'The Alice Network' and 'While I Was Gone'

The Alice Network, Kate Quinn (4.0)

While I’m not normally a fan of historic fiction (it makes me question what I already know about that time in history), this is an engaging story made up around a real female spy in WWI. The author carefully outlines in the Afterword which elements were fiction and which characters were real, with the main characters being fiction. I liked how the author illustrated the basic issues women had being spies in that time – both their day to day situation and the overall cultural assumptions made by their male counterparts. She also highlights very real intelligence that came from the network of women spies around events in WWI. The interweaving stories of WWI and 1947 also helped to move the story along briskly. I intend to look into the other books Ms. Quinn has written based on extraordinary women participating in WWI and WWII.

While I Was Gone, Sue Miller (3.5)

I appreciated the beautiful writing in this book, though I found the main character to have a melancholy that seemed unwarranted. She has a wonderful husband (and seemingly very happy marriage), a satisfying career and 3 grown daughters. The idea that she has serious mid-life crisis/empty nest syndrome issues made me sad. Who can make it through their 50’s intact? The narrative moves forward based on someone from her past showing up. Nothing too secret, but apparently the effect on her was buried deeply and now must be addressed. Sadly, I found her husband too perfect, her potential affair unrealistic and left disappointed.

'Over the Edge of the World: Magellan’s Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe' by Laurence Bergreen

Over the Edge of the World: Magellan’s Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe, Laurence Bergreen (4.0) 

This is a fascinating story with far more politics and internal strife than I ever imagined. The dangers of the journey – mainly trying to find the Spice Islands by going west and finding a strait that would cut through South America, which meant taking large ships to uncharted areas- was dangerous enough. Now top it with a large proportion of the sailors being Spanish and not wanting to follow their Portuguese Captain-General, and you have a mutinous situation from the very beginning. Also add a King of Portugal who wants to stop the fleet (Magellan went to him first, but he declined to support his countryman at the time) and sends out his own ships to stop them. Overall, as arrogant and wrong footed as Magellan could be, you definitely felt sorry for someone with so much working against him and felt somewhat relieved that he eventually gets the discovered straits and even two galaxies named after him! I both enjoyed and learned a lot reading this book.

'A Thousand Acres' by Jane Smiley

A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley (3.0)

I enjoyed this book in the beginning, likely seeing the farming families similar to those I had grown up near in the Midwest. But mid-way the story turned dark and I found it tough to read. I didn’t like most of the choices the characters were making, some seeming to come out of the blue and quite disturbing. Maybe had I known it was a tragedy based on King Lear I would have come at it with that lens and enjoyed it more (King divvying up his kingdom to his 3 daughters). I saw the trappings of midwestern life and some of the stereotypes, but actions that didn’t make sense given how the characters were set up.  I can appreciate the quality of writing, but it’s a hard book to recommend as I did not find it enjoyable to read.

'How the World Really Works: A Scientist's Guide to our Past, Present and Future' by Vaclav Smil

How the World Really Works, Vaclav Smil (3.5)

Hyped as a book for non-scientists that helps to explain some of the basics of how humans use fossil fuels and supports the author’s contention that it is not possible to rid them from our lives anytime soon (or at as soon as many climate activists would like to see), this book is quite technical and filled with an inordinate number of numbers! I rarely complain about data, but Smil’s explanations swim in data- more than most people care about or can tolerate. As a Materials Engineer, I did enjoy a good illustration of the basics – that there are four major materials that our modern society cannot go without: steel, concrete, plastics and ammonia, all of which have a high level of fossil fuel involvement. The ammonia surprised me the most. I didn’t realize how prevalent it was in farming and general food production. Our dependence on these materials coupled with the exponential rise of middle class in China (and their subsequent use of them) is not something that can be replaced with solar panels and wind farms. I knew this book would be depressing – the problem is hard and will take coordination that is hard to imagine happening. He gives some ideas of improvements, but the book is to be read more to remind oneself of the basic facts, which can be difficult given our current media environment. Sadly, I agree with most of his data and theories.

'Lessons in Chemistry' by Bonnie Garmus

Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus (4.0)

I really enjoyed this book, though had to suspend belief at times. Set in the male dominated science world of the sixties, the main character, Elizabeth, fights her way for respect and a position to do her work. Along the way she meets many who stand in her way. At the core of the story, I found multiple love stories: woman and man, woman and child, woman and dog. I loved the way the main character interacted with each – never demeaning and always treating them as equals (which is what she strove for herself from others). A few of my pet peeves were present: did the author have to make her beautiful? Isn’t super smart and confident enough? Why make the misogynistic men two dimensional villains? Given those complaints and a few scenes that were very painful to read, the outcome was worth it.

'A Splendid Savage: The Restless Life of Frederick Russell Burnham' by Steve Kemper

A Splendid Savage: The Restless Life of Frederick Russell Burnham, Steve Kemper (4.0)

Frederick Burnham may be the most interesting person you’ve never heard of. His adventures span from the wild west of the US, to the newly discovered areas of Africa, finally to the Alaskan gold rush in the Klondike. His two passions were scouting (i.e. spying) and prospecting and he does both throughout his life across multiple continents. I particularly liked his description of the scouting/tracking. His powers of observation were remarkable. He even knew that smoking would hurt his sense of smell, an advantage to a good tracker. While it was difficult to read about the attitudes of the ‘conquerors’, the author does a good job of addressing this turn of the century mentality. Burnham was often surprised that the Native Americans or Africans were hostile to having their land taken over. Huh? There is a lot of interesting history of the time brought to life through an interesting character.

'The Constant Gardener' by John Le Carre

The Constant Gardener, John Le Carre (4.0)

I enjoy the detail in Le Carre’s writing. While it requires closer reading, the stories feel real and complex, like life. In this story, he moves away from his usual spy fare, though the British government bureaucracy that frustrates his MI6 characters looms large here. It centers on a British foreign serviceman stationed in Kenya. At the beginning his wife has been murdered while working with an NGO doctor to uncover a potential pharma scandal. He tries to sift through the gossip by the media and obfuscation by his office as he learns how deeply his wife was engaged in discovering the truth. Like his other books, here the main character’s feelings are deep while he shows little in typical English fashion. I also watched the movie and found it to lack the emotion of the book, though had moving scenes of Africa.