Review: The Instructions of Shuruppak

The Instructions of Shuruppak by Shuruppak
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The world's oldest known text is a list of to-do's by a father to his son. And it certainly reads as such. It's a short, enlightening read, and it has some decent advice (mixed in with the weird and outdated).


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Review: A Child's Christmas in Wales

A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Extremely nostalgic for Christmas, even for us non-Welsh. I see many reviewers read it aloud with the entire family every Christmas. I think I may start doing the same.



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Review: Babel: Around the World in Twenty Languages

Babel: Around the World in Twenty Languages by Gaston Dorren
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Chances are, no matter how much or little you enjoy languages, you will learn a lot from this book.

Having said that, the choice of the most popular languages leaves a feeling of inadequacy, in that too many languages are left by the wayside. Granted, the discussions on why these languages become widespread is interesting (ie the difference between Dutch and Portuguese), although more could have been said on that as well, and how the less widespread languages differ, etc.

My favorite quote: "The German Case System is in annoyingly good health"



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Review: Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution

Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution by Mike Duncan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Lafayette is probably the only person who was so heavily involved in the American Revolution and then sailed back to France to be very heavily involved in the French Revolution. Needless to say, this is an interesting man, which makes for a very interesting biography.

Through Lafayette, you can also trace the zeal for liberty in America, and how that spread to Europe, and more specifically France, but the unfortunate iteration it ended up taking there. All the while, it reads like an adventure novel.

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Review: The Navidad Incident: The Downfall of Matias Guili

The Navidad Incident: The Downfall of Matias Guili by Natsuki Ikezawa
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a fascinating tale! I discovered this author in the issue of "Monkey", which had one of his short stories, and this made me curious about his novels. I'm really glad I followed up on this.

A tad of magical realism, and a lot of "island culture" and some history and, yes, a disappearing bus.



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Review: The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior Is Almost Always Good Politics

The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior Is Almost Always Good Politics by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A fascinating journey. Basically a modern version of Macchiavelli's "The Prince" or Hobbes's "Leviathan", but of course, now we have so many more data points and so much more history to learn from. This book also applies to democracies, and how the rulers can gain more power in these settings as well.

Ultimately, the authors are optimistic about the US and other democracies. We'll see how that pans out...


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Review: Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio

Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio by Pu Songling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A very enjoyable collection of (very) short stories, dealing with the paranormal, ghosts, fox spirits and things of that nature.

I actually had a lot of fun reading them and finished it much more quickly than I thought I would.


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Review: One Spoon on This Earth

One Spoon on This Earth by Ki-young Hyun
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is described as a Bildungsroman, which is it, although it comes across as a stream of consciousness set of recollections from childhood.

It is also haunting, dealing with the Jeju uprising, as well as the Korean war and its aftermath.


All in all very eye-opening. I kind of wish a map were provided so I could find more of the spots mentioned, although I'm sure nothing is the same these days.



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Review: Comanches: The History of a People

Comanches: The History of a People by T.R. Fehrenbach
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An extremely in-depth look into the Comanches and related "Amerindians". Rather than objective, I would call this subjective but from every point of view.

I obviously don't know enough to corroborate or disprove anything in the book, but the impression is that a lot of the facts are taken at face value (no sources seem to be listed). However, this means that, while the frontiersmen and "Tejanos" come across in an often unfavorable light, the Comanches certainly do too.

The advantage of this approach, however, is that it allows to view the world from what is much more akin to the Comanche point of view (in addition to the settler point of view), and we see why they could not adapt to the inevitable encroachment of white people.

Despite having been written over 50 years ago, this is probably the definitive book on this subject.



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Review: Strange Pictures

Strange Pictures by Uketsu
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An excellent and original mystery/thriller. I have no idea why I had this in my wish list, but I'm really happy I did.

A multi-part mystery novel involving several crimes, where the clues are all in the pictures (be sure to consult them). This is how a detective novel should be. You have the clues, so how long will it take for you to figure everything out?

If you find this book, pick it up.



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Review: Leading: Learning from Life and My Years at Manchester United

Leading: Learning from Life and My Years at Manchester United by Alex Ferguson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am not a football/soccer fan, and know next to nothing about it, so much of this was probably over my head, but it was interesting to hear some great leadership/management tidbits. Details such as buying a person their favorite bottle of liquor, etc. are insightful.

I confess a lot of it is similar to other lessons you'll read in management books, but given in real-life format.

The afterword by the co-author seemed a tad too long.



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Review: Nobody’s Fool

Nobody’s Fool by Harlan Coben
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Fast-paced, intricate, suspenseful and overall smart plot. Another great Harlan Coben, and in fact one of my favorite of his.

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Review: An African History of Africa: From the Dawn of Humanity to Independence

An African History of Africa: From the Dawn of Humanity to Independence by Zeinab Badawi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you, like me, are woefully ignorant about Africa's history and its people and civilizations, this book is the cure. It goes through the entire continent, both geographically and chronologically, and somehow it all works.

The book is all-encompassing, but also cursory, and I found myself curious about many points, such as the countries not mentioned, or more about the ones mentioned. For example, she covers the genocide in Rwanda, but not how they then became "the cleanest country in Africa", even banning plastic bags.

I also found myself very curious about so many of the historical figures she mentions, especially some of the women leaders. My one regret is that I listened to the audiobook without taking notes, so I can't remember the names of all the people I want to read more about.


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Review: Invincible and Righteous Outlaw: The Korean Hero Hong Gildong in Literature, History, and Culture

Invincible and Righteous Outlaw: The Korean Hero Hong Gildong in Literature, History, and Culture by Minsoo Kang
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

At this point the story, author and meaning behind Hong Gildong are so accepted that the author finds himself in the situation of having to basically prove a negative. He has to prove that Heo Gyun did not - and could not - write the story, and has to go into detail as to all the reasons why, as well as how the story fits the literature and society of 19th century Korea so much more than 16th century Korea.

Still, I loved the deep dive in the story of this Korean Robin Hood. I'd say this is THE definitive work on research into the origins and effects of the Hong Gildong story.




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