What are you reading?

[JBG]

I just finished reading The Gales of November: The Untold Story…by John U. Bacon. Simply put the book was amazing. The book gave me an "ear worm;" the 1976 Gordon Lightfoot hit "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" kept going through my head the whole time. Granted, Lightfoot has long been my favorite singer, but that song did not top my Lightfoot list. It does now. The book is about the shipwreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, an iron ore carrier in the Great Lakes, on November 10, 1975. Bacon expansively describes the life of the people who worked in the Great Lakes shipping industry, a world unto itself. The book delves into the industrial, lower middle class lifestyle of the day. This is done without apology, and includes the life of early pregnancies, drug and alcohol abuse.

Of course, the book retells, in excruciating detail, the sudden and rapid deterioration of weather conditions from a blissful, warm Indian Summer spell to a white (snow) hurricane. Similar conditions were described in 1913, the "Storm of the Century."
One quibble, I am a weather buff. The meteorological descriptions of "two storms colliding" could have used some work. That does not happen. Still I give is five stars since there is no "4.75" stars.

 

[JBG]

I just finished reading Douglas Murray‘s excellent On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel and the Future of Civilization by Douglas Murray. The writing is extremely powerful and compelling. Unfortunately, the conclusion is depressing one; that Israel may not be possible to live side-by-side with certain entities and certain groups. The choices can only lead to tragedy. What I will say is that Jews historically and now Israel are a "canary in the coal mine" on the West's belief in itself.

I will not spoil the book by telling too much more. It is well worth reading.

 

[Rocko]

The new Dan Brown book - The Secret Of The Secrets

 

[JBG]

Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress―and How to Bring It Back by Marc J. Dunkelman came highly recommended, with an attractive, and misleading title. The start of the book was promising. It starts with a vivid description of the failure of all kinds of public authorities to renovate New York City's Penn Station. Penn Station is a decrepit and frankly disgusting transit hub. The book well described "who killed progress" and "why nothing works." Unfortunately, almost all 333 of the pages devolved into a well researched rant about the culprits. The only "solution" hinted at but not directly proposed was to find a kinder, gentler Robert Moses figures.

The book concentrates on the "progressive" side of the ledger and, while conceding that Donald Trump did a good job rebuilding Wollman Rink in New York City was derisive of conservative solutions. For example the author amply demonstrates that Carter's energy policies were a fiasco but fails to discuss that they triggered long gas lines. Also not mentioned was U.S. gasoline and worldwide oil prices plunged for about five years after the decontrol of oil prices.

The "recommendations" of the book, in short, would leave the country paddling hard, upstream, making little headway.

 

[odanny]

This is a great book, about a B-24 Liberator flying out of Soluch, Libya (near Benghazi) in 1943 on its first ever bomb run to Naples, Italy. They got off to a poor start, getting behind the formation, and eventually, losing contact with their group. They missed their target of Naples. On the flight back, they overflew their airbase over the completely dark, featureless desert, and ended up 400 miles south of the base. They bailed out when fuel was almost gone, into the middle of nowhere, with no one at the base knowing their wherabouts. The crew bailed out safely and walked over 70 miles with a capful of water a day. Three crewmembers made it 100 miles before they, too, perished in the desert.

This bomber, nor the crew remains, were found until 16 years later. The author uses the daily journal of two crew members, who wrote until the end, to recreate their story. It was written in 1995, when he was able to contact people still alive who knew of this crew.

 

[westwall]

This is a great book, about a B-24 Liberator flying out of Soluch, Libya (near Benghazi) in 1943 on its first ever bomb run to Naples, Italy. They got off to a poor start, getting behind the formation, and eventually, losing contact with their group. They missed their target of Naples. On the flight back, they overflew their airbase over the completely dark, featureless desert, and ended up 400 miles south of the base. They bailed out when fuel was almost gone, into the middle of nowhere, with no one at the base knowing their wherabouts. The crew bailed out safely and walked over 70 miles with a capful of water a day. Three crewmembers made it 100 miles before they, too, perished in the desert.

This bomber, nor the crew remains, were found until 16 years later. The author uses the daily journal of two crew members, who wrote until the end, to recreate their story. It was written in 1995, when he was able to contact people still alive who knew of this crew.

View attachment 1193222

I remember when they found her.

 

[odanny]

I remember when they found her.

You heard about them finding her in 1959? I bet it was a big news story then, but it was no easy task finding her, a group of oil prospectors who had seen it from the air had to try and find it on the ground, and it took a lot of searching before they found it. They also had to keep it secret from their employer they were looking for this bomber.

