In Search of the Canary Tree by Lauren E. Oakes

An informative and fascinating narrative about the die-off of Yellow Cedar trees in Southern Alaska that acknowledges previous studies which established the cause to be climate change but then significantly explores the impact of the loss of this tree species, postulates what kind of changes this die-off might generate, and ultimately offers her extensive study and knowledgeable conclusions to provide a data-rich window into the issues of global climate change.

A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things by Raj Patel and Jason Moore

A strong denouncement of the destruction of the Environment and our global society by the adoption of Capitalism. A lot of interesting details explain how "cheap" natural products and resources, labor, food to keep laborers alive and functioning work to maximize profits for the few. The only disappointment is that their conclusion was cursory. Perhaps readers can form discussion groups to perhaps come up with some concrete strategies and activities to revamp a very entrenched economic system that the 1% will fight tooth and nail to keep in place even as our very damaged World becomes increasingly unable to support life.

Kinship of Secrets by Eugenia Kim

A poignant story of two Korean "sisters" raised apart beginning in the Korean War. The one sister lives with her adoptive parents in Washington DC, while the biological daughter is left behind to live with her Uncle's family in South Korea. Their very different lives are revealed in separate chapters that still manage to impart strongly the emotions of an extended family torn apart by distance, loss, and secrets.

Night of Miracles by Elizabeth Berg

Wonderful continuation of a story begun in The Story of Arthur Truluv. The marvelous characters are complex and delightful. Truly a story, I loved and did not want to end because everyone and everything mattered. The small town of Mason is also definitely a significant "character".

This Is The Way The World Ends by Jeff Nesbit

An eye-opening narrative about the horrific consequences for the World of the depletion of freshwater resources that increasingly trigger armed conflicts and migrations as humans struggle to obtain the essentials of water and food. Wealthy nations like Saudi Arabia and China buy up land in the US to grow food for their citizens while others like Yemen have millions of their citizens die from bombing and starvation. Heartbreaking yet also importantly informative about this global crisis which threatens the continued existence of life on Earth. 

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

An interesting and poignant story about females spies utilized during both World wars.  These women were brave individuals who endured much to provide important information about foreign troop movements and intentions.  This narrative was both well written and absorbing. 

Dopesick by Beth Macy

Informative, eye-opening narrative on the opioid crisis in America. Humanizes the victims and their families. Describes clearly the horrific situation, laying out the responsibility of the Pharmaceutical Industry and the Medical professionals. Explains the unfortunate denial by many that this crisis was exploding in rural and suburban communities, not just the urban low-income areas. An important book.

The Water Will Come by Jeff Goodell

An eye-opening account of the reality of sea rise impacting coastal areas along the East Coast. Recommended.

Democracy in Chains by Nancy MacLean

This was a very hard book to read. It took me two weeks to finish because I took breaks to read some lighter material. It describes the buildup of a powerful Libertarian movement poised to control our increasingly threatened Democracy. The author provides a detailed picture of James McGill Buchanan, an Economist who spent his life developing and spreading his belief in a libertarian government that could make dominant an economic policy that would safeguard the wealth of the few. The wealthy and Corporations he taught should not have to pay taxes to support all the people who needed the benefits of such things as social services or even schools and roads. Now the author states that "The United States is now at one of those historic forks in the road whose outcome will prove as fateful as those of the 1860s, the 1930s, and the 1960s. To value liberty for the wealthy minority above all else and enshrine it in the nation's governing rules, as (John) Calhoun and (James McGill) Buchanan both called for and the Koch network is achieving, play by play, is to consent to an oligarchy in all but the outer husk of representative form." Recommended.

Our Towns:A 100,000 Mile Journey Into the Heart of America by James Fallows and Deborah FallowsA fascinating narrative about some towns that are reinventing themselves through private/public collaboration into locations that entice people to take up residence.

A fascinating narrative about some towns that are reinventing themselves through private/public collaboration into locations that entice people to take up residence.

Season of the Witch by David Talbot

A fascinating history of San Francisco politics, its diverse cultures, and some horrific events beginning in the late sixties and continuing through the eighties.  An informative description of a tumultuous era I lived through but largely caught up in my own life further North registered only as headlines. Recommended to me, I pass on the recommendation!

Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore by Elizabeth Rush.

Fascinating discussion of the perilous flooding threatening coastal communities. "...conserving the stage" means taking into account and working on behalf of the physical factors that foster biodiversity in the first place: soil types, hydrology, landform variation, and above all else, topography." Can we push a reset button and restore precious habitat ruined by human activity?

Another review based on my re-read.


