Book Review: Arctic Storm Rising by Dale Brown

I liked Arctic Storm Rising. It's very much in the vein of Tom Clancy's early work, although it's not quite that level of writing. Even so, it was entertaining and a quick read. (3 out of 5 stars)

Book review: Lost in Paris by Elizabeth Thompson

I loved Lost in Paris. Normally, I'd say this isn't my type of book. Part romance, part family drama, but it really was a well-told story. This novel follows a young woman with a blossoming career and a checkered relationship with her mother, who suddenly finds them thrown together because of family history and a new, exciting discovery.

This discovery brings them to Paris and the possibility of new things for their lives, some good, some bad, in the City of Light. I highly recommend Lost in Paris, both for those into this type of story and for those who loves Paris.

"Mike Nichols: A Life" (4 out of 5 stars)

This is the story of an extraordinary life, intertwined with other extraordinary lives. The stories in these pages are well told, and even as Mike Nichols' life draws to a close (not really a spoiler) as we reach the end of the book, there's a feeling of happiness for a life well lived, one that enriched millions of others with entertainment.

Book Review: "World Travel" by Anthony Bourdain & Laurie Woolever

 If you like the late Anthony Bourdain and/or if you like discovering new foods and/or you like travel, you'll enjoy this book. Of course, the world lost Anthony Bourdain a couple of years ago. In "World Travel," we get the thoughts of Anthony Bourdain interspersed with other writings by friends and loved ones of his. It's an interesting approach, and it works.

Here, you have the wit of Anthony Bourdain combined with additional details about places he mentions and guidance on how to get to/around the places he visited. This turns the book into an enjoyable combination of travel guide, foodie narrative and humor, assuming you enjoy Mr. Bourdain's view of the world (which I do). This is an excellent book!

Book review: "Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre"

Devolution had me riveted. I suppose I start from the standpoint of a '70s kid who grew up seeing TV shows about Sasquatch sightings, and this book, like Max Brooks' World War Z, tells a compelling story from the perspective of those who lived through it. A small development, out in the woods, is cut off from civilization after Mt. Rainier erupts. That same eruption displaced a Sasquatch troop that has been living deep in the woods for a very long time, so stealthy and so far from most humans that only the occasional sightings have surfaced.

But what if they really exist? What if they're out there? What if they were flushed from their normal living and hunting grounds and ran into a small group of humanity. They're hungry and desperate, and they're North America's great ape. Gigantic, hugely powerful, and smart. So now what?

The story of this collision of ape and human, and the story of the humans' attempts to survive, is the story of Devolution. This is a terrific tale!

Don't steal her trick!

For as long as I can remember, Lexi's favorite people-pleasing trick has been sitting high. It's cute, and it's not the kind of trick you expect for a dog like her. In fact, it doesn't seem like so broad and solidly built dog would be able to do it. But she makes it happen, and I think that may be part of why she likes doing it for us--and especially for Marc--because it's not easy.

Earlier tonight, Lexi was lying on her bed and Tucker was sitting in front of Marc. Marc asked him if he could sit high, and I saw Lexi's head come up off the bed, like she was not at all amused. As Marc was asking Tucker about sitting high, Lexi gave a little noise that wasn't quite a growl and wasn't quite a grunt. Either way, definitely not a happy sound and clearly directed at Marc.

She stayed there, but as Marc continued to discuss the trick with Tucker, Lexi moved this up to a warning bark. Very unusual for her. Marc got it and stopped, and we've now learned that she not only considers it her special trick but we're to respect that. It's enough we made her share her house with this other dog, but now we might steal her special trick? No way!

Book Review: "The Power Couple" by Alex Berenson

I've been an Alex Berenson fan for years. I enjoyed his John Wells series, and so I wasn't sure what to expect when I saw him heading in a new direction. With The Power Couple, Berenson introduces us to an ambitious lawyer/FBI agent and her husband who is far less of an establishment/conformist type of person. 

While Rebecca and Brian seem quite different on the surface, they make it work very well, falling in love, enjoying a great sex life, raising kids, and seemingly having a great marriage. Until they don't. But then they do again. Or do they? And then things take a horrifying turn as they find themselves, instead of being on the crimefighting side of things, as Rebecca normally is, the victims of a terrifying crime.

Even as we're absorbing this turn of events, things really take a wild turn, but it's a believable turn, as well, because Berenson is a skillful author who weaves a complicated yet plausible plot. At least as important, he has the power to develop his characters so we care about what happens to them. Too many authors expect readers to just care about whoever they throw out there, even without proper character development, but Berenson is far better at this. He builds the connection, so you're along for the ride.

