How Emotions are Made

This is the first book that I needed to take notes throughout in order to better understand. There are recurring themes throughout, including emotions are constructed and not essential to each one of us. We make our own predictions and are ultimately in control and responsible for our actions. We create our own affective realism, concepts, and social reality.
The book made me think of other books including The Gene, The Social Animal, Younger Next Year, and Waking Up. I thought of the TV show Bull in the legal chapter. It made me think about the concepts of evolution, religion, spirituality, biology, and culture. I also thought about the use of language and other short cuts to aid in making faster and better predictions (like the CRSPR technique in genetic sequencing).
Nevertheless, this was a really hard book and I am finished with my book report.

When English Fall

It has been a little while since I finished Bob's latest book about the Amish people in an apocalyptic world. I really enjoyed it and it raises many interesting questions concerning living a simple life, our dependence on modern technology, the role of faith, law and order, and the complexity of the world we live in.
I admire the Amish people and I doubt that anyone of us could live life the way they do. God and faith are not enough to deal with the threat of the outside world (just look at Las Vegas). On the other hand they deserve to be left alone.

Fourth Industrial Revolution

Interesting observations and projections packed in a short read with a really big appendix. Felt to me a little like a text book that I may be quizzed on later. Overall a positive take on technology solving our future challenges like the book Abundance. On the other hand, it does address the responsibility of leadership to protect the earth, make the technological advances accessible to the masses, and warns of the potential threats. The Fourth Industrial Revolution feels to me more like a continuation of the Third (Computer/Data/Internet) on steroids.
The two email links sent out by Dave M and Bill were timely takes on the potential treat of monopolies in our future https://pocket.co/xMn8wE?cta=1&src=ph and the state of our current corporate environment https://charlierose.com/videos/30816. I am in agreement with Grantham in the importance of the climate change issue.

My kind of book. What is the future of the human race? What is our individual environmental legacy? 102 tons of waste? I hope not.
So many indirect references to other books including Upsizing, Abundance, Collapse, even Inferno. Are we in a decadence stage and is that a bad thing? Should we not be transitioning from extravagance to frugality? Can we transition from conspicuous consumption..i.e. large houses, SUV's, bottle water, obesity and substance abuse...to less waste.
Half of the world does not even practice waste disposal, what happens when they start generating our level of trash? Much of the waste problem is rooted in plastics, can we break our addition?
There are many sites dedicated to the cause of reducing waste including Zeri.org, zerowastehome.com (Bea Johnson), Wastelessliving.com (Christine), and Surfrider.org to name a few. What can each of us do, or, more importantly, what are we willing to do?

Plot against America...when should America go to war?

According to fivethirtyeight.com today, in May of 1940, 62% of Americans in a national poll said the US should stay out of supporting the allies in the conflict in Europe, even if Hitler was about to be victorious. What if Roosevelt was not reelected?

Zanzibar Chest referred to the value of one American to the number of Israelis and Africans. What about Bosnia, Somalia, Darfur...Syria? 

Should the decision be based on national security, national interests, war crimes, genocide?

Is there ever a good time to use force? Now that we are cutting back on international aid and diplomacy (state department). What is next?

I haven't quite finished the current book, but it does not look good for the alternative universe.

Link to The No Name Book Club Book on Blurb

The completed book is now publicly available through www.blurb.com/bookstore. You can search the book on the Blurb site by title or author. The paperbacks are $25.49 and the hard copies are $40.49. It is also available free as a download on Kindle. Thank you all for your great contribution.

Significant Numbers verses Alternative Facts

Dave's current selection of Strangers in there own land talked of the deep story and the great paradox. It got me thinking about what I thought I knew verses what many others believe. The author outlines a few things in Appendix C (Fact-Checking Common Impressions) that inspired me to look up a few facts for myself. Luckily there are some great government sponsored sights for fact checking that are still operating.
1. usgovernmentspending.com - Good site for checking the total government spending (7 trillion) by category.
2. usdebtclock.org - This is a great up to the second sight for monitoring the budget deficit (592 billion) and the national debt (20 trillion).
3. census.gov/popclock - This is a fascinating sight monitoring population growth (7.35 billion).
4. earthtimeline.com - This is a fun sight to check the ages of the earth (4.54 billion years).
5. climate.nasa.gov/evidence - Good site for climate change facts (15 of the 16 years since 2001 are the warmest on record).
Although the recent wave of alternative facts is very concerning, I believe there eventually will be a reality check for the deep stories.

