All about Jim Jones and the people who followed him, this book goes into a lot of detail about just about everyone and everything that led up to the group suicide in Guyana back in the late 1970s.

I didn’t know much about the group or Jim Jones before I read the book. Growing up in the Bay Area in the 1970’s it seemed like I was closer than I knew to the activities of the Peoples Temple, and it was intriguing to read about their move to Ukiah and what they were doing there.

The book is extremely well-researched, and if anything it goes into almost too much detail. I sometimes lost track of who was who with so many members coming and going. The book took a deeper look at what motivated the group, and the long history of religion for Jim Jones pointed at a start that was very different from how it ended.

I thought that the book did a good job avoiding titillation and instead showed just how a huge group of people could end up following a strong personality like Jones. In an effort to simplify the narrative it seems like many things that were fairly important got lost or deliberately excluded.

The book doesn’t do a lot of judging, but rather points out a wide range of things that may have led to the tragedy. For example, some members stayed part of the group because they strongly believed in the socialism that the group practiced. The group (and Jim Jones) seemed to think that if they showed themselves living peacefully and equitably in a socialist model that it might lead to a greater change worldwide.

But things slowly go off the rails, and it was interesting to read just how it happened.

The writing style of this book is a little old fashioned (I read the word “chums” for the first time in a long time), and I felt like it could have been written a bit more smoothly to keep the reader’s interest as the accounting and politics often went pretty deep. Overall, though, it was a pretty good book and I’m glad I read it.

Next I am reading The Drawing of Three by Stephen King.

I haven’t read this book in a long time, so I thought I’d re-read it and see if I still enjoyed it as much as I remembered. And I did!

Since I read this book the first time I have read other westerns – Virgil Cole from Robert B. Parker (who seems a lot like Call from Lonesome Dove) and the poetic and sometimes shocking west written by Cormac McCarthy. This book still holds its own, with classic storytelling that features long character arcs, and great dialogue, especially between Gus and Call.

I had forgotten what happened with just about every character, so I could feel the shock and tragedy again with some surprise. I’m looking forward to an older age when every book I re-read will seem new to me!

I’m not sure I’ll read the other books in the series – it seems like a beautifully written and self-contained story that ended to my satisfaction. But maybe down the road I’ll give them a try.

Next I am reading The Road to Jonestown by Jeff Guinn.

I had heard good things about this book but I ended up disappointed with it. I almost gave up near the middle of the book, but there were just enough threads worth following that I managed to finish it.

The idea of the world and how each person had the ability to control a “fury” (a sort of elemental spirit) – that was interesting. They didn’t really delve into this relationship between the humans and their furies – how does it work? What are the limitations?

Instead of explaining the rules and relationship, we have people using their furies on each other like a Pokémon battle. The writing doesn’t really draw us into the world – things happening seem like the solutions to a developing plot rather than a product of one.

The story was predictable – and even without reading the next five books in the series I can guess where it is going.

This series might be better for a teen audience except for the occasional scenes of cannibalism and rape. Some of the goofy lines felt like they came right out of Scooby Doo – yikes!

Next I am reading Lonesome Dove (again) by Larry McMurtry.

I liked the idea behind this book – take a deep dive into the history of food, identify some ingredients that were lost to time, and see if it is possible to find them again (and cook with them). Written by someone who loves eating, cooking, history, and is overall very curious – the book takes us to various places in search of ingredients and people who know more about them.

The author apparently has a lot of time and motivation to research these ingredients (it was written during the pandemic). Apparently they also have a nearly unlimited budget to fly all over the place and eat at nice restaurants. What happened to eating local?

Although I liked the idea, the whole pursuit sort of created a dilemma for me: by increasing interest in rare ingredients will we be able to sustainably produce them for a wider audience, or are we putting the final nail in the coffin after it becomes a rare luxury found only in Michelin starred restaurants?

The first section of the book deals with some eggs laid by a certain kind of insect found living on a certain lake in Mexico. The author and some other people lament that the eggs have become a lost delicacy, and pollution and demand has made them even harder to source. Will serious foodies and readers of this book fly down to Mexico to get a last taste? Or will they fund measures to bring the food back from the brink? My cynical side says it is the former.

Because of travel restrictions the author didn’t really write about Asia, but still there is a wide range of different foods. I also liked that the author called out the monoculture of Big Food, and how hard it is to avoid processed food or food additives these days.

It was a good book but I felt a little like it may end up doing more harm than good, at least to some of the more endangered food items out there.

Next I am reading Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher.

