Holiday dinner recap

Hello, ladies!

Jan, Susan, Jackie, Deb, Jean & I had a wonderful time last evening at the Lakely for our semi-annual dinner out, but we did miss those of you who couldn't be there! We spent a couple of hours talking about... well, everything -- you know how that goes! We enjoyed the "supper club" menu, including ice cream drinks for dessert.

A brief recap of our discussion on the book The Perfect Son: We all liked it! Brief enough for ya? Okay, I'll expand/expound a bit: we liked the way the author portrayed Tourette's in a non-stereotypical way, we liked how we got to know all the characters (even the secondary characters) in depth as they got to know each other better, we found their relationships to be believable, and we were surprised at the way the book ended.

My name was drawn, from among the others who were also eligible, to win a lovely reading journal provided by Jeri (thanks, Jeri!). The more you blog, the better your chances to win something next time!

Challenging (and Fun) Reading

I just finished two books by Yuval Noah Harari who teaches at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.  Sapiens and Homo Deus were two of the most challenging books I’ve ever read.  They challenged my ideas about the history and future of humans.  Bill Gates said these are two of the most important books ever written.  He also called Sapiens “fun” and “approachable” and said these books would spark great conversations around the dinner table.  I can attest to that!

Sapiens is the history of our species, but it isn’t a typical history book.  It focuses on the major changes--such as the Agricultural Revolution and the Scientific Revolution--that moved civilization on to the next level.  I loved this book!

Homo Deus looks at the future of humanity.  The author contends that humans are learning to control famine, sickness, and war—the things that have seemed uncontrollable throughout history.  “Today, more people die from eating too much than from eating too little; more people die of old age than from infectious diseases; and more people commit suicide than are killed by soldiers, terrorists, and criminals combined.”  WOW.  The author asks questions such as, “What happens when technology makes a large portion of humans unemployable?” and “What happens to democracy and free markets when Google and Facebook know us better than we know ourselves?” 

OK, I know I’m a nerd, but these were two fascinating books that I can’t stop thinking about! I won’t recommend these for our monthly reads (I would be expelled from the club!), but I hope you’ll give Sapiens a try.

Getting confused

I'm sure there are some among you who read more than one book at a time. I do. I've started 3 in the past 6 weeks or so, and I'm usually not one to abandon a book, especially one I like.

I started with The Red Tent - about the only daughter of Jacob, in Old Testament times. I own the Kindle version. Then I started The Nix by Nathan Hill, which I borrowed from the library. So far, so good. The Nix is absolutely nothing like The Red Tent, and I have no problem switching between the two. But then things get complicated.

I succumbed to the offer for one free month of Audible and got 2 really good audio books. So I started listening to The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. The narration is amazing and the book, a Pulitzer Prize winner, is very good.

Having put The Red Tent aside to focus on the 2 time-sensitive books, the quandary I face is the similarity between the 2 remaining books. Both are told from the perspective of an adult male who lost his mother in his early teens (one died, one abandoned the family) and alternate between the present and past. Both fall "in love" with an unattainable girl in their early teens. The books are, of course, dissimilar in more ways than they are alike, but they are similar enough that I often find myself thinking, "Did that happen to Theo or Samuel?" Does this plot confusion ever happen to any of you?

My free month of Audible has ended, so I'm paying $14.95 in a race against time to finish The Goldfinch (32 hours and 29 minutes of narration!) plus the other audio book I ordered (Homegoing) before I have to pay for another month! So I've put aside The Red Tent and will put aside The Nix (another whopper, at 737 pages!) to finish The Goldfinch.

See you next Monday!