Every month we show what is on our reading table.

This month we added five new books. We finished reading several; ‘As Time Goes By”, “Memory’s Legion’ and “Shinano!”.

  1. “Stand” (114 pages, paperback, 2022) by Pastor Jon Benzinger: From a local church we visited: “You are in the midst of the greatest attack on Christianity in your life. Make no mistake, the war is coming for you. The question is, will you be ready for it and will you fight or fold? This easy-to-understand book clarifies the change you’re sensing in our culture, at your church, your job, or your school, and gives you tools to stand faithfully against this aggressive and heretical attack on the gospel. Jon Benzinger is the Lead Pastor of Redeemer Bible Church in Gilbert, Arizona, contributor to the Redeeming Truth podcast, founder of helpingpastors.org, and President of the Redeemer Center for Church Leadership.”
  2. “As Time Goes By” (432 pages, paperback, 1998) by Michael Walsh: The Amazon description is: “You know what happens right after Casablanca‘s Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) walks off with Capt. Louis Renault (Claude Rains) into the mist? This novel. Walsh, a former crime reporter and Timemagazine music critic, can’t equal the beautiful relationships in the classic film, but he does give us a clever takeoff on the tale, with less romance but much more action. As Time Goes By is both a prequel and a sequel, fleshing out Rick’s mysterious life by flashing back to his 1930s New York gangland past and taking us with him, Ilsa, and Sam the piano man as they plot to kill Reinhard Heydrich, the Hangman of Prague. Rick Blaine started out as Yitzik Baline, who learned to shoot in the booze-fueled underworld of Tick-Tock Shapiro and Dion O’Hanlon. A fracas that made Walter Winchell’s column explains why Rick wound up in the Casablanca gin joint.” We will have an extensive Floating Book Review on this including an alternate plot.
  3. “Memory’s Legion” (432 pages, paperback, 2022) by James A Corey: I picked this up at a Barnes and Noble visit along with the next book. The Amazon description is: “From Leviathan Wakes to Leviathan Falls, James S. A. Corey’s Hugo Award-winning Expanse series has redefined modern space opera. Now, available in print for the first time comes the complete collection of short fiction set in the Expanse universe, including both a brand-new novella set after the events of Leviathan Falls and author’s notes on each story.”
  4. “It’s Elemental: The Hidden Chemistry in Everything” (304 pages, paperback, 2022) by Kate Biberdorf: I picked this up at a Barnes and Noble visit along with the previous book. The Amazon description is: “Have you ever wondered what makes dough rise? Or how your morning coffee gives you that energy boost? Or why your shampoo is making your hair look greasy? The answer is chemistry. From the moment we wake up until the time we go to sleep (and even while we sleep), chemistry is at work—and it doesn’t take a PhD in science to understand it.”
  5. “Shinano!: The Sinking of Japan’s Secret Supership” (250 pages, paperback, 1987) by Joseph F. Enright and James W. Ryan: I forgot how I came to buy this book, but it was great. Firsthand accounts by Enright on the submarine side and recreation of Abe (who literally went down with his ship) dialog on the carrier side based on discussions with those who were there. The Amazon description is: “Shinano was the largest warship in history to be sunk by a submarine, and Enright was the skipper of the sub that sank it. This firsthand account, based on Enright’s recollections and statements by American and Japanese veterans of the action, can be recommended without hesitation as a WW II naval classic. While the basic story is simple, its unfolding is as complexly gripping as a chess match between grandmasters. The opponents: Commander Enright and his counterpart, Capt. Toshio Abe, commander of Shinano.”
  6. “Ireland: A Concise History from the Twelfth Century to the Present Day” (272 pages, paperback, 2005) by Paul Johnson. Paul Johnson passed away this month. He was a historian, a GIANT. I’ve read some of his other books and came across this ‘small’ book on the history of Ireland. Since Michelle’s father’s father emigrated from Ireland and in memory of Johnson, I bought this book. Outstanding. The very first sentence states the thesis and is both interesting and provocative “The English presence in Ireland arose from the failure of Irish society to develop the institution of monarchy.” The Amazon description is: “Drawing from a wealth of historical and scholarly sources, Johnson traces the important social, religious and political development of Ireland’s struggle to become a unified, settled country. Johnson describes with accurate detail Ireland’s barbarous beginnings, Oliver Cromwell’s religious “crusade,” the tragic Irish potato famine, the Ulster resistance and the outstanding fact of the constant British-Irish connection and the fearful toll of life it exacted. Among the anonymous multitude are famous names such as “Silken Thom” Kildare, Thomas Wentworth, Archbishop Plunkett and Lord Frederick Cavendish. And yet many great men marshaled their energies and wits to settle Ireland: Sir Henry Sidney, Sire Walter Raleigh, Edmund Spenser, Churchill and others.”
  7. “The Laws of Human Nature” (624 pages, paperback, 2018) by Robert Greene. I came across this book at Barnes and Nobel and passed it in favor of “Memory’s Legion” and “It’s Elemental” above. But it intrigued me, so I searched on Greene and ended up buying this book and the next, “Mastery”. The Amazon description is: “Robert Greene is a master guide for millions of readers, distilling ancient wisdom and philosophy into essential texts for seekers of power, understanding and mastery. Now he turns to the most important subject of all – understanding people’s drives and motivations, even when they are unconscious of them themselves. We are social animals. Our very lives depend on our relationships with people. Knowing why people do what they do is the most important tool we can possess, without which our other talents can only take us so far.”
  8. “Mastery” (368 pages, paperback, 20113) by Robert Greene. I came across this book at Barnes and Nobel and passed it in favor of “Memory’s Legion” and “It’s Elemental” above. But it intrigued me, so I searched on Greene and ended up buying this book and the previous one. The Amazon description is: “Each one of us has within us the potential to be a Master. Learn the secrets of the field you have chosen, submit to a rigorous apprenticeship, absorb the hidden knowledge possessed by those with years of experience, surge past competitors to surpass them in brilliance, and explode established patterns from within. Study the behaviors of Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, Leonardo da Vinci and the nine contemporary Masters interviewed for this book.”

