Wreck Your Heart: A Review of All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir

All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have seen many reviews and even jokes on social media about how some of the best books can wreck a reader emotionally and yet they will still love it. Personally, while some books had certainly played with my emotions, I have never really felt emotionally wrecked by a book that I ended up loving… until this book that is. Ms. Tahir has written an absolutely amazing work of fiction that reflects on grief, generational trauma, anger, and the dreams that we all hope to fulfill, but aren’t always able to.

All My Rage centers around three Pakistani-Americans.  The first is Noor (which rhymes with lure), a young woman who is obsessed with indie rock music of the 1990s and 2000s and is hoping to escape the small fictional town of Juniper, located in California’s Mojave Desert, and go to college.  Salahudin, also known as Sal, is a young man who likes literature & poetry and has a talent for writing, but a recent tragedy in his life hangs over everything he does in this book.  While Noor and Sal have been friends since grade school, by the time the book starts they have had a recent falling out that strains their relationship.  The third character is Misbah, the mother of Sal and an auntie of Noor’s, who owns and manages the Clouds Rest Inn motel that she and her family lives at in Juniper.  Her life story is told in flashbacks throughout and her story weighs heavily on the main story of Noor and Sal.  

It’s hard to describe how good this book is without spoiling it.  Needless to say that both Noor and Sal are harboring secrets from each other.  And though they draw closer to each other as the story moves forward, their secrets collide with each other in a spectacular fashion.  Noor and Sal care deeply for each other, but their inability to share their secrets with each other will have disastrous consequences.

This book played with my emotions in a way few other books ever have.  There was one part about halfway through the book where I was actually clenching my jaw in anger over an unjust situation.  There’s also a side character whose casual and blatant racism towards Noor and Sal made me seethe with, well, rage.  And the pain and loss that Noor, Sal, and Misbah go through in their lives genuinely moved me.  Ms. Tahir’s skill at crafting an emotionally wrenching book is undeniable and is a key selling point for this book.

I wish I could go into more detail, but to do so would spoil many of the key plot points and character developments of the book.  Suffice it to say, this is one of the best books of 2022 and you owe it to yourself to read this.  I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

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History At Its Finest: A Review of Black Reconstruction by W.E.B. Du Bois

W.E.B. Du Bois: Black Reconstruction by W.E.B. Du Bois

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

While the history of the American Civil War is quite well known by most Americans thanks to some amazing books and documentaries, the decade-long period immediately following it known as Reconstruction is little known and little understood by most. In fact, thanks to ahistorical mythologies like the “Lost Cause” narrative, Reconstruction has been painted as a dark period when corruption was rampant and Southern state governments, run by Freedmen and Northern carpetbaggers, ran roughshod over people’s rights. The historical record shows that this couldn’t be further from the truth, yet this insidious myth persists. Fortunately, there are also plenty of books that have been written to push back against this narrative and establish the true history of Reconstruction. While many such books have been written in recent years, nearly all of them owe an enormous debt of gratitude to this book, one of the very first systematic histories of the period to tell the story truly. What makes this a must-read for anyone interested in Reconstruction is how W.E.B. Du Bois centers Black Americans in this tale. In this book, Mr. Du Bois makes the strongest case for what has been said by others before: that Black Americans, the enslaved as well as the free, were their own greatest liberators and Reconstruction’s greatest reformers.

While W.E.B Du Bois is best known today as the author of such works as The Soul of Black Folk and one of the founders of the NAACP, he was also the first Black men in America to receive a doctorate from Harvard.  Published in 1935, this book is the culmination of some of Du Bois’s scholarly work, which he had been hitting upon at different times in his scholarly and popular articles decades before.  Starting with an examination of the condition of both enslaved Black people and their White enslavers in the Antebellum South, Du Bois takes his reader on a journey through the 20 year period that encompassed both the Civil War and Reconstruction.  At each step, he shows through critical analysis of the sources available to him at the time how Black Americans’ own actions were what drove many of the key changes of this period.  For example, with so many enslaved Black Americans escaping to Union lines and many of them as well as freedmen from the North eager to join the Union Army, their actions put pressure on Pres. Lincoln and the Union to transform their Civil War objectives from solely from preserving the Union to also pursing abolition.  Du Bois also shows how Black lawmakers during Reconstruction were the prime agents in the creation of the South’s public school system for both white and black kids after the war, a reform that would stay in place long after White Southerns had forcefully and violently suppressed political power.

Du Bois also addresses some of the criticism of this period, particularly the corruption that Black lawmakers were accused of partaking.  While not deny that there were cases of bribery and corruption, Du Bois helps to put it in the context of the time, which was an incredibly corrupt period in American history in general, and shows how oftentimes the corrupt actions of white lawmakers was far greater than anything Black lawmakers did.  Not only that, but Du Bois constantly reminds readers that Reconstruction was an extraordinarily violent time with many atrocities committed against Black Americans.  Racial terror and the undermining of America’s first attempt at multiracial democracy was the goal of groups like the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups.  Du Bois makes the argument that the Civil War never really stopped after Appomattox Courthouse, but morphed into a racial war of white supremacists targeting Black Americans.  Indeed, thinking of the racial violence through that lens and using Du Bois’s analysis, Du Bois may not have had the words for it in 1935, but readers who are even casually versed in the history of modern warfare can recognize the resemblance of the Klan’s violent tactics as similar to the Vietcong during the Vietnam War or the Taliban during the war in Afghanistan.  Sadly, as Du Bois shows, the North quickly grew weary of sustaining a military presence in the South and abandoned the project after 1876, a pattern America would follow in Vietnam and Afghanistan using similar arguments (“They got to learn to stand on their own feet eventually”) and having similarly tragic results.  Du Bois analyzes the reasons for the North’s withdrawal in 1876 and shows how it opened the door not just to the end of Reconstruction and Black Americans’s political power for decades, but also how it opens the door to the segregated America that follows soon afterwards.

One weakness of this book though lies in Du Bois’s Marxist background.  By the 1930s, Du Bois was firmly moving in a Marxist direction and he uses Marxist language and thought in his analysis throughout this book.  While this class approach to analyzing the period provides intriguing insights, I do feel as though Du Bois could stretch his Marxist analysis at times.  For example, while an alliance between Black labor and poor White labor in the South could have transformed the history of the period, I have doubts that large numbers of Americans could even conceive of society in such class conscious ways at the time.  Yes, Karl Marx was alive and organizing in Europe at the time and had written The Communist Manifesto in 1848, but his magnum opus, Das Kapital, was published in 1867 and I doubt his ideas had spread quickly enough in America at the time to have any effect.  I could be wrong, but to me Du Bois too often applied a class analysis that Black and White Americans would not have recognized during this period.

Overall, though this book is nearly 90 years old now, Du Bois’s strong analysis and exceptional historical writing provides a gold standard by which all other histories of Reconstruction should be judged.  Library of America has once again done an enormous service to American literary history by publishing this seminal work once again.  I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in American history in general and Reconstruction in particular.

