Mad Honey (Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan)

I've been reading Jodi Picoult for over 20 years, and up until recently, have absolutely devoured her books. The past few have been very disappointing however, so I went into Mad Honey quite tentatively. I'm happy to say that I again devoured this one.

Let's give credit where it's due though -- this book really came about because of co-author Jennifer Finney Boylan, who one night dreamt that she wrote a book with Jodi Picoult. She tweeted this exact fact, to which Picoult responded asking what the book was about. The rest is a match made in heaven.

In Mad Honey, Olivia McAfee escapes her husband's abuse and moves with her son, Asher, to New Hampshire to take over her deceased father's beekeeping business. Lily Campanello also moves to the same town with her mother, Ava. Upon meeting, Asher and Lily fall head over heels for each other, but soon, Lily is dead and Asher is arrested for her murder.

From the beginning, Picoult has written about issues in the headlines, and Mad Honey is crammed with them. I was worried about this because her books sometimes don't work if they focus on too many. But for some reason, this one does, and I actually feel that the book wouldn't be the same without all of them. This books is both heartbreaking and suspenseful -- Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan are a great team.

MY RATING - 4

Life on the Mississippi: An Epic American Adventure (Rinker Buck)

In the 1780s, Jacob Yoder faced a dilemma. His traditional market for selling his harvest was England, which was in the midst of peace negotiations to settle the American War for Independence with the former 13 colonies. Yoder decided to improvise on a solution to take goods to market by hauling them to Western Pennsylvania and sailing down to New Orleans by boat. Yoder’s journey was the impetus of revolution in transportation that helped fuel the growth of the new American republic. The flatboat, a small wooden structure with a flat top and square ends, hauled millions of tons of food and countless slaves and helped fuel expansion of America through the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys. 

Several years ago, author Rinker Buck reenacted Yoder’s flatboat journey. He constructed his own wooden flatboat, with some modern conveniences such as radio, a boat motor, and an updated American flag, and followed the course Yoder took to New Orleans from Western Pennsylvania. He details his journey and our nation’s history with flatboats through his book Life on the Mississippi. In it, Buck discusses the reasons for his journey, his family, but also the hidden messages that were mixed in the book. First, that you can slow reality down. A two month journey in a wooden boat will certainly do that. Second, that the history of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, like that of our country, is complex and there is a lot hidden just beneath the surface or just out of sight. Third, there is a lot of misinformation out there. From a rogue cop giving their definition of “facts” to a plethora of people warning about the certain death of a river journey, Buck deals with misinformation in numerous forms and shows how to get through it. 

Buck’s journey through our nation and our history is rich and detailed. Life on the Mississippi is a great story of separating fact from myth and learning to adapt.

MY RATING - 4.5

Fixing the Climate: Strategies for an Uncertain World (Charles F. Sabel and David G. Victor)

In Fixing the Climate: Strategies for an Uncertain World, authors Charles F. Sabel and David G. Victor believe that the world’s current climate policy frameworks (such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement) are not working as they are intended to. As carbon emissions continue to increase, they feel that different solutions are needed to address the climate, arguing for a different course of action that takes the power out of elected leadership.

The authors argue that to reverse greenhouse gas emissions, solutions must arise from local communities through a combination of government and business. In their idealistic scenario, they see the two working together through a model of experimentation, working with new technologies and promoting those technologies that offer the best solutions to address climate change. They cite such examples as the rise of electric vehicles, addressing the ozone layer and acid rain in the 1980’s and early 1990’s, and Europe’s successes in combating water pollution from industry and agriculture. Their view is that elected leaders and business leaders should encourage more experimentation and a “bottom up” approach to innovative solutions on the climate issue.

The book has detail and depth on some of the technical examples that they cite, which is useful in understanding some of the issues that face the environment. It isn’t the easiest book to read, but their arguments are well-researched and thoughtfully advocated.

MY RATING - 3.5

The Four Ages of American Foreign Policy: Weak Power, Great Power, Superpower, Hyperpower (Michael Mandelbaum)

Michael Mandelbaum’s The Four Ages of American Foreign Policy: Weak Power, Great Power, Superpower, Hyperpower describes the nation’s changing views towards international relations and its gradual increased influence as a world power.

The four ages are roughly defined into 50 to 80 year periods that correspond with major domestic or international events that see America’s role on the international stage transformed. The weak power phase covers the United States’ history through the Civil War, with the great power phase taking it to the conclusion of World War II, at which point the nation became one of the two global superpowers along with the Soviet Union. The fall of the Soviet Union corresponds with the United States’s transition to hyperpower as the only major power internationally. However, the author ends the hyperpower phase in 2015 as China’s rise and America’s unwillingness to be as engaged in international trade and peace relations is setting the stage for a new phase that is to be determined in length and just what America’s role is.

