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20
May

#AWW2021 Jessica Anderson

I had this book shipped all the way from Australia (…via Amazon.com)

Little did I know I ordered a ‘gem’!

8 short stories that are EXCELLENT!

Part 1 (5 stories) reflects the title

Stories told from the point of view of Beatie, (Jessica Anderson)

a young girl growing up in Brisbane (…the “warm zone”),

She recreates family relationships and trace

the path from adolescence to adulthood.

Rhoda, Sybil and Neal represent the author’s siblings.

Part 2: Sydney Stories

2 unhappy marriages + one happy relationship.

The last story can easily be a ‘novella’…took 3 hrs to read

…but oh, so good!

This is the first short story collection I’ve read with

a perfect 100% score….all 8 stories are worth your reading time.

#Bravo Jessica Anderson!!

20
May

#Non-fiction Bloodlands

  1. This book is a MEGA disappointment.
  2. …hours and hours of shock and awe during my
  3. bike rides with this #audio book.
  4. Every day when I left the house I kept saying:
  5. “The book will get better….it must because it can’t get worse”!
  6. The author seems for the most part concerned
  7. with the mathematics of the dead…
  8. …the numbers just keep coming.
  9. Where is the analysis? Where is the judgement? Where is the scrutiny?
  10. The book was a waste of time
  11. ….I’d recommend you read the 1960 classic
  12. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by W. Shirer.
  13. …objective in method, sound in judgment, inescapable in its conclusions.

16
May

#20 Books of Summer 2021

 

26
Apr

#Non-fiction Ghost Wars

Finally finished…
Surprised how Steve Coll decided to end the book.
….bit of a disappointment.
Afterword is dated 2004…mentioning the hope of capturing Bin Laden.
Well, we know the answer to that!
Was this book worth ALL the listening hours (26 hrs 46 minutes) and a Pulitzer Prize.
No.

  1. Extensive research but just so detailed it felt like a internal CIA report rather than a book that would engage the general public looking for some
    general historical knowledge.
  2. I found it very VERY difficult to stay engaged with it
  3. I also had a bit of trouble following along with who everyone was throughout most of the book, as major players drift in and out over the long span of time covered by the book.
  4. The savvy reader knows the US government doesn’t declassify anything until after 25 years so many events are still to current to have anything “secret” revealed.

Notes from Goodreads.com

March 25, 2021 – page 38 5.34% “New book for bike rides!
Prologue: 1986 USA 2500 Stingers weapons were given away by CIA to Afghan rebels. Now CIA wants to buy them back! Feels like “close the barn door after the horse has bolted”!
ch 1: Harrowing description of the sacking US Embassy 1979 Islamabad. Gen Zia (Pakistan) left Americans to die…it took 5 hours to make a max 30 min drive to the embassy. Zia = #FairWeatherFriend”

March 30, 2021 – page 70 9.83% “Ch 3: 1981 Howard Hart is CIA station chief Pakistan…the CIA has NO strategy for this war (Afghanistan)…just money, mules and mortars. “You’re a young man; here’s your bag of money, go raise hell” was the way Hart understood his orders.”

March 31, 2021 – page 95 13.34% “Today we learn more about CIA Director William Casey (1981-1987).
Why did Casey fly secretly to Rome in a windowless C-141 black jet and be taken undercover to the Vatican? Hmmmm….”

April 4, 2021 – page 150 21.07% “1985….very boring chapter about CIA undercover activities in Afghanistan. Really, I cannot keep up with all the names: Massoud, Rabbani, Abdul, Mazar, mujahideen. CIA did send Buffalo sniper rifles to Massoud. You could shoot a target 1-2 km distance!”

April 11, 2021 – page 220 30.9% “Part II: just read about the plane crash that killed Pakistan’s Gen Zia August 1988. C130 aircraft performing as expected on a clear, cloudless day. Yet it had inexplicably fallen out of the sky. Usual suspects: KGB – CIA? Why was no effort made to unmask the perpetrators? Why was so much effort expended on suppressing incriminating evidence? Crash is still a mystery…Afghan….truly a Ghost War!”