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The Whole Truth: A Review of The 1619 Project edited by Nikole Hannah-Jones

The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story by Nikole Hannah-Jones

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

One of my favorite scenes in my favorite Indiana Jones movie, The Last Crusade, is the moment when Henry Jones, Sr., played by the legendary screen actor Sean Connery, is being slapped around by the Nazi colonel demanding to know where Jones’s Holy Grail Diary is. But when the colonel asks, “What does the diary tell you that it doesn’t tell us?”, Jones grabs the colonel’s hand before he can slap him again and says, “It tells me that goose-stepping morons life yourself should try reading books instead of burning them!” I bring that scene up in the context of this book review because, as of this writing, scores of “parent groups” across the United States are trying to force public schools and libraries to remove books about BIPOC and/or LGBTQ+ topics from their shelves. This particular book has been at the center of many of these efforts ever since the first articles of this project were published in The New York Times Magazine in August 2019. Having just finished this book, I have to say that it is one of the best books about American history that I have read in a long time. The authors and editors of this book make the best case for why Black Americans’s 400+ year freedom struggle should be at the center of how we tell the story of America, and, to paraphrase Henry Jones, Sr., people must read this book instead of trying to ban it.

Building upon The New York Times Magazine articles that were first published, this book tells America’s history from the perspective of Black Americans with articles and works of poetry and fiction written by Black authors.  Starting with the first enslaved Africans being brought to the Jamestown colony in 1619, the authors document several different aspects of American life that have been affected by our country’s history of slavery and racial oppression.  In some ways, the concept and overall framework is very similar to another book that came out just a few months earlier than this, Four Hundred Souls edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain.  The key difference is that authors in this book are given an ample amount of space to discuss a particular topic, like medicine, music, or democracy, from the very beginning through the present, whereas in Four Hundred Souls authors a kept to a 5 page limit looking at a specific topic within a 5 year period in American history.  Because of that, the authors in The 1619 Project have the space to fully flesh out their topic and demonstrate how America’s past echoes strongly in our present.  Thus, the approach that this book provides a clearer picture and more impactful thesis in each chapter.

Each chapter of the book is divided into different topics with works of poetry and fiction separating each topic and providing a rough timeline of American history.  In anthology works such as these, I oftentimes find that the quality from work to work can vary wildly.  That is not so in this book.  Each chapter is top notch with excellent writing and research that both proves each author’s point and is incredibly engaging to read.  At no point did I feel bored or unconvinced.  The works of poetry and fiction that separate the chapters may appear superfluous at first glance, but in reality serve a vital function of marking out keep moments in American history, providing an artistic break between each chapter’s often thought-provoking topics, and inserting a creative outlet for what the authors and readers are feeling after each chapter.  

In short, this book is a monumental achievement in popular history writing that the editors and authors should be proud of.  I have nothing but absolute praise for this work and if there is one book on American history that you read this year, you owe it to yourself to read this one.

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Reckoning with Public History: A Review of How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith

How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

For almost a decade Americans have once again attempted to grapple with its history of slavery, segregation, and racism. Yet current political movements for justice are not the only ways in which Americans can do so. In many of our public historic sites attempts are made to explain this history as well. Sometimes this story is told well, other times it is not. In this combination of history and travelogue, Mr. Smith takes his reader on a journey to several places across America and one place in Africa that have a direct connection to America’s history of slavery to see how that history is presented or, in some cases, obfuscated.

Starting with Thomas Jefferson’s home, Monticello, and ending in one of the many ports where Africans were forcibly removed from their homeland to the slave markets and plantations of America and elsewhere, Mr. Smith does a tremendous job of showing how central these places are to America’s history of slavery and, by extension, how central the history of slavery is to the development of the United States of America as a nation.  Like any book dealing honestly with this subject, this is not an easy read.  The amount of suffering and death that the system of chattel slavery incurred is staggering, disheartening, and quite counter to the story of America many of us learned in our classrooms.  And yet, illustrating this counter narrative is exactly the point of this book.  By showing how many of our public historic sites tell the story of slavery in America, and too often fail to do so, it forces the reader to seriously question the traditional story of America as the land of the free and the home of the brave.  Once that narrative is questioned, it then becomes possible to tell a more complete and honest history of our country and ask what can be done in the present to make this country what we have always been told it was.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book.  As a poet, Mr. Smith brings his skill with the written word to bear on a difficult topic and thus puts the reader in these places as though they were there themselves.  His interviews with tour guides and average people alike helps to illustrate just how our educational system and our public historic sites have failed to tell a full and honest story about the history of slavery in America.  And at the sites that Mr. Smith visits that obscures that history, whether by design or by accident, he does a tremendous job of setting the record straight.  Though this book is not a comprehensive examination of these public sites, this book can be the starting point for discussing how we do talk about America’s past and what can be done to improve it.  Judging by the number of politicians and “parent groups” that are currently seeking to ban books and textbooks from schools and libraries that try to tell a more honest history of America, a book like this couldn’t be more timely.

Whether you are a lifelong American history buff or new to the subject, whether you have visited all of these historic sites or none of them, this is a great book to start with when examining the full story of America’s slave past.

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Space Disaster!: A Review of Star Wars: The High Republic: The Fallen Star by Claudia Gray

The Fallen Star by Claudia Gray

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Since Star Wars first appeared in theaters in 1977 and authors such as Timothy Zahn have expanded that universe in later years, a plethora of novels, comic books, and TV shows have played around a lot with different genres and styles. For example, in the novel Death Troopers, you have an example of zombie horror; in the novels Shatterpoint and Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor, you have psychological thrillers. But never before, in my mind at least, has a Star Wars novel ever taken on the genre of disaster novel. Thus, Claudia Gray breaks new ground for Star Wars by writing its full disaster novel in this stunning conclusion to the first phase of The High Republic publishing series.

Since the start of The High Republic series last year, the brutal villains the Nihil have instigated several disasters.  There was the Great Hyperspace Disaster that kicked off the first novel, Light of the Jedi, and there was the attack on the Republic Fair in The Rising Storm.  But each one of those involved some kind of battle between the Jedi and the Republic against the Nihil.  But in this novel, aside from a few surprise attacks on helpless planets at the beginning, there is no engagement between the Nihil, the Jedi, or the Republic.   Instead, the novel is entirely consumed up with the sabotage and destruction of Starlight Beacon, the symbol of the hope and peace promised by the Republic and the Jedi to the Outer Rim territories, which was introduced in the first High Republic novel.  Thus, the station's impending doom forces the main characters to deal with the disaster on hand.  There are no battles, only tough decisions to be made by Jedi and regular people on how to get the most people out alive and what sacrifices everyone is willing to make to see that happen.  Like the 1997 film Volcano,  this book has a certain feeling of inevitability and the only question is who will survive.

At the same time Starlight Beacon is falling from the sky, another threat lurks in the shadows of the station.  The creature unleashed by the Nihil's leader, Marchion Ro, at the very end of The Rising Storm, has found its way onto the station and has its sights set on any Force-wielder it can get its hands on.  There is still no real answer as to what exactly this creature is, what exactly it looks like, or how it seems to kill Jedi so easily, but these creatures may remind fans of the old, pre-Disney expanded universe of the ysalamiri creatures introduced in Timothy Zahn's classic Heir to the Empire that could temporarily dampen a Jedi's connection to the Force.  However, these creatures are far more malevolent than the ysalamiri ever were. 

