"Full Black" by Brad Thor

When I was in the airport on the way back from DC last week, I picked up "Full Black" by Brad Thor. This book was hilarious, but not on purpose (I suspect). The first clue is the dedication: "To the patriots who exist all across the political spectrum." This is, of course, a warning that in this book if you're not a white Republican, you're going to have a bad time. The plot is based around an attempt by an antisemitic Jewish banking mogul who is trying to collapse the US government by using Islamic fundamentalist terrorists. I am not kidding - this reads like a Bourne Identity version of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. The action sequences are exciting, but the plot gets more and more ridiculous over time.

The part of this book that really bothered me was the constant repetition that all Muslims are terrorists, and it's OK to think that until "good Muslims" stand up and denounce terrorism (what do you think they've been doing since 9/11?). There's one scene that is fantastically terrible - a woman in an airport line is looking at two Arabic men and decides that she's going to be different and not assume all Muslims are terrorists. She is immediately blown up by the men, who are of course terrorists. See what happens when you start thinking like a liberal?

You can probably pass on this one.

"The Magicians" and "The Magician King"

While on vacation, I read "The Magicians" and "The Magician King" by Lev Grossman. The easiest way to describe these books would be if Stephen King wrote a Chronicles of Narnia / Harry Potter mash-up. The basic premise is that there is a teenage guy graduating from high school who is obsessed with a fantastic world called Fillory (basically, Narnia). He goes to a college interview, and on the way home gets pulled into a magical college where seemingly, everything he ever dreamed about becomes true. But only kind of. In reality, all the magic is true, but it's not what he expects. It's much darker, and grittier, and much, much more dangerous than he expected.

This is basically an anti-Potter novel. It looks at what would happen if you gave a bunch of college age weirdos and outcasts phenomenal cosmic powers. I don't want to give too much away, but I'll give you a hint - it involves a lot more hedonism and ennui than Rowling could even conceive of.

There's a lot of depth to this book, and it deals with some really interesting questions about purpose, power, and responsibility. The magical universe has no "big bad guy" - so what do magicians do when they graduate from these magical universities? If you're immortal, how long can you handle it? Given phenomenal magical abilities, do you solve world hunger, or redecorate your house once a week to look like a different historical place? There's no simple answers in these books, and I think that's an interesting statement in itself.

The first book is better than the second, but they're both well worth reading. I'd be interested to hear from anyone else who reads these, so speak up if you do!

Out of the Blue: A History of Lightning: Science, Superstition, and Amazing Stories of Survival

I first heard about this book on NPR and was hooked as the author John S. Friedman talked about his research. I have always been awed by lightning and was curious to see how much myth and superstition he would bring into this book. So I picked it up from the library and dug in.

I did enjoy this book a lot and I learned so much about lightning and its impact on humanity and history. For instance I did not know that Ben Franklin's lightning rod sparked so much Theological debate about God's punishment vs this new technology. I really had no idea how much lightning affected the daily lives of people and how much it impacted history (especially Church history.)

I also learned so many facts about lightning that I never knew. Like how most people aren't hit by the direct bolt but usually a splash off. And I learned that lightning can be generated up to 30 minutes before and after a storm. You can literally be hit seemingly "out of the blue."

As much as I enjoyed reading that book, the jury is still out as to whether I should have read it. As a hypochondriac I will probably make a bee line indoors and stay away from all faucets, telephones, and outlets at the first sign of lightning. But I will also be peeking out the nearest window to watch God's light show.

Skunk Works

I just finished Skunk Works by Ben Rich. Rich was the second director of Lockheed's Skunk Works division, which was responsible for the U2 spy plane, the SR-71, and the F-117A stealth fighter, among other neat airplanes. This is a really interesting look at what the aerospace industry looked like before all the regulation and red tape in the acquisitions process - the director of Skunk Works went in with an idea for an airplane at one point, and the director of the CIA wrote him a personal check to get his assembly line started. Everyone involved would go to jail if that happened today. Seeing how these guys wee able to develop stealth technology with essentially the equivalent of pocket calculators is fascinating, and honestly, and incredible story. Also, the way you hear it, our brave, brilliant American scientists came up with stealth ex nilo. As it turns out, the key idea of stealth (the faceted surfaces that reflect radar off away from the receiver) was developed by a Russian scientist and published in an obscure journal that a Skunk Works employee happened to read. Of course, the Soviets ignored the original developer, and Skunk Works went on to develop stealth, and the rest, as they say, is history.

From a managerial perspective, the Skunk Works model is really interesting. They worked on high risk, high payoff projects that revolutionized aerospace design. They had virtually no oversight from upper management, and the only reason they were allowed to do what they did was because they were incredibly good at it. You have to hire the absolute best and give them a lot more rope than you are probably comfortable with. They also have to have a parent organization to borrow tools, people, and production lines from (and return to after they finish a product). It's a model that a lot of people have tried to emulate and very few have recreated successfully, which should tell you something about how easy it is. Also, the current acquisition process basically prohibits this kind of development, which is kind of an important difference.

Well worth a read. The technical stuff is fascinating, and the personal dynamics are very interesting.

The Omnivore's Dilemma

I know most of you have already read this, so I'll skip the summary. I thought this was a very interesting book, and it really made me think about my food. I can barely eat at fast food restaurants any more, so thanks for that, Mr. Pollan.  Thinking about our food systems and how we get food on the plate is very important, but I am not sure I would go as far as he does in terms of the animal rights stuff. I did have a moment of wanting to quit my job and start a post-organic farm though. Anyway, this book is worth reading, especially the first two sections (the bit at the end about foraging is kind of ridiculous, and the author acknowledges it).

The biggest criticism I have of this book is that he doesn't really present any alternatives to the problems he sees. For example, we can't all live close to management intensive grazing farms, and if we could, not everyone would be able to afford to eat food from one. He points out that people in other countries spend a lot more of their income on food, but they also starve to death in much higher numbers too.

I have been talking about thus book pretty much nonstop since I read it, so that's probably a good sign. Well worth a read. (Ironically, I bought my copy of this book at Costco.)

Half Broke Horses & The Glass Castle by J. Walls

Oh boy - I have had both of these books sitting by my computer for a couple of weeks waiting for me to review them!  However, Meredith has reviewed them both, I read both of them at her suggestion and loved both of them... so!  I am going to leave it with that.  Read them - you will love them!  They are quick reads but the style pulls you into the story and you feel a part of the family.  I rarely read books twice, but this is the second time for The Glass Castle, and I loved it just as much as the first.  I am trying to get going on a long novel now, so it may be awhile....

Fodor's Travel Books

I have been reading travel books like they are going out of style.  With all the honeymoon travel planning I carry around 2 travel books almost all the time.  The first is Fodor’s Pacific Northwest.  The second is Fodor’s Northern California.  Both are excellent and have glossy pages with lots of pictures.  I’m all about that.  Every time I travel I take notes in the books I have so if I ever want to go back I can remember what I did or didn’t do and what I did and didn’t like.  I can’t wait to fill these pages! Yay for travel books!