Mandelbaum does a very good job chronicling major American decisions and policies over the country’s history and how those choices impacted the domestic and world stage. The author  highlights the positives and negatives, offering a fair perspective of the country’s foreign policy history. Summing up over 240 years of history into 450 pages is a tough task. While this book does not get in the weeds on every single part of American foreign policy, the major points and concepts are covered with proper care.

MY RATING - 4

Geography is Destiny: Britain and the World: A 10,000-Year History (Ian Morris)

From isolation from continental Europe to integration with it, whether it be by brute force, religious ties, or economic support, the British Isles have had a long, conflicted relationship with Europe. For those of us in America who watched Brexit take place from 3,000 miles away, the context of this struggle between England and Europe was new. However, as Ian Morris points out in his book Geography Is Destiny: Britain and the World: A 10,000-Year History, Britain’s relationship to Europe has been a continual ebb and flow between close ties and distance.

Morris’s book tackles England’s history to the broader world context, but the heaviest focus is on its European relationships. The author talks about the changing worldview and England’s relationship to it - from one where England was the literal edge of the known world (to Europeans), to one where they were the metaphorical center of it, to a geography where they are one of the outsized players on the world’s financial stage (albeit not *the* principal player like it once was). Morris, with brilliance and humor, explains how England evolved and its relationship to the world changed over the centuries.

In about 500 pages, Morris does a wonderful job explaining the major points of British history and its context to modern times. In many respects, what’s past is repetitive prologue in the sense that history has set the stage for the present and that it has, in some ways, repeated itself. Examples of this include England’s relationship to Scotland and Ireland or its relationship to Europe. For us in America, Geography Is Destiny is a great tool in helping us understand English history…and, as a bonus, how one historian perceives our independence in 1776.

MY RATING - 4.5

The Book Lover's Guide to London (Sarah Milne)

It's hard to think of a city with a more rich literary history than London. In Sarah Milne's The Book Lover's Guide to London, the author takes the reader to locations in each area of the city where London's writers (and even their famous characters) were known to frequent or live.

The book is divided nicely into specific areas for easy reference and features beautiful full-color photographs to go along with the text. Some authors are mentioned quite a lot, like Dickens, Woolf and Wilde -- perhaps a bit too much. It would have been nice to read about some lesser-known London authors too. Home addresses are mixed with pubs and other locations (of which quite a few still exist today). 

The one thing I felt lacking in this book was how inconsistently the sections were set up. Some sections had a lot of text that seemed unrelated to the heading. For example, there's a section titled A.A. Milne with additional unrelated information about other authors (like Bram Stoker) -- this was a bit jarring. The book could have used some careful editing. However, most of the stories are interesting, so lovers of London literary history (and just London) will probably enjoy it.

MY RATING - 3

Going Downtown: The US Air Force Over Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, 1961-75 (Thomas McKelvey Cleaver)

Thomas McKelvey Cleaver’s Going Downtown: The US Air Force Over Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, 1961-75 recaps the United States Air Force’s battles in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Cleaver’s book is a successor to his book. The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club, which covered the U.S. Navy during the same timeframe. 

This book is a historical account of the Vietnam War, starting with the context of France’s involvement and Vietnam’s independence movement, crossed with the U.S. Air Force’s campaigns in it. Those major campaigns included “Rolling Thunder”, conducted in the mid 1960’s, followed by “Linebacker I” and “Linebacker II” in 1972. The author talks about the logistical struggles the Air Force had in dealing with a robust air defense system, along with micromanagement of the war from Washington, DC. Also, the author stresses the larger geographic scope of the Air Force’s battles in Southeast Asia, encompassing Laos, Cambodia, and the staging of operations in Thailand. While we think of the Vietnam War for the battles fought in the country, battles were also fought in surrounding countries and there was war support, such as planes and air defense systems, provided for North Vietnam from China and Russia.

Like Cleaver’s book on the Naval battles in Vietnam, Going Downtown incorporates first-person accounts from a number of Air Force veterans and individuals from both North and South Vietnam who fought during this timeframe. Going Downtown is a highly technical, detailed account into the Vietnam War’s aerial battles and the evolving American strategy in the 1960’s regarding North Vietnam’s involvement in South Vietnam.

MY RATING - 4