My only complaint about this novel is that, with The High Republic series encompassing multiple mediums, including YA novels and comic books, some plot threads that make their way into this novel may leave some fans confused.  As an analogy, imagine you had skipped over the film Ant-Man and the Wasp in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and started watching Avengers: Endgame.  You would have no idea why Ant-Man just materialized in the back of a van at the beginning of the movie or why he knows so much about the Quantum Realm.  Similarly, I know that I have not been keeping up with The High Republic comics and because of that I feel there have been some plot points that I have missed leading up to this novel.  This is becoming a growing problem with multi-media stories like the MCU in general and The High Republic series in particular, one that, I fear, might not be resolved in the future.  That said, this feeling of missing key details is not necessarily Ms. Gray's fault and should in no way dampen a casual fan's enjoyment of this novel as long as they have been keeping up with the previous adult novels in the series at least.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed this conclusion to phase I of The High Republic.  By setting The High Republic in a time period never before explored with brand new characters, not even by the pre-Disney expanded universe, no character is safe.  Indeed, quite a few characters, including perhaps one or two fan favorites, meet an untimely death in this novel.  Thus, as the first phase of this series closes and a new phase is set to begin, fans are reminded that this is not the film eras, which means that no character is truly safe and everyone is in danger.

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Stuffed with Intrigue: A Review of Star Wars: The High Republic: Out of the Shadows by Justina Ireland

Out of the Shadows by Justina Ireland

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

With the events of The Rising Storm, things have taken a darker turn in this new era of Star Wars storytelling. The tragic events of that book can be felt throughout this one, already creating an atmosphere doubt, uncertainty, and mistrust amongst the Jedi and the people of the Republic. In this YA continuation of the series, Ms. Ireland takes the reader through a tale drowning in intrigue and mystery, but wraps things up too quickly.

(Warning!: Some spoilers from The Rising Storm are included below.) 

The Rising Storm was marked by two devastating disasters: the calamitous Nihil attack on the Republic Fair on Valo and Marchion Ro’s unleashing of the Leveler, a mysterious weapon that killed Jedi Master Loden Greatstorm and left his Padawan, Bell Zettifar, in a catatonic state.  Though only the assault on the Republic Fair is directly mentioned in this book, both of these tragedies weigh heavily on all of the Jedi and Republic forces and there is much debate about what should be done and what role the Jedi should play.

Into this story comes three characters: Jedi Knight Vernestra Rwoh, the pilot Sylvestri Yarrow, and Padawan Reath Silas.  Sylvestri, or Syl, is a completely new character while Reath Silas is a returning character from the previous YA novel and Vernestra Rwoh is familiar to readers of the High Republic comics or middle grade novels.  Each of them is fascinating in their own way, with Rwoh being the standout as she is both a capable Jedi Knight as well as young, unsure, teenager.  Each one of them have their own views on what the Jedi should do about the Nihil threat, which creates a nice backdrop debate for this book.

The narrative surrounds a seemingly empty part of space where Syl lost her space ship to Nihil.  But there is more going on than meets the eye and all of our characters soon find themselves caught in a web of business and political intrigue connected to another new weapon the Nihil are building.

Though I have been thoroughly enjoying the High Republic series thus far, I must confess that this is my least favorite book in the series so far.  There are two reasons for this.  The first is that it dwells way too long on the business and political intrigue aspect of the story.  Throughout the book, there are secret agendas being pushed throughout and, because of it,  our main characters don’t have as much agency as they do in previous novels.  Furthermore, the intrigue and mystery surrounding this empty space sector gobble up nearly all of the action.  By the time the big reveal happens, Ms. Ireland leaves very little room for the action to happen, whipping through to the conclusion like crazy.  Thus, I found my attention getting strained in the middle of the book and then finding myself whipsawed through to a quick conclusion at the end.

The other major drawback of this book is the number of characters.  On top our three main characters, there is a shady rich businessman named Xylan Graf, a duplicitous senator, a love interest for Syl, a Nihil named Nan, known to readers of the previous YA novel in the series, Reath Silas’s Jedi master, and Vernestra Rwoh’s empathic Padawan.  There are a few other characters that come in and out of the story too, one of which I can’t share because it would spoil one of the mysteries at the heart of this novel, but none of them, with the exception of Xylan Graf, get enough meaningful screen time.  And that is a shame because some of them, like Jedi Master Cohmac Vitus, are fascinating characters in their own right.  Because of the number of characters, the story struggles to give some of them a meaningful role to play. 

One of the characters who does get a lot of screen time, and I hope gets a lot more in future adult and YA novels in the series, is Jedi Knight Vernestra Rwoh.  As the youngest Jedi Knight in a generation, Vern is an interesting character in her own right.  She is incredibly capable with a good head on her shoulders and an unusual Force connection to hyperspace.  It seems the mystery of how hyperspace really works is still being held close to the chest by the Lucasfilm overseers of the High Republic series.  It was also great to see Padawan Reath Silas again.  He was the standout character in the first YA novel and it is great to see him get more comfortable going on adventures, even if he would still prefer to spend his time in the Jedi Archives.  Sylevstri Yarrow is the weaker character in this book, but still fascinating in her own right.  I hope to see more of her in the future.

I will also say that the mystery at the heart of this novel is fascinating and it does tie into a weapon that is familiar to Star Wars fans (no, it’s no the Death Star).  And though the narrative favors intrigue over action, the action parts are quite good when allowed to breathe.  Indeed, I could have seen the action at the climax of the novel go on for a little longer and I would not have minded at all.  Sadly, too much of the action does get cut short.

Overall, this book has three very interesting main characters, some good action, and a decent mystery.  But it wallows too long in that intrigue and mystery and is overstuffed with side characters.  Also, by the end of the novel, it felt like it was overly concerned with setting up future stories.  Though I did enjoy this book in the end, it has not been my favorite novel of the series so far.

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Moving Towards Zion: A Review of The Story of the Jews, Vol. 2: Belonging, 1492-1900 by Simon Schama

The Story of the Jews Volume Two: Belonging: 1492-1900 by Simon Schama

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The recent surge of anti-semitism in Europe and America has been heart breaking, especially when that anti-semitism led to violence at a Pittsburgh synagogue by a white supremacist terrorist in 2018. Sadly, Jewish history is fraught with such tragedies, even before you get to the Holocaust under the Nazis. But Jewish history is far more than these senseless tragedies. In this second volume to his planned trilogy, historian Simon Schama traces the history of the Jewish people from the Renaissance to the dawn of the 20th century, laying out in dense detail their many triumphs and tragedies and their persistence in the face of unbelievable hardships.

Starting right where he left off in volume one, Mr. Schama details how the constant attacks on the Jewish people forced them to adapt and migrate multiple times.  What is interesting is that the beginning and end of this narrative are bookended by messianic movements that led Jews to try to migrate out of Europe and into Palestine.  The earliest attempts were not always successful, but the last one detailed by Mr. Schama leads readers into the beginning of the Zionist movement, which will lead to the creation of the modern state of Israel in the 20th century.  It was fascinating to see how Jewish people could be just as susceptible to messianic movements and false messiahs in the same way that Christians of this period could.  It seems looking forward to a better world and trying to proactively bring it about is not exclusive to any single religious group.

