This book is an historical account of the nineties in the United States, with a special focus on popular culture, politics and technology. The writer explains that taking a precise slice of 1990-1999 doesn’t fully explain how we got to this decade and so some events from the 80’s and the 2000’s are included to provide perspective.

Before reading this book I didn’t really have any special feeling about the 90’s. I felt like I grew up in the 70’s, I remember the 80’s as my junior high and high school days, but I realized after reading this that like the author, the 90’s were the time were I was just entering the world as an adult. This was the time that I was really trying to establish things like my career, my ambitions, serious relationships, etc. In that sense, the 90’s certainly were an important time for me.

The most important point I got out of this book was that people of my generation for the most part are the only generation to really remember life before the internet and also be able to live modern life with the internet. There are certainly older generations that lived most of their life without the internet but it seems like most of them could live with or without it. The book points out all the things that have changed thanks to the internet, mobile phone technology, and detachment from the living room television as a source of news/entertainment. Especially the idea that before the internet if you missed some event on TV or radio, you missed it. VCRs just started appearing in the 90’s and that started to change the way we think about media.

The author really goes deep in analyzing popular culture, and this wasn’t as interesting for me. Major cultural events are detailed, and I don’t think I was the target of these since I remembered them well. The OJ Simpson trial, the election showdown between Bush and Gore, the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings – all of these are presented here and I didn’t really feel like there was much new information for me, except to review them from a modern perspective.

For me this book started out quite interesting but the analysis was a little too detailed – giving labels to certain things as “post-modern” or labeling or categorizing things from that generation with modern definitions… I didn’t get a lot out of these exercises.

Still, it provided a brief flashback to my formative years, and made me think that I wasn’t really putting much thought into what was happening at the time. Overall, it was worth reading the book.

Next I am reading The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy.

I’d never heard of this author but he writes a good thriller. This is the kind of book you pick up at the airport before boarding a plane: fast paced, semi-intellectual but also full of action.

This book has a lot of references to the near future (and it is looking bleak), and if it causes a little introspection for some readers I’d say it wouldn’t be so bad. The focus here is on gene-editing, and despite a sort of preposterous setup, it comes close enough to plausibility without getting bogged down in science babble.

The main character gets an upgrade, and so he turns out like some sort of super Jack Reacher character – analyzing statistics and doing deep thinking on the fly. It is surprisingly fun to read – kind of like a superhero origin story.

That’s all the reading for a short while – I want to focus on our trip to America. I’m not sure what I’ll read next but you’ll see it posted here when I finish it!

This is a non-fiction book that could have worked as fiction. It describes (in Truman Capote style) the establishment of the “Premonitions Bureau” by a prominent newspaper to receive, document and follow up on British people’s premonitions in the 1960’s.

The book is very detailed in describing how things started, and it was fascinating to hear about the hits – when premonitions came true. Of course the reader is also aware that 97% of the premonitions that were checked didn’t come true. Despite this, it was interesting to read about the key people behind this, and their ultimate fates.

The story told her is full of detail which made it really come to life. Sometimes I felt like the level of detail wasn’t exactly necessary, and the thread and progress of the descriptions was occasionally unclear. I also wondered if the goal of the book was met or not – while interesting in itself, I’m not sure I changed my thinking along the way.

It would be interesting to do something of the sort in the modern age – with so much fake and unqualified information out there it would likely be impossible – but at least the modern correspondence speed would make checking that much easier.

Next book is Upgrade by Blake Crouch. I think this will be the last book I read before our trip to America…

I loved the previous book in this series, The Pariah, and thankfully this one keeps it going without any disappointment. Once again I was so impressed with how well the author writes characters and builds the lore and history of this world.

I also appreciated the short summary at the beginning to remember the plot from the previous book (because there are a lot of characters and scheming going on). It’ll be a long time until the next book, and I’m sure I’ll need another summary then, too.

