I’m determined to keep up with my reading this month. I have to keep up with something, right? In any event, I ran across three titles that I read in December/January that I neglected to list on my last entry, so I’ll start out by mentioning them. The first is A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles. Anyone who’s been following my reading lists knows that I reread this each winter, sometimes on my Kindle, sometimes as an audiobook. This year it was audio, and as always, it was the perfect comfort read.

The second was The Left-Handed Booksellers of London, by Garth Nix. It’s no surprise to me that I forgot to mention it in my last post. I remember very little about it except that I found the characters rather dull, particularly the protagonist, and the plot only so-so. I did finish it, but I’m going to have to take The Housemate’s word for the fact that Nix is usually better than this if I’m ever going to read any more of his work. It wasn’t bad, it was just dull.

Finally, I read The Third Horseman: Climate Change and the Great Famine of the 14th Century William Rosen Narrated by: William Hughes – And while I know I enjoyed it as I was reading, I don’t recall any specifics about how it struck me. I know it was informative, and well researched, and quite readable, but that’s about all I can say about it.

Okay so for February…

Origins: The Search for Our Prehistoric Past By: Frank H. T. Rhodes – I didn’t think I was going to find this engaging; it’s one of those ultra-organized narratives which takes topics one at a time and explores them thoroughly before moving on to the next. Often we’re introduced to a life form and told “we’ll learn about these in chapter ____” It really is almost like listening to a series of lectures about the vast sweep of evolution. But darned if I wasn’t caught up in it. In spite of the dryly academic tone, it managed to be lively and interesting, and well worth reading.

Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas – I knew Bonhoeffer’s name, and a few facts about him, but little of substance, and I really don’t know why I picked up this biography beyond saying it seemed like a good idea at the time. And it absolutely was an excellent idea. Even as a long-time student of the Weimar era, I learned things I never knew before. And much of it has distinct (and frightening) parallels to our own time. As someone once said, history doesn’t so much repeat as it rhymes. If only for the the warning signs of those rhymes, this bio would be worth reading.

Meeting Bonhoeffer the man was a wholly different experience. He had a mind unlike any I’d ever encountered, and while I am not certain that I understand his theology, or agree with all that I do understand, I found it fascinating to watch him work through his path from a pacifist, to a conspirator committed to killing Hitler, secure in the belief that it was the right, just, Christian thing to do. His extraordinary family, his much loved friends, his tireless work as a theologian, academic, and pastor are all well-covered here. If you want to know more about Bonhoeffer, this is an excellent place to start.

I did find it almost amusing to note that Metaxas’ fair and measured account went all to hell every time he discussed Reinhardt Heydrich (who was one of the primary architects of the Holocaust.) Metaxas refers to Heydrich in many unflattering ways including “the albino stoat” and “the waxen lamprey.” I know he was expressing his disdain, but the variety of epithets became almost hilarious by the end of the book.

Leaving Everything Most Loved: A Maisie Dobbs Novel by Jacqueline Winspear – Maisie Dobbs #10, a mystery about the murder of a young Indian woman in London. One thing I love about Winspear’s writing is that she is so good at integrating her plots with the details of Maisie’s life and the lives of those around her. While we always want to know the solution to the mystery, we also always want to know what will happen to Maisie, Billy and his family, Sandra, James, Frank Dobbs, et al. Like all good mystery series she’s created a society for us to sink into, and as difficult as the emotional content can be, this is real comfort reading for me.

The Denisovans : The History of the Extinct Archaic Humans Who Spread Across Asia During the Paleolithic Era By: Charles River Editors – I was warned. I absolutely was warned about this audiobook, and I paid no attention. It was shortish, which appealed, and inexpensive (another big plus, IMO) and dealt with a group of people who I number among my extremely distant ancestors. And while I know that solid information about the Denisovans is thin on the ground, I still wasn’t prepared for the bone-dry, heavily padded narrative in which the first half of the book recapitulates all of evolution and discusses a number of other protohuman populations. Yeah, that’s the first hour or so of a book that runs slightly over two hours.

