Next Book Club Meeting

The next meeting will be held on December 9th at 6pm at Higgins' house. The book is "The Ice Master" by Jennifer Niven.

The rotation is Bill, Bob, John S, Dave M, David J, Stanley, and John H.

Coming Up Short

Robert Reich's memoir is a long book from a man that has experienced a long and impactful life. In the vein of "Ours was Brighter Future", Reich tells personal stories of what happened and what could have been regarding politics in America. With titles like my date with Hillory and I inhaled with Bill, he tells of his personal relations with the Clintons, W, Bernie, Biden, Trump and other individuals his age. Though his eyes, the reader sees how Wall Street has moved into the U.S. administrations, including those of Clintons and Obama. The hiring of Goldman Sachs CEO's and the loosening of the banking regulations paved the way to greater inequality and a financial collapse. You relive the Bush Gore election and the influence of Fox and the Supreme Court. You feel his frustration from working in the Clinton administration as the Secretary of Labor and his faith in the future from his 40+ years as a university professor. Reich is a champion for the working class and challenges the gross inequalities in America today. The title "Coming up Short" is appropriate for what he feels his generation has left for the future generations to fix. The final section is titled "The Long Game" and he provides his ideas for a road forward.

Book Ratings - 300 and counting

The following is the link to the complete list for your entry: Compete book list. Please click on the link and input your ratings on a scale of 1-5.

We are in our 26th year and have read over 300 books. We have read a lot of very good books with an average rating of 3.64 on a scale of 1-5. 90% of our books received a rating of 3.0 or greater with the top 10 4.5 or more. Stanley and Dr. J are the toughest critics with and average of 3.41 with everyone else averaging between 3.68 and 3.73. On the low end we have just a few that fall below the Mendoza line established by Who Moved My Cheese at 2.86. This includes the third book chosen overall (by me) of "A Pirate Looks at 50" and Bill's "There is no Toilet Paper on the Road Less Traveled"(which also holds distinction of the longest title). We still have only read one book twice, "The Limits of Power", in 2009 and 2014 and I still can't remember it even though it rated very well at 4.13 and 4.25.

The book list covers a wide variety of books consisting of roughly 2/3rds non-fiction. Topics include the classics, politics, business, adventure, history, science, environment, humor, and morality. Multiple authors include Thomas Friedman (4), Malcolm Gladwell (4), Bill Bryson (5), Phillip Roth (3), Dan Brown (3), Sam Harris (3), Michael Lewis (3) and 2 from Russell Banks, TC Boyle, Tom Brokaw, David Brooks, David Guterson, Laura Hillenbrand, Hope Jahren, Jon Krakauer, Krueger, Eric Larson, Annie Proulx, Alan Weisman, Eric Weiner and Irvin Yalom. We have branched out over the years to include a wide variety of authors and topics.

The Great Gatsby

 ...or the Great American Novel.

Why is The Great Gatsby considered a classic American novel? Is it for the depressing plot and unlikeable characters? Is it for the wordy and flowery language? Who is your favorite character? Gatsby, Nick, Daisy, Jordan, Myrtle, or any of the old or new rich party goers? The narrator, Nick Carraway is likeable enough but is drawn to the flawed Gatsby and Jordan Davies. I tended to root for the tragic Jay Gatsby, or westerner Jason Gatz, in spite of his hopeless obsession with Daisy.

AI says, "The Great Gatsby is considered the Great American Novel because it encapsulates the essence of the United States by examining the American Dream, capturing the spirit of the Jazz Age, reflecting on the social materialism and moral decadence, and embodying key themes like self-invention and the pursuit of happiness through a perfectly crafted and stylistically masterful American prose." 

Or, as my big sister used to say to me on occasion, "Phew, you are full of words."

Age of Diagnosis

 "How our Obsession with Medical Labels is Making us Sicker"

Dr. O'Sullivan's book addresses the overdiagnosis of Huntington's disease, Lyme disease, long Covid, Autism, Cancer, ADHD, Depression, and many other lessor known illnesses. She points out that we live in an age of increased medical labeling of "abnormal" symptoms as the result of increased testing, patient demand, and willing doctors.

She made me think about how I feel about...psychosomatic illnesses, Cancer treatments, long-term Covid, Genetic testing, and Genetic screening. Are doctors over-testing, over-diagnosing, over-medicating, and over-treating Americans? I am a strong supporter of vaccines, I support genetic screening for the unborn, I believe in my Cancer doctors, and I don't trust RFK Jr. Nonetheless, she gives me school for thought.

Night Shade

Night Shade is the latest book by Michael Connelly about an LA County Sherrif detective in Avalon. Sergent Stillwell had recently been demoted from the LA homicide department for being a loose cannon and exiled to a supposedly sleepy Catalina Island. The story involves a mysterious death of a young woman that worked at the Tuna, or "Black Marlin", Club. The author references many Avalon and Catalina landmarks including Maggie's, the Casino, Harbor Master's office, The Sand Trap, Zane Grey Hotel, Buffalo Nickle, and Pebbly Beach. He captures some of the uniquely peculiar nature of Avalon, verses "overtown", and the challenges of a maintaining order and peace in a small town. I could not help to notice a few mistakes like there being a hardware store on Marilla, that you can drive completely around the Casino, or that there is coral on Catalina Island. Nonetheless, it is a fun, active adventure, who-done-it caper that could be the start of another Connelly series like the Lincoln Lawyer and Bosch. 

Abundance

Abundance is a book co-authored by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson. It is a challenge to democracies to establish a new social order to accelerate technological advancement. They make the case that the major advancements of mankind have slowed by comparing the 1890's to the 1920's, to the 1990's to the 2020's. They are critical of the over regulating and NIMBY policies of the left as well as the overall disregard of advancements for the sake of profit by the right. I came away thinking the book is optimistic, with a faith in technology, and an alignment of collective genius.

"It is the promise of not just more, but more of what matters. It is a commitment to the endless work of institutional renewal. It is a recognition that technology is at the heart of progress and always has been. It is a determination to align our collective genius with the needs of both the planet and each other. Abundance is liberalism, yes. But more than that, it is liberalism that builds."