The Fighters: Americans in Combat in Afghanistan and Iraq

The Fighters: Americans in Combat in Afghanistan and Iraq by C. J. Chivers, 374 pages.

Chivers gives us several moving portraits of American soldiers, sailors (Navy Corpsmen, anyway) and pilots who fought in the ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It is stunning to realize that over 2.5 million American military personnel have served in these two conflicts since 2001. Chivers, who served as a Marine Corps officer, starts his book with the story of Lt. Layne McDowell. McDowell's carrier, the USS Enterprise, was returning from the Persian Gulf in 2001 just as the twin towers were destroyed. McDowell, who had flown combat missions over Serbia and Montenegro, would now fly his first missions in his F-14 Tomcat over Afghanistan. Years later he would return to the conflicts flying an F/A-18 Super Hornet.
Leo Kryszewski, a Staff Seargent in the Army served in Iraq. Dustin Kirby, a Navy Corpsman was horribly wounded while serving with the Marines and lost years to recovery and post traumatic stress (and attendant problems like alcohol abuse).Army Air Cavalry Kiowa helicopter pilot Michael Slebodnik served and died in Afghanistan. All of these important stories, and others, are respectfully told in an engaging and riveting narrative.
An important account of these seemingly endless wars.
The downloadable audio is narrated ably by Scott Brick

Manhattan Beach

Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan, 423 pages.
Egan won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Fiction for this lyrical, richly detailed novel. Anna Kerrigan, born in the 1920s, watches as her family slowly falls apart during the late 1930s. Her beloved sister Lydia has been unable to care for herself, move, or interact with anyone since her birth. her father Eddie, former theater owner and actor, former bagman for the union, and formerly close to Anna, disappears from their lives. Anna's mother is always there, but she, like Lydia, stays in the background. This is mostly Anna's story.
When the war breaks out Anna takes a job at the Naval Yard, measuring precision parts. She soon finds this work boring and, after seeing divers working on ship repairs, she decides that this is the work for her. While working toward this goal, and losing her remaining family, Anna reconnects with a man from her father's past, Dexter Styles. Egan does a wonderful job of weaving the different threads of this story together. This time, as I read the book in preparation for book group, I found Lydia a little too perfect and mother Agnes a little too one-dimensional, but it is still a very good read.

The Death of Truth: Notes on Falsehood in the Age of Trump

The Death of Truth: Notes on Falsehood in the Age of Trump by Michiko Kakutani, 208 pages. The former book reviewer for the New York Times gives us a brief but well-thought out account of the Trump campaign and presidency, touching on fake news, Russian trolls, climate change denial, and the death of honest debate. An interesting read which brings in historical comparisions to Hitler and Stalin, and which quotes Hannah Arendt and David Foster Wallace. While at times the book reads like a recapping of many of Trump's lies, falsehoods and delusions, Kakutani gives enough cogent analysis to make it worth the time to read.

Spinning Silver

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik, 466 pages.
Novik brings us into an odd world of Russian fairy tales mixed with modern fantasy. Miryem must work to rescue her family from her father's failure as a moneylender. He was lending to anyone, and collecting from no one until all of the family's money was gone. Her abilities to turn the silver she lent out to the gold she collected attracts the attention of  the Staryk, strange and frightening ice-creatures who terrify the people who live near their woods. The tasks Miryem must complete for the Staryk bring changes to her life, to Wanda, Miryem's servant / friend, and to the life of the new Tsarina. Irina had no hopes for marriage until her father bought the silver jewelry made from the Staryk coins. The beauty of the silver cause almost everyone to see Irina differently. Her new husband, the Tsar Mirnatius, doesn't seem to see the jewelry; something else make him want her for his wife. Irina must think quickly when she discovers what it is the Tsar really wants. The way the stories converge makes for a thrilling read. Novik tells a fascinating tale.

Uprooted

Uprooted by Naomi Novik, 435 page.
Agnieszka, a wonderful character, is taken to serve the wizard, locally known as the Dragon, who guards her village. Everyone fears the Dragon, he takes one young woman from the village every ten years. Everyone, it turns out, fears the woods outside the village more. A dark unfathomable evil waits for anyone who wanders in the woods or drinks from the water there. If they survive, if they wander out, they come out changed and dangerous and must be killed before they kill all of their former loved ones. The Dragon is there to protect the villagers from the dark power of the woods. As Agnieska learns from the Dragon, she finds that she herself has power, and she finds that the evil in the woods is growing and will soon overrun them all if it cannot be defeated. A very good fantasy work.