April 18, 2021 – page 370 51.97% “If there is anything I learned in this book is that corporate interests (gas) were more important than political (USA) interests in Afghanistan.
1996 pipeline agreed upon, 2015 construction…operational gas line 2020. Because the line passes through 5 provinces that are Taliban strongholds…no wonder USA is probably striking a deal with them. We’re leaving as long as you guard and don’t interfere with the gas line.”

22
Apr

#AWW2021 Song of the Crocodile

The first chapter was wonderful..using the classic rule:
Panorama, zoom in to “Darnmoor, The Gateway to Happiness”….zoom out.
The chapter describing matriarch Margaret Billymil working in the local hospital
was very good. (The book should have just been about Margaret and her life)
Then I lost interest.


Ms. Simpson is a well-known storyteller in Australia.
I found that her objective was to share her tales about her ancestors.

The spirits hover over the town offering advice and support.
But truth be told…I found these passages jolted the flow of the story.


Nardi Simpson created a 3 generational story (Margaret, Celine, Mili)
…but there are no stand-out characters.

If this book were to be made into a film there is no character

the powerful indigenous Australian actress Leah Purcell

…could really get her teeth into.


Last thoughts:

The story is predictable. My interest was waning.

I think this was due to the unbelievable conversations that took place

…became overly sentimental towards the end.

#Disappointed

6
Apr

#Non-fiction Urk

 

It took me four days to read this 296 page book.

Why?

I did not want it to end.

Absolutely fascinating book about a small fishing town in

The Netherlands that you probably never heard of.

It is shrouded in an ultra Calvinistic believe and has 25 churches

for a population of 20.000.

Belgian journalist M. Declercq decides to move to Urk for 6 months.

Can he discover the “hidden” undercurrent that flows through the village?

I hope this book is translated into English very soon.

It is nominated for Brusse Prize 2021.

The Brusse Prize for best Dutch-language journalistic book of the year.

The book is a GEM…and I love the cover.

#MustWinThePrize

Last Thoughts:

Did Mr. Declercq discover the ‘undercurrent’ in the village?

Oh, yes ….but it took him 6 months to win the trust of many people he interviewed.
Many people did not want to speak “on the record” but there were a few very brave people who told Declercq what really happens in the village. The Lord doesn’t care how many bible verses you have memorized….He cares about how you treat people.
This was the best book I’ve read all year….and surprise…a book in Dutch, right in my own backyard!

 

5
Apr

#PoetryMonth Surge

Introduction:

  1. For those readers of Jay Bernard’s debut Surge who are
  2. not familiar with the historical event to which it responds,
  3. there is a carefully detailed author’s foreword.
  4. On 18 January 1981, 13 black teenagers were killed in a
  5. house fire that engulfed a birthday party at in south-east London.
  6. Although the New Cross Fire is still in living memory,
  7. Jay Bernard is seeking to introduce it to a new generation
  8. …to make history live and remind readers these are both statistics and people.

Conclusion:

  1. I haven’t even opened the book but I feel this will be an emotional journey.
  2. This time I’m reading the book while  listening to the audio book.
  3. I will just let Bernard’s words wash over me.
  4. Each poem has a different voice…a gathering of people.
  5. Parallels are drawn between the New Cross Fire 1981 and Grenfell
  6. the tower block fire in 2017 where the official death toll was 72.
  7. Surge” tells a story of the  past and present
  8. …showing how lessons have not been learnt.
  9. #Impressive

Last thoughts:  5 poems that focus on the aftermath….haunting.

