant. I wanted to get more out of this book than I did. The main character was annoying and unlikeable as were his mistresses. This is the kind of book that is probably better read in a class with some guidance as it was just too arcane for me.

'The Price of Peace: Money, Democracy and the Life of John Maynard Keynes', by Zachary Carter

The Price of Peace: Money, Democracy and the Life of John Maynard Keynes, Zachary Carter (4.0)

While this book begins as a documentary of Keynes, it continues past his death to chart his legacy with other economists and specifically his effect on decisions of US presidents to present day. Maybe due to the effect of time, I enjoyed reading the first half of the book as an unemotional education of Keynesian economics. As the book entered my lifetime, the reading was far less enjoyable as it unwrapped the many failings of ALL our Presidents with regards to economics. I do understand there are a lot more factors involved than Mr. Carter’s highlighted points, but I recognize enough of the truth to feel disappointed and let down by ‘democracy’.