'This is Your Brain on Music' by Daniel Levitin

This is Your Brain on Music, Daniel Levitin (3.0)

This book describes interactions of the brain (often through firing neurons) with music and discusses our relationship with music throughout our lives.  As with many non-fiction books, this book has many things one already knows and some interesting new pieces of info. In an attempt to posit a theory, the author needs to first give enough background for the reader to have knowledge to judge the theory. I found much of this background tedious to read. One of the most interesting points he makes is that our relation to music has only recently (last 500 years) included performers and audiences. Prior, everyone sang and made music regardless of what we now consider ‘talent’. I found this sad – how many people now only listen to music, when making music can be so liberating?

'Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law' by Mary Roach

Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law, Mary Roach (3.5)

As with all Mary Roach’s books, one gets a slew of interesting information about a relatively common topic (death, digestion, sex, etc.) delivered in a laugh-out-loud manner. The main difference with this book is the underlying sadness I felt. Here she covers the interactions of wildlife and humans, particularly when humans have encroached on the animal’s habitat and then label them ‘pests’ and move to eradicate them. In all cases the animals or birds are doing what they always do to survive, but it happens to inconvenience us humans. She tries to end on a positive note, but even with many funny asides, I found this book to be quite depressing.

'The Snow Leopard' by Peter Matthiessen

The Snow Leopard, Peter Matthiessen (3.0)

Rating this book was hard. It included some sections of beautiful writing, adventure and interesting cultural references. Sadly, the overarching sense of entitlement from the author cast a constant shadow. I often felt I was reading about a British gentleman in the 1800’s, not an American in the 1970s! Matthiessen describes his trip to the Himalayas in the early 70’s joining his friend who wants to observe and document the Blue Himalayan sheep and possibly the elusive Snow Leopard. The 2 western men were joined by 4 Sherpas and 14 porters in groups of 2 to 4 at a time over the journey. Throughout the book, both men treat the native men as second -class citizens, rarely taking their advice and remarking in surprise when they did something clever or interesting. My favorite parts included the descriptions of the hiking, of the flora and fauna, and of his mental health journey. It was like ‘unplugging’ in the 70’s – he was careful not to dive directly back into society and ruin the solace he had struggled to find on the journey.

'Cloud Cuckoo Land' by Anthony Doerr

Cloud Cuckoo Land, Anthony Doerr (4.0)

Readers tend to like books about libraries. This book celebrates libraries, librarians and books across time, culture and technology. There are several ‘main’ characters followed in a spectrum that goes from 1400’s Constantinople to a space-ship sometime in the future. A book written in the 400’s is the constant which ties all the stories together. I was a little worried that a 600+ page book might drag at times but found it to be a very quick and enjoyable read. While the reader needs to pay attention to the character and timeframe (both jump around frequently), patience will be paid off as all will be beautifully brought together at the end of a delightful journey.

'Czars: Russia's Rulers for Over One Thousand Years' by James P. Duffy and Vincent L. Ricci

Czars, Russia’s Rulers for Over One Thousand Years, James P. Duffy and Vincent L. Ricci (3.0)

While this book was written in 1995, reading it this year, given what is happening between Russia and the Ukraine, is timely. Starting with the first ruler (Rurik) in the 9th century up to the Romanov’s in the early 1900s, the book covers the basic history and transitions between the rulers of areas we typically consider Russian. Probably the most surprising is that the first ruler, Rurik, was a Viking, as were several thereafter. This all started in Kiev – so the interest in that area by Russia today becomes interesting. Though given all the various peoples who have affected the culture and ruled the area, defining Russia is quite murky and difficult to do. Also, as with most monarchies affiliated with Europe during the first century, the intermarriages gave Russia many non-Russia rulers throughout. Many did not have any Russian blood whatsoever. I found this book to be a little dry, but a great primer and reminder of the complexity that is Russia.

'Room 1219: The Life of Fatty Arbuckle, the Mysterious Death of Virginia Rappe, and the Scandal that Changed Hollywood' by Greg Merritt

 

Room 1219: The Life of Fatty Arbuckle, the Mysterious Death of Virginia Rappe, and the Scandal That Changed Hollywood, Greg Merritt (3.5)

For those unaware (or just too young), Fatty Arbuckle was a contemporary of Charlie Chaplin in silent movies who was very famous at the time, but due to a scandal (in Room 1219!) he was one of the first ‘cancelled’ celebrities. Prior, those in Hollywood enjoyed a private life that could be quite different from their on-screen personas. The mystery and trials around the death of the actress Virginia Rappe was one of the first times where the curtain was pulled back and the viewing public let their imaginations run wild. I particularly liked how the author walked through the trials and evidence, described the times before the incident and after and ultimately gave his opinion on what actually happened using only reliable background information. In many ways, the pre-internet celebrity had an easier time, though cancelled is still cancelled.

'Razorblade Tears' by S. A. Cosby

Razorblade Tears, S. A. Cosby (3.0)

I’ll give this story a ‘3’ for keeping my interest, moving quickly and having some memorable quotes (i.e. ‘revenge is just hate in a nicer suit’). Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy the constant violence, cartoonish stereotypes and mostly the foreshadowing that made the villain obvious early on. We start with two fathers who come together to determine who killed their married sons. They each represent a stereotype of someone who hates the LGBTQ community (African American previous convict and alcoholic southern white trash) who need to work together on their journey to exact revenge while coming to understand how much they loved their sons. The carnage doled out and ignorant character behavior are constant. The gay bashing is tiring.  I’m surprised how many ‘5’ ratings I see for this book- I can only imagine that many like to see a wrong righted – in that the book can be cathartic.