Parable of the Sower

 

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (1993) 329 pages

This novel is in the form of a teenaged girl's journal, with entries between 2024 and 2027. Lauren Olamina lives in an unsettling world where food and water are scarce, and safety is never taken for granted, with robbers and arsonists often causing havoc. Her family lives in a walled and gated enclave within the Los Angeles area. Leaving the compound is risky, with bodies frequently found outside the walls. Not everyone has a job where they can work from home, plus they need to leave to get supplies periodically, so the families unite to provide resources including safety patrols. Climate change and drug use has caused some of society's troubles, and the privatization of some cities has led to exploitation of people, where some people opt to work and live in somewhat safer areas, not for money, but for company script (and not much of it).

 Lauren has a condition called hyperempathy, where she feels pain that she sees others experiencing. Part of how she deals with life is by developing a religion she calls Earthseed, where she recognizes not a personal god, but a god which is Change.

Little by little, the security of Lauren's neighborhood feels less sure, until all at once, the neighborhood is compromised and the people must flee for their lives. In a place where resources are few and danger is high, watching how those who flee attempt to survive is scary and fascinating.

Our America: A Photographic History

Our America: A Photographic History by Ken Burns (2022) 334 pages

What skills Ken Burns brought to documentaries, he also brought to paper. Our America is a coffee-table book that moves one in ways that only excellent photography can. This curated collection of black and white photos are from 1839 to 2019 (although very few are recent). The later part of the book shows the same photos in thumbnail size, with some history of the photographs included. We see slices of life from earlier times in our country's history. Also included are natural and architectural gems, as well as photos from the Civil War. Many photos also reflect the injustices done to Blacks, Native Americans, immigrants, and those in poverty. I found the book to be powerful, best looked through slowly. 

OMG WTF does the constitution actually say?

 

OMG WTF does the Constitution actually say? : a non-boring guide to how our democracy is supposed to work / Ben Sheehan,  218 pgs.

This is an ingenious guide to our foundational document.  Sheehan gives the actual text, a simple interpretation and some context. He adds a few opinions but all are clearly marked.  You can easily tell which parts no longer apply because they too are clearly marked.  If you have questions about the constitution and don't have time to become a constitutional scholar, this can get you up to speed a little quicker.  Maybe this should be required reading, especially for those who are constantly making statements about what is "in the constitution."

Democracy: Stories from the Long Road to Freedom

Democracy: Stories from the Long Road to Freedom by Condoleezza Rice, 486 pages. Narrated by Condoleezza Rice and Grace Angela Henry.
Former National Security Adviser and Secretary of State, and current Denning Professor in Global Business and the Economy, Rice is well-suited to tell us the stories of governments in transition moving towards democracy, and then sometimes away from it again.
Rice witnessed the dissolution of the Soviet Union firsthand, as part of George HW Bush's National Security team, and she tells of how Russia, Ukraine, and other regions of the fomer USSR lurched toward a more democratic way of governing and then backed away, sometimes violently.
Yushchenko (leaning towards democracy) versus Yanukovych (leaning towards his good friend Putin) in Ukraine; Uribe against the FARC and the AUC in Colombia, and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf trying to rebuild Liberia after the warlord Charles Taylor was overthrown all have their stories told here. And Rice is an excellent storyteller. She comes across as a supremely intelligent, compassionate, and competent diplomat. Her insider's view of the George W Bush administration makes one nostalgic for a time when you only suspected the President didn't know what he was doing.

Thirteen Days in September: Carter, Begin and Sadat at Camp David

Thirteen Days in September: Carter, Begin and Sadat at Camp David / Lawrence Wright 345 pgs.

In 1978, the leaders of three nations got together and tried to solve a dispute that was really much bigger than any or all of them.  Jimmy Carter went out on a limb and convinced Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin to come to Camp David and attempt to hash out a solution.  This book covers each of the thirteen days the meetings ended up taking even though there were many times it looked like the talks would break down.  The author gives a lot of background on each group, their history and the results.  This was an amazing event in history and this book is an amazing account. Great work.

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