Paul's favorites

When Bill and I dreamed up the book club idea over 18 years ago I was looking for a way to gather a bunch of men (no women) to read and discuss books to expand our knowledge. The early books were often short and non-fiction and my particular favorites were books that taught me something. 

Given the fact that I am currently the only member still regularly working, I found the writing assignment difficult to narrow down to just five books, but here goes:

1. Martian - This might be my favorite. It is an exciting adventure story that the author makes technologically feasible.

2. Lexus and the Olive Tree - This was the first of many excellent business related books by one of our favorite authors, Thomas Friedman. Still a great explanation of Globalization.

3. Abundance - This books gives hope to entrepreneurs using technology to solve the problems of the world.

4. The World Without Us - The sobering environmental tale of what can happen.

5. Freakonomics - Unique yet rational way of looking at the world.

Other books deserving mention include novels The Art of Racing in the Rain, The DaVinci Code, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Perfect Storm, Slaughterhouse 5, and the Art Forger. Some of my other non-fiction favorites include Henrietta Lacks, The Man Who Killed Pluto, The Presidents Club, The Things They Carried, The Last Lecture, Moneyball, and Younger Next Year.

Dave M's favorites

My 8 favorite books from years past area in no particular order:

Bob Proctor’s, Empire of the Summer Moon is really a shocking book. An early scene depicting a group of Plains Indians roasting their settler captives on an open fire, repeated raids on settlements with men women and children massacred or made slaves. It shows me that there were negative human traits on both sides of the settlement movement with the settlers equally brutal.

Paul LaCombe’s, The Lexus and the Olive Tree introduced me to globalization and it’s incredible scope. I had no idea of its influence on trade and culture. Combined with the internet it led directly to China’s rise, as well as influencing ISIS, Brexit, and other phenomena. There”s no going back.

Bill Lockwood’s, Tortilla Curtain is a very entertaining and well written book that was further enhanced for me by my meeting T.C. Boyle at my 50th High School reunion in upstate New York, of all places.

John Staff’s, The World is Hot Flat and Crowded provides further stories of globalization and more importantly the population explosion worldwide with its effect on our ability to manage food supply, disease epidemics, and the economies of high population areas. The case for population control is laid out here.

John Higgins', Unbroken is an unbelievable story of courage, struggle, and redemption of the amazing Louie Zamperini! Another great Laura Hillenbrand book.

Stan Pine’s, In Art Forger I learned more about the art world than I thought I ever wanted to know.  They had an art auction on recent cruise and I kept wondering how many of the works were forgeries, and by the looks of them, a lot.

Dave Jones’, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a well written mystery. I read it through almost in one sitting, I couldn’t put it down.

My favorite is Cloudsplitter. It had everything a novel should have from familial love, violence, sin, and redemption on a huge stage.

I know this is eight pick’s, but I wanted to include everybody’s efforts. I think picking the right book is the hardest part.

Bill's Favorites

Thank you for this project.  It caused me to revisit all our books and remember wonderful discussions with each and all of you while breaking bread together – okay, and a bit of vino as well.  We are fortunate indeed to have this strong and unusual fellowship.  I am grateful, thank you!

The End of Faith by Sam Harris

Admittedly, Harris presented ideas that fit my worldview – so this book was easy for me to like.  I have often recommended this book to others with: “Harris describes why the collective we cannot have a conversation without using science and its basic laws”.  He pointed out that moderates can & often will subordinate their dogma to common sense (science) and that fundamentalists cannot.  Hence the additional appropriate scrutiny on whichever religion is demonstrating the more fundamentalist views at any given time (Post 9/11 Islam in this case).  As I write this just after the 2016 election, and as an moderate independent who voted democratic in this election, I find having any conversation with “the opposition” difficult at best.  So finding common ground is, and will continue to be, a challenge and a goal. 