I will admit that when a favorite author goes in a new direction, I worry about whether I'll like the new effort. Happily, I was well rewarded!

Book Review: "The Radio Operator" by Ulla Lenze

 

This historical novel centers on Josef Klein, a character based on a relative of the author. He came from Germany to settle in New York before World War II. He worked for a printer that did work for local Nazis, among others. His interest in radio came to their attention, and he found himself dragged into doing work for them.

The book follows Josef from his early years in New York through the war years and into his post-war life, including some romantic entanglement that doesn't really possess any passion in the pages of the book. Josef doesn't come across as the most sympathetic character. He's not necessarily someone to be disliked. Rather, he elicits a sort of emotional shrug. 

Even when it comes to the premise of his being a radio operator, a sphere that would have given another author fodder for discussions with far-flung locations during a tumultuous time in history, and allowed her to paint all sorts of interesting scenes, there was nothing there. The author referenced a few conversations with other radio operators in far off lands, but that was it. That part of the story, or a real feel for Josef's love of the radio, wasn't developed.

I don't think the author has the writing power to really develop characters so you care about them. It feels more like she just expects us to care, perhaps because this is based on someone who was a member of her family, so she and her family cared. It just didn't get there for me.  Not a bad book, but definitely not a page-turner, either.

Vaccination & a new year

So here we are, finally in 2021. I don't think anyone will miss 2020. Happily, the very end of 2020 saw Marc getting his first of two shots to immunize him against COVID-19. He got that first shot yesterday morning. By 7pm last night, he had a sore arm but that was it.

We spent about an hour on a video call starting around 7pm. That's how I remember when he had the sore arm. Our friend Keir was going to be spending his New Year's Eve alone at his place in Bristol, UK, so we decided to join him by video at midnight his time. We all had our drinks and toasted to a better year to come. Then we spent more time catching up. Always great talking to Keir. We haven't seen him in a while!

Now, about that vaccine. Marc was okay. Then he wasn't. Overnight, he got hit with dizziness, nausea and other unpleasant gastrointestinal side effects. That laid him low for much of today. Fortunately, it was easing off by this evening. He let me make him some pasta (elbow macaroni) in chicken broth with mixed vegetables. Then I made a grilled cheese that we split. He's still sore and tired, but he's definitely doing better. Best of all, he's on his way to being protected against this horrible plague that's killing thousands.

On a completely different note, I'm drafting this post on my reMarkable 2 e-ink writing tablet.

I love this thing, but I think I'll tell you more about it in its own, separate post.

Working from home & those "it figures" phone calls

Once I decided not to pursue another in-house position, the headhunter phone calls picked up. Isn't that always the way?

I just got another one about a healthcare position that actually sounded pretty interesting. But no, with the help of a loving and supportive husband, I'm doing what I want to be doing now, mediation and arbitration. Mostly mediation, really. I love how I can use my skills to facilitate discussions and bring people together, to find ways to resolve matters that work for everyone.

But isn't this the way? It feels like I always got the most attention from placement firms and companies when I don't need it. Now if I could just get those companies to talk to me about their employee relations issues and contract with me to address some of them!

Book Review: "Come Fly the World" by Julia Cooke

 

Come Fly the World is a fascinating look at the world of flight attendants in a more glamorous age, although that age clearly was more challenging on a number of levels. Women took on the role of flight attendant ("stewardess" back then) for many reasons, among them the freedom to travel and see the world, personal independence, and the opportunity for freedom that wasn't easily found for women decades ago. This is an era, not so long ago, when the career options for women were limited. Female employees of the State Department, looking to build careers in diplomatic service, had to retire when they got married.

Throughout these decades, as the airline industry grew in a post-World War II world, the tough, smart women who worked for the airlines were witness to a changing world, including some of its glories and its horrors, like their participation in flights carrying soldiers to and from the Vietnam War, and the airlifts to save orphaned children as US involvement drew to a close.

Focusing primarily on Pan Am and the culture that grew with this leading international airline--with discussions of the roles of other airlines, as well--Come Fly the World immerses the reader in the experience airlines, particularly Pan Am, looked to create for travelers in a very different era from today's travel experience. The onboard announcements were part of the "showmanship," as the book quotes a publication of the day pointing out. "Our passengers are starting out on an adventure and we are helping them to get the feel of it immediately." Of course, this also was an era when there was no question about the image the airlines wanted to project in their stewardesses. Applying lipstick the right way, grooming lessons, and so on, all were part of the job. This continued and only took on a cruder tone in the "fly me" era of sexually-charged airline advertising.