  1. Harbour: a ghost child going over the events in the fire…telling friends
  2. to save themselves:   “I said, I called – jump”
  1. Clearing: The speaker is a victim of the fire and describes
  2. how the body is placed in body bag.
  1. “+”   The mother of a victim is informed they have a yellow shirt
  2. …the mother says:  “…this must be our son.”
  1. “-”    The voice is of the victim lying dead on a morgue table
  2. about to be identified  “You came, dad –“
  1. Kitchen:   The voice of a victim returns to her home
  2. ….loving she describes  the kitchen
  3. “I have held this house in my arms
  4. …and let it sob on the bathroom floor.”
2
Apr

#Non-fiction Revolusi

Conclusion:

Sadly, this turned out to be a slog.
Van Reybrouck spent 5,5 years researching this book,
and I think he was loath to leave anything out.
500 pages are filled with facts and interviews with
Indonesians who could contribute their memories of life
during colonialism.

But…the engaging interviews are not enough save this book.
Does any editor at publishing house De Bezige Bij own a red pencil?
There were parts that could have been trimmed.
Having said that…this is still a document historians will love
…but the average reader (me) struggled to find real gems of information.
Personally I prefer David van Reybrouck’s book CONGO (available in English!)
..it is WELL worth your reading time.
So, if you are a history buff

…this book is just what you’ve been looking for
…when it comes to Indonesia!

1
Apr

#PoetryMonth The Gilded Auction Block

Introduction:

  1. A mixed-race poet raised by white supremacists
  2. addresses his country – and his president.
  3. Now if that doesn’t make you curious
  4. as to what McCrae has to say…
  5. …what will?

Impressive biography:

  1. Shane McCrae has written elsewhere about
  2. the trauma of being taken at a young age
  3. to live with his maternal grandparents.
  4. Cut off from his black father, he was brought up
  5. as a white supremacist by his grandmother.
  6. She who insisted that he wasn’t black.
  7. He earned his G.E.D. at eighteen after dropping out of
  8. high school, enrolled in community college in Oregon.
  9. He eventually got an M.F.A. (Master of Fine Arts) at the University of Iowa.
  10. McCrae e earned  a J.D. (Juris Doctor) at Harvard Law School.
  11. He now teaches at Columbia University.

Title:

  1. During an interview McCrae explained the title of the book.
  2. “Gilded Auction Block is, an illusion of prominence,
  3. this brilliantly glowing prominence
  4. …that you’ve been raised above so you can be sold.”
  5. Irony…put on a pedestal….only to be sold and devalued.

The President Visits the Storm

  1. Epigraph for the poem   “What a crowd! What a turnout!”
  2. This poem is the voice of someone who is supposed to be introducing Trump.
  3. Style is jaunty and feels like a string  of
  4. …soundbites that are meant to energize the crowd.
  5. But McCrae twists the situation…
  6. ….are these the words victims of  Hurricane Harvey want to hear?
  7. The purpose of Trump’s visit to Texas was to survey
  8. damage and coordinate federal support for the storm-ravaged area.
  9. But  Trump appeared focused on crowd size, treating his remarks like a rally.

Everything I Know About Blackness I Learned From Donald Trump

  1. McCrae is thinking how he couldn’t remember what about
  2. Trump he thought was the death of America.
  3. My moment was when I heard Trump was elected.
  4. I know exactly where I was and what I said:
  5. “Did I hear that correctly…perhaps age is creeping up on me.”
  6. No, BBC said: “Trump won.”
  7. The first sentence of the poem was probably McCrae’s moment:
  8. “America I was driving when I heard you had died
  9. …I swerved into a ditch and wept.”

The Hell Poem

  1. The Hell Poem which makes up the entire third section.
  2. It is epic…an Inferno-ish poem.
  3. Before each section  are  visual pieces by the artist Christine Sajecki.
  4. McCrae added in an interview some back round information about this poem.
  5. He started “The Hell Poem,” got stuck, and then abandoned the poem in 2014.
  6. Then Trump was elected.
  7. Immediately he realized there was a place for Trump in it.
  8. McCrae: “I think the reason I had gotten stuck was
  9. that the poem was waiting for Trump.”
  10. You’ll have to read the poem to discover
  11. ….what Trump in doing in an Inferno!