This is the second (or third?) time to read this book, easily more than ten years since the last time. I never read the complete series – maybe I lost interest after the third book, so I thought I should give it another go.

The story contained a lot more details than I remembered, which is a good sign for a re-read. Also it contains a foreword that is written more recently, which is one of the benefits of reading an ebook version.

I enjoyed the book – it went by quickly – and it has all the marks of a typical story by Stephen King. There are also the italicized flashbacks of some characters, complete with all their backgrounds and motivations. I’m not a big fan of these diversions from the main story, but it is just the part of reading books by this author.

In a few weeks the next book in the series should come up from the library – I’m looking forward to continuing the journey.

I’m really glad I read this book – a deep thinking look into what consciousness means in humans and whether that idea of consciousness can be seen in other things. What is the difference between the mind and the brain? Is it possible for machine to evolve to have consciousness? Have they done it already?

I liked that the author went into the history and different schools of thought behind the topic. In the end notes the author claims that she is writing this book as a layman, but it is so well thought out and researched that I don’t think you can classify her as that.

One unique point that is repeatedly brought up is that the author attended a religious university and was brought up as a religious fundamentalist – and ended up losing her faith while studying. This gives her a unique viewpoint into the different theories out there, and also shows the ability to change her opinion based on what new information or arguments that she comes across.

This book is pretty deep and covers a lot of ground. I especially enjoyed reading about her thoughts on robots and AI chatbots, and the predilection of humans to prematurely think of things as living organisms (in their own image).

Also there was a good section on the idea of the internet as an evolution of human consciousness. If users are like neurons, and viral memes and messages are like neurons forming links and pathways that lead to memory and knowledge – you might be able to say the internet is a conscious organism.

Finally the section on algorithms (and AI) was interesting as it seems like more and more the algorithms are unexplainable to humans. At some point do we need to just give up trying to explain how they work? To give up and enjoy the ride? At the rate of the expansion in complexity, it might already be too late.

I like books that make me think about things in different ways, so this was a very enjoyable read for me. It was a little bit challenging in terms of the use of academic/technical terms, and sometimes I thought ideas and schools of thought were over-labeled and therefore possibly over-simplified. Still – if there reader wants to dig deeper the author left plenty of threads to pull on.

Next I am reading The Lost Supper by Taras Grescoe.

This book takes a unique approach to give a message to the reader. It starts out with a family going on vacation, staying at a nice AirBnB rental in Long Island, far from the city and their daily stresses.

Then the writer introduces some complications, slowly and then more quickly, and we watch how the people involve navigate this increasingly complex social situation. In the end the message is pretty clear, without being beat over the head with it. It is kind of like a horror story in that scary things are happening, but the stakes are different from your normal horror story.

The writing style of this book is slightly on the side of poetic, with plenty of repetition to illustrate points, and an odd insistence on the use of brand names – this choice becomes clearer later on.

I liked how things developed in this story without getting bogged down in details. Things happen that are completely unexpected and there is an allusion to the source but we don’t need to spend a lot of time and energy to concretely link the source with the result. It is enough to say that the source is the root issue here in this book.

I’m struggling to describe the book without giving away the premise. I just worry that the people that need to receive the message the author is broadcasting here are probably the ones who won’t get it.

Next I am reading God, Human, Animal, Machine by Meghan O’Gieblyn.

This series is really good. The stakes aren’t always end of the world, but the character writing and the introduction of new characters seems to keep things fresh.

As usual there is plenty of witty dialogue, that is clever and funny. Sometimes it is a little over the top but it seems to be in service to the characters, and is plenty entertaining.

I’m enjoying these books as fast-moving distractions, and I think there are still a few left in the series.

If there is anything to complain about it might be the author’s reliance on the cliffhanger, which in turn relies on the reader not being able to see the situation, only read about it. Some events in this particular book couldn’t be done without this trick – it’ll be interesting to see if they can adapt it to the TV series.

Next I am reading Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam.

This was the first book in a detective series that I haven’t read before. It is an unusual take on the private detective theme, with a black man getting started in the business (through no fault of his own) back in 1948.

What I liked about this was that it was an opportunity to spotlight racial issues (both then and now) and even though the book is 30 years old it still holds up well.

The main character is extremely likable – not overly tough and with a sidekick that seems more dangerous than Hawk from Spenser – just on the edge of uncontrollable.

It is a relatively short book but I may get back to the series later on if I have a chance. Excellent!

Next I am reading Spook Street by Mick Herron.

This book should have been right up my alley but it turned out to be a pretty bad one – and I’m not sure why I persevered through to the end.