While the exploitive nature of this airline-to-employee relationship is dubious, any number of these ladies also enjoyed the sexual and romantic freedom their profession offered. Happily, this book doesn't shy away from exploring this aspect of their careers, either. It's certainly not something that should bring shame. Rather, the freedom to live life as they saw fit is a great thing, and these pioneers of the professional world also helped usher in greater freedom for women in general. This is summed up well with the sharing of Helen Gurley Brown's favorite saying, "Good girls go to heaven. Bad girls go everywhere."

For those of us who wish we'd been able to experience the jet age and its classier approach to travel, being reminded of the days when airlines turned out guide books with tips on how to get the most out of visiting one city or another, Come Fly the World is a slice of happy time travel. Hitting an excellent balance between the glory of that era and the realities and challenges of life for those who lived it, the author does an excellent job of letting us experience life from the perspective of some of those who were on the front lines of the age.

From the first American flights to Moscow and the stewardesses' watching out for KGB surveillance to experiencing Beirut before it was devastated, back when it was the jewel of the Mediterranean, these ladies had amazing experiences. Just reading about what they saw was an exciting trip. Pan Am is gone now, as are a number of its contemporaries, and travel looks different these days, for better or worse, but Come Fly the World is a great read, capturing that era of international travel and the experiences of women who changed not just their world but the face of society going forward.

(I had the opportunity to review an advance copy of Come Fly the World. It's scheduled to be released on March 2, 2021, and I highly recommend it.)

Such an interesting year

Where to begin? Well, if you have lived through it, there's not much I can add about 2020. By turns, it was terrifying, hopeful, frustrating, and so many other adjectives. We've seen death on a staggering scale, and we've worried for ourselves and our loved ones. Whatever you choose, I think most of us are glad it's coming to an end. Vaccines have been produced, with the promise of bringing the COVID-19 pandemic under control. (I won't even talk about politics. If you know me, you know I'm happy we're seeing the end of this administration. If I say more, I'll just go off on a rant.)

I used to work in hospital management. We dealt with disasters in my day. I was at one of NYC's major hospitals when we had the 9/11 terrorist attack. For all that, none of it had the scope of this pandemic. In my years in hospitals, we planned for all sorts of things, including potential bioterror attacks, but this is something else.

On a personal level, this bothers me more, because my husband still works in healthcare. I'd be much more comfortable in harm's way than seeing him at risk. Still, he feels a duty to his work and to his hospital, so off he goes every day. I'm hoping they'll soon have enough vaccine to give it to him. He's supposed to get his first shot pretty soon. Whatever the schedule, it can't be soon enough! I need to know he's safe.

Otherwise, life goes on. I continue to work on my mediation practice. I'm getting more exposure, now that I've built things so I'm on several court panels, including handling a variety of federal cases, and I may even have a nibble to do some ADR work for a hospital, which is a great melding of my old work and my current work.

I'm thankful for my health, my husband's health and our pups. I hope the year ahead is far better than the one about to end. Best wishes to all!

Book Review: The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz

 The Splendid and the Vile is a great history of Winston Churchill and the key people who interacted with him during the early part of World War II in Britain. If you're even a little interested in this period of history, you'll love this book. It's well researched and tells a captivating story. Also, Erik Larson is a great storyteller, so the book flows like a good novel. Highly recommended!

Book review: The Nearest Exit (Milo Weaver #2)

The Nearest Exit just wasn't my cup of tea. Some books in this genre follow government agents who are highly skilled and working to do their government's bidding for the greater good. Others revolve around such agents who are looking to right wrongs they did in the name of their governments, or who are on the run from their agencies who have now turned on them, while still others are about former agents who now follow their own moral code, defending the defenseless and saving those in need.

The Nearest Exit really is none of those. Milo Weaver is damaged goods. He gets caught up in terrible things, from child kidnapping and worse, to thefts to fund operations. It's quite possible this novel is closer to reality than many others, but it's neither a non-fiction work nor a historical novel. It's meant to be entertainment. For me, at least, it really wasn't. Milo is very hard to relate to or feel for. It was a hard book to finish.

Book Review: Too Much and Never Enough by Mary L. Trump, PhD

Too Much and Never Enough doesn't really surprise so much as fill in some of the family history that explains how Donald Trump is so selfish and free of empathy. His father, Fred Trump, was a cold, divisive father, and a selfish, money-obsessed slumlord. Mary Trump recounts a story of Fred Trump personally visiting a tenant who complained of his apartment being cold. Fred, who ordinarily never took off his suit coat, made a point of taking off his coat and rolling up his sleeves, so he could tell the man it was hot in the undeniably cold apartment. Anything to bully, cheat and win. This "self-made man" took big government development handouts, but the truth wasn't an impediment to his and his son Donald's claims. Through the years, he taught Donald to cheat and bully, and he succeeded in making Donald what he wanted.