NEW

  1. “Just Kids” (320 pages, paperback, 2010) by Patty Smith: I stumbled across my copy of Patti Smith’s song, “Because the Night”. I went down the rabbit hole and looked up the history of the song and Smith. I’m glad I did. She is an amazing writer. “Just Kids begins as a love story and ends as an elegy. It serves as a salute to New York City during the late sixties and seventies and to its rich and poor, its hustlers and hellions. A true fable, it is a portrait of two young artists’ ascent, a prelude to fame.”

The song was started by Bruce Springsteen and finished by Patti Smith. Here is her live performance that I absolutely love:

Desire is hunger is the fire I breathe

Love is a banquet on which we feed

 

Love is an angel disguised as lust

Here in our bed until the morning comes

‘Just Kids’ is the story about her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe. But her completion of the song was inspired by Fred ‘Sonic’ Smith, lead singer for the MC5 (Motor City 5) with whom she had two children.

Here is MC5 singing “Shakin’ Street”:

  1. “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry” (304 pages, paperback, 2019) by John Mark Comer: This book was recommended by DCE Maddie. Anxiety is a big problem in today’s world. From the Amazon description “Corrie ten Boom once said that if the devil can’t make you sin, he’ll make you busy. There’s truth in that. Both sin and busyness have the exact same effect—they cut off your connection to God, to other people, and even to your own soul.” From An Amazon review is: “Hurry to this, hurry to do that, hurry hurry hurry. The things I do and fill my life with aren’t even bad things. They’re, mostly, good things. This book isn’t about stopping doing those things but how to slow down, let my soul catch up with my body…”
  2. “The Seeds of War” (347 pages, paperback, 2022) by Alaric Bond: The 15th, and last(?) in our series. Great and getting better. The Amazon description is: “Spring 1814 and, after four exhausting years on the North American Station, HMS Tenacious is finally heading home. With the war in Europe drawing to a close, it is even doubtful whether she will be needed again while her captain has his own reasons to reach England. But their journey is broken by a strange encounter, and many are soon robbed of the peace they have earned as a new and particularly wicked enemy emerges, one that threatens far more than their personal safety.”
  3. “Ark (A Novel of the Flood)” (544 pages, paperback, 2010) by Stephen Baxter: I found this when I was looking at “Memory’s Legion” above. It’s supposed to be another hard science fiction novel, actually a series of novels. We will see. From the Amazon description: “As the waters rose in FLOOD, high in the Colorado mountains the US government was building an ark. Not an ark to ride the waves but an ark that would take a select few thousand people out into space to start a new future for mankind. Sent out into deep space on a journey lasting years, generations of crew members carry the hope of a new beginning on a new, incredibly distant, planet. But as time passes knowledge and purpose is lost and division and madness grows.”
  4. “The Medieval Cannon 1326–1494” (48 pages, paperback, 2019) by Jonathan Davies: I ran across a description of this book and had to buy it. The great thing about the book is that they don’t just look at the historical records, they also test out recreations of the cannon. An Amazon review is: “The author has drawn heavily on period manuscripts and art touching cannons in their variety and use. Of note, he has also included data on the performance of such weapons as indicated by modern reproductions and re-enactors. The narrative includes fascinating data on ranges, rates of fire, potential effectiveness, and battlefield hazard. His conclusions are brief but to the point. The text is very nicely supported by period and modern illustrations, and photographs. Well recommended to the interested student of Medieval warfare.”

Not pictured:

  1. “The One Year Bible” with help from the “Lutheran Study Bible“.