Boomsday by Christopher Buckley

Boomsday is a Washington DC political tale that is based on a plan to incentivize the elderly to "remove themselves from society" voluntarily so as to save on the costs of caring for them. The concept is floated as a political joke, a farce to show that more must be done to help the elderly or a plan like this is inevitable. But it seized upon by those who denounce it not realizing it is a farce, and but those who embrace it as a bold new way of dealing with the problems of budgets and increasing Social Security costs. It's a funny set up, and sadly, the reactions are all too likely from those who can't see sarcasm and from those who would embrace anything to save money.

The inventor of the idea continues to push the concept as though it is true and it becomes the dominant political issue of the day. The books reveals (maybe) how the sausage is made in legislation and the halls of power. It's a fun read and a send-up of everything from the religious right to the insatiable news media and punditocracy to the President and Congress and more, all of which can use a good skewering at times. Perhaps too many caricatures but who's going to complain in a book like this.

I got this for about $1 at HPB and will probably just give it away. It was a fun vacation book--light, quick read, funny but still a little thoughtful. I read it while we were in California in June 2013.

The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck

I've liked everything I've read by Steinbeck. Though his vision of humanity is certainly jaded and bleak, I kind of like that in a book. TWOOD was an interesting one, a story of a man who keeps a shop for an immigrant man in a small town but has greater ambitions, and he plots to fulfill those through a betrayal and an ingeniously planned bank robbery. His children long for his respect but he is ultimately let down by one of them. There's a woman he is tempted to commit adultery with. He contemplates suicide despite having his fortune made, though not via the bank robbery as he'd planned.

Ultimately, this one was a little unsatisfying, though. Far-fetched in places and overdramatic in others, it does a good job of portraying the thoughts and motivations of the protagonist, but the plot is a bit too tidy for this kind of story.

I should have expected that. I got my copy of this from a friend who was giving away a lot of books, and when I selected that one, he said that it was not Steinbeck's best work and I probably would not like it. I actually liked it OK as I was reading it, but when I finished I realized it seemed to have been written to be a Hollywood movie. It was apparently made into one, but not a good one at all. Figures.

I started this during a company outing to Six Flags and finished it on our vacation in California. I probably reshelved it but if I find it I'll take to Half Price Books.

Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana, Jr.

Dana wrote this book about his years on board a ship in the1830s. He had just finished law school and signed on for two years to a merchant ship that would end up sailing around the tip of Argentina and to the coast of California to buy hides for return to Boston. The story is well-told by a well-schooled man with a way with words. Harrowing events surround the whole trip, and it paints a thoroughly unpleasant picture of the sailor's life at that time. It was back-breaking work and the work could be for days at a time with no rest if required. It is quite amazing that they make it at all, let alone with a load of hides. The most irenic period is when he is put ashore to help manage the hide-house near San Diego, when he forms friendships with locals and is somewhat comfortable, if bored.

Near the end, I was wondering why anyone would go to sea given the conditions and the absolute sovereignty of the captain over his men, (in his case a capricious one, which sounds not uncommon.) And in his conclusion he reveals that his purpose for writing was to dissuade young men from taking to the sea with any romantic notions of the nobility of the profession.

I heard about this book when we visited California in June. A woodworker at the Santa Barbara sidewalk art show talked to me for quite awhile about the history of the area and where he lived, which was up in Lompoc. He mentioned this book and I got it from the library. I've mentioned it to several people and their boys had all read it when they were young. I guess i missed the book since I have daughters.

The woodworker also told me about the 1923 naval accident at Honda, up the coast a bit from Santa Barbara near Lompoc. I found a book on that which I am reading now.

I finished this book in early July I think.

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

This kind of book is precisely why I do this blog. I found it on my brief list of books that I use to keep track of my reading, and it took some time to recall what it was and why I read it. It came back, but in 6 more months that would have been doubtful.

The story is of a sort of United Nations of planets that is trying to bring another world into the fold for its own protection and benefit. The problem is that the planet does not believe in other civilizations outside their world, and their king distrusts what he assumes is an imposter trying to tie their hands in some way. The planet has its own problems, chief of them being that it's primarily ice, though the people there seem to prefer it that way. The story becomes one of court intrigue in part, though in a very muscular fashion--it is a very primitive planet with primitive ways. The story drags a bit, I thought, when the ambassador and one of the court members undertake to cross a glacial plain in order to get to another outpost of the civilization. The crossing is arduous and well told, but long.

Overall, I loved the book for its ideas, but it was a bit of a tedious read in spots.

Le Guin's book is a classic of sci-fi though I had not heard of it until I read a random twitter post by David Malki, asking why no one had pointed it out to him in the past because it was so brilliant. Seeing that, I put it on the library list and read it, finishing it in mid-May 2013.

A Damsel in Distress by P.G. Wodehouse (Audio book)

One of my favorite Wodehouse books. It's an early Wodehouse (1919 I think) when he was coming into his best form. It is about the events that ensue when the girl Maud hurls herself into a cab of George to hide from someone, and George treats her as a damsel in distress and immediately falls in love with her to boot. He finds her at a country castle and all the to-become-usual Wodehouse events of mistaken and assumed identities ensue. 

Got it from the library in audiobook format. The image is the edition that I have. Cathy and I listened to it in the car on the way to Lyss's graduation in early May. It makes the miles melt away when you have something of this quality to pass the time with. 

Eggs Beans and Crumpets by P.G. Wodehouse

Sounds like breakfast, doesn't it?

One of Wodehouse's collections of short stories, Eggs Beans and Crumpets includes stories of many of the Drones Club members and is hilarious. Enough said.

Pulled it from my Wodehouse collection to read on a sleepless night and read it in a couple of sittings in April 2013. I have a nice Overlook Press copy of it that I received as a gift, and will, of course, be hanging onto it.

Radical Together by David Platt

In Radical Together, David Platt applies his challenges to believers to the corporate entity of the church. We are called to spread the gospel by making disciples but we often neglect to do so because we are wrapped up in the programs of the church itself, leaving no time for loving our neighbor and building relationships with those who need the Lord. He reminds us that we do not need to develop a grand strategy because the Word does the work. The Spirit calls whom He will and He does so by the Word. So Platt calls for less "church activity" and more work in making disciples in our neighborhoods. 

I got this book to read as part of a Session vision meeting and finished it back about April 15, 2013. I'll hang onto it or pass it along.