The Bounty

The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty by Caroline Alexander

The story of the Bounty and Captain Bligh is fairly well known, several movies have been made of this and numerous books. This book offers very detailed information on the voyage and many of the members of the crew and their families. The original purpose of the Bounty voyage was to bring back Breadfruit plants that were to be brought to the Caribbean to be used as a cheap but viable food source. The Breadfruit is very nutritious and can be used as a single source of food. What was surprising to me was that after the mutiny and Bligh's amazing voyage back to England he made a second trip to get the Breadfruit. This time he was given a much bigger ship and an escort ship with a military force, that way there would not be a second mutiny. This second trip was successful and breadfruit is now a common food in the Caribbean.

Voices from the Kitchen

Voices from the Kitchen: Personal Narratives from New York's Immigrant Restaurant Workers (Beacon Press 2025) by Marc Meyer

This book contains the transcript of 27 interviews with people who work in restaurants in NY. All of them are immigrants, and they tell their stories of how they ended up where they are. It is mostly interesting, but does get a little repetitious as most of the stories are the same. But there are a few excpetional stories. Definately stories of our times.

The Twilight Forest

The Twilight Forest: An Elegy for Ponderosa in a Changing West (Island Press 2025) by Gary Ferguson

The author is a widely published nature writer. In this book he travels through New Mexico, Utah, Arizona and California documenting the decline of the ponderosa pine. He provides background on the evolution of the ponderosa, its place in the culture of the west and information about the different varieties of the ponderosa. Basically his premise is that the ponderosa is in decline and may disapear. Mostly this book is the story of the effects of climate change and how it is reshaping the landscape, in particular in the western US. Very good writing.

The Gardner Heist

The Gardner Heist: The True Story of the World's Largest Unsolved Art Theft by Ulrich Boser

On March 18, 1990 the Isabel Stewart Gardner musuem, in Boston, was robbed of art works worth tens of millions of dollars. The case was never solved and the art works have never been recovered. The theft included 2 Rembrandts, a Vermeer, a Monet and several Degas drawings. Since the theft was never solved, this proves a problem writing a book about the event since there is not really an ending to the story. So the author spends a lot of time talking about art theft in general, the state of art museums, famous art thefts and stories of the famous theives and there hauls. A theme throughout is the incompetence of many people who run these museums, and boards that aren't really qualified but made up of people with pestigious names.

1929

1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History--and How It Shattered a Nation by Andrew Ross Sorkin

A history of the 1929 crash and the major players who were involved. The author does go into the background of finance and Wall Street that setup the conditions of the crash, and then follows up what happened to some of these people after the crash and the depression set in. The author is very good at explaining complex financial concepts in a way that a novice can understand.

The Gales of November

The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald by John U. Bacon

The Edmund Fitzgerald (Fitz) is well known from the Gordon Lightfoot song of the same name. The majority of this book is a history of shipping on the Great Lakes, but goes into detail about the Fitz. The ship was specifically built as an ore transport on the great lakes, and was extremely well known at the time for the records in set. The author also goes into a brief history of the song, which of course gave a wider exposure to the ship beyond people who were 'lakers'.

1942

1942: WHEN WORLD WAR II ENGULFED THE GLOBE by Peter Fritzsche

As the title indicates this is a chronicle of 1942, a pivotal year in WW2. The author does go into the years leading up to 1942 to provide background, while there is not really new material in this book, it is well written and organized.

The Big Year

The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession by Mark Obmascik

In birding, a Big Year is when a person starts on January 1st and spends the year listing as many birds as they can for one year. While there is no prize invovled it is very competitive for the participants, who become obsessed with having as big a list as possible. While this can involve many people, this book concentrates on the activities of 3 people to tell the story. This was made into a movie, which I have not seen.

Launching Liberty

Launching Liberty: The Epic Race to Build the Ships That Took America to War by Doug Most

This is a history of the Liberty Ships that were the work horse for the Allies in WW2. The ships were built in several locations in the US, and while they didn't exist at the beginning of the war, by the end they were being built at record speeds. Several different companies built these ships, but this books concentrates on the California shipyards of Henry Kaiser. Kaiser was the person who build Hoover damn. As part of his innovation in building the ships, he wanted his workers to have access to health care without having travel far, so he created what would become Kaiser-Permanente.

Bringing Up Beaver

Bringing Up Beaver: Two Orphaned Beaver Kits, Their Humans, and Our Journey Back to the Wild by John Aberth (Simon & Schuster, 2025)

This is the chronicle of a licensed animal rehab person who lives in rural Vermont. He takes in lots different animals, owls, hawks etc. This book covers a little over a year of his taking in a baby beaver, whos parents were killed when there lodge ws demolished. Many people see beavers as a nuisance and try to elimate them from their property. The amount of work that the author goes through to accomodate this baby beaver is amazing. What is especially challenging is that he is rehabbing this animal with the goal of ultimately being released back to the wild and not kept as a pet. He does a lot of evangelizing about how we treat wild life and what should change. A great story of a dedicated volunteer.

Shade

Shade: The Promise of a Forgotten Natural Resource by Sam Bloch (Random House)

A thorough analysis of a timely and important topic. The author is an environmental writer who has produced this interesting volume on the history and importance of shade its impact on people’s health. Historically shade was engineered into the planning of towns and cities. If we think of the narrow streets of warm weather countries like Spain and Mexico, the narrow streets provide a lot of shade for people in the street during the day when they don’t want to be exposed to the blazing sun. Also, and abundance of trees on streets and in public places like parks providing cooling shades for people walking or hanging out. Several factors have influenced the disappearance of shade as a standard feature of cities, first air conditioning has replaced the need for shade, but this also has had social implications. Instead of hanging out on our shaded front porches and under a tree, we are now all inside and not mingling with our neighbors and socializing. Also in urban settings, law enforcement has suppressed the planting of trees and encouraged their removal as the block the ability of provide surveillance of an area and they provide cover for the ‘bad guys’.

