While 2020 has been, in a word, bad, there have been lots of good reads to dig through in the in-between time. I have compiled a list of books that may or may not interest readers, or spark some ideas for Christmas presents.
Most of this list is non-fiction as that is what I normally read but there are a couple fiction offerings as well. There is even a collection of comics.
These are brief reviews that will have the overview of the book and a few sentences of review. Feel free to reach out for questions on any of these books.
Nothing To Envy – Barbara Demick (4.5 stars out of 5). Interviews with North Korean defectors from the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The best non-fictions are those that can weave many human stories and Demick does this incredibly well. Accessible language for anyone, but some parts regarding disease and famine can be tough (though necessary).
Gigged – Sarah Kessler (3/5). About the rise of the gig economy and the companies therein. Covers more than just Uber and Postmates.
An interesting book for those who are new to the entire notion of the gig economy. My personal issue is that while there are interviews from many people negatively affected by working with Uber, for example, the true scope of these apps’ damage isn’t really dug into.
Masters of Doom – David Kushner (4.5/5). Chronicling the lives of John Carmack and John Romero, and their creation, progression, and eventual dissolution of the partnership responsible for ground-breaking games like Wolfenstein, Doom, and Quake.
For those too young to remember, or weren’t interested in video games at the time, aside from this being a very balanced look at two of the founders of one of the most legendary gaming companies of all time, it’s also a good historical text of the early years of the gaming industry. It is proficient at creating the context in which these two men grew up and got into the business, as well as the technology that made it all possible. For anyone that is interested in those games, this era of gaming, or these guys in particular, it’s a must-read.
Warnings – Richard Clarke and R.P. Eddy (3.5/5). Reviewing significant negative events either caused or exacerbated by human failure/hubris – Hurricane Katrina, the rise of ISIS, Fukushima – and the people who predicted those events. They then interview those predicting potential future catastrophes – nuclear winters, CRISPR, A.I. (There is a chapter on viral diseases, and I read this in February of 2020. Prescient!)
The premise of creating their own subjective coefficient is the overarching theme threading the chapters together, and I find it takes away from the enjoyment of the book when the focus turns there. Otherwise, thoroughly researched with many experts in all disciplines. Interesting to read about what really happened leading up to some of humanity’s greatest disasters.
The Radium Girls – Kate Moore (5/5). The story (rather, stories) of the girls who worked with radium at dial-painting plants in the 1910s and 1920s. Follows both their day-to-day lives working in the dial-painting plants, then followed them as the radioactive poison ravaged their bodies, and then finally their court cases seeking compensation and legislation changes.
Both incredibly heartbreaking and hopeful, it’s a story of sheer bravery from a group of women seeking justice from those who had knowingly given them a death sentence. It is a book that encapsulates the weight of the institutions that are designed to keep the working class in check, with the problems compounded by being a woman in the early twentieth century. One of the best non-fiction books I’ve ever read.
Fire & Blood – George R. R. Martin (4/5). It is the first half of a two-part tome (the second release is TBD). The subject is the first half of the Targaryen reign in Westeros after Aegon the Conqueror showed up with his dragons.
For the enjoyment of the Game of Thrones books, it’s not a necessary read. But for more depth into the events that shaped the GoT books, it’s invaluable. It differs from the ASOIAF books because those are all told from first-person narrator views, while F&B is written as if a historical text, taking cues from scrolls, scripts, and books “written” about the early reign of the Targaryens. Sometimes, the unreliable narrator portion can wear, because there’s often no agreement on exactly what happened and how it happened, but it’s also a refreshing change from ASOIAF and accurately mirrors real-world texts. Does an excellent job of laying out all the behind-the-scenes scheming.
Movies (and Other Things) – Shea Serrano (4.5/5). A collection of short essays that answer questions most people haven’t even thought to ask about their favourite movies, such as, “what would a Michael Myers (yes, the Halloween guy) post-game press conference sound like?” and “which Michael B. Jordan performance broke our hearts the most?”
Serrano has a very unique way of writing, making it seem like he’s having a conversation with you, explaining the answers to the questions in his head. Some are heartfelt – there’s an entire chapter where he interviews his young sons about movies – and some are extremely far out there, like that post-game press conference with Michael Myers. There are footnotes that aren’t about crediting research, but rather sidebars that can sometimes have nothing to do with the question at hand. Not a lot of writers can pull off this style, but Serrano makes MAOT wildly entertaining from start to finish.
Nuremberg Diary – G.M. Gilbert (5/5). The psychologist Gustave Mark Gilbert was the man who interviewed the Nazi war criminals before, during, and after their trials in Nuremberg. It is a first-hand account of not only the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime, but all the processes, propaganda, and maneuvering that made the conditions for these atrocities possible.
One thing Dr. Gilbert does well is he (mostly) keeps his expert opinions to himself, at least in most of his direct conversations with the criminals. There are a handful of instances where the line of questioning makes his opinion inevitable, but for the vast majority of his diary, he just asks questions and then lets the Nazis talk. That kind of approach reveals a lot about the hypocrisies, self-delusions, and ambitiousness that made Nazi Germany, and all the accompanying war crimes, possible. Must-read for anyone looking to understand the justifications war criminals give themselves, and how conditions can be created for these monsters to thrive.
