Operation "Fifty in Twelve": August Round-Up
Okay, then. It's Sunday, I have nothing to do but watch travel documentaries on TV and be lazy in my pajamas, so it's a good time for posting my August reading list. It's not much (four books) but I'm getting closer to the fifty goal!
Let's just go ahead, then.
The Duke and I, Julia Quinn
Yes, another Bridgerton. It's the first one, actually, which made reading it again - after having read a couple other Bridgertons - even better. At this point, none of them are married, and the younger siblings are even still kids and that's what makes Simon's and Daphne's courtship even better (because I never minded spoilers and I really do like seeing the younger versions of the other Bridgertons, knowing where they will end up). I'm still not sure I'm a big fan of the titular duke (Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings) but I really do love Daphne. She's kind, she's funny and she doesn't let people walk all over her, be it her brothers, her husband or her mother (and her mother is, probably, the most formidable of all of them). Daphne is that perfect example of a "strong female character" without the painful cliches usually associated with that damn trope, so everyone go read this and love Daphne the way I do. Come on. Just do it!
Rating: * * * */* * * * *
The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency, Chris Whipple
I read this as a kind of counterpoint to The Residence, and it didn't disappoint. Whipple endeared himself to me in his foreword, when he acknowledged that, so far, the history of the White House Chiefs of Staff is a history of men, and found this problematic (he did mention then he'd delve into why that is but didn't really follow through later, which was a little disappointing, though). At least he was aware of that, unlike other people. Aside from that, this is a pretty great read. Whipple has an engaging, vivid style that takes you right into the story. He's very good at connecting the very personal relationship between a president and his chief of staff to American history, giving convincing accounts of the personalities that shaped American policy and politics over the last fifty, forty years and works well as another puzzle piece to complete the view on American history. It sounds like a lot of dry reading but Whipple really has a talent to make dry world history and complicated personal relationships sound exciting and engaging. Read this one!
Rating: * * * */* * * * *
Spinning Silver, Naomi Novik
I really like Novik, ever since reading the Temeraire series (Dragons! Napoleonic Wars! Female officers! What's not to like? Also, Tom Riley is alive don't @ me) and I found Uprooted a good book (although, honestly, there were a couple problematic things that I found hard to accept), so I spontaneously took this one with me when I saw it in the bookshop. Basically, it's a retelling of Rumpelstilzchen (just like Uprooted was a kind of retelling of Rapunzel), and I was delighted by how she took the premise, shook it and put it from its feet on its head. I also loved that she put in a setting resembling medivial Eastern Europe because that's a setting rarely anyone ever choses, and the decision to make her female protagonist and their parents Jewish was the best thing about the entire book (if Jewish people on my f-list want to correct me on this take, please, please do!), because she didn't spare her readers the difficulties and prejudices Jews in Easter Europe had and have to endure. Plot-wise, I found it rivetting and exciting. I had difficulties getting access to the female protagonist because she's not the most warm and fuzzy person but somehow, Novik manages to turn the reader around to her without fundamentally altering anything about her personality. She's still, in the end, the same person, and that was amazing. She does get character development Novik doesn't change her, being unapologetic about the fierceness and seriousness of her character. This is a really good book, and I can't wait to see which fairytale Novik choses to re-tell (if she choses to continue this thing).
Rating: * * * */* * * * *
Sea Power: The History and Geopolitics of the World's Oceans, James Stavridis
Stavridis was a career officer in the US Navy before retiring and is now the dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts. I knew his name because of his stint as SACEUR (actually, Stavridis was the first SACEUR I knew by name because he was someone who regularly engaged with the media and used social media frequently). This is a fiercely smart guy, believing in diplomacy as the driving force of security politics (as opposed to military force) and who has correctly identified future challenges to global security (cyber security, global warming, economic inequality, to name just the most important three) early on. Sea Power is an interesting cross between memoir and the story of Stavridis's personal connection to the sea and a razor-sharp analysis of the significance of the world's oceans in global security. My only complaints are two things: one, the elephant in the room as in the Trump Administration that Stavridis never once attacks openly but only ever throws subtle shade on. You can see that he hates the administration's floundering about in security policy issues and that he'd love so hard to get explicit but he never once does it. I get why that is (he's still involved in US Navy matters, and he's been a public servant for over forty years, which is something you can just shake off like that) but it's still a little aggravating. The other thing is he's a little too trusting in corporate responsibility and the willingness of entrepreneurs and corporations to serve the public's interest instead of just wanting to make a quick (and big) buck. I get it, he's American, but honestly, recent history has shown pretty well the in the end, corporations definitely won't save us. So I'd have liked him to be more ciritical in that regard. All in all, however, this book does make dry policy analysis a little more accessable but yes, I admit, it's a bit of a special interest thing (it shouldn't be, though. Because global security is not something we can just leave to a handful of experts and then forget about it and one day, I will write a feature-length rant about why people should care a hell lotta more about security policy). If you do want to get a good entry to marine security history and policy, this still is definitely a book that should go on your list.
