Review: Starter Villain

 Starter Villain is John Scalzi's conspiracy-leading novel about a secret cabal of villains working together to exploit mankind, and getting foiled by an unsuspecting hero protagonist who's thrown into the situation by sheer dumb luck.

Well, not really --- the plot revolves around Charles' uncle dying and then his estate designating him as a successor. The protagonist in the story is a bit clueless, but smart and somewhat sympathetic, though not someone who lets power grow to his head.

The plot has a million plotholes in it, and you're carried along only by the fun reveals here and there (all the cats are spies working for an evil mastermind). It's a perfectly good airplane novel, but there's nothing deep here. That's true of most Scalzi novels, but what redeems the novel is the Scalzi sense of humor, style, and fast pace which ensures that you won't pause too long to think of the plotholes and the elaborate reveal.

Review: Practical Magic

 I don't even remember how Practical Magic ended up in my borrow queue at the library. Once I did check it out, however, I got sucked into the story and found myself finishing it over 5 days.  The book is in the magic realism genre, there's no real system of magic behind it, and things just happen to the characters. A lot of the "magic" is the magic of old wives tales and stories, like throwing salt over your shoulders, avoiding bad luck, things like that.

What makes the story special is the style. Hoffman's style is a series of stream of consciousness explorations of the characters, with beautiful descriptions and summations of people's past history in relatively few words (the book's 290 pages long --- short by modern standards) and twists and turns. The plot revolves around two sisters whose parents died when they were young and as a result they were brought up by a pair of aunts whom everyone in town thinks are witches. The sisters are contrasts, a responsible one, and a wild one, and fate brings them back together years after the responsible has had kids and moved away from their childhood home.

I won't say that the characters are much special --- perhaps they fall too often into the stereotype of the women they're supposed to represent, especially the kind of person for whom everything is dramatic and end-of-the-world type of thing. The book's resolution is kinda abrupt --- the problems are solved so easily (by love, not cleverness), and I'm not sure can work outside of Hollywood.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book and had fun reading it.

Review: Trigger Warning

 Trigger Warning is Neil Gaiman's latest collection of short fiction and poetry.  I bounced off it the first time I tried to read it, and then read it again recently, this time making it through. It wasn't a particularly good read though --- there are some decent stories but nothing that sparkled the way even the introductory story in his previous collections did. I can't really recommend it.

Review: Jobst Brandt Ride Bike!

It's no secret that I'd been a follower of the late Jobst Brandt for many years, and have indeed read all of his trip reports hoping to follow some of his routes and glean his hotel recommendations. When Isola press offered a Kickstarter copy of a book with photos from his various outings to the alps I jumped on it, knowing full well that most of the text would have been stuff I'd read before.

My kickstarter copy was a softcover with high quality perfect bound back. The binding is such that it's not easy for the book to lay flat, so it's best read with both hands on the book. The photographs and drawings are reproduced with high fidelity, including the faded photographs from his youth. The slides of course reproduce well with no hint of color fading. You get to see how much ice there used to be on the Rhone Glacier and on Grosse Scheidegg back in the 70s and 80s, and how the glaciers there are now but pale shadows of their former self. You also get to see how few cyclists there used to be.

I did learn many things in this book, including about his honeymoon drive through the alps, as well as the story of how he got into Stanford (yes, faculty kids do get legacy-style access to top universities).   The old ad copy of him leaning his bike way over on treadless tires reminds me that so many follow-ons (like Jan Heine) are basically frauds in terms of actually understanding the mechanics behind traction. The text is well organized and fun to read, including stories from industry luminaries such as Tom Ritchey and Joe Breeze (who's confusedly abbreviated as JBr in the book!).

The whole book oozes quality, and I reads it cover to cover in a night. You're unlikely to find it at the library but it will look nice on your bookshelf. Recommended.

Review: The Age of Scientific Wellness

 The Age of Scientific Wellness is an attempt to tell the same story as Peter Attia's Outlive. The authors co-founded Arivale, which failed after spending $50m in funding on 5000 members. The book explains the principles between scientific wellness, which is basically individualized medicine, personalized to your genome, and tuned to your lifestyle. One example is to use a continuous glucose monitor to track your blood sugar and tune how you eat. Another example is using genomic knowledge to know what diseases you're particularly susceptible to, and then either use supplements, lifestyle changes, or other modifications to avoid them.

The book's on the long winded side and more than a little self-promoting, which is a bit rich coming from someone who's start failed. On the one hand, I like the idea, and would love to participate (and I already have CPAP machines and smart watches collecting more data about myself than I know what to do with), and on the other hand, I wonder about the costs and effectiveness. It's quite clear to me that only a small percentage of people can live according to the regime such a wellness approach would recommend --- think about the number of people who will drive their kids 2 blocks to school, or who refuse to exercise no matter what their blood pressure is.

I like the ideas behind the book --- I'm just not convinced that the ideas can be implemented at a population scale.