When we finally get to some solid information about Denisovans, it’s always through the lens of their closest relatives, the Neanderthals, so that sometimes it’s difficult to understand how anything but a quirk of genetics makes the two groups separate. There have to be better books about the Denisovans. There just have to be.

The Maisie Dobbs Series: – Jacqueline Winspear
A Dangerous Place
Journey to Munich
In This Grave Hour
To Die But Once
The American Agent
#s 11-15 of the series, and that finishes all the books currently available, though there is another one coming out soon. Not soon enough, IMO. Apart from telling you how amazingly good this series is, much of what I can say about this group would be spoilery, so what I will tell you is that they deal with WWII, and take Maisie, and her family and friends into more adventures, more danger, and alas, more sorrow. War isn’t pretty and Winspear doesn’t romanticize it. But she does provide her readers with some memorable characters. One of my favorites is McFarlane. I’d read a whole series about him. Seriously, read these books.

Kindred. By: Rebecca Wragg Sykes Narrated by: Rebecca Wragg Sykes – Ah, Neanderthals, so misunderstood. But Sykes’ almost exhaustive study puts paid to a lot of myths about them being grunting idiots. There’s evidence of a thriving and creative tool culture, which also suggests the use of spoken language of some sort. There’s evidence of cooperative hunting, breeding with both homo sapiens and Denisovans, and much, much more. Truly a fascinating book if you’re a fan of Neanderthals or pre-history.

How the Hippies Saved Physics by : David Kaiser – Kaiser recounts how the practice of Physics went from a wonderfully creative pursuit in the era of Einstein and other early pioneers, to a rigid, practical discipline after the second world war, leaving no real room for creative thinking. Enter the counter-culture and the physicists who were curious about how newer aspects of the science related to things like philosophy, religion, spirituality, the occult, the human potential movement, and any number of other new-agey subjects. And yes, there were (and still are) a lot of them. And despite sometimes seeming silly and misguided, their determination to explore the boundaries of Physics was what reinvigorated the field, and opened it up to some of the more interesting and promising ideas since the 1920s. If you’re interested in the history of Physics, you will probably really enjoy this book.

Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine by Alan Lightman – OMG, I love Alan Lightman. I love that he’s a scientist with the soul of a poet and philosopher. I love his meditations on the universe. I could read his work all day. This book of essays made my heart happy.

I read it so you don’t have to. You’re welcome:
Mr. Churchill’s Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeal – Or The Adventures of Mary Sue Cryptographer Versus the Evil League of Evil. Wow, I hate doing bad reviews, but I don’t have a choice because this book read like sub-par fan fiction. Poorly drawn characters, trite relationships, cliches everywhere you look. Honestly I don’t know why it has so many good reviews except that it does deal in the familiar tropes, the standard relationships, cliched (albeit anachronistic) prose that has a comforting familiarity. You don’t really need to be a great writer if you can figure out what your readership wants and just serve it up with a generous helping of Mary Sueism. Of course Maggie is the smartest, prettiest, most competent mathematician/cryptographer (summa cum laude, thank you very much) working in the UK during the war. And of course she has a tragic past. Of course she’s misunderstood. Of course the fact that she’s female means that she’s being kept from doing what she does better than any man, but of course she perseveres, saves the day, wins the guy, and the thanks of a grateful nation. I wanted to be fair so I kept reading, got halfway through and hit a scene that made me want to scream and throw my Kindle across the room, but I did persevere. I have no idea why I did, though I admit I pretty much skimmed the rest of the book. It didn’t improve. In fairness I was led astray by people who said that this book was absolutely for people who loved Winspear. No it’s not. No.

So that’s it for last month. Mostly Maisie Dobbs and sciencey things, but pretty satisfying overall. with one exception. I shouldn’t complain; I’m usually pretty fortunate in my choices. Sadly I just realized that the copy of The Tao of Physics that I was looking forward to listening to is an abridged version. That’s a big Heck No! See you next month.