If there is any criticism I have, it is that there is a bit of repetition on the grand scale of things. Gathering soldiers, being put in a disadvantageous position, overcoming it (usually thanks to our main character), and then going somewhere else, gathering more soldiers, etc. The cycle works as a source of new characters and a way to kill off others, but I wanted more diverse situations (for example in this book the short stay in a mysterious village).

This was a great read – I hope that the writer can keep it up. I like most of the characters and I am definitely eager for the next book in the series.

My next read is The Premonitions Bureau by Sam Knight.

With beautiful writing the author takes an unsparing look at slavery and with a ghost story to boot, this was a unique story to read.

It is always hard to read about subjects like this. While movies can show some of the images of slavery in the United States, books can really get into the psychological damage as well as the physical.

Jumping around among the memories of various characters we learn about how people were abused horribly, and then we are forced to watch things in turn get even worse. The writer doesn’t let us look away and is often very clear about the atrocities that are being committed. I agreed with her decision not to soften things up, but it was still hard to get through.

In contrast the writer’s skill in describing the beauty of the natural settings really did shine – I was hoping for more about the country and natural background, away from the horrors that take center stage.

One thing that bothered me about the storytelling style was that the plot is revealed out of order, according to the possibly unreliable memories of the people that were there, and in this way key moments could be saved up to be revealed later. I didn’t like this style as it felt like everyone knew all of the information but the reader (this bothered me about Two Nights in Lisbon as well). A few jumps are fine for me but this one had so many jumps it was sometimes hard to follow.

Those points aside, I was glad I could read this book. The author was able to convey a feeling that I take for granted – what it means to be free. It is good to be reminded of what that means now and then.

Next I’m reading Anthony Ryan’s The Martyr.

I guess this book helped me realize that when it comes to reading books intended to be funny, I prefer the subtle and understated British style of comedy. It also turns out to be nearly timeless – still funny after a hundred years.

When I started reading this book I had no idea of how old it was or the story, and it felt like it with a few minor adjustments it could be a contemporary tale. The story of a confident young woman starting a new life in a rather scary situation – the spooky and devoid of life Cold Comfort Farm – was all the better as it put the female lead behind the steering wheel and let her take control of the situation.

The writer showed us each character’s motivations and weaknesses, and we enjoy Flora’s good-hearted manipulations and polite and surefooted suggestions. I felt like I should be reading more female characters that are written in this positive, confident style.

I’ll look into more books like this one – it is a genre that I never thought I would particularly get into, so a nice surprise. Next I’m reading Beloved by Toni Morrison.

This book was about a pair of women in their 80s, dealing with changes around them and where they live, and coming to terms with the end of their lives. It was quite a long book, and seemingly in line with the octogenarians who are the main characters, the plot moves at a somewhat geriatric pace.

The good: the author writes well about nature, and the natural setting of Fellowship Point gets plenty of attention. I’d have liked more descriptions of nature – and fewer descriptions of the interior design and garden arrangements. One particular character, Agnes, is extremely clever and a firm believer in people being treated equally. Her sharp wit was always fun to read, while her friend Polly seemed to be too weak and subservient at first, and only just started to come into her own. It was very interesting to read about characters that are so much older than I am – most literary characters that I encounter are younger.

Other characters got some attention, but this book was really about the friendship of the two women. There is a lot about feminism in this book, and I got a “girl power” vibe when reading that continued throughout.

My problem with this book was the pacing – caught up in unnecessary details that I felt could have been cut or simplified. The characters spend a lot of time in their own heads, and these passages are all written in explicit detail that might be handled in a better (and more brief) way.

I was happy with the end of the book – it reached a satisfying resolution, but I wasn’t really happy with all the extra work (that it seemed like to me) to get there.

Next I’m reading Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons.

This was a well-crafted thriller that kept my interest all the way through. The back of the book said that the author is known for “international thrillers” and this certainly fit the bill, with several European destinations besides Portugal. There is a lot about America, too – so I think it was a good balance for most readers to enjoy.