This is an incredible book, lyrical at the same time as being informative about a serious, extremely worrisome, more accurately scary future facing our World. Human habitation is destroying our Natural World, raising the specter of extinction beyond just animal species finally to our own. There is no Planet B. The author, through extensive research, visits to imminently threatened locations, and interviews with impacted residents, researchers, and activists, lays out the reality of Climate Change and the sea level rise it is bringing at an ever accelerating rate. She documents the dire situation Native Americans on an Island off Florida face where relocation becomes the only future and a different situation in the California Bay Area where a re-establishment of wetlands is being funded and attempted, although she makes it clear that a whole new approach of massive relocation of human activity will likely be eventually necessary to deal with the massive consequences of sea level rise. This is an important book to read, digest, and talk about.

The Fifties by David Halberstam

Wow! Fascinating, informative, enlightening. A whole decade of political, cultural, social policies highlighted and explained clearly. The advent of television, increasing domination and impact of advertising, the beginning of pushback against segregation in schools, the development of the hydrogen bomb and long-range missiles, American Foreign Policy dominated by the CIA and covert actions in Latin America and Cuba, and the list goes on with it all taking place primarily during the Eisenhower Era. I feel like I just enjoyed sitting in on a great history class.

Mozart's Starling by Lyanda Lynn Haupt

Fascinating description of the raising and care of a starling by the author and her family and a juxtaposition of the life of this "pet" starling and the impact of a pet starling on the work of Mozart. Starlings are non-native usurpers in North America and as a result, have been reviled but the reader cannot help come away from this book with an appreciation of one remarkable and delightful representative of this particular species.

Lost Connections by Johann Hari

Finished a very insightful book. Johann Hari in his book, Lost Connections says the following: "Depression and anxiety might, in one way, be the sanest reaction you have. It's a signal, saying--you shouldn't have to live this way, and if you aren't helped to find a better path, you will be missing out on so much that is best about being human." 
Best wishes to all who are suffering mental anguish. The message that you are weak, or biologically impaired is harmful. The Medical/Pharmaceutical Industries offer a plethora of drugs to combat depression and anxiety when in fact, the better solution might be to reconnect with the World around you. Discovering a new meaningful way to connect with Nature, Animals, and other human beings will not eliminate all the sadness but it will likely provide the strength to cope with the sorrows that surround us and skills to focus more on the beauty and relationships the World offers.

The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman

A fascinating but also disturbing book about wild birds that illuminates their types of intelligence, but also reveals their increasing vulnerability to extinction as a result of climate change, habitat loss, and the poisoning of the environment. I have always loved birds, but now I have an even greater appreciation of their adaptive skills developed to exist all over the world in diverse terrains, changing climate conditions and human-impacted habitats. 2018 is The Year Of The Bird. I recommend reading this book, and other books about birds. They are incredible wild creatures, and our World will be sadly diminished by their loss.

Educated by Tara Westover

Wow! What an incredible story of endurance, resilience. and strength.

Love and Ruin by Paula McLain

A historical fiction about Martha Gellhorn, a writer and journalist/war correspondent who led an exciting eventful life that briefly intersected with Ernest Hemingway along the way. The focus of the book is the seven-year period she spent as a colleague and lover of the famous author but it also very much presents her as the remarkable and fascinating individual her own achievements created.

The Age of Eisenhower by William I. Hitchcock

 This is a fascinating book. Eisenhower, a WW2 warrior who knew the horrific consequences of war resisted efforts to draw America into any global conflicts but at the same time, he presided over the development of the CIA and its subsequent insidious interventions around the World. He was a man beset by contradictions: personal integrity and a fervent morality vied with an unwillingness to "impose" upon others even when the Supreme Court mandated an end to segregation in schools. His reign of eight years reflected a strong commitment to fiscal prudence, even as he authorized large expenditures for defense against the overwhelming fear of Communism posed by the Soviet Union and the escalating fear of the spread of Communism into Latin America and Asia. This book was very informative and revealing about a modern president who served two terms in an important yet often sentimentalized decade. Leave to Beaver and Lassie aside, the reality was so much more complex and provides so clearly a context for the following tumultuous decade.

Hotel Silence by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir,

An older man, despondent travels to an ex-war zone country with the intent to commit suicide and takes up residence at Hotel Silence. Caught up in the lives of the small community, he begins to see his life differently. Poignant.

The Common Good by Robert ReichA powerful plea that we re-establish the essentiality of the "common good" in our government and society. The viability of our faltering Democracy depends on a populace that is educated to think critically and tolerant enough to disagree with civility yet cooperate for the common good of all our people. Profit for individuals and corporations cannot be the dominant concern but needs to be sublimated to a concern for the well being of all. Only in raising all Americans to a reasonable standard of living can our Society rise to its full potential of freedom and justice for all. The author begins his book by reminding us of JFK's inspirational words in his 1961 Inaugural Address: "ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." Our country needs more than ever to embrace this advice if we are to ensure the viability of the Democracy envisioned by the Founding Fathers so many years ago. Yes, the Democracy was flawed but it also held a promise that now more than ever still needs to be realized.