This book could also have been titled ‘Heat’. The author spends a lot of time illustrating the health affects of excessive heat, particularly on people who spend a lot of time out of doors, such as agricultural workers and the homeless. The ill affect of excessive heat becomes exaggerated in the elderly. With the warming of the planet places that were typically very temperate all of a sudden find that they have to deal with excessive heat. Many homes and businesses in these areas do not have air conditioning because they never needed it. This now puts an economic strain on communities and individuals who have to have AC installed and who have to pay for the electricity to operate it.

There are also societal implications to excessive heat, people are much more likely to get angry during heat waves. As the author points out “Heat is an irritant that makes us angrier, more aggressive, and even more vengeful. It can override more rational thoughts.”

Everest, Inc.

Everest, Inc.: The Renegades and Rogues Who Built an Industry at the Top of the World by Will Cockrell

As the title suggests this is a history of the industry of guides bringing people up Everest. It is an interesting evolution of the business. The first people were guided up the mountain in 1982. Which I was kind of surprised about, since I would have thought it would have happened much earlier. Before that it was private adventurers and national teams that would attempt Everest. It is also interesting that after Tenzing Norgay summited Everest with Hillary, he never went up the mountain again. The first companies that would take clients up the mountain, and other Himalaya peeks, were western owned, but employed many native Sherpa to carry loads and set rope. Over the years that evolved into a situation that now most of the companies guiding people in the Himalaya are native Nepalese owned businesses.

There is also a lot in this book about how Everest is viewed in the world and presented in the press. The many failed attempts and deaths on the mountain and the more dramatic moments that receive a lot of publicity. But also presented are the statistics that show that it is not as dangerous as the reputation that it has.

The Light Eaters

The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth by Zoë Schlanger

Light eaters are plants, who through photsynthesis turn sunlight into energy. This is a well written history of how plants evolved, and how the continue to evolve to adapt to the planet. A lot of interesting bit of popular science.

The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780

The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780 Book 2 of 2: The Revolution Trilogy | by Rick Atkinson

The second in his trilogy of the revolution, this very thorough history took a while to get through but was worth it. It is very dense and detailed tracking these three years of the war. He also spends a lot of time describing what is going on in Europe and England during the war, which is a different approach than a lot of people take.

Hunger Like a Thirst

Hunger Like a Thirst: From Food Stamps to Fine Dining, a Restaurant Critic Finds Her Place at the Table by Besha Rodell

Besha is a food writer with an interesting story. This memoir tracks her life and career from Australia to the US and back to Australia, and provides insight into how writing about food has its ups and downs and has been changing drastically over the last 20 years. Very entertaining.

When the Going Was Good

When the Going Was Good: An Editor's Adventures During the Last Golden Age of Magazines by Graydon Carter

This is a memoir of Graydon, from his growing up in Ottawa, Canada to his career in the magazine business ending up as editor of Vanity Fair at a time when it was a major publication. Si Newhouse was major influence and guiding force that allowed him to excel at a gime when magazine's were at their height, arguably. Entertaining and personal.

Realm of Ice and Sky

Realm of Ice and Sky: Triumph, Tragedy, and History's Greatest Arctic Rescue by Buddy Levy

During the first part of the 20th century, great lighter than airships were very popular and were seen as the future of aviation. This is the stroy of 2 polar explorations that used these airships to explore the arctic. The first was a ship lead by Amundson to go to the North pole. This was an italian built ship so the Italian government under Mussilini used it a propganda device, not to the liking of the Norwegian crew that were the actual explorers of this ship.

The second air ship is the Italia which was an Italian government sponsored exploration, lead by the italian Umberto Nobile who was on the first ship in a minor role, but managed to leverage his participation to lead the expedition. This second air ship had a much more ambitious arctic exploration agenda, but ended in tragedy when the ship crashed in the far north and many of the crew perished. Nobile was rescued and while he was a hero in Italy, many others blamed him for the failure of the ship and the lives lost.

Into the Ice and The Third Pole

Into the Ice: The Northwest Passage, the Polar Sun, and a 175-Year-Old Mystery and The Third Pole: Mystery, Obsession, and Death on Mount Everest by Mark Synnott

Into the Ice is the story of the author sailing a small sail boat through the Northwest Passage and all the obticles involved. Also along the way lookinig for remnants of the Franklin expedition.

The Third Pole is Everest. Once both poles has been visited Everest was seen as the last great exploring opportunity. This is the story of the author going up Everest and at the same time looking for evidence of Mallory and Irvine who disappeared on the mountain in 1924. A lot of speculation but also interesting facts about what is known about them.

The Ride: Paul Revere and the Night That Saved America

The Ride: Paul Revere and the Night That Saved America

This is actually a petty inclusive biography of Paul Revere. The 'ride' where he warned Lexington and Concord is the last part of this book. The first part deals with his younger years and is a build up to his ride to alarm people. He was a very skilled horse rider, and interestingly for his rides, to New York, Philadelphia etc, he was actually paid for his time and effort. There is also information about how he became a legend, since others rode out to warn the patriots also, but his story resonated with people.

The Last Manager

The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball by John W. Miller

Biography of Earl Weaver, manager of the Baltimore Orioles in the 1970s and 80s. Earl was a very colorful baseball characters who lead the Orioles to many penant and world series wins. He was also ejected from ballgames more than any other managers. He was known for putting on a show by fighting with the umpires and this behavior helped to boost attendance at ball games, as fans came to see the 'Earl Show'. He played baseball in the minor leagues but never in the majors.