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

This relationship between an older dying mentor and his younger protege caused us to talk about mentors and other relationships in our lives in general that influenced us.  From this discussion I made a goal to have more meaningful conversations with those close to me.  I still have much work to do but I am appreciative of the influence.  As Bob Proctor wrote: “The book set the tone for freewheeling discussions that often take us places well beyond the book itself”. Many of our books that seem to have generated the most emotion and sharing have been about the inevitability of death - which tends to help us focus much more on making the most of “this moment” of our lives. 

The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini

I loved the story of boyhood friendship and the subsequent challenges of 2 boys from different religions and classes.  We were treated to the good and not-so-good side of relationships: fathers and sons; humans and their gods; men & their countries – in a beautifully written story from Afghanistan. 

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

I felt like I lived The Help in some small way.  I moved from the first American melting pot (military dependent housing and schooling) on an army base in Germany – to Columbus, Georgia in 1958 – 4 years before the time period of this book.  I had played, studied, and shared meals with blacks and all other ethnic & religious groups and knew them as friends and neighbors.  Then I went to separate water fountains, bathrooms and schools.   Black fathers had to look away from whites and show subservience – in front of their families – or ….!  I find I am angry still. This book helps me think we have made some progress away from man’s inhumanity to man.  I found it heartwarming, humorous and an accurate depiction of the time & place. 

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

This was our war when we were young.  I chose to join the national guard to avoid the draft when I dropped out of college with a low lottery number.  I was exposed to a few of the men who went to Vietnam in my 8 weeks of basic training which amounted to living in one large room with fifty 18 to 24 year old “boys” from all walks of life.  Most were from lower socioeconomic backgrounds but not all.  There were a few college grads, dropouts like me, and many who were given the choice of the army or jail.  Some were clearly afraid but still said things like: “I’m going to kill me some gooks”.  In 1971, the year after my boot camp, a fellow worker at a lumber company who had just returned from a tour in Nam said: “sometimes we would mow down water buffalo”.  I avoided him thereafter but feel like I understand him a bit better after having read this book.  I very much like the writing – just not the subject matter.  But sometimes we learn more from what is not so easy.

Bob's Favorites

This was an impossible task to pick only five books from the over 200 we have read. I finally went through each page of listed books and tried to gauge the one’s that had stayed in my memory over the years. For those that had remained in my head, the reasons were a mixture of the writer’s craft, the story told, the knowledge gained, my personal connection and how the book helped us become closer together over the years.

The books are listed by the order they were read and not their standing in my memory.

