'The Better Angels of our Nature: Why Violence has Declined' by Steven PInker

The Better Angels of our Nature: Why Violence has Declined, Steven Pinker (2.0)

I was hoping that this book would be uplifting, but should have realized that with over 1000 pages, we likely would need to review the violence in detail in order to establish that it has declined. I found that to be very painful. For those who want a scholarly review of all the violence of human history, Pinker does an extremely thorough job. Unfortunately I did not need 10-20 cases reviewed for every act of genocide, type of torture and incentive for murder. I almost never do this – but I skipped through many examples. I believe I got the point by reading the first two chapters and the last. One interesting note is that this was published in 2012. There was a particularly prescient comment about narcissistic leaders that should scare us all!

'American Gods' by Neil Gaiman

American Gods, Neil Gaiman (4.0)

Why didn’t the gods of the old country survive the trip across the ocean and thrive in the US? Mr. Gaiman spins a complicated, though poetically written tale discussing their current state. Surprisingly, in his vision, they exist, though diminished due to their lack of devotees, and they are getting ready to go to war with the newer, shinier gods (think of commerce, TV, etc.). In some ways this book reminded me of ‘The Stand’ – albeit no one here really represents ‘good’. While the story and characters can be distracting and sometimes quite unsettling, I loved how I was transported to a truly realistic representation of Northern Wisconsin. His description of a bone-chilling walk 500 ft from his front door convinced me that Gaiman had indeed been to the small town where my parents grew up (a little Googling confirmed this). I can still feel the frost on my eyelashes from 30 years ago while walking to my dorm. Great books do just that: show, don’t tell.

'The Snack Thief' by Andrea Camilleri

The Snack Thief, Andrea Camilleri (3.0)

This is a good mystery novel, though not a great one. It’s a reasonably happy murder mystery, if there is such a thing, and a nice distraction if you are stuck in your house and would like a little escape. The protagonist, a small town detective in Sicily, reminds me of a softened version of the typical Norwegian and Swedish flawed detectives. In this case he has a temper, not a lot of patience, and issues with interpersonal relationships. This episode has the police department following two murders that seem unrelated: a Tunisian sailor is killed seemingly randomly on a ship and a retired importer is stabbed in his elevator. You realize right away that they will eventually be related and the journey is filled with odd and funny characters. By the way, I don’t recommend reading this when you are hungry – he has a passion for Italian food and the descriptions will leave you drooling!

'Exhalation: Stories' by Ted Chiang

Exhalation: Stories, Ted Chiang (4.0)

Excellent short stories by the author who inspired the movie, ‘Arrival’. While considered Science Fiction, the stories are profound and thought provoking-  such as the musings of a parrot, wondering why humans try so hard to communicate with life forms outside our galaxy while ignoring those who are trying to communicate with them on earth, i.e. said parrots. Chiang introduces potential technologies, and then exposes the possible moral and ethical issues they could bring. I enjoyed the unintentional consequences, which were not always bad. I particularly liked at the end, he discusses his motivation for each story, which gave even more depth to them.

'Artemis Fowl' by Eoin Colfer

Artemis Fowl 1 and 3 (The Eternity Code), Eoin Colfer (3.0)

I will preface this review by saying these are Young Adult novels. I generally appreciate that genre and those books that respect the ‘Adult’ in that moniker. I found parts of this book series to be clever and funny, but the insertion of various whoopee cushion type instances made it feel farther towards the ‘Young’ side of the genre than I like. The main character, Artemis Fowl, is a pre-teen criminal genius. In the first book he is quite unlikeable – not surprising for a conceited, rich youngster. I did like the addition of the underworld, in this case defined as the place where the magical folk of the world have gone to escape the ‘mudders’, or humans. Artemis tricks someone to find out all the secrets of the Faeires and is determined to steal their gold (as we all know, they have pots of gold). Sadly, you are not rooting for him to win. At least by the end of the first book, he seems to soften and become more likeable. The third book revisits many of the same characters with the introduction of a criminal worse than Artemis. Now that we have an official bad guy, Artemis can be more of an anti-hero, which works better. Not bad for a quick escapist read, but doesn’t compete with many of the YA books as far as depth is concerned.

'Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town' by Jon Krakauer

Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town, Jon Krakauer (3.0)

While I usually enjoy Mr. Krakauer’s books and this topic is extremely important, I did not enjoy reading this book. I felt like I was being bombarded with ‘rape, rape, rape, incompetence, rape, rape, victim shaming, incompetence, legal system let-down, rape, rape.’ I know I only needed to read the details of each rape once for it to be etched into my psyche. Having the examples repeated (sometimes 3 or 4 times) was dulling. Many reviewers of this book remarked that the second half (mostly having to do with the trials) was too dry, but I felt it was needed after all the emotional trauma of the first half. This is a book that should be read, but is very hard to read.

'The Battle for God: A History of Fundamentalism' by Karen Armstrong

The Battle for God: A History of Fundamentalism, Karen Armstrong (3.5)

I learned a lot reading this book in which Ms. Armstrong thoroughly examines the branching of fundamentalism in the three main global religions: Judaism, Islam and Christianity. While the timing is often different, there were many parallels in why and how they emerged. I appreciated that she gives equal time to all three and carefully draws the comparisons, which were numerous. She often discusses the mythos and logos parts of culture and how as logos (mostly as science) advanced, mythos was often pushed aside. The fundamentalists were often disillusioned by a culture, which could not easily accommodate the spiritual. In simple terms, I can agree with this, but she does go back to it too often, in my opinion. Also, much of this book is depressing – such as the fact that progress always seems to be partnered with war as so many cannot deal with any change. My own faith in my fellow humans was often tested in reading this book – are we really that weak and fragile?