There's really nothing much here that surprises, particularly if you've watched Donald Trump over his many years of spoiled trust fund baby behavior in New York and since then in Washington DC. This book is informative and well written, but again, not really surprising. 

The Marching Season by Daniel Silva
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The second (and last, as far as I can tell) in Daniel Silva's Michael Osbourne books, The Marching Season has tension, intrigue and a plot that pulls you along at a fast pace. Filled with detail, but not so much as to be tedious, you can connect with the characters, eventually including the lead bad guy in a book with plenty who could vie for that role.

Silva also is to be commended for not tying things up with a bow. He's wise enough to know that things don't always end neatly, happily or morally in the real world. Compromises are made, and sometimes bad guys win.

I enjoyed both books in this short series. Even with his Gabriel Allon books to entertain me, I wish there were more of this series. Well done!


View all my reviews

Heaven Has No Favorites by Erich Maria Remarque
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I found Heaven Has No Favorites to be an unusual book of life and death. A woman dying of tuberculosis in post-war Europe spends time with a man who lives life on the edge. He's a race car driver, tempting fate every time he goes to work, and she just wants to escape from life in her Alpine sanatorium.

Going with Clerfayt, the race car driver, she takes us through various parts of Europe, spending much of her time in Paris. Interesting characters come and go, and we are along for the journey.

I can't properly describe this powerful book. I wouldn't normally go for a book that has such a dark undercurrent haunting its pages, but it moved and was compelling.


View all my reviews

You need to read this book!

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I wouldn't consider Ta-Nehisi Coates the most eloquent of writers. His style can come across as a bit stilted, but in the case of Between the World and Me, that's easily forgiven. This is a very powerful book, exploring the experience of growing up black in a nation that still regularly mistreats the people whose ancestors were once enslaved here.

There's a lot of food for thought in Between the World and Me. Even the way he looks at race is compelling. He says that racism isn't the child of race. Rather, race is the child of racism. And if we recognize that we all really are one race, then that makes sense. I'd just never seen someone put it that way. Still... yes, the desire to oppress others requires the distinction of "race." But without the racist intentions, racial distinctions have no meaning.

This book, written as a message to the author's son, is well worth your time, regardless of your background. It's thought-provoking, intelligently written and very timely as we go through what I hope will be a time of change for the better.


View all my reviews

Seriously, what’s wrong with people?

This woman deserves to be ostracized: Socialite Is 'So Sorry' for Putting 'Others at Risk' at Outdoor Party Before COVID-19 Diagnosis

She knew very well what the risks were, but her arrogance and selfishness had her go ahead anyhow. As her guests spread the virus through the community, how many people are going to die because of her?

Rest in peace, Hot Toddy

I started this blog about 16 years ago, at the urging of a friend. I had read blogs and got to know some very interesting people through the blogosphere. As I started my own blogging adventure, I got to know even more and was welcomed into a community of bloggers. While any online world can bring out the worst in some people, we shouldn't forget all the ones with good hearts who share their best.

One of the people I got to know was a blogger named Michael Todd Pozycki a/k/a Todd Pozycki a/k/a Hot Toddy. He had a blog called Hot Toddy's Toaster Oven. When there was a sort of informal blogger convention here in New York, in May 2005, he was one of the ones who came. I have fond memories of hanging out with him in Greenwich Village, laughing uproariously at one thing after another. Good-natured laughter, because he was a good-hearted person. He was a fun person. He was the kind of guy who made life brighter.

He and fellow blogger Andy Grigsby ("Pony" to his blogging friends and fans) started a podcast. They were a riot to listen to, as were their guests. They had a natural interaction, born of their closeness, I suppose, and also had a skill for podcasting. We happily listened to their many episodes. Then one day, we took a trip to Portland and were on The Todd & Pony Show. That was so much fun!

By the way, don't take the "Hot Toddy" nickname the wrong way. He was quite humble. I forget what brought it up one day, but he said something about what I should expect from "a guy nicknamed Hot Toddy" and laughed about his own nickname, making clear that the name was in fun and his humility was well intact.

I wish he'd lived closer, so we could have seen him more often. In recent years, our contacts were online. Such is life, I suppose. Better than no contact at all. Still, he's one of those friends who you expect to see again, and you'd pick up where you left off, as if 10 minutes had passed, instead of 10 years.

Rest in peace, my friend. The world is darker without you in it. You will be missed.