The Drop

The Drop by Michael Connelly, 388 pages.
I had read this about 6 years ago. It seemed familiar, but my memory of it seemed a little off, until I realized that part of the book  was made into one of the seasons of the Amazon series Bosch. I had seen that video version much more recently, and the story had been changed significantly from the book to the medium-sized screen. In this novel, Bosch and Detective David Chu are given a fresh hit on a cold case; they have a DNA match on a 1989 murder. Though it links to a known sex offender, there's a problem with the case. But before Bosch and partner are able to begin investigating, Bosch is called in by the Chief of Police to investigate the death of the son of Irvin Irving, Bosch's former boss and longtime foe. Complications ensue and Bosch must decide who is in the right and who is trying to get away with something. The case of the George Irving continues to twist and turn even after the case seems to be closed. In the cold case, it's fairly straightforward though there is still some nuance concerning guilt and innocence, good and evil. The nuance comes from two of the background characters, a victim of a child molesting killer who has grown up to become a sexual predator himself, and a therapist who tells Bosch how her son is in prison for raping a woman. The graphic detail in the book concerning child rape and murder is off-putting and I believe this is one of the books that caused me to take a break from reading Connelly.
Read by Len Cariou, which is always a good thing.

The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt: A Tyranny of Truth

The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt: A Tyranny of Truth, by Ken Krimstein, 233 pages.
I knew absolutely nothing about Hannah Arendt before I read this book. I am not proud of that, I'm just saying. This was an absolutely fascinating introduction to the German / Jewish philosopher, writer, and thinker. Arendt was a student of Heidigger, and for a time, his lover. After her affair with Heidigger ended, and as the Nazis came to power, Arendt has to make her first escape.
Krimstein's art and story reinforce each other and strengthen the narrative, and it is quite a narrative. Arendt and her mother have to escape the Nazi's again, moving first to Paris and then on to Portugal before finally ending up in the United States. She knew many of the great thinkers of the day, from Einstein to Brecht. She taught at Princeton and penned some of the most important works of the twentieth-century including The Human Condition, The Origins of Totalitarianism, and Eichmann in Jerusalem.
A fascinating look at an extraordinary thinker. Easily my favorite piece of graphic literature of the last couple of years.

Akata Witch

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor, 349 pages.
Okorafor is a great writer. I have really enjoyed everything I have read by her. This book, written earlier than her Binti novels, are also juvenile / YA and have a more traditional fantasy feel, but with roots in Nigerian culture and history. Sunny Nwazue was born in the United States to two Igbo parents. The family moved back to Nigeria when she was nine and have been living there for the last six years.
The "akata" in the title means "bush animal" and is also slang for a foreign-born blacks.  While dealing with some problems at school, Sunny discovers that she has magical abilities.Her friend Orlu introduces her to Chichi, and together they meet Sasha, an American teen sent to live with family friends. As Sunny begins to understand her powers she finds that she and her friends are  the group that must fight a growing dark power, and that this power was responsible for the death of Sunny's grandmother. A compelling book with great characters. I look forward to reading Akata Warrior.

We Are Gathered

We Are Gathered by Jamie Weisman, 275 pages

Carla, an assistant to a famous actor, describes herself physically first by talking about her large port-wine stain, "covering half my left cheek, encircling my left eye like a claw, extending down my neck . . ." She had a limp resulting from the circulation problems that caused the birthmark, and endured braces and orthopedics, and learned to live with books, and by her self. Carla is attending the wedding of her childhood friend, Elizabeth. Also present at the wedding are Elizabeth's despot of a grandfather and others who make this story interesting.
Funny and tender at times, Weisman gives us a good read.

American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin

American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin by Terrence Hayes, 91 pages.
Really great, moving, disturbing, and lyrical (more in the "words in a song" definition) poems about so much of the struggle we are locked in regarding race, and life in America right now. But it's not just that, the poems are bigger and wider, not scattershot, playful, but deadly serious, reaching back through time and locked in our particular present.
The 91 poems are presented, at least in part-I'm not a 100% sure how to read anything anymore, as notes to the assassin:

. . . In this we may be alike, Assassin, you & me: we believe
We want what's best for humanity. I'll probably survive
Dancing with the kinds of people who must find refuge
Among the sweat & rancor of a Fish & Chicken Shack
But Assassin, they'll probably murder you. Do you ask,
Why you should die for me if I will not die for you. I do.