There is a lot behind this story. At first it is about the kidnapping of an American businessman, but as the author bleeds in bits of the main character’s backstory we start to see the bigger picture. I thought the revealing of backstory felt a bit unfair to the reader. I understand that the writer needs to hide some information, but it felt weird that we had access to some of the main character’s thinking during the “two nights” but not all of it.

There is a lot of social commentary in here, mainly about American politics, the perils of social media dependence, the emptiness of the ridiculously wealthy, and the unfair burden put on sexually abused women throughout their lives. All of these topics are worth exploring, but it felt like in this book the were overtly placed into view, like the author was checking off some boxes. I prefer a more nuanced view of these kinds of topics, however it may be a little too much to ask for that in a book classified as an “international thriller”.

I enjoyed this book – at first it felt like a female Jack Reacher – but with a bit more depth. This was a good read.

Next I am reading Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark.

This book used a clever device to tell a history of the modern country of India – and thanks to the way the story is told the writer has free reign to criticize and comment on significant events. There is a lot of great writing here, rich in Indian culture and history.

We are introduced to a boy telling the story of several generations of his family, and all the trials they go through. Importantly the boy himself is born at the exact moment of the birth of independent India as a nation, and we here about the growing pains of both. The boy’s growing pains are illustrated in detail, both comic and tragic, while India’s (and Pakistan’s) rest more heavily on the tragic.

I don’t know much about Indian culture but I learned a great deal reading this book – a lot of new vocabulary as well. I thought that the storytelling style was a little annoying, however. It doesn’t go smoothly from tale to tale, but abruptly shifts and then goes back, with shocking revelations about a character’s future even before we get to know them. There was also a fair amount of magical realism which was interesting when done in the name of comedy but sometimes left me wondering about the true message (that apparently I wasn’t getting).

This is a long book with a fairly slow start, but getting through the first third sets you up nicely for the rest, and I liked how the structure of the tale feels random at first and then slowly comes to light.

Next I’m reading Two Nights in Lisbon by Chris Pavone.

About halfway through this book I realized that I was reading a sequel. I did a little research online that said that you didn’t necessarily need to read the first book to enjoy the second, but I beg to differ.

Candy House hooked me in the beginning with some great writing – the writer has an edgy modern style, giving me of a sort of tech-savvy Sex in the City vibe. The format of the book was part of what threw me off – a collection of stories of different people, most of whom share some kind of connection from the previous stories, or will illuminate a future character’s story. Here is where reading the previous book makes a difference, I’m guessing.

There is some humor here, some heartbreaking moments, some ridiculous characters and so many people popping in and out of the story that it was honestly a lot to keep in my head. There were also a few sections written in an alternative style – one written by someone from the future in an instruction manual style that just went on and on and was almost unreadable to me. Another was a collection of emails/messages between many different characters, and without knowing the characters very well it became work trying to sort it out. In another book I read recently – “The Appeal” – this was handled much more skillfully.

So, good writing, experimental styles, but without knowing the complete backstory I felt like I was spinning my wheels getting through this. Maybe I should do a little more research before picking my books!

Next I am reading Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie.

I’ve read two other books by this author so I already knew that I’d enjoy his writing. The style is really beautiful – lyrical (almost poetic) prose that is still accessible to Neanderthals like me. This kind of writing lends itself especially well to descriptions of the world by a young blind woman – one of the main characters.

This book has a long epic scope – focused mainly on two kids who grow up and experience the Second World War in France and Germany. Their story is told with skill and knitted together so well that you have to keep going to see what will happen next.

Each section is fairly brief, but full of meaning and some surprising wisdom. The writer doesn’t hit you over the head with it, but gently lays it out like a blanket and lets you absorb the message. There is so much here – so much detail and history and kindness and love. I felt at first like this would be a safe and happy journey about war, but of course that wouldn’t be a fair way to tell it. We see the cruelty, lies, the guilt and the loss of innocence, as well. All of this was balanced perfectly for my taste.