1. Tuesday with Morrie, (Bill Lockwood): This short book was about a young journalist and his dying mentor. Their conversations and reflections stimulated our new group to talk about mentors in our own lives. We got to know each other better as each of us drew on own personal history of mentors in our lives. The book set the tone for freewheeling discussions that often take us places well beyond the book itself.
2. The Night of the Avenging Blowfish, (John Staff): Cleverly funny story of a young OC guy and his travel to a tropical island where the native’s outhouse is a lovely beach where they enjoy communal conversations while dumping to begin each day. I still laugh when I remember parts of this book.
3. The Control of Nature, John McPhee (David Moritz): I had seen articles by John McPhee in the New Yorker and always liked his skill of exploring the world with wonderful attention to detail. Here McPhee checked out how folks in Iceland stopped a volcano flow before it could destroy their town. Then he went to New Orleans (before Katrina) to write how the Army Corp of Engineers tried to tame the mighty Mississippi. Then (to my surprise) McPhee came to our own San Gabriel Mountains. with the story about how we foolishly built homes in the path of runoff from the very steep slopes. Every time I hike past a debris !! basin, I think of John McPhee.
4.The Life of Pi, Martel Yann (me): Yann imagined an incredible tale about boy and tiger lost at sea, sharing a lifeboat. His writing was so compelling, I bought into the story. In the end the reader was given a choice to believe the tiger really existed or was a metaphor the boy had created. I chose that the tiger was real.
5. The End of Faith, Sam Harris (David Jones): I had left my Catholic upbringing in college, but was having trouble deciding what my relationship with a god should be. Harris convinced me it was OK to accept to being an atheist.
6. The World is Flat, Tom Friedman (Stan Pine): All of Friedman’s books are great for learning more about the realities of our world. We almost never get a true understanding from our political leaders. It was wonderful to have a very readable Tom Friedman to try to make sense of the globalization all around us.
7. The Limits of Power, Andrew Bracevich (me): When I read Bracevich, I feel he has just slapped me in the face to get my attention. If we could harness our claimed “exceptualism” to the economic realities and willingness to sacrifice, we would realize the use of military might is not the best answer to dealing with the world.
8. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larson (David Jones). Larson created the toughest young woman ever. It was so good, there were 2 movies made. I liked the US version where Rooney Mara brought the slim wisp of a super girl to life.
9. Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand. Hillenbrand told the extraordinary story of Louie Zamperini. Born and raised in nearby Torrance, where he was a juvenile delinquent who became a disciplined Olympic runner. But his life crashed along with the Air Force plane as he fought in the Pacific. His survival at sea only to be rescued by the Japanese to spent his days being tortured by a sadistic camp leader. He survived to return home with PTSD. The then unknown and untreated psychological condition, almost did him in but again he survived. Hillenbrand was lucky that he was still alive when she wrote the book.
10. The Boys in the Boat. Daniel Brown, (David Moritz). Brown introduced us to a group of Washington University students from poor to middle class homes who became heroes of the rowing world and won their event in the Olympics. Each of their stories told about their grit and determination. Unlike the rowers from the East Coast, they had to earn money while they studied and practiced to become the best. There was a wonderful English character, who made their boats from native cedar. While in Seattle visiting grandchildren, I went to wooden boat restoration place on Lake Union. One of his boats still hangs from their ceiling.
11. Quiet, Susan Cain (David Jones). Susan Cain, an introvert, wrote this explanation about those among us who are introverts and how they have been unappreciated. My granddaughter, Hailey, is a full fledged member of the introvert world. Until this book, Uli and I fretted about her lack of friends and aloof nature. She was always happiest at home reading a book rather than on the phone or engaging with others. The book showed me, that I too am somewhat of an introvert. Now we can embrace Hailey, who plays violin in the school string orchestra and gets all A’s. It turned out at our book club meeting that most of us confessed to being introverted.

Knowledge and History

We have read several books that have provided historical information in both non-fiction and historical fiction books. We have read about presidents Washington, Lincoln, Garfield, Teddy Roosevelt, Kennedy, and the ex-presidents club. We have learned about the civil war, WWII, Vietnam, and the first marines. We have learned about Sherman's march, abolitionists, pre-WWII Germany, post WWII America, and 1927 America. We read about Olympic athletes, Newton, cowboys and indians, the LAPD, Cuba, failed civilizations, and "Nearly Everything". Although the amount of knowledge is considerable, as pointed out in the book The Shallows, the difficult part is finding it with our random access memory.

John H's Fab 5

My five favorite books are the following:

End of Faith
Endurance
Quiet
Muzzled
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

END OF  FAITH
For years I have struggled with the hypocrisy of organized religion. I went to 16 years of Catholic school and finally realized that for me the Catholic religion was a religion of smoke and mirrors. It was hard for me to understand how life choices, political decisions, and murdering people  were a result of what the Bible contained. When I finished reading End of Faith, it was clear to me that all organized religions were at one time or another, attempts to get people to behave and believe in a certain way, no matter how drastic  the methods were. Unfortunately, that included killing and torturing people if they did not want to believe in the chosen religion or because they participated in another organized religion.  I found myself very angry after reading this book at fellow human beings who lost their way in an effort to sell their beliefs. Pretty sad chapters in our world history.