Though the descriptions of anti-semitic assaults are difficult to read, Mr. Schama does a great job of walking his readers through it and drawing a subtle line from the attempts at forced conversions and the creation of the ghettos in the 16th century, and the nationalistic anti-semitism of 19th century Germany, which would be supercharged by the Nazis later.  Yet, in the midst of these terrible trials, Mr. Schama also paints several portraits of fascinating characters in Jewish history.  People like Shabbetai Zevi, Moses Mendelssohn, Uriah Levy, and so many others are absolutely fascinating in this book.  Also, Mr. Schama’s details about the rise of Sephardi, Ashkenazi, and Kabbalah Judaism are interesting too.

Another great aspect of this book is how Mr. Schama describes how the age of Enlightenment and the French Revolution promised to amicably assimilate Jews into the wider European culture, but it was a promise that was never fully realized.  As soon as France and other nations offered a hand, once Jewish groups tried to take it, they would find that it was almost always filled with empty promises.  The failure of the Enlightenment’s assimilation promises, combined with a new and virulent form of anti-semitism by the late 19th century, creates the historical backdrop for the forming of the Zionist movement.

However, this is not an easy book to get through.  This book is stuffed to the brim with details and stories that it implores you to read it slowly.  Skipping or speed-reading a single paragraph means that you will inevitably miss important details and get lost pretty quickly.  This is, without question, one of the densest history books I have ever read. In fact it is denser than his previous volume.  Do not start this book expecting to get through it quickly.  I did, and I ended up having to pause my reading or slow it down considerably just to get through it all.

Overall, this is a fascinating book, but one that is incredibly dense and begs its readers to chew on it slowly, rather than to rush through.  I look forward to reading Mr. Schama’s third volume and hope that it will be released sooner rather than later.

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An Empress to be Remembered: A Review of Empress Dowager Cixi by Jung Chang

Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China by Jung Chang

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The economic and political rise of China since the late 1970s has been one of the key historic trends of the last several decades. What is interesting though about China’s rise is that this is not the first time China has recovered from disastrous economic and political management to become a powerhouse in international affairs. In the middle of the 19th century, China had been humiliated in a war with foreign powers, but new leadership arose to lead China out of the middle ages and into the modern era. This wonderful biography is about the most important figure responsible for China’s first move towards modernity, the Empress Dowager Cixi, and why she should be considered in the same league as other great women world leaders like Elizabeth I of England or Catherine the Great of Russia.

Cixi was one of Emperor Xianfeng’s numerous concubines, but she possessed a keen intellect and an open-mindedness that far outpaced anyone leading China at the time.  When she gives birth to the Emperor’s only legitimate male heirs, she is thrust from back of the Emperor’s harem into the forefront of the court’s favored women.  When the First Opium War and the subsequent death of the Emperor soon afterwards leads to her young child becoming the next emperor, Cixi seizes her chance to launch a palace coup, removing from power the arch conservatives who had so disastrously run the empire, and begins a near five decade rule over China that sees the modernization of the country’s economy, military, and politics.  Though there were stumbles along the way, by the time of Cixi’s untimely death in 1908, China is on the verge of becoming a constitutional monarchy with limited civil liberties and voting rights for the average Chinese citizen.  Sadly, she did not live long enough to fully implement these political reforms and that failure would lead to the political turmoil that would engulf China for the next several decades.

The Empress Dowager could not have found a better modern biographer to tell her story.  Ms. Chang has used scores of archives from China, Japan, and elsewhere to not only tell Cixi’s story, but to also dispel some of the myths that have developed since her death that has portrayed her as an arch conservative who stood in the way of China’s progress.  Ms. Chang argues that not only is this narrative false, but that Cixi was the main reason why China advanced into modernity during her rule.  Ms. Chang also offers a very sympathetic picture of the Empress Dowager.  Cixi is portrayed as being open-minded and eager for discussion and consensus amongst her advisors (up to a point) and, though she could be opposed to adopting some reforms, she could be persuaded to change her mind.  At the time of Cixi’s death, some western admirers were comparing her to other great female leaders, and Ms. Chang does not seem to dispute that.  

Ms. Chang does not airbrush Cixi’s faults though.  She does give an extensive account of Cixi’s role in the Boxer Rebellion, which led to a catastrophic war with foreign powers.  There, Ms. Chang notes how stubborn Cixi could be and how disastrous her decisions ended up being, though it did help to bolster her image amongst the people and paved the way for even greater reforms in the last years of her life.

It is a shame that more people, particularly in the West, do not know about the Empress Dowager Cixi, but this book does is a perfect biography to help raise her historical profile and introduce her to a Western audience.  It is detailed, well-researched, and does a lot to dispel certain myths about her rule.  If you are looking for a great biography about great female world leaders, I highly recommend this one to you.

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Trumpism Around the World: A Review of Twilight of Democracy by Anne Applebaum

Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism by Anne Applebaum

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Since former Pres. Trump’s election to the presidency in 2016, there have been a ton of books written regarding our current political moment. While many have of these books have been directed straight at former Pres. Trump, many others address Trumpism more tangentially, trying to explain the political and cultural forces that have made his rise possible. While these are valuable books about American politics, they fail to take into account that the rise of the extreme right is a global issue. In this book, not only does Mr. Applebaum provide an invaluable look at this global phenomenon, she also offers a different way to look at how these political forces are aided and abetted, and she offers a personal story of loss friendships that sound very familiar to many readers today.

As a historian of the Soviet era who is married to a Polish politician, Ms. Applebaum is well placed to comment on the rise of the extreme right in Europe and America.  She specifically devotes time to the nations of the U.S., the U.K., Spain, Poland, and Hungary in her analysis and even American readers who are only familiar with the rise of Trumpism will get chills at how familiar much of the rhetoric is in these countries.  Indeed, you could take the essence of former Pres. Trump’s “America First” message and adapt it to any one of these countries and the politicians trying to lead these extreme political movements.  Thus, Ms. Applebaum makes a very strong case that the rise of extreme right political movements is cause for global concern.

One of the more valuable aspects of this book is that she doesn’t focus all of her energy on the leaders of these movements, like Donald Trump of Victor Orban.  Instead, much of her attention is focused on middling politicians and intellectuals who aid and abet their rise whom she calls clercs.  She sets up this argument in an explicit contrast to Hannah Arendt’s own analysis on totalitarianism in such classic works as The Banality of Evil.  In this book, Ms. Applebaum argues that these clercs are not just “following orders” like German citizens were under Nazism.  Instead, whether out of jealousy, thwarted ambition, sheer opportunism, or all of these things, these clercs provide the intellectual and political framework for the rise of extreme right politicians.  It’s an intriguing look at our current political moment as well as a great critique of a famous political theory.

What makes Ms. Applebaum’s analysis of present day clercs intriguing though is that she is not examining them not just as an academic from afar.  As a self-proclaimed center-right Reaganite, Ms. Applebaum has known and met many of these clercs.  Some of them were her very good friends.  Thus, she is not just speaking as an academic, she is speaking from personal experience seeing many of her friends succumb to the allure of extreme right politics.  Her shock at seeing so many of her friends, who were staunch anti-communists and prominent politicians who took part in the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, fall for propaganda, misinformation, and lies, or even propagate them, is evident.  So too is her personal pain at losing these friends.  This is both the book’s greatest strength and its greatest weakness.  While her personal experience with many of these clercs aids this book, her pain is also palpable and at times she can’t stop herself from criticizing her former friends and the people they surround themselves with rather harshly.  Granted, much of that criticism may be warranted, but this book does lurch from time to time into a screed of personal betrayal. 

