I read a bunch of
books this year. Mostly new stuff, about equally divided between
fiction and non-fiction. Since I rely primarily on the library for
my reading materials, the pandemic shut down in March caused a bit of
disruption. I had fortunately picked up three books just before the
doors closed. When those ran out I fell back on the books that I had
saved from triage to keep me occupied until the library re-opened for
picking up holds at the front-door and more recently, allowing pickup
inside the library, which I am sure the staff appreciates on these
chilly, wet late fall days. I've managed to build up a reserve of
books I've read about in various sources and using the hold
suspension feature can wait for my turn to come around so that I can
usually make my hold request for an item where I am first in the
queue. So I no longer have to browse the shelves looking for
something I might like to read. Even so, I miss being able to spend
time in the library.
So much for
introductions. Here are my favorites from 2020.
Fiction
Hunter’s
Moon: A Novel in Stories,
Philip Caputo (2019)
Seven short stories, all but one set in
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, offer glimpses of characters coming to
terms with past and present. As a former Marine, Caputo
portrays the varied nature of the post-Vietnam veteran experience
that ranges from success to traumatic re-engagement. But Vietnam is
only part of the story—the dynamics of life in a remote, rural area
and human nature are also well represented. As much as any of the
individuals, the UP is a constant presence in all of the stories,
it’s rugged and wild spaces provide a sometimes somber, sometimes
dramatic setting for the human struggles of the stories.
The King at the Edge of the World, Arthur
Phillips (2020)
Set in the transition from 16th to
17thcenturies, this story follows Mahmoud Ezzedine,
physician to the Ottoman sultan, as he is exiled by a rival to
England and Scotland following his service on a diplomatic mission to
the Court of Queen Elizabeth. All of this comes into play
during Elizabeth’s final years as English Protestants look for
clarity about the religious preferences of the most likely successor,
King James VI of Scotland. Arthur Phillips tells the tale well. He
sets a good scene and contrasts Ottoman and English societies with
the former usually coming off looking better.
The
Night Watchman, Louise Erdrich (2020)
Based on the author’s grandfather’s
experience fighting the Congressional attempt in 1953 to terminate
the treaty between the US government and the Chippewa tribe, this
novel encompasses the entire range of Native American life in the
early 50s, from the politics of federal-tribal relations, cultural
adaptation to reservation life, human sex-slave trafficking and the
interpersonal, intertwined relations among a close-knit community
struggling in a challenging economic climate and harsh environment.
Squeeze Me,
Carl Hiassen (2020)
Hiassen writes crazy, funny stories. In Squeeze
Me former wildlife officer Angie Armstrong, who lost her job when
she was convicted of feeding a poacher’s hand to an alligator,
works as a “discreet wildlife remover" in the Palm Beach area
which includes a famous resort owned and often frequented by the
President of the United States. The plot involves the disappearance
of a local socialite, a growing number of large pythons, the
presidential tanning bed, the First Lady’s affair with her Secret
Service escort, a scapegoated immigrant, shady rich people and their
not-too-bright minions in a series of wildly improbable, sometimes
laugh out loud, events.
Non-fiction
Dad’s
Maybe Book,
Tim O’Brien (2019)
O’Brien, author of some of the best Vietnam
War fiction, became a first-time father at age 58 followed by another
child two years later. Knowing that he may well not live long enough
for his sons to know him and that his participation in their lives
would be limited, he began writing notes to them, speaking to them as
if they were adults. Over the next 15 years the project recorded a
wide range parental experiences and hopes, exploration of the
author’s relationship with his own father and some reflections on
military service and Vietnam. The book also thoughtfully explores
the relationship between the author and his two children, the craft
and challenges of writing, literature and the reality of aging and
death.
Lakota
America: A New History of Indigenous Power,
Pekka Hamalainen (2019)
This
history follows the Lakota migration from living as a marginal band
in the Great Lakes area to their
expansion and domination of the Missouri River drainage and farther
west into the plains. Along the way Lakotas manage their way against
French and British colonialism and later American expansion. The
Lakotas come across as shrewd diplomats and fierce warriors whose
growing numbers, ability to to master the horse and modern firearms,
and clever adaptability created an empire that stymied US plans to
settle the west, yielding only when starved into submission by the US
military and the corrupt system of Indian agencies. Although the
detailed history ends shortly after the Wounded Knee massacre, Lakota
America
shows that Lakota identity and culture has survived and adapted into
the 21st
century.
All
My Rivers Are Gone: A Journey of Discovery Through Glen Canyon,
Katie Lee (1998)
Katie
Lee discovered the Colorado River and Glen Canyon in particular
during rafting trips during rafting trips in the mid-1950s. Finding
and exploring the exquisite beauty of Glen Canyon, the Colorado River
that carved it and the many side canyons, Lee became forever married
to it all. That experience, followed almost immediately by the
construction of the Glen Canyon Dam which drowned its namesake under
the waters of Lake Powell, made Lee the canyon’s archivist,
balladeer and defender. All My Canyons Are Gone lyrically
tells the story of how she came to love Glen Canyon. Lee’s words
evoke a loving relationship that fed her soul and her mind. By the
end of the book, the reader knows how and why Katie Lee became one of
the river’s most articulate and determined advocates.
Union: The Struggle to Forge the
Story of United States Nationhood, Colin Woodard (2020)
As a nation formed from scattered
outposts of early European exploration of North America and peopled
by immigrants (some by choice, others by force) the United States
appeared in the world without a strong national identity or
longstanding connection to the land. Colin Woodard traces the
development of America’s story through the lives and writings of
key 19th and early 20th century figures who articulated
competing narratives that culminated in the white ethnonationalism
that characterized American society without challenge until the Civil
Rights Movement of the 1960s and continues to reverberate to this
day. Union is a fascinating discussion of the competing ideas
of American nationhood which remains a work in progress in the 21st
century.
The Bomb: Presidents, Generals, and
the Secret History of Nuclear War,
Fred Kaplan (2020)
An
in-depth look at how America’s
leaders have wrestled with the dilemmas of nuclear
weapons. Beginning with the
firebombing of Japan and General Curtis LeMay’s philosophy of
“bomb” everything, America’s policy for using nuclear weapons
has lurched from launching total Armageddon to looking for ways to
fine tune strategies to use these weapons to some advantage without
risking wholesale destruction. The great secret of nuclear history
was that despite all of these policy changes beginning in the 1960s,
the US had only one real option: Massive Overall Attack. Also
secret but not at all surprising is the revelation that attack plans
were highly redundant with multiple weapons aimed at individual
targets which were often located within the destruction radius of
each other. Kaplan concludes
that the
presidents of the nuclear age managed to keep the weapons locked up
for over seven decades during some exceptionally dangerous times,
...not through ignorance or innocence but rather by immersing
themselves
in the bomb’s logic, scoping out full depths of the rabbit hole,
and comprehending, with calm
urgency, the need to find a way out.”
Different Ways: Revealing the
Feminine, Cile (2020)
And a
shout out to my good friend, Cile, who wrote this honest,
insightful memoir of her
life and struggle to find a place in the world where the odds are
stacked against you and you stumble
along, at risk from others and your own unfortunate
choices. Looking at your own life can be daunting. Writing about your life for others to read even more so. Cile casts a cold eye on her past and tells her story with insight.
Labels: books