Others don't seem so narrowly focused, aimed at the wider world:

The song must be cultural, confessional, clear
But not obvious. It must be full of compassion
And crows bowing in a vulture's shadow.
The song must have six sides to it & a clamor
Of voltas. The song must turn on the compass
Of language like a tangle of wires endowed
With feeling. The notes must tear & tear,
There must be a love for the minute & minute,
There must be a record of witness & daydream.
Where the heart is torn or feathered and tarred,
Where death is undone, time diminished,
The song must hold its own storm & drum,
And shed a noise so lovely it is sung at sunset
Weddings, baptisms & beheadings henceforth.

Terrence Hayes is (gives? is? i dunno) a great gift to readers.

The Reversal

The Reversal by Michael Connelly, 389 pages.
The fourth book in the Mickey Haller / Lincoln Lawyer series finds the committed defense attorney switching sides and working for the prosecutor.
Jason Jessup had been convicted of killing a young girl twenty-four years ago, but had been set free when DNA evidence was tested and turned out to belong to someone else.
Haller, convinced of Jessup's guilt in this heinous crime, must battle his own instincts as a defense attorney, Jessup and his defense team, and the entrenched interests in the DA's office as he tries to find the truth. Haller enlists his half-brother, Harry Bosch, and his ex-wife, Maggie McPherson to fight on his side. Connelly never disappoints. His books are uniformly excellent.

Bob

Bob by Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead, 201 pages.
When ten-year-old Livy's mom has a new baby it's decided that Livy should visit Gran Nicholas on her farm in Australia for a while. Livy hasn't been to see Gran for five years, but she has a vague memory that one of Gran's chicken's was weird. When she enters the room she stayed in as a five-year old she's a bit surprised to find Bob there. When she sees him she remembers something, but not everything comes back right away. Bob tells her that she told him to wait quietly in the closet and that she would be right back. Bob, a smallish green creature in an ill-conceived chicken suit, and Livy try to recall what happened five years ago, what it was that brought them together, and how they might get Bob back home. Pretty delightful.

The Cuckoo's Calling

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith, 455 pages.
The first of J. K. Rowling's books, written as Robert Galbraith, caused quite a commotion in 2013 when word of the author's identity leaked. Since Rowling is such an accomplished author with a style that appeals to many readers, it wasn't a big surprise that this first detective story featuring Cormoran Strike  was successful. Strike had lost a leg while serving in Iraq as a military policeman. He's out of the military now and trying to make a go of it as a private detective. He owes money to his famous father, his long-term relationship has ended messily, and he has had a bit of bad luck lately with clients. Things start looking up when the temp agency sends Robin his way, and the brother of a recently deceased super-model wants him to investigate her death. It's not as cheesy as it sounds just there. Strike is a well-drawn character and the stories are well told.
Narrated by Robert Glenister.

1947: Where Now Begins

1947: Where Now Begins by Elsabeth Asbrink, 280 pages.
Asbrink moves chronologically through this year, month-by-month through a  year that she argues was a turning point for humanity, or for a good part of it. She tells us about refugees in Vienna, in London, in France, and in Palestine. She talks of the weariness the English seemed to feel in Palestine, unwilling to struggle anymore with Jewish refugeesor with the Palestinians, leaving the fate of  a one-state or a two-state Palestine up to an international committee and then to the UN. The English left India in a hurry as well in 1947. Lord Mountbatten quickly and recklessly moved ahead with partition despite the warnings of imminent violence.
Asbrink also tells of the growing hostility shown by the Soviet Union towards politicians and citizens with any ideology other than the state-sponsored one in their newly acquired satellite states.
She ably weaves the big stories with the more focused and personal in the compelling book.

The Other Woman

The Other Woman by Daniel Silva, 474 pages.
Gabriel Allon, now head of Israel's secret service, is betrayed while trying to bring in a Russian defector. The defector is killed and Allon and his agency are blamed for the man's death and for operating in Austria. Allon must try to find the person selling them out to the Russians, and, you know, kill all the bad guys, and go home to his loving wife. It's all well-done, and relatively fun to read, but the secret twist seems obvious fairly early. Fans of  Silva and well-done spy novels will enjoy it.

Invisible man

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, 581 pages.
Our Big Book Summer read for 2018 was fantastic. Ellison's classic, besides being our shortest was the most accessible, while at the same time being the most enigmatic (Kathleen said it better).
We had great discussions led by Dr. Maxwell, jazz from Second Nature Horns, and a great lecture on Ellison and Jazz from Dr. Gerald Early. You can read all about it at our Big Book blog here.