In conclusion, while there are plenty of Trump books or Trump-adjacent books out there, this is one of the few of those books that offers a truly global perspective.  She may indulge in some rather harsh criticism, but Ms. Applebaum speaks as both an academic with unimpeachable credentials as well as from personal experience.  If you’re still interested in reading Trump or Trump-adjacent books, I would highly recommend this book to you.

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A Fair to Remember: A Review of Star Wars: The High Republic: The Rising Storm by Cavan Scott

The Rising Storm by Cavan Scott

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Earlier this year, Star Wars began one of its most ambitious publishing events since the pre-Disney New Jedi Order series with the publication of the first novel in the High Republic series. Taking place about 200 years before the prequel trilogy, the High Republic series sees both the Jedi and the Republic at the pinnacle of their power and prestige. Encompassing adult, young adult, and middle grade novels as well as comic books and, later this year, manga, the High Republic tells an interconnected tale across all these formats with the adult novels seemingly being the tentpoles. This being the second adult novel in the series, The Rising Storm advances the story into its next phase. And, following the best Star Wars tradition, this sequel surpasses the first in terms of action, storytelling, and raising the stakes for the entire series.

This novel takes place approximately a year after the events of the first adult novel, Light of the Jedi.  Since then, Starlight Beacon has been in operation and the Nihil, the main villains of this series, have been laying low.  Believing the Nihil to have actually been defeated, Supreme Chancellor Lina Soh and the Republic are about to welcome the galaxy to the Republic Fair, an exposition promoting “the Spirit of Unity” within the Republic and encouraging Outer Rim worlds to join them.  But the Nihil have not been defeated and have their own dastardly plans for the Fair and when the dust settles at the end of this novel, the Jedi will discover their greatest challenge yet in this series.

This novel was amazing!  The set up to the main action at the Republic Fair was great and Mr. Scott does a great job of showcasing multiple characters and their struggles throughout the narrative.  Following multiple characters around can be a bit challenging, but Mr. Scott overcomes this challenge by keeping most of the chapters relatively short.  The bulk of the action happens during the Republic Fair and Mr. Scott has a great knack for telling multiple, pulse-pounding action sequences.  I could hardly put down this book by the end.  Speaking of the ending, it was incredible!  Just when you think the Jedi are about to salvage a victory from defeat and come out on top, Mr. Scott pulls the rug out from under you one more time in a devastating climax.  This novel opens up so many possibilities for the future of this series while making the Nihil and its mysterious leader, Marchion Ro, a worthy threat to the Jedi and the Republic.

The only issue I have with this book is that a fear I had about this series might be coming true: that missing out on one format of the series means you might be missing out on things.  This is particularly true of this series’s side villains, the Drengir.  First introduced in the young adult novel Into the Dark, the Drengir are a sentient plant-life form that eats any other organic lifeforms it comes across.  Think of them as large walking, talking Venus Flytraps that eat people and aliens alike.  The Drengir playing a larger role moving forward was only hinted at the end of Into the Dark, but apparently they have been the major threat of the comics and get a brief, but significant mention in this novel.  In fact, their threat appears to have an indirect effect on the events of this novel.  Of course, if you haven’t read Into the Dark or the comics, you could be forgiven for having no idea what they are talking about.  While missing out on the comics and Into the Dark probably won’t diminish your ability to enjoy this novel, it does make me worried that skipping one format will mean missing key plot points later in the series.

Overall, this was an outstanding Star Wars novel right up there with some of the best of them.  My expectations for this series have been raised even higher than they already were.  Though you might want to at least read Light of the Jedi first before this one, I highly recommend this book to all Star Wars fans and I highly recommend this series as a great introduction to anyone looking to jump into Star Wars novels.

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A Window Into an Unseen World: A Review of The Reason I Jump by Naomi Higashida

The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism by Naoki Higashida

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Despite our advancements in medical research and technology, some conditions still remain a mystery to us. One of these conditions is autism. Even though our ability to diagnosis has increased, it has not demystified it at all. Despite all of the research and books about autism, one of the voices missing from the discussion of autism is young autistic children. There are some books written by adults who have learned to manage their autism, but this book opens a window into the life of an autistic child and reveals a level of deep reflection and empathy that might be surprising to many readers.

Written by a thirteen year old autistic Japanese boy, Mr. Higashida responds to a series of questions regrading autism and responds to them from his perspective as best as he can.  The fact as this book exists at all is astonishing as Mr. Higashida had to learn how to use a specially designed keyboard created by one of his dedicated caretakers.  Nearly every answer Mr. Higashida gives is incredibly insightful and poignant.  This is definitely a book that will help to dispel many of the misconceptions regarding autism and autistic people.

At separate intervals throughout the book, Mr. Higashida also includes a series of fictional short stories that help to illuminate aspects of autism from his perspective.  Like his answers to people’s questions, these short stories are also quite poignant, but they also include a level of imagination and creativity that may be surprising to people who have only observed autistic people from a  distance.  Not every short story lands well, his last one in particular, but they are all delightful nonetheless.

Overall, whether you know someone who is autistic or not, this is one book that will help enlighten you about this condition and gain a better understanding of autistic people.  For that reason alone, I highly recommend this book to all people interested in learning more about autism.

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A Necessary Classic for Our Time: A Review of Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In the wake of George Floyd’s murder last summer, many Americans have begun to reckon with our country’s racist past. While there are plenty of amazing anti-racist books that have been published recently, there is also a great body of literature from black author’s and thinkers of the past that can also address our current moment. Invisible Man is one of those classic novels and though it was published 70 years ago, its message of how racial oppression erases black and brown people hits you in the gut just as powerfully today as it did back in 1952.

Following the first-person perspective of an unnamed narrator, readers on taken on a journey of oppression from the South and a black college to Harlem in the North and meetings of a communist group.  At each point, the narrator faces some form of oppression that seeks to use him and erase his identity as an individual.  Each moment is gut wrenching and, to be honest, a feel little too much like our own period.

Considering our country’s past struggles with racism, I know I should not be shocked by what Mr. Ellison wrote in these pages, and yet I was.  I was floored by every incident that slowly erased our narrator and brought him to his decrepit situation at the end of the novel.  The fact that it still feels as though our country is dealing with the issues just makes this book all the more tragic.  70 years after publication, this book is just as relevant today to our present discussions of racism as it was back in 1952.

Though this was a gut wrenching book, I was also amazed by its writing craft and structure.  This is just as much as classic American novel as books like The Grapes of Wrath and the novels of James Baldwin.  This book, I believe, should be required reading for all Americans.