2023 Books of the Year Selection

 This year, I read 42 non-fiction books, 36 novels, 11 graphic novels (actually much more than that since I'm only counting reviews and I frequently clomp a ton of individual volumes into 1 review), watched 3 video lecture series, and audited 6 audio books. That's about 98 different volumes that I felt were worth reviewing and a substantial amount of reading. I even got to the point where sometimes I would shove in reviews on a Wednesday rather than just sticking to my Monday/Thursday posting schedule.

As usual, it was a great year for non-fiction. I really enjoyed The Beginning of Infinity, Chip War, The Making of the Atomic Bomb, The People's Hospital, American Prometheus, and Outlive. But the book that made me the most uncomfortable was Politics is for Power, an indictment of the typical college graduate's approach to politics, which all too often describes what I do, which is liking a Facebook meme instead of taking concrete action. I think it behooves all of us to take concrete action instead of just moaning and groaning about how the far right (which does take concrete action) is taking over the world.

On the fiction side of the fence, it was also a surprisingly good year, between all the Neil Gaiman books I had been reading to Boen, revisiting old classics like The Mists of Avalon, and discovering R. F. Kuang. I really enjoyed Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, A Half-Built-Garden, Fire & Hemlock, The Way Home, and Babel. But what blew me away was Ra. This is science fantasy/fiction dialed all the way up to 11, and done well with plot twists that you don't see coming as well as grand reveals that would be the centerpiece of a lesser novelist being treated as mere stepping stones to an even bigger reveal that is being setup that really does blow your mind. I really need to stop being cheap and just buy up qnmt's other books and read them.

On the Graphic novel end I was very pleased to discover that new Astro-City volumes had come out and that many of them were just as good as the previous ones. I enjoyed reading HeartStoppers and Logicomix, but the one that surprised me by how good it was was Bea Wolf.

I enjoyed all the great courses video series I watched, but Epic Engineering Failures and the Lessons They Teach was outstanding and well worth your time. If you're an engineer you owe it to yourself to watch this.

For audio books this year I enjoyed The Big Questions of Philosophy, and the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, but the only reason I had an audible subscription at all was for The Sandman Act III. If Amazon wants my money they better make Act IV!

All in all, my book of the year was Ra. I think you should check it out. Here's to another great year of reading for 2024!

Review: The Fourth Turning Is Here

 The Fourth Turning Is Here is a rehash of Neil Howe and William Strauss' classic book of cliodynamics, Generations. Howe & Strauss has one very appealing theory, which is that American History is driven by the four stroke cycles of 4 archetypical generations. The reason for this 4 stroke cycle is that each generation of adults parent in an opposing style from the way they were raised, which drives the dominant personality type of each successive generation.

It's clear that in this book, Howe has refined his thinking and come up with good names for each archetype: Prophet (the Boomers), Nomad (Gen X), Hero (Millenials), and Artist (post-Millenials). He points out that this sort of cycle has been seen over and over in pre-American history as well:

First, the dynasty is born in a crisis moment of invasion or rebellion; second, it grows and strengthens; third, it reaches its zenith of generosity and power (a “midpoint” he compares to a person’s peak functional age); fourth, it weakens and declines; and fifth, it perishes. The early stages of strong social cohesion are marked by coarse (pastoral) manners, simple laws that are obeyed, a thirst for reputation, and modest affluence, equally shared. The late stages of withering ‘asabiyya are marked by refined (urban) manners, complex laws that are evaded, a thirst for money, and great riches, hoarded by a few. (Kindle Loc 1189)

 Howe brings up historical epochs in the past, from the Civil War to the Great Awakening, to The Glorious Revolution and of course the Revolutionary War. These examples are used to illustrate the operating principles behind his theory. The idea is that societies post-crisis go into institutional building mode, successfully providing the basis for material welfare and great works (think about the interstate highway system, rural electrification, and the race to the moon). After material welfare has been satisfied, the next generation focuses on processes and codification, followed by a spiritual generation that ignores material welfare and searches for inner meaning, followed by a generation driven by pragmatism and need to survive, after which a crisis will occur that resets the society, assuming it successfully overcomes the challenge.

There are a few subtle points new to this book:

• Howe argues that the world has converged to a single generational cycle, since World War 2 effectively reset all societies.
• He further argues that while the individual events are unpredictable (there are wars and crisis in every generation), society's reactions to those crisis are not. In retrospect, he says, it was obvious that World War 1 would not resolve satisfactorily because of the generational constellations, while World War 2 was seized upon and built upon to reset society.

Only after these enemies surrendered unconditionally did America relent. And not only relent. America used its newfound global authority to reconstruct these nations as liberal democracies—a successful exercise in “nation building” that later generations would dismiss as hopelessly beyond their power....In fact, long-term solutions to big issues happen only when the nation reinvents itself. And that happens not on a sunny summer day—but on a dark winter day when citizens’ backs are against the wall and every available option points to sacrifice and danger. Paradoxically, the nation makes its most serious commitments to its long-term future precisely when its near-term existence seems most in doubt. These are the moments when everyone comprehends, as Benjamin Franklin allegedly quipped just after adding his signature to the Declaration of Independence, that “we must all hang together or most assuredly we will all hang separately.” (kindle loc 5304-5342)

Assuming you buy Howe's premise, how does Howe use his theory to predict the future. He claims that we're in the midst of a generational crisis now (Prophets in elderly age and Heroes in their youth) that will resolve in a climax somewhere around 2032. He gives no specifics but predicts that the most likely scenario is a war. 