 

[westwall]

You heard about them finding her in 1959? I bet it was a big news story then, but it was no easy task finding her, a group of oil prospectors who had seen it from the air had to try and find it on the ground, and it took a lot of searching before they found it. They also had to keep it secret from their employer they were looking for this bomber.

Yeah, I can't remember the exact day of the week that the announcement was made, I was in California at the time. But it was pretty big news. One of my teachers had been aircrew on B-17's so he followed it pretty closely.

 

[JBG]

I started and did not finish reading The Let Them Theory: A Life-Changing Tool That Millions of People Can't Stop Talking About by Mel Robbins. While the opening had some promising advice, i.e. counting down 5,4,3,2,1 as a way of getting started in doing something I'm avoiding. As I went on, not so much. I found the remaining advice to be cheesy and stopped at Page 45. One could get better advice in a high school corridor or lunch room. Gave it two stars.

 

[JBG]

Despite some maddening aspects, this book, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by by Benjamin Franklin is a classic; easily one of the best books I have read. I'll start with the maddening part; despite the title given to it, he never wrote an autobiography. The book constitutes memoirs that skip over large parts of his life.

Many of its 233 pages are densely packed with his classic wisdom as well as American history, as well as pithy humor. On humor, for example on Page 54: “Osborne went to the West Indies, where he became an eminent Lawyer & made Money, but died young. He and I had made a serious Agreement, that the one who happen'd first to die, should if possible make a friendly Visit to the other, and acquaint him how he found things in that Separate State. But he never fulfill'd his Promise.”

He explains well the nature of his religious faith, believing in G-d but not in the established churches. He explained that religion taught few lessons about morality, temperance and moderation, stating at Page 105: "But his Discourses were chiefly either polemic Arguments, or Explications of the peculiar Doctrines of our Sect, and were all me me very dry, uninteresting and unedifying since not a single moral Principle was inculcated or enforc'd (sic), their Aim seeming to be rather to make us Presbyterians rather than good Citizens." He laid out is classic list of virtues, which are inarguable, set forth in list form at Page 107-108:

I. Temperance; Eat not to Dulness, Drink not to Elevation.

2. Silence; Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself. Avoid trifling Conversation.

3. Order: Let all your Things have their Places. Let each Part of your Business have its Time.

4. Resolution; Resolve to perform what you ought. Perform without fail what you resolve.

5. Frugality; Make no Expence but to do good to others or yourself: i.e. Waste nothing.

6. Industry; Lose no Time. Be always employ'd in something useful. Cut off all unnecessary Actions.

7. Sincerity; Use no hurtful Deceit. Think innocently and justly; and, if you speak, speak accordingly.

8. Justice; Wrong none, by doing Injuries or omitting the Benefits that are your Duty.

9. Moderation; Avoid Extreams. Forbear resenting Injuries so much as you think they deserve.

1o. Cleanliness; Tolerate no Uncleanness in Body, Cloaths or Habitation.

11. Tranquillity; Be not disturbed at Trifles, or at Accidents common or unavoidable.

12. Chastity; Rarely use Venery but for Health or Offspring, Never to Dulness, Weakness, or the Injury of your own or another's Peace or Reputation.

13. Humility; Imitate Jesus and Socrates

Benjamin Franklin; an amazing book, and one of the amazing people helping to found an amazing country.

 

[odanny]

I started and did not finish reading The Let Them Theory: A Life-Changing Tool That Millions of People Can't Stop Talking About by Mel Robbins. While the opening had some promising advice, i.e. counting down 5,4,3,2,1 as a way of getting started in doing something I'm avoiding. As I went on, not so much. I found the remaining advice to be cheesy and stopped at Page 45. One could get better advice in a high school corridor or lunch room. Gave it two stars.

This book is all the rage, everyone is talking about it and seem to be reading it. Self-help books of any genre are always just cheerleading sessions, and these motivational speeches never land with me unless they address something specific.

I read a book called "The Comfort Crisis" as it explores how technology has made humans soft, and the author speaks about human history and specific individuals who buck the "soft" trend of society. The book was okay, the writing dragged in many places, but there were some fascinating historical nuggets peppered throughout that made me finish reading it.

 

[JBG]

I just finished reading The Great Halifax Explosion: A World War I Story of Treachery, Tragedy and Extraordinary Heroism by John U. Bacon. I previously read The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald, also by John U. Bacon. Both books are quite gripping. As the author explains, until superseded by larger explosions and events such as Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and thereafter by 9/11 this 1917 event was known by many if not most U.S. students and almost all Canadian students.