Exactly my kind of book, I couldn’t find anything to criticize here. I’ll be waiting eagerly for any future work by this author.

Next I’m reading The Candy House by Jennifer Egan.

A book recommended by Bill Gates, this book outlines the current global challenges, and suggests where improvements need to be made to avert future disasters. It was written near the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, so lessons learned from that are also included, which was especially interesting to me.

There are a lot of statistics in here, complete with references, so these can help the reader understand the scope of the problems he is describing. However as the author states, it is nearly impossible to predict the future of something complex as “the world” and where it will be in even just a few years, let alone thirty.

With the statistics presented the author takes neither an optimistic or pessimistic view – he vows to remain realistic. In principle this means a more accurate view of the situation, but to me sometimes it felt like listening to a grouchy old man lecturing younger people.

The parts that were the most educational for me were the sections on energy costs for food, the downsides of globalization (and the possibility that the peak of this trend is already past), and the idea that as humans increase their life span they also increase their periods of vulnerability, and there are costs associated with that.

I did feel like this book spent a little too much time on historical reviews of how things became what they are now – but thankfully these were brief enough. My focus coming into the book is where we are now and where we’ll be going – but I guess without some background it is hard to communicate these complex issues.

Next I’m reading All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

I had heard that this book was about a woman’s investigation of the lives of oil rig workers as they worked in dangerous conditions in various locations around the world. What I read was something quite different, but I guess it was sort of entertaining in its own way.

The writer is clearly talented – I really liked her writing style and she had a great way of setting up scenes and making you feel like you were there. Her life in England is a completely different one from what I’m used to – a place where men and boys fight outside of bars, clubs and drugs and sex are what people aspire to, and people work hard in dangerous conditions just to blow the money on shoes. When I read I want to visit different worlds, and this one fit the bill.

In the end I wasn’t satisfied with the book – it is more memoir than informative on the subject of life on oil rigs. There is an inordinate amount of focus on the author’s sex life – I’m not sure why we need to hear about it. There is a lot of pop culture from England, which was inscrutable to me but I think probably nailed it for young British women. Finally I wasn’t sure about the ending of the book – what was resolved? What will happen in the future? Just a snapshot of a moment in time?

With her beautiful writing I guess I was expecting more, but it was a fairly educational book from a sociological perspective.

Next I’m reading How the World Really Works by Vaclav Smil.

I enjoyed this fast moving book that showcased the effects of a drastic change of society, with some time travel and a possible paradox thrown in for good measure.

As usual I went into this book almost completely blind, so what starts as a historical novel quickly branches out into the modern and then into the future. Like Cloud Atlas it moves one direction in time to a center point, and then moves back outward from there, creating ripples along the way.

Maybe because I have been reading pretty long books lately I felt that this one wrapped up unnaturally quick – I would have liked to see some more detail here. Years pass in just a paragraph or two, but those years must leave some kind of trace on our characters – it is left for the reader to imagine. I thought it was a missed opportunity, but better a shorter good story than a bad one.

There is also some meta in here – if the writer of this book goes on a book tour to promote her work, then she will be a writer promoting a book in a pandemic that has a writer promoting a book in a pandemic that features a pandemic. If you enjoy parsing that last sentence then I think you’d enjoy the references to the real world in this book.

Next I’m reading Sea State by Tabitha Lasley.

I started reading this book and got through about a quarter of it before I had to give up. After reading so much good writing lately, this one hit me like a cow patty to the face.

There was so much wrong here – unnatural dialogue, unbelievable story, tropes and cliches, and a liberal sprinkling of contemporary cultural references to try to get your attention. Is it possible that this was a book written by an AI program? If this is the case AI still has a long way to go.

After reading enough to find that it wasn’t going to improve I had to give up on the premise that life is too short to waste time reading crap.

So definitely can’t recommend this one – I hope that someone else gets some pleasure out of it.