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It's A Start: A Review of the Library of America's first Ernest Hemingway Collection

Ernest Hemingway: The Sun Also Rises & Other Writings 1918-1926 by Ernest Hemingway

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Library of America is the premier non-profit organization dedicated to preserving America’s literary heritage for all time. Classic American authors from Mark Twain and John Steinbeck to James Baldwin and Zora Neale Hurston will have their works printed in perpetuity in fine cloth-bound hardcover editions. Having been in business since the 1980s, Library of America has an impressive collection of authors and works, some of which have been out of print for a long time. However, one landmark of the American literary landscape has been conspicuously missing: Ernest Hemingway. This is due to copyright laws that have been guarded zealously by Hemingway’s publisher, but with the recent lapsing of those copyright protections, Library of America has published its first volume of Hemingway’s collected works in this volume. Was it worth the wait?

Hemingway was a powerful writer, but he didn’t become one overnight.  Like many writers, Hemingway had to work to perfect that writing.  This volume collects 8 years of his earliest works including a collection of his newspaper articles for the Toronto Star Weekly and other newspapers.  It also includes the original and an early version of his first short story collection, In Our Time, his “satire” The Torrents of Spring, his first novel The Sun Also Rises, and a selection of his personal letters from this period.  It gives an incredible picture of Hemingway’s raw talent and his progress into the great American author he would become.

Both the journalism and In Our Time short stories are a bit up and down, like any selection of short stories.  A few news articles really stick out such as Hemingway visiting a barbers’ school to get a free shave and a haircut from the students and his first reports on bullfighting in Spain, foreshadowing his lifelong love of the sport.  For his short stories, “Up in Michigan” and “Indian Camp” stand out as well.  But, like any other short story or essay collection I have read, there are just as many misses as there are hits.  Overall, though, they were fascinating.

As for The Torrents of Spring, this is one of the funniest parts of this edition because of its fascinating backstory.  After publishing In Our Time, Hemingway wanted to get out of the contract with his first publisher and switch to a new one, but they needed to reject a novel of his before they could do that.  So, he wrote this “satire” in the hopes that his publisher would do that just that.  And boy is this a doozy of a bad novel as it is incredibly circular with no real narrative and some very odd fourth-wall breaks.  Knowing this background, The Torrents of Spring is good because of just how bad it is.

Then there is The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway’s first success as a novelist.  What more can be said about this book that has not already been said.  Just like its contemporary The Great Gatsby by Hemingway’s friend, F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Sun Also Rises is very much a Lost Generation novel with its tale of the idle rich, conspicuous consumption, a self-absorbed heroine desired by the main character, and its questioning of masculinity in a post-World War I modern age.  This is one novel that I feel will have greater resonance with me after one or two rereadings, but my reading of this novel is someone slanted due to my slow slog through this book.  So, I shall reserve my judgement of this novel until I have had another chance to read it.

That leaves the final section of this edition, which is a collection of Heminway’s personal letters from this period.  This is perhaps the weakest part of this edition.  While The Torrents of Spring is bad in a good way, Hemingway’s letters are just bad.  Hemingway’s style of writing letters, particularly his earliest letters, is practically incoherent.  Misspellings and grammatical errors abound making these letters almost impossible to understand.  Even when the misspellings become fewer and further between, very few of them ever raise an eyebrow of interest.  Those surrounding the publication of In Our Time, The Torrents of Spring, and The Sun Also Rises are interesting, but the rest are boring or unintelligible.  Library of America typically includes these letters to give a fuller picture of what is going on in the life of the author at that time, but these letters were so uninteresting and with few tidbits about Hemingway’s life that it becomes more a chore than a pleasure to read.  Perhaps hardcore Hemingway fans who know more of about his life will get a kick out of these letters, but I couldn’t do much more than skim them.

Overall, Library of America has started its Hemingway collection very well.  Not everything is a hit here, but then again, few authors ever start their career having perfected their craft.  While the letters section should be skipped by the layman, hardcore Hemingway fans may find them insightful.  I would recommend this book to those hardcore Hemingway fans as well as those who are just looking to take a deeper dive into Hemingway’s early life and works.

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Choosing the Paths of War: A Review of The Bomber Mafia by Malcom Gladwell

 

The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War by Malcolm Gladwell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

(Full Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through the Goodreads Giveaway program. The views expressed are mine and not that of the author, publisher, or Goodreads.)

Though I have heard him on radio shows like The TED Radio Hour and have thoroughly enjoyed his insights, I have never actually read a Malcom Gladwell book. But when I read the description for this book, I knew that this would be right up my alley. Having recently finished this book, I can understand why people love his works so much. Combining history, technology, and a propulsive narrative, Mr. Gladwell explores the development of bomber technology leading up to and during World War II and meditates on the ethics and tactics at the very heart of modern war.

Starting in the period between World War I and World War II, Mr. Gladwell follows the rise and fall of “the bomber mafia”, a group of U.S. Army Air Force boosters who believed that advances in bomber tech made it possible to end wars quickly by targeting key infrastructure, or chokepoints, such as factories, bridges, etc., that would make it impossible for the enemy to effectively conduct war.  With the creation of bombers such as the B-29 Superfortress and the Norden bombsight, they believed they had a chance to prove their theories.  But when those theories turned out to be just out of their reach, less scrupulous generals such as Curtis LeMay and the invention of napalm would lead to such horrendous bombings as the fire bombing of Japan.

For World War II buffs, the general outline of the U.S. bombing campaign is already well known.  But what Mr. Gladwell does is that he also charts the intellectual progression of the Air Force’s biggest boosters as well as the technologies they relied on.  He also gives sympathetic portraits of all the key figures.  Even Gen. Curtis LeMay, who is so often portrayed as a warmonger in American history, is treated with sympathy.

Throughout it all, Mr. Gladwell also meditates on the ethics and tactics behind war.  Specifically, the ethics behind precision bombing favored by the bomber mafia and the carpet bombing favored by Gen. Curtis LeMay.  At the heart of it is this question: what is the most ethical (moral) way to wage war?  Should attempts be made to reduce casualties to an absolute minimum?  Or should you ratchet up the death and destruction in an attempt to shorten the war?  Mr. Gladwell seems to have a particular point of view on this question and he does stretch his point at times, but he doesn’t shortchange the other side’s arguments either.  So, not only is this a great short history of the advancements in bomber tech during World War II, it is also a meditation and case study on the ethics of war itself.

Overall, this was a great little history book.  It is short enough and written in such a way that a layman can enjoy, but with enough details to enlighten both laymen and history buffs.  While this won’t replace any of your histories on World War II, it is a great thought-provoking supplement that should not be missed.

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Where Do We Go Now?: A Review of Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World by Fareed Zakaria

Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World by Fareed Zakaria

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

No event in recent history has been as disruptive to the world as the COVID-19 pandemic that, as of this writing, is still ongoing. Millions have died and millions more have been infected by this disease. In the United States, the number of deaths from COVID are comparable to the number of combat deaths during the Civil War. And the recession caused by the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns is on a par with the 2008 financial crises that we had only just recovered from. Much has been laid bare by this once in a century catastrophe, but fortunately Mr. Zakaria has written a fabulously book to guide us through this pandemic and look forward beyond our current crisis to see what the world may look like afterwards.

Best known for his book The Post-American World and his Sunday international news show on CNN, Mr. Zakaria is the right man to take a global perspective on this pandemic.  But, rather than disprove the central theses of globalization and relative American decline, Mr. Zakaria argues in this book that the pandemic proves both the necessity of globalization and America’s continued to decline.  He even goes beyond that to reveal how important quality government is to daily living, the need for two-way dialogue between experts and average citizens, and the overwhelming necessity for global cooperation.  All of these “lessons” are very well backed up by statistics and figures from an incredibly wide variety of authoritative sources.  And yet, despite all the overwhelming citations, Mr. Zakaria’s writing style is both engaging and easy-to-follow.  Both experts and laymen should be able to pick up this book and learn something.