A powerful plea that we re-establish the essentiality of the "common good" in our government and society. The viability of our faltering Democracy depends on a populace that is educated to think critically and tolerant enough to disagree with civility yet cooperate for the common good of all our people. Profit for individuals and corporations cannot be the dominant concern but needs to be sublimated to a concern for the well being of all. Only in raising all Americans to a reasonable standard of living can our Society rise to its full potential of freedom and justice for all. The author begins his book by reminding us of JFK's inspirational words in his 1961 Inaugural Address: "ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." Our country needs more than ever to embrace this advice if we are to ensure the viability of the Democracy envisioned by the Founding Fathers so many years ago. Yes, the Democracy was flawed but it also held a promise that now more than ever still needs to be realized.

Alternate Side by Anna Quindlen

Enjoyed this story about a close-knit New York City block as the main character. The other main characters are a couple settled into married life with their two children on this block who are busy with careers and gradually grow apart even as the city block also develops a fission and residents begin to leave.

Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson

A masterful biography that reveals nuances of Leonardo da Vinci's unquestioned "genius". The author has studied Leonardo da Vinci's extensive journals to provide readers with incredible detail about this man's life, constant scientific investigations, thoughts, beliefs, and artistic accomplishments.

How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt

Toleration and Forbearance. Can we restore these to our civic life? If not, our country is in deadly danger of deteriorating into an Authoritarian Nation. The authors of this eye-opening book explain clearly that although we have some powerful Ideals set forth by the Founding Fathers, essential norms of behavior and interactions that have enabled the endurance of our Democracy have slowly eroded over the past three decades, and it is imperative that these norms be restored and indeed spread throughout our increasingly diverse society if we are to preserve our foundering Democracy. Fascinating historical details support reasoned arguments. I hope many people will read this book.

Insidious Intent by Val McDermid

The murderer is known from the beginning. Parallel stories reveal the activities of the murderer and also of the police officers desperately trying to figure out who the murderer is, and how to acquire the evidence to convict the individual so the tension is ever-present.

Lies My Teacher Told Me Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen

An illuminating evaluation of American history textbooks that reveals the fake facts that permeate them. We feed our Youth the pablum of unquestioned heroism of individuals and our country rather than interesting facts and details that would enable our students to apply critical thinking to their absorption of our truly complex history with all its flaws and achievements.

Radio Free Vermont by Bill McKibben

Just finished reading this delightful book. In his author note, Bill Mckibben says, "...when confronted by small men doing big and stupid things, we need to resist with all the creativity and wit we can muster, and if we can do so without losing the civility that makes life enjoyable, then so much the better." Mission accomplished in this wonderful fable that entertains and provokes reflection.

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

WOW! What an incredibly meaningful and even beautiful narrative that elucidates what it means to live and die with integrity and comprehension. We all die but what does it truly mean to live and die? Is this a reality we can all face with strength and vision? There is a tragedy and incredible loss when people die young. Parents should not suffer the loss of a child. A child should not lose a young parent. Why can't everyone die in old age when they have fulfilled their destiny? Life is not fair. Thank you, Paul Kalanithi for your powerful narrative.

The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson

Fascinating and informative descriptions of the oceans and seas that make up so much of the earth habitat. Explanations of the impact of tides, deep-sea canyons, icy and warmer water, force of waves etc. build an incredible picture of a vast, largely unseen world. Poignant also because the publication of this book predated the horrific consequences of over-fishing, pollution, and petroleum production. What would this clearly very intelligent author write today if she surveyed the same bodies of water?

Daughters of the Samurai: A Journey from East to West and Back by Janice P. Nimura

A fascinating chronicle of several young Japanese girls who were plucked from their Samurai families and sent to America in 1871 to be educated. The goal was that they would then return to Japan after ten years and promote education for girls. Well researched, this book details their life-long friendship. It also provides an engaging overview of Japanese society during a time of great societal change. The youngest, only six when she arrived in America, is still honored for her contribution to establishing a "college" for girls.

Fortress America by Elaine Tyler May

Interesting historical context for development of FEAR mentality since the 1950's that encouraged by government has led to enormous military build-up, spread of suburbs and gated communities, helicopter parenting, abandonment of concern with common good, fear of strangers over any fear of the more realistic danger of domestic violence, fear of random murder over more likely deaths from automobile accidents, inordinate level of FEAR not backed up by statistics. Book is unfortunately repetitive but still worth reading because the basic point it is making is important to consider

Neither Here Nor There by Bill Bryson

I am a lucky Baby Boomer. I traveled in Europe during the mid-sixties and early seventies before "billions of tourists" discovered travel. I experienced visiting many wonderful sights before the long lines and crowds so prevalent today. Reading this book was both a walk down memory lane and a sometimes sad reflection on the state of modern Europe, despoiled by "modernism" and tourism. This book was an interesting travelogue. For the most part, I enjoy Mr. Bryson's acerbic humor and commentary.