ENDURANCE
Recently I was out in my patio reading as the sun was setting. I realized I was getting cold and immediately went into the house to get a wrap. When I came back out I suddenly  thought about the book Endurance and what the men in that book experienced. I just started laughing at myself and thought about what it would be like to be in their situation. I couldn’t imagine sleeping in a wet sleeping bag in sub zero temperature for months on end. Neither could I imagine eating only whale blubber for the same length of time. I was so impressed with the fortitude, strength, and determination of these men. At no time did they complain or give up. Each time I thought it could not get any worse for these adventures, they were thrown another horrible challenge with which they had to deal. Truly amazing that they all made it back to civilization.  Shackleton  was such a competent and dedicated leader that he lost not one man on this incredible journey. So the next time you feel a little chill or hear your stomach rumbling because you haven’t eaten in several hours, think about what these incredibly brave  men endured and you too will chuckle at yourself.

QUIET
I sure wish I read this book in high school! It would have given me a much better understanding of what makes up an introvert and how, knowing that fact about myself, I could have navigated school and life more effectively. I finally figured out that I was an introvert but it was after my days in school. Sitting in class, paying attention, but not contributing to the class discussions, caused me to feel some sense of guilt. Had I read this book earlier, I would have realized that this is who I am and it was OK not to feel compelled to jump into discussions. My personal challenge in my career was that I was an introvert doing a job the required me to be an extrovert. I think that took a lot of extra energy at times, but over all, it was well worth the effort. The author suggest that whether you are an introvert or extrovert, your job is to figure out what you are meant to contribute to the world and make sure you contribute it. He says we should spend our free time the way we like, not the way we think we are supposed to. Feeling guilty about being either an introvert  or an extrovert is just wasted energy and will get in the way of enjoying our lives to the fullest.

MUZZLED
Although this book was written in 2011, it definitely applies to the world today, and especially what has been happening with the election in the past 18 months. Now that Donald Trump has been elected president, the content of this book becomes even more important. The election has caused the United States to become anything but united. If we don’t start to listen to each other, we will never find a way to coexist comfortably in the area of politics. Although we all bear some blame for this lack of understanding and accepting each other’s perspectives, I think the press and the pundits bear a great deal of the blame. What is presented is a war between the two (or three) parties and the fight should be as contentions and nasty as possible….after all, that’s what sells.  The author points out that we get the media we deserve. He thinks we are all in on the joke of watching and listening to the gossip and nonsense that passes a real news. We all need to do something to make sure we get real news and not the dog and pony show that sells and presents only one side of a situation. And the only things that we generally choose to  listen to and believe are the things we believe in already. We all tend to surround ourselves with people who are like minded. And that is fine  except this  causes us to not listen to other’s perspective. It is not at all easy to change this trend, but if we don’t, we will continue to go along with a muzzled country.

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO
This is the only book that received a score of 5 from every member. I think it was because it was a well thought out and interesting plot, cleverly presented, and the characters were interesting and well developed. There were many twists and turns and just when the reader felt he may have figured out the ending, the author threw in another unexpected twist. It was a compelling read that required that reader to pay close attention and not put his mind in auto pilot which can be easily done in many mysteries. The movie was entertaining and well done, but the book was a real work of art.

David's 5 favorites

Well, I’m still the “rookie” in our group, having started in 5/03, and continuing to look forward to our meetings.  I’m especially appreciative of the “stretching” that membership in the club has meant for me.  Reading books I never would have chosen, and thinking about their effect on me has been a wonderful education, and the discussions are always interesting to me.  So, I started this exercise trying to pick 5, but here’s the 12 and the categories I settled on.

First, Fiction
Cloudsplitter by Banks
Human Stain by Roth
Girl Tattoo by Steig
Man in the Basement by Mosely

Second, Finding Meaning
End of Faith by Harris
Moral Landscape by Harris
Staring at the Sun by Yalom

Third, Learning Perspectives
Lattitudes and Attitudes by Friedman
World is Flat by Friedman
World is Hot by Friedman
Varieties of Scientific Experience by Sagan
Unaccountable by Makary

Now the tough winnowing.
1. Human Stain.  The great American novel for me.  I’ve read all Roth’s work, and this is the best.
2. Cloudsplitter.  The best of Banks that combines history, character study, religious zeal, and tragedy.
3 .End of Faith.  This book and author came along as I was undergoing a sea change in my faith, and has been enormously helpful for me
4 .Staring at the Sun.  An important book that helped me to consider my mortality.  Yalom has been a mentor in my professional growth.
5. The World is Flat.  I always feel informed by Friedman, this positive look at the future of the world is my favorite.