Conclusion:

  1. Great book to start….#PoetryMonth 2021!
  2. There is a place where for a few moments
  3. …we can at least feel protected
  4. ….it is while reading a poem.
25
Mar

#Non-fiction Bring the War Home

 

Introduction:

  1. The white power movement in America wants a revolution.
  2. Returning to a country ripped apart by a war they felt they were not allowed to win.
  3. A small group of Vietnam veterans and disgruntled civilians
  4. concluded that waging war on their own country was justified.

 

 

Conclusion:

  1. This was not a “joy” to read….not at all.
  2. The writing was hard-boiled and gave just the facts.
  3. If I was reading the book I probably would have stopped halfway.
  4. But I had an #audiobook and just put on the earphones every day
  5. …and continued on my bike rides.

 

Good news:

  1. The book did make me aware the white power, Aryan Nation
  2. and militia threats that are in the USA.
  3. Imagine reading how pervasive the movement was in 1970s-1990s
  4. …and stop and think how much more these groups are organized now.
  5. They are not always in the headlines but since 06 January 2021
  6. …I was curious what is going on underground or in the woods in different states.

 

Bad news:

  1. The book was depressing….
  2. I did notice Ms. Belew pins a surge in contemporary violence
  3. on the sorely abused Vietnam veterans.
  4. I think this is not a fair argument.
  5. It’s not the military or the military experience or the hellish fog of war
  6. … it is the environment in which they were raised
  7. …before ever getting to the military that leads to this kind of hatred.
  8. They (the vets) were not born with it and they were not brainwashed
  9. …into it when they became military.
  10. They were raised into it by the society from which they come.

 

 

Last thoughts:

  1. This is a book that is not a great read….but a necessary one.
  2. Sometimes you just have to tackle books that don’t appeal
  3. …to educate yourself about this domestic terror threat.
  4. Here are some of my notes after my daily bike ride:

 

March 18, 2021 – page 80 22.73% “While riding my bike in the morning I’ve been confronted with:
Seadrift, Texas, Vietnamese fishers vs KKK Nov. 25, 1979,
Greensboro NC massacre Communist Workers Party vs KKK/NeoNazis Nov. 03 1979 and now frustrated Vietnam vets are off to cause havoc in Central America as mercenaries. Book is depressing…but US is still in the terrible grip of white-power movement. Just 6 hr 55 min…I will finish the book, ugh.”

 

March 19, 2021 – page 112 31.82% “You don’t want to mess with The Aryan Brotherhood….ever!”

 

March 20, 2021 – page 156 44.32% “1984 Aryan Nation (Louis Beam) discovers the internet….members flock to invest in $2000,– Apple computers.
We read names, robberies of armored money transports to fund the movement, attacks on Jews, paramilitary training camps and federal raids on prominent figures. Not much analysis..but just the fact that this is all going on in 1980s is scary. Just imagine White Power, paramilitary militia are doing now!!”

 

March 22, 2021 – page 187 53.13% “The book’s seventh and best chapter is about White Power’s devotion paid to women as wives, mothers, and martyrs of the movement. White power submitted itself to a blinding cult of faith and family centered on the female body. The race must remain pure: “…the birth of a white baby was an act of war.” Louis Beam (Arayan Nation) marries 4th wife Sheila Toohey…she is devoted to him.”

 

March 23, 2021 – page 209 59.38% “The act of writing requires a constant plunging back
into the shadow of the past where time hovers ghost-like.
We return to Ruby Ridge, Waco Texas and the Oklahoma City bombing…
Now we have 2 mass shootings in USA in ONE week!
Thoughts and useless prayers now being rushed to the scene
…to this soon-to-be-forgotten and then-repeated story.
#NeedGunLegislation.”

 

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