During the Millennial Crisis climax, acting out of necessity, America’s political leaders will have overhauled major parts of the economy that are today encumbered with decades of dysfunctional subsidies, NIMBY regulations, and barriers to competition that favor incumbents. These large “social” sectors—including education, health care, communications, finance, and construction—today amount to roughly half of GDP. They constitute a major roadblock to rising living standards because they currently experience negative productivity growth during a typical year, which means that their prices rise faster than average workers’ income. All this will change in the next First Turning. From banking, colleges, and home building to hospitals, big pharma, and social media, countless industries will be jolted back to life during the years of emergency. With a fresh policy framework in place, take-home wages will jump, public budgets will find welcome relief, and a vast economic frontier will again be open to innovation...By the 2040s, measures of wealth and income inequality will have declined from the historically exceptional levels of the late 2010s. This decline in inequality will likely happen in two stages. The first stage will be sudden and will accompany the inflation, mobilization, and economic regimentation triggered by the Crisis climax. The second, more gradual stage will be set in motion by the First Turning’s transformed economic and policy environment. Full employment with rapid earnings growth, augmented by a higher minimum wage, will expand workers’ share of national income. Immigration rates will remain well below what they were before the Crisis era began in 2008—and reduced immigration will effectively bid up low-skilled wages. Comprehensive taxation of capital income and bequests will lighten the middle-class tax burden. Social welfare programs will become relatively less generous for the nonpoor elderly and relatively more generous for young working families. (kindle loc 7427-7447)

The one thing that I respect most about Howe & Strauss has been that they have not flinched at using their theory to make predictions. So far, their prediction of a generational crisis made in their  1991 has come true. If what they wrote about the global cycle it also means that there's no way to escape the coming crisis --- no place on the planet will be exempt. May we all live to see whether or not his predictions post 2033 will be true!

Review: How We Learn

 How We Learn is a book about how the human brain works as far as learning is concerned. You've probably know of the results from previous readings, but the book puts them all together into one place and is written in a clearly accessible manner. Here's my summary of the main poitns:

• Cramming works, but doesn't result in long lasting memory or learning
• Learning facts, vocabulary, or other feats of memorization is best done using a system of spaced repetition. There are many spaced repetition apps such as SuperMemo that can help you with this so you can have the optimal learning in the least time
• Interleaving problems is important for learning which tools to use when (STEM field classwork is mostly about learning tools, and STEM exams are about applying those tools to solve problems). That means whenever you're doing exercises you should not just do exercises on the current tool you're learning to use, but tools that you learned previously as well. By the way, this is an indictment of the way US schools teach Math, by separating it into subtopics like Algebra, Geometry, etc. The British system where Math is just Math and all the subtopics are interleaved is more effective.
• Distractions, far from being the disaster that many people assume they are, can be used as a tool to let your learning systems percolate what it's learn over time. A little distraction every hour or so is not a bad thing.
• When doing big projects, getting started is the hard part. Once you've started, a partially completed task actually sticks better in your memory!

I guess you don't actually have to read the book since I could summarize it so easily, but I enjoyed it anyway.

Review: Elder Race

 Elder Race is Adrian Tchaikovsky's fantasy/science fiction novel set in a colony of Earth that has lost contact with the home planet. It starts with what looks like a typical fantasy quest, the fourth daughter of a queen embarking to seek the help of a wizard for an insoluble problem, and then switches the perspective to that of the wizard, who turns out to be a junior Anthropologist abandoned on the planet he was supposed to study.

The book switches perspective between the two protagonists, and we get both the technical views of the situations as well as the raw fantasy view. The anthropologist communicates through a translator, and there's a fantastic section where he explains the origins of the colony and the translator translate it into a high fantasy explanation in parallel. The book shows both texts side by side and it makes for great reading.

The book is short and doesn't outstay its welcome. It covers common other themes such as the prime directive as well as developing the characters and providing plausible explanations of stereotypical wizard behavior. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Recommended.

Review: The World of JRR Tolkien

 The World of JRR Tolkein is a series of 8 lectures on Tolkein. Rather than just the Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit and the Silmarillion were also covered, with various references to Tolkien's life and the history of his creation of the languages. One interesting titbit that I learned from the lecture series that I didn't learn elsewhere was that Tolkien intentionally tried to create a mythology of England, since unlike the other countries comprising the United Kingdom, he didn't feel that England had its own mythology.

The lecture series goes deeply into languages, gender, and race, but skimps quite a bit on Tolkien's work on Beowulf, and doesn't get into his relationship with his children at all. I bought it on sale, and it was quite short. I don't feel that it's nearly as good as Tolkein and the West, which I think is a much deeper lecture series.