Psychology

Since Dr. Jones joined the group in 2003 we have read several books that have a psychological theme. The books that come to mind are The Schopenhauer Cure, Blink, and a First Rate Madness. There is a psychological aspect to many other books we read such as the survival instincts in Endurance, Into the Wild, and the 33 Buried Miners. There is also the trauma of war in books like The Things They Carried and Killer Angels. Having a psychologist in the group has helped us all read more into both the non-fiction as well as the fiction books.

Religion and Spirituality

The group is made up of men raised with various religious teachings and levels of belief. We have members with Catholic, Mormon, and various other Christian backgrounds. One member even trained to be a minister, however no one is currently active with a church. We have read books that have challenged organized religion including Under the Banner of Heaven and End of Faith, as well as a few philosophy books and fiction novels such as DaVinci Code and Dissolution. Overall I would say that the group generally places reason over faith, however there is level of spirituality as well. We have read books about human spirituality including Life of Pi, Stillness Speaks, The Moral Landscape, and The Social Animal. We have read several books on mortality including Tuesdays with Morrie, Being Mortal, When Breath Becomes Air, The Last Lecture, and Staring into the Sun. As a group we have been able to openly discuss difficult questions concerning the meaning of life and each of us have come away with our own special understanding.

Stanley's top 5

These are my top 5 and why:

Tuesdays with Morrie – A wonderful and touching account of a supportive relationship between two men of very different ages and backgrounds.

The Greatest Generation – An account of the amazing contributions made by the (mostly) men who returned from WWII and worked very hard to make the U.S. a strong and highly respected country.  Yes, we know that there was a segment of our population that, mostly because of racial issues, did not completely share in our “middle class” affluence.  But overall I consider the post war period, in which I had the opportunity to live and work, a golden age for the U.S.

The Perfect Storm – A very well written and exciting account of the ocean disaster that befell a vessel due to the convergence of several weather patterns.  The term, “Perfect Storm”, has become a descriptor of some very important events.

Don’t Think About an Elephant – A very interesting discussion of how words and actions can direct the thinking of people.

The World is Flat – A very incisive (to me) early introduction (2005) to the global changes underway in our world and the effects that there were, and will have on our society

Food and Drink

The standard fair at the launch of the book club over 18 years ago was sandwiches and basic beer, wine, and soda. Over the years it has evolved to everything from soups and stews, to pot roast and comfort foods, gourmet dinners and fancy recipes, ethnic and theme foods, to take out and restaurants. Stan has been our soup and stew man, Bob and Uli have provided creative culinary offerings, John and Mo have provided the ultimate comfort food, David, Dave, and Paul have been branching out, and now being from out of town I have resorted to restaurants. The nice wines and beer and sodas have always been great. Often the menu has been in theme with the chosen book and sometimes the decor has been as well (thanks Mo). The obligation of hosting, as well as book selection is not taken lightly.

Business

Given the nature of our book club, meeting monthly and not all prolific readers, several of our early books were short business books. The shortest was about 50 pages in Who Moved my Cheese. We have also read Lexus and the Olive Tree, Blink, Drive, Moneyball, Freakonomics, Outliers, Macrowikinomics, and Abundance. We have read about the failures of business in The Big Short and the potential future in The Post American World. Each of these books have provide us with insight into the workings of individuals as well as business.

Funny that only Paul is still meeting with a regular business group and Bill is in search of a new business. Dave is still relieving doctors once a week, and there is considerable volunteer work being done by several members. Nonetheless there is some serious brain power available in the group if we can locate the information.

True Adventure

This category has some great true life survival stories including Endurance, Into the Wild, Perfect Storm, and Touching the Void. War related stories like Black Hawk Down, Lone Survivor, Zanzibar Chest, The Pirate Coast, Killer Angels, Kite Runner, Three Cups of Tea, and Unbroken. As well as sports stories including Seabiscuit and the Boys in the Boat. Even treasure hunting in Ship of Gold and the Deep Blue Sea. All these books were exciting page turners.