The only drawback of this book is how outdated some of the information is.  Published in October 2020, some events have accelerated since then.  The COVID vaccine was still in development, though close to completion, when this book went to press and, of course, the 2020 U.S. presidential election and Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol had not  happened yet either.  Though this book in hindsight is quite prescient, I do hope Mr. Zakaria does update this book when it comes out in paperback.

Overall, though only slightly out of date, this is one of the best books to examine these current times and try to project into the future.  Though the pandemic has scarred nearly all of us, this book can help us make sense of this current crisis and what is necessary to build back better in the future.  I highly recommend this book to both policy wonks and laymen alike.

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Dark Messiah: A Review of Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Over the last few years, fantasy has been moving in a very positive direction with more diverse authors writing from diverse perspectives and backgrounds, thus moving the genre away from the medieval European setting it has been stuck in since J.R.R Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. In the last year, I have read fantasy books from both African and Middle Eastern traditions, but this one is special because Ms. Roanhorse draws on Pre-Colombian Central and South American mythologies (with a bit of Pacific Island folklore thrown in for good measure) to craft a wonderful start to what I believe will be a great fantasy trilogy.

Set in a fantasy world known as the Meridian, which very much echoes the Central American/Caribbean region, this book follows three primary characters.  Xiala is a Teek, a human-mermaid hybrid.  Banished from her homeland for some unknown reason, Xiala takes on a job to take the mysterious blind human named Serapio across the sea to the holy city of Tova.  Meanwhile in Tova, the young religious leader Naranpa sits on a powder keg of a city divided by ancient wounds, discrimination, and political intrigue, which threatens the peace of Tova as well as her own life.  These three characters soon find them on a collision course with destiny and an ancient prophecy.

This is an absolutely wonderful start to what I think will be a great fantasy trilogy.  Each of her characters are unique, damaged, and nuanced in their own way, which makes it easy to invest in their stories.  Though Ms. Roanhorse employs flashbacks throughout the novel to explain some key background, it never feels gimmicky, forced, or disruptive to the overall story.  And the climax is incredible- and incredibly bloody.  The fact that this is set in a fantasy world that is both familiar and different also helps to make this an engaging novel.

This is not a perfect story though.  There are a few things that keep me from giving this a full five stars.  First, there is a slight romance that develops between Xiala and Serapio that feels natural, but it also feels a little sudden at times.  Though Ms. Roanhorse does take time later in the novel to develop their relationship, it does make me wonder how necessary it really was.  Another issue I have is that a fourth POV character, Okoa, is introduced about halfway through the novel.  Though he does play a significant part in events in both the second and third acts, his introduction does feel a little sudden and jammed in.  I wish Ms. Roanhorse had introduced him a little earlier in the novel as his introduction would not have felt so disruptive had she done so.

My biggest gripe though is one that I am noticing in fantasy novels in general, which is that authors seem to be chickening out of killing key characters.  The plot for at least two of the three main characters could have led naturally to their deaths.  And yet both of them end up living by the end, though one is pretty badly injured.  One character’s escape from death felt natural and I am sure will inform some of the plot of the next novel, but the other character’s escape felt a little too convenient.  Perhaps I have been a little too spoiled by George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series and I can understand how authors might want to keep certain characters alive for future use or out of a sense of love, but it always runs the risk of being too convenient or tangling the narrative up in unnecessary explanations.  Though I don’t want to give too much of the narrative away, I believe at least one of our main characters, and the most obvious one at that, should have died at the end of this novel.

That said, this is a truly wonderful start to what I believe will be a great fantasy series.  The world building is great and the characters and plot are highly engaging.  I look forward to reading the next book in this series and I highly recommend this book to fantasy novel fans looking for something new.

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Deciding Between Two Worlds: A Review of The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Stories about multiverses and post-apocalyptic societies are staples of science fiction and fantasy, even if multiverses are only just entering the cultural zeitgeist thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But this is the first novel that I have read that has tried to combine both a multiverse and a post-apocalyptic story into one. And while it takes some time for Ms. Johnson to decide which lane to stick to, once she does the bang up is extraordinary.

Set in a post-apocalyptic world where the privileged live in pristine Wiley City and the poor live short, violent lives in shanty towns around it, a scientist and businessman discovers how to send travelers to other worlds in the multiverse.  The only catch is that travelers cannot go to a world where their doppelgänger is still alive.  Thus, the only people who can travel to these worlds are the less privileged as they tend to have shorter, more violent lives.  Our protagonist Cara is an excellent candidate to travel between worlds because she has died in nearly every other world.  But she also harbors a secret and when she miraculously survives traveling to another world where her doppelgänger wasn’t quite dead yet, it sets of a chain of events that will consequences on her world and others.

This book has a very fascinating premise with its in-your-face metaphor about gross inequality and its attempt to combine both a multiverse and a post-apocalyptic story into one.  But Ms. Johnson’s attempts at this synthesis does not always gel very well, especially at the beginning.  At times I found myself confused at who was who and the inner workings of this society, especially since the differences between the worlds are sometimes very subtle and not very easy to identify.  Indeed, the background doppelgängers are so close to each other that it becomes difficult to figure out who is who and what is going on.

That said, once this book enters the third act, Ms. Johnson begins to find her footing and the narrative starts to come together.  Cara’s discovery of key figure’s past lives and future plans collide into a wonderful climax.  By the end, I found myself very invested in Cara and those she was closest to.

Overall, this book has a wonderful premise, but it takes the author a little while to find her narrative footing.  Once she does though, it turns into a spectacular novel.  I would recommend this book to fans of both the Mad Max movies and alternate dimension novels.

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Growing Up in Prison: A Review of A Question of Freedom by Dwayne Betts

A Question of Freedom: A Memoir of Learning, Survival, and Coming of Age in Prison by Reginald Dwayne Betts

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

There are so many prison memoirs out there that it has easily become its own sub-genre. So, how does one distinguish their prison story from everyone else’s? In this poignant, but uneven, memoir, Mr. Betts takes us into prison as well as into the mind and heart of a teenager whose transition from boy to man happens behind bars.

One of the dirty secrets of the American justice system is how many states can charge juveniles as adults.  According to the Equal Justice Initiative, 13 states have no minimum age for adult prosecution while many states have a minimum age as young as 10, 12, or 13.  This means that a lot of juveniles get charged with adult crimes, receive adult sentences, and even get sent to adult jails.  Though he was a star student at his school, Dwayne Betts became one of these juveniles after a moment teenage madness leads him to carjack an unarmed man with a gun.  He then spends the better part of a decade, from his later teen years to his early adult years, in both juvenile detention and then adult prison. 

 

Through this memoir, Mr. Betts both gives us a window into his development during these critical years and tries to examine what it all meant and whether or not he could come out better on the other side.  Mr. Betts also thinks about whether his father’s previous incarceration had doomed him to prison as well or if this was a mistake solely on how own part.  He also gives us a window into the importance of reading in prison as it became both a means of his escape from the daily reality of prison as well as his gateway into his future career as a writer.