Rating: * * * */* * * * *
Book count as of August 30: 43/50
Alright then, that's it for August. What did you read? Anything interesting? Anything on this list you found interesting enough to add to your to-read list? How's it going?
Let's just go ahead, then.
The Duke and I, Julia Quinn
Yes, another Bridgerton. It's the first one, actually, which made reading it again - after having read a couple other Bridgertons - even better. At this point, none of them are married, and the younger siblings are even still kids and that's what makes Simon's and Daphne's courtship even better (because I never minded spoilers and I really do like seeing the younger versions of the other Bridgertons, knowing where they will end up). I'm still not sure I'm a big fan of the titular duke (Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings) but I really do love Daphne. She's kind, she's funny and she doesn't let people walk all over her, be it her brothers, her husband or her mother (and her mother is, probably, the most formidable of all of them). Daphne is that perfect example of a "strong female character" without the painful cliches usually associated with that damn trope, so everyone go read this and love Daphne the way I do. Come on. Just do it!
Rating: * * * */* * * * *
The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency, Chris Whipple
I read this as a kind of counterpoint to The Residence, and it didn't disappoint. Whipple endeared himself to me in his foreword, when he acknowledged that, so far, the history of the White House Chiefs of Staff is a history of men, and found this problematic (he did mention then he'd delve into why that is but didn't really follow through later, which was a little disappointing, though). At least he was aware of that, unlike other people. Aside from that, this is a pretty great read. Whipple has an engaging, vivid style that takes you right into the story. He's very good at connecting the very personal relationship between a president and his chief of staff to American history, giving convincing accounts of the personalities that shaped American policy and politics over the last fifty, forty years and works well as another puzzle piece to complete the view on American history. It sounds like a lot of dry reading but Whipple really has a talent to make dry world history and complicated personal relationships sound exciting and engaging. Read this one!
Rating: * * * */* * * * *
Spinning Silver, Naomi Novik
I really like Novik, ever since reading the Temeraire series (Dragons! Napoleonic Wars! Female officers! What's not to like? Also, Tom Riley is alive don't @ me) and I found Uprooted a good book (although, honestly, there were a couple problematic things that I found hard to accept), so I spontaneously took this one with me when I saw it in the bookshop. Basically, it's a retelling of Rumpelstilzchen (just like Uprooted was a kind of retelling of Rapunzel), and I was delighted by how she took the premise, shook it and put it from its feet on its head. I also loved that she put in a setting resembling medivial Eastern Europe because that's a setting rarely anyone ever choses, and the decision to make her female protagonist and their parents Jewish was the best thing about the entire book (if Jewish people on my f-list want to correct me on this take, please, please do!), because she didn't spare her readers the difficulties and prejudices Jews in Easter Europe had and have to endure. Plot-wise, I found it rivetting and exciting. I had difficulties getting access to the female protagonist because she's not the most warm and fuzzy person but somehow, Novik manages to turn the reader around to her without fundamentally altering anything about her personality. She's still, in the end, the same person, and that was amazing. She does get character development Novik doesn't change her, being unapologetic about the fierceness and seriousness of her character. This is a really good book, and I can't wait to see which fairytale Novik choses to re-tell (if she choses to continue this thing).
Rating: * * * */* * * * *
Sea Power: The History and Geopolitics of the World's Oceans, James Stavridis
Stavridis was a career officer in the US Navy before retiring and is now the dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts. I knew his name because of his stint as SACEUR (actually, Stavridis was the first SACEUR I knew by name because he was someone who regularly engaged with the media and used social media frequently). This is a fiercely smart guy, believing in diplomacy as the driving force of security politics (as opposed to military force) and who has correctly identified future challenges to global security (cyber security, global warming, economic inequality, to name just the most important three) early on. Sea Power is an interesting cross between memoir and the story of Stavridis's personal connection to the sea and a razor-sharp analysis of the significance of the world's oceans in global security. My only complaints are two things: one, the elephant in the room as in the Trump Administration that Stavridis never once attacks openly but only ever throws subtle shade on. You can see that he hates the administration's floundering about in security policy issues and that he'd love so hard to get explicit but he never once does it. I get why that is (he's still involved in US Navy matters, and he's been a public servant for over forty years, which is something you can just shake off like that) but it's still a little aggravating. The other thing is he's a little too trusting in corporate responsibility and the willingness of entrepreneurs and corporations to serve the public's interest instead of just wanting to make a quick (and big) buck. I get it, he's American, but honestly, recent history has shown pretty well the in the end, corporations definitely won't save us. So I'd have liked him to be more ciritical in that regard. All in all, however, this book does make dry policy analysis a little more accessable but yes, I admit, it's a bit of a special interest thing (it shouldn't be, though. Because global security is not something we can just leave to a handful of experts and then forget about it and one day, I will write a feature-length rant about why people should care a hell lotta more about security policy). If you do want to get a good entry to marine security history and policy, this still is definitely a book that should go on your list.
Rating: * * * */* * * * *
Book count as of August 30: 43/50
Alright then, that's it for August. What did you read? Anything interesting? Anything on this list you found interesting enough to add to your to-read list? How's it going?