The book amply details the coming together of the community, and the much-heralded role of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the City of Boston in aiding restoration efforts. The event itself was, as found the the Supreme Court of Canada and the Privy Council in London, the result of compounded human error of a French ship packed with 6,000,000 pounds of munitions and a neutral, Belgian aid ship in Halifax Harbour. There was untold destruction, deaths and dismemberment of families. This book is both a "five-star" and a must-read.

 

[lg325]

Re -reading from my personal collection, books on politics and issues and biographies.

 

[odanny]

Re -reading from my personal collection, books on politics and issues and biographies.

Like what? Titles, authors, etc.

 

[lg325]

Like what? Titles, authors, etc.

Solzhenitsyn= Archipelago Gulag

 

[odanny]

Memento Mori: What The Romans Can Tell Us About Old Age and Death

Memento Mori means "Remember you die" in Latin. I am just getting started and I love it already. Just in the first couple pages I learned something quite interesting. During the Roman Empire, take a single day and say 100,000 babies were born.

In 5 years, there would be 50,000 children still alive. If you made it past 5 years of age, your chances of making it to 50 were decent, as roughly 30,000 of the surviving 50,000 born on the same day would still be alive. By the age of 60, roughly 8,000 would still be alive, so you had an 8% chance of living to 60. I'm looking forward to hearing about the Stoic's, guys like Seneca, Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus, whom I'm certain will be discussed, as no discussion on this topic can omit their contributions.

I bought this book at the gift shop of the Colosseum.

 

[westwall]

Memento Mori: What The Romans Can Tell Us About Old Age and Death

Memento Mori means "Remember you die" in Latin. I am just getting started and I love it already. Just in the first couple pages I learned something quite interesting. During the Roman Empire, take a single day and say 100,000 babies were born.

In 5 years, there would be 50,000 children still alive. If you made it past 5 years of age, your chances of making it to 50 were decent, as roughly 30,000 of the surviving 50,000 born on the same day would still be alive. By the age of 60, roughly 8,000 would still be alive, so you had an 8% chance of living to 60. I'm looking forward to hearing about the Stoic's, guys like Seneca, Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus, whom I'm certain will be discussed, as no discussion on this topic can omit their contributions.

I bought this book at the gift shop of the Colosseum.

Remember, up until the late middle ages they wouldn't even name a baby till it reached one year old in many cultures.

 

[JBG]

I just finished reading Heart of a Stranger: An Unlikely Rabbi's Story of Faith, Identity, and Belonging
by Angela Buchdahl. First, a quote:

𝑀𝑦 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑡𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑡𝑎𝑠𝑘 𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧, 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝𝑠, 𝑎𝑑𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠, 𝑔𝑎𝑚𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑝𝑢𝑟𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑒: 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝐼 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑒𝑑, 𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑡: 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑤𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠, 𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑠𝑑𝑜𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠-𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑔𝑜𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑡 𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑐ℎ 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑒.
𝐼 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑦 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑦 𝑚𝑖𝑥𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑜𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑑𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠, 𝑛𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑡, 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑦 𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑦, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑟𝑖𝑡. 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚 𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦-𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑔 "𝑚𝑖𝑥𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒𝑠," 𝐼 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑚𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑡.

I just finished reading this great autobiography/memoir (I don't know the difference). Ms. Buchdal was of Korean birth, the daughter of a Korean mother and a Caucasian/Jewish father. A bit of background. Rabbi/Cantor Buchdal was at our synagogue in the late 1990's/early 2000's. In, I believe, 2006 she "graduated" to become Senior Cantor at Central Synagogue in New York City, and thereafter to become their senior Rabbi. She was the unwitting star in the movie Colleyville, Texas about a hostage seizure incident where the psychotic individual believed that she controlled the Jews and Jews controlled the United States.

The book is incredibly beautiful, discussing her crossing of numerous boundaries. The quote above, from the conclusion, is similar to my quotation I used in my High School yearbook in 1975, from Voltaire's Candide; "𝙉𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙚 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙜𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙣 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙬."

 

[JBG]

I just finished reading Let Them Lead: Unexpected Lessons in Leadership from America’s Worst High School Hockey Team by John U. Bacon.The book was nominally about high school hockey. In reality the book was about leadership and an inspirational path to a better life. One of the few books that left me in tears at the end. A minor quibble; it dragged about 2/3 of the way through but more than made up for it in the coda. The author, as hockey coach, took the Huron River Rats from last place and laughingstock hockey time to a state champion.

He wrote two books I recently finished, The Gales of November (about the downing of the Edmund Fitzgerald, memorialized in the Gordon Lightfoot Song) and The Halifax Explosion, about a deadly and destructive ship explosion in Halifax Harbor.

 

[Darkwind]

I'm listening to The Fires of Heaven: Book Five of The Wheel of Time.

I'm reading:

"SolidWorks 2024 for Designers" by Sham Tickoo