Mastermind – Maria Konnikova (4.5/5). Leaning on the cases of the fictional Sherlock Holmes, psychologist Maria Konnikova takes the reader through a step-by-step process on how to re-think the way they think. It covers topics such as the stages to take when making deductions, multi-tasking, improving mental capacity, and more.
I want to get the negative out of the way first: what kept this at 4.5/5 for me was a lack of citation. Often, the author writes phrases like “one study shows…” or “in a study in the…” and then not citing the authors or publication. This isn’t a research book, but it would have been nice to access the papers referenced throughout the book.
Beyond that, though, it’s a wonderfully written book with plenty of anecdotes as to not get bogged down in too much psychology. It really dissects the way anyone should approach a problem that needs solving. It also does a great job at highlighting why we’re not very good at problem solving, where our shortcomings are and how to correct them. Even if this book doesn’t entirely change the way you think, per se, it’ll change the way you think about learning.
Who is Alex Trebek? – Lisa Rogak (5/5)
The biography of Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek.
Covers everything in chunks from his early childhood in Ontario right up until early 2020, so it really does a good job of combing over his entire life. It reads more like an interview than it does an exposé which makes it more digestible and is a credit to the author. There is much more than just his time on television in the pages, including a lot into his personal life with his families as well as his extensive work overseas. Wisdom oozes out of the pages like a packed tube of toothpaste. Must-read.
The Death of WCW – R.D. Reynolds and Bryan Alvarez (4/5)
It’s a detailed breakdown, sometimes on a literal day-by-day basis, of everything that led to the rise and downfall of World Championship Wrestling.
The anecdotes are truly something to behold. It’s a great accounting of everything that led to WCW’s glory days, from The Outsiders, to Hogan’s heel turn, to Bischoff’s presentation of the nWo, and then its collapse, including millions in wasted money, creative controls in the wrong hands, and a general disdain for elevating the non-stars. It goes into much detail about a lot of these things, with exact ratings numbers, gate totals, and PPV buys. My qualm is the way some of the writing handles substance abuse and addiction. There was (is) a lot of that in wrestling and that plays a big part in human behaviour. It almost seems callous at times. Other than that, however, it’s a great read for anyone interested in the most profitable period in wrestling history.
Star Wars: Darth Vader (Marvel) – Kieron Gillen (5/5)
A series of comics that were amalgamated into five short novels, these comics cover the Empire’s attempts to rebuild after the destruction of the Death Star in ‘A New Hope’.
The comics introduce three characters that are important to the comic book canon in Dr. Aphra and two killer droids named Triple Zero and Beetee, but focus largely on Darth Vader’s efforts to become more than just the Emperor’s lap dog. The illustrations are gorgeous, and readers can spend minutes at a time just gawking at the details. There are flashbacks and encounters with the popular characters from that era of Star Wars, which injects enough nostalgia to keep casual fans reading while not getting bogged down in following only those storylines. Very much recommended for anyone wanting to learn more about the in-between times of Star Wars lore.
Doughnut Economics – Kate Raworth (4/5)
Economist Kate Raworth asks a lot of basic questions about our economy, through the paradigm of our 21st-century challenges like climate change, food shortages, wealth inequality, etc. We are asked to think about basic economic theory and how it frames our world, like The Rational Economic Man, never-ending growth, whether wealth reduces pollution, and so on.
Raworth re-frames our economy from one that is destructive to one that is regenerative; one that encourages wealth-hoarding to one that promotes wealth-sharing. All this is done within the framework of our ecosystems, and the strains we put on them. It is what I would call a wonderful Idea Book. There are a lot of great ideas that would go a long way to improving the lives of future generations. Unfortunately, I think she focuses too much on what can be done and not how it can be done; by the author’s own admission late in the book, this is a monumental obstacle. The levers across society are geared against this kind of thinking and changing some diagrams in Econ 101 books isn’t enough to bring the scale of change necessary. Nonetheless, it does a great job explaining how we got to the quagmire we’re currently in, and that alone makes this book worth reading.
We Promised You A Great Main Event – Bill Hanstock (4/5)
Subtitled as an unauthorized biography of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), formerly known as the WWF, wrestling journalist Bill Hanstock covers wrestling history back to the 1800s. The focus is mostly on the WWE and its previous incarnations, spanning from the 1950s right through the start of the COVID pandemic.
What sticks out immediately about the book is Hanstock’s humour. While some of the crassness isn’t for everyone’s taste, I had no problem with it and found the side-bars to be generally hilarious. It is obvious that he cares about wrestling and is deeply knowledgeable about it beyond just the WWE, and that knowledge plus his humour makes for a fun read. The negative here is that it is a bit scattered in some chapters. A good editor could have done wonders with this book. All the same, it’s both fun and informative, and that’s all we really need out of a WWE book.
Cliffy's hell-hole 