I heard that it features dragons prominently, so that was the initial hook. I really liked the books by Naomi Novik, so I thought I’d check this one out.

What the hell?

More of a horny romance book full of tropes lifted from the likes of Harry Potter, Hunger Games, and Twilight. Dialogue written like a people are teenagers, laced with pop-culture expressions and social issues from 2023 USA. An over-the-top sexualization and objectification of the male romantic interest – and page after page of description of his physical traits. Would this be acceptable if the main character was so focused on the physical traits of a female interest?

From a story point of view I thought it would be much more interesting to focus on the relationship between the dragon and the rider – Novik’s books do this so well – where here the dragon is sort of the background to the main character’s attraction/lust.

So if you’re in the market for a well-written book with dragons that doesn’t treat you like a teenager, Naomi Novik’s series with Temeraire is what I recommend. Skip this one.

Next I am reading Devil In A Blue Dress by Walter Mosley.

I recently read a book (Crying in H Mart) that featured a lot of delicious-sounding Korean foods, and I realized that although I love eating Korean food in Korea or elsewhere, I often didn’t recognize the dishes by name, or else I knew only the Japanese name for them.

So I did a little digging and found this book available at my library. The cook/Youtube star that wrote it is also featured in the Crying in H Mart book, so it seemed appropriate.

This cookbook seems pretty clear and simple, which is a good thing. There isn’t too much background or personal history, just a focus on making the food as best you can. I was a little worried with a title that promises “real Korean cooking” – what does “real” mean here? It is sort of a loaded term like “authentic”. There isn’t much sermonizing, but there are of cultural rules she mentions. I appreciate the insights into culture but coming from someone in a cross-cultural relationship it felt a little weird.

I bookmarked a bunch of recipes to try out, though, so I can’t wait to get into the kitchen and cook ‘em up.

Next I am reading Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yaros.

I’ve got a birthday coming up. They are fun events: the anticipation for the day, maybe having a party, eating some cake, getting some presents. You know – the big payoff.

This book is filled with payoffs, and we get lots of big moments – so many that the moments start to be less meaningful. If you had birthday cake every day, I think the fun would wear off quickly.

I liked the way this book asks you to trust and go along for the ride. For the most part, the ride is enjoyable, with great elements like secret societies (several of them!), hidden stuff, solving puzzles, and clever situations involving cats and owls.

But also this book is a book of stories that are confusing (on purpose), and maybe it depends too much on the quirky humor and identifying with the socially awkward literary misfits. I often felt like the author was doing some “fan service” by including moments and name-dropping books and video games, sort of like a light version of Ready Player One.

I’m glad I read the book and enjoyed the moments that were significant, but after a while it was hard to tell which were actually significant. There are only so many times I can get excited about finding a secret entrance.

The book does kind of go on and on towards the end, not exactly sticking the landing. I sometimes felt a little more editing would be good.

So I’m squarely in the middle of the road on this one, maybe closer to like than dislike. Based on that faint praise you can decide if you’d like to read it.

Next I am reading a cookbook called Maangchi’s Read Korean cooking.

Here’s an older book by King that I hadn’t read, and since a sequel recently came out I thought it might be interesting to check out the first in the series.

As usual there are some really well-written characters here, what you’d expect from the author. The good guys are really good – the bad guy is really bad. There is some sort of joy we derive from seeing the good people act as good people should. Are the readers getting some kind of satisfaction from the bad guy doing the same thing?

The story is fast-moving, which makes for good reading, but sometimes I was hoping for a slower more drawn-out plot. The ideas here are really good – but in the end the story was more simple than I would have liked.

But I enjoyed the book for what it was, and I’m sure down the road once the new book settles down I’ll be checking it out of the library.

Next I am reading The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern.

Even if I didn’t read the foreword written by John Scalzi I would have been surprised at the similarities between this book and Scalzi’s Old Man’s War. I enjoyed both of these books (Scalzi’s a little more), but it was interesting to think that this was written in the 70’s. The book felt ahead of its time.

The critical dynamic here is the effect of time on the people traveling by warping around using these sort of wormholes. This was explored in other sci-fi books that I’ve read but I liked that the two species at war had primitive or advanced technology depending on where they were on the main timeline.

There was a section in the middle of the book that had the main character going back to Earth to see the changes that occurred while he was away, and the whole sequence felt a little too neatly tied up. According to the author he had actually cut it out in a previous edition and I thought that it probably should have stayed out, myself.

It was a good, short sci-fi book – but I don’t think there is a need for me to read the two sequels.

Next I am reading Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King.