October
Carlo Rovelli (2018). The Order of Time. [Audible] Narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch. Penguin Audio.
“People assume time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it’s more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff” (David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor in "Blink," Doctor Who, third series, episode 10. Written by Steven Moffat.)
This book is a mind-bending exploration of the nature of time. Is time a construct to measure the intersections of events? Do the past, present, and future all exist equally? Is time faster in some places than others? Is time experienced phenomenologically or physically?
The book tries to be both science and philosophy, and I'm not convinced it succeeds. There are some thought-provoking, poetic quotes scattered throughout the text, and when spoken by Benedict Cumberbatch, they become magical, even if they are ultimately meaningless.
“We are stories, contained within the twenty complicated centimeters behind our eyes, lines drawn by traces left by the (re)mingling together of things in the world, and oriented toward predicting events in the future, toward the direction of increasing entropy, in a rather particular corner of this immense, chaotic universe”
“None of the pieces that time has lost (singularity, direction, independence, the present, continuity) puts into question the fact that the world is a network of events. On the one hand, there was time, with its many determinations; on the other, the simple fact that nothing is: things happen.”
“Perhaps the rivers of ink that have been expended discussing the nature of the ‘continuous’ over the centuries, from Aristotle to Heidegger, have been wasted. Continuity is only a mathematical technique for approximating very finely grained things. The world is subtly discrete, not continuous. The good Lord has not drawn the world with continuous lines: with a light hand, he has sketched it in dots, like the painter Georges Seurat.”
In the end, does anybody really know what time is it anyway?
Roy Huff (2022). Time Travel Tribulations.
Dinosaurs got in the way of enjoying this trudge through space and time. It got preachy toward the end, and there will probably be more books based on the not-so-subtle final paragraph. Hopefully future variants will reclaim some of the things I liked about the other one I read.
Elise Hart Kipness (2023). Lights Out. Thomas & Mercer. ** Read post-surgery for clavicle repair. Take review with a grain of salt.
Murder and mayhem with a couple of crooked cops jumping to conclusions make for good entertainment. While the gotcha moment was too easy, I still liked the book. Definitely good for October fireside indulgence.
Roy Huff (2021). The Trouble with Time Travel. ASIN:B08H8TKXXN. ** Read post-surgery for clavicle repair. Take review with a grain of salt.
Time travel is fun?
I enjoyed this trek across time and times, even if it got confusing now and then. Of course, some of that may be due to post surgery brain fog; then again the fog may have let my imagination run amok. I liked the characters and the optimism running throughout the story. In a world gone mad, hope is a delightful distraction.
Alex Woodard (2023). Ordinary Soil. Greenleaf Book Group Press.
There is a saying that says the sins of the father extend to the third and fourth generation; this story exemplifies how. Over five generations of Indian men worked this Oklahoma land. From the first whose desire was to live in harmony with it to the last who needed to survive, the generations made mistakes, ignored the wisdom of their ancestors, and became increasingly sick. When a young doctor makes a connection between the chemicals used to improve crops and the illnesses of the farmers, the last generation has an opportunity to rebuild the depleted soil and improve their own health. There is nothing ordinary about natural soil.
The ghost of the ancestor who first farmed the land tries to teach his descendants to nurture the soil, but it took four generations, illnesses, and decisions made in desperation for the men of the land to understand. Stewarding the land means working it respectfully. This book makes the case for living from the soil instead of chasing a profit by using the soil in ways that deplete it.
The book is very well written, with some beautiful imagery. An exploration of how the past influences the present and the future runs through the text.
Tish Harrison Warren (2016). Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life. [Audible] Narrated by Sarah Zimmerman. IVP.
There is much to appreciate about this book. Warren walks readers through the mundane moments of a normal day, pointing out that even the most ordinary tasks (making the bed, eating leftovers) can have a holy significance. Simply put, few people live lives of great acclaim and "important" work. Most of us live in the ordinary practices of mundane things. Warren asserts that these practices are just as holy as "big" tasks. It is a good reminder that God puts us where He wants us to be so that we can be His witness, even in the simple and ordinary things. She has some good quotes that are alternately humorous and pointed:
"Everyone wants a revolution. No one wants to do the dishes."
"Ordinary love, anonymous and unnoticed as it is, is the substance of peace on earth, the currency of God's grace in our daily life."
“Christian worship, centered on Word and sacrament, reminds me that my core identity is not that of a consumer: I am a worshiper and an image-bearer, created to know, enjoy, and glorify God and to know and love those around me.”
“What if days passed in ways that feel small and insignificant to us are weighty with meaning and part of the abundant life that God has for us?”
“We are not left like Sisyphus, cursed by the gods to a life of meaninglessness, repeating the same pointless task for eternity. Instead, these small bits of our day are profoundly meaningful because they are the site of our worship.”
The book is probably better read than heard so that these and other nuggets can be paused and pondered.
Sari Gilbert (2021). Deadline Rome: The Vatican Kylix. Independently published.
This is a quick read with plenty of action and satisfying twists. Set in Italy, 1980, the mystery begins with an ancient wine cup and a severed ear. From there it becomes a quest for a story about the kylix by a journalist and investigation into a kidnapping. The two elements merge together as the story unfolds, reaching deep into the Vatican bank and overseen by a mysterious "Grandfather." My primary complaint about the book is the ways in which the characters are conveniently discarded when their usefulness to moving the plot forward is done. There was also a plot point that was not necessary and made more of a social commentary than the story needed. Still, it was well written by a former journalist for whom this is the first novel.
Carlotta Walls LaNier (2010). A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School. Random House
A story about a time in the U.S. that must not be forgotten, this book relives the integration of Little Rock High School by the "Little Rock Nine." Written by the youngest of the nine, it is a compelling reminder that prejudices and attitudes toward any "other" are far too easily made mainstream. The fact that all humans are created Imago Dei must be reiterated until treating fellow humans as anything but is the norm, not the exception.
Elizabeth Letts (2019). Finding Dorothy. [Audible] Narrated by Elizabeth Letts and Ann Marie Lee. Random House Audio.
Charming and interesting, this fictionalized biography of Maud Baum, wife of L. Frank, reveals some of the story behind The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The story is held together by the filming of the Wizard of Oz in 1939, when ingenue Judy Garland burst onto the Hollywood scene with her "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." Much of this part of the book is speculative; no one knows how much time Baum actually spent on the soundstages, although she was a consultant and there is at least one photo of Baum and Garland.
Many of the myths about the making of the movie are validated in the book, including the remarkable coincidence of L. Frank Baum's turn-of-the-century jacket finding its way on set for Professor Marvel. Other scenes are assumptions based on known dealings with powerful men and young women in Hollywood.
The other part of the story is a description of Maud Baum's life as the daughter of a well-known suffragette. She grew up well-to-do, went to Cornell, and then abandoned her studies (much to her mother's chagrin) to marry an actor whose devotion to his art was second only to his devotion to his family. L. Frank Baum had plenty of issues, particularly around Native Americans, but the book is not about his life, but rather Maud's. Their relationship was a partnership of equal and opposite, with Frank being the life of the party and Maud keeper of the records. Maud's life story also worked its way into the Oz books, and Letts uses her imagination to fill in the details. Like a movie based on a book, a book based on a life sometimes stretches the facts.
WHEW!