For those who have read any other prison memoirs, much of what is covered in this book should be familiar.  The daily beats of prison life and the internal wrangling are very common for this genre, though the perspective of prison life from a teenager’s point of view is unique and that unique POV helps to distinguish it from others.  However, there is some unusual pacing in this book.  The narrative moves at a plodding, glacial pace for about 90% of the book, with Mr. Betts constantly dwelling on the crime that put him in jail, life in prison, and much else.  Occasionally there is the transfer from one prison to another to break things up, including a transfer to a maximum-security prison after some bogus citations by prison guards.  Time does not seem to matter much in this portion of the book.  But the last 10% of the book suddenly pivots into hyperdrive as Mr. Betts’ release date approaches and he begins to look to the future.  I couldn’t help but feel a great deal of whiplash from the slow of the beginning to the quick pace at the end.

Overall, this is a decent memoir that is very thoughtful, but employs some unusual pacing.  It should make you question our country’s policy of charging minors as adults and can be a great supplement to books such as The Sun Does Shine and Just Mercy.

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Peace in a Troubled Land?: A Review of Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sectarian wars are notoriously violent and notoriously difficult to narrate due to the climate of fear that can pervade a society long after the conflict has officially ended. The Troubles, the period of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland from the lates 1960s to the late 1990s, is no exception, especially since the conflict has never been fully resolved and many of its participants are still alive. Thus, any history of this conflict is bound to be difficult to document in its entirety. This book, however, relying on interviews with both participants and victims alike, gives readers a pretty darn comprehensive history that also acts as a meditation on how fragile post-conflict societies can be without an accompanying truth and reconciliation process.

Starting in the late 1960s with civil rights protests by Northern Irish Catholics, Mr. Keefe shows how peaceful demonstrators were violently opposed by Northern Irish Protestants, which led to radicalization and sectarian violence for decades.  At the very heart of this history though is a mystery: the disappearance of Jean McConville, a widowed mother of 10, who was abducted by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in December 1972.  Jean McConville’s disappearance was just one of many such incidents in this conflict that left over three thousand people dead.  It is also the story of key figures in the IRA: Gerry Adams, the IRA brigade commander turned politician; Dolours Price, one of the famous Price sisters who took part in the peaceful protests, but soon became radicalized and violent; and Brendan Hughes, one of the best known IRA street fighters of this period. Each one of these characters gets an incredible amount of attention and are presented as very nuanced characters in their own right.  

This book is divided into three parts and while Jean McConville’s disappearance takes center stage in the first and third parts, it almost completely disappears from the second part.  This is not actually a bad thing as to understand her disappearance you have to understand the history of the Troubles as well.  The mystery also serves an important function in part three as it allows the author and the reader to meditate upon the long-term consequences of a conflict that has never been fully resolved, nor has there ever been a true reconciliation process as has been seen in such societies such as post-Apartheid South Africa.  The past very much lives on in the present, so much so that former participants are still being charged and people who talk even today are at risk of being murdered.  Thus, justice has never been fully delivered in an even-handed manner.  This offers lessons for societies in the future coming out of periods of intensely violent sectarian conflict.

This was an incredible read.  The characters, history, and mystery are all written about with a level of nuance and empathy that is often lacking in many nonfiction books.  Mr. Keefe does not shy from narrating the complexities of the Troubles and is miraculously able to wrestle a comprehensive narrative into this book that is both coherent and detailed.  There are even moments of pulse-pounding action and suspense, particularly in part two.  This is not a dry history book, but one that puts you into the heart of the Troubles.  It is also not afraid to ask a fundamental question any post-conflict society must answer: what hope is there for long-lasting peace if there is little or no accompanying justice?  Both the history and this question will stick with me for a long time.

Overall, this is an outstanding book and may be one of the best nonfiction books published in awhile.  Whether you are interested in post-conflict societies in general or in the Troubles in particular, this is one book you should not fail to pick up.

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City of Blinding Lights: A Review of City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Since J.R.R. Tolkien wrote one of the first modern fantasy series with both The Hobbit, or There and Back Again and The Lord of the Rings, much of the fantasy landscape has been dominated by white, Northern European roadmap mythologies and tropes. However, in recent years a slew of authors have been writing fantasy novels from new perspectives and breaking this mould. Tomi Adeyemi, for example, has published two YA fantasy novels based on African mythology. In this novel, Ms. Chakraborty has written an excellent fantasy novel based on Middle Eastern mythology and folklore that further breaks that old mould.

Set around the time of Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt, this book follows two main characters: Nahri, a Cairo street thief with an unknown pedigree, and Ali, a sensitive and devout prince of Daevabad, the mythic and titular city of brass in this novel.  When Nahri accidentally frees Dara, an ancient Daeva (or Djinn) warrior, from a magical imprisonment, thus endangering her life, they flee across the Middle East to try to find safety in Daevabad.  But their journey to the City of Brass is only the beginning of their travails as the conquest of the city centuries ago has led to oppression and racial tension within the city that threatens to blow up at any point.  Ali, in his desire to do good, walks a precarious line between the supporting the city’s oppressed subjects and remaining loyal to his family.  But Nahri and Dara’s arrival in Daevabad threatens to break all of these tensions wide open.

One of the key features of any new fantasy series is the world-building.  Without quality world-building, a fantasy series can completely collapse.  Thankfully, Ms. Chakraborty has done an incredible job of building up this fantasy world.  It is populated with numerous races and creatures, each one of them with a unique origin and magical powers.  For those of you looking for a dense new fantasy world to jump into, look no further than this novel.  That said, Ms. Chakraborty’s world-building is both a strength and a weakness.  At times, the amount of background and number of different magical races, each with their own particular origin, powers, and grievances felt a little too overwhelming.  I was especially confused by the conflict between Daevabad’s residents that informs much of the novel’s plot and it wasn’t until I had finished the book that it started to click a little.  Ms. Chakraborty does have a few parts in the first half of the book where the world is explained to Nahri and the reader, so I would suggest that new readers slow down at those parts and maybe even reread them to make sure that they understand everything.

Fantasy novels are also known for having a good amount of action in its narrative and this book is no exception.  From Nahri and Dara’s close calls on the road to Daevabad to the climactic battle at the end of the novel, Ms. Chakraborty knows how to write a pulse-pounding action sequence.  I was totally enthralled by the climax as narrative threads and characters smashed up against each other in a glorious mess that makes me eager to find out what happens next.  There is a good amount of political intrigue here to satiate any Game of Thrones fans.  There is also a bit of a love triangle that happens between the three main characters that, on its surface, may seem a little trope-ish and rushed, especially near the middle of the book, but actually feels right for this story.  That said, there is a lot of time jumping that happens in this story.  For example, in one chapter, Nahri and Dara have just entered the city and in the next chapter two weeks have passed.  To be fair, significant time jumping was probably necessary to keep the narrative without unnecessarily slowing down, but I nevertheless felt a little whiplash reading this book at times.

Overall, this is an excellent start to new type of fantasy novels that continues to break the old mould and reinvigorate the genre.  If you are looking for something new and unique in your fantasy books, I would highly recommend this book to you.

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