Welcome to 2016! And for the 10 million or so Baby Boomers who turn 65 today, Happy Birthday! It’s hard to believe that the 3.5 to 4 million of us born in 1951 have made in this far. But here we are. And here is my book list from 2015. Unlike last year, I included all the books I read…the good, the bad and the ugly. Fortunately, nearly all were good. Some very good. All on this list are rated on a five star basis. So without further adieu, here goes…
Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now (#1)
With the memories of Paris and San Bernadino still fresh in our collective conscience, reading this book (the last of the year) was timely. It is also well written and informative. And yes, a bit frightening too. Ayaan Hirsi Ali a Somali born activist speaks to her experience of being raised in a traditional Muslim family, her decision to abandon Islam and the belief that real reformation is needed. The need to cherish the value of “life before death” is the central theme and a good one.
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The Global War on Morris: A Novel (#2)
OK, I’m not all that funny and I’m not Jewish, but Steve Israel is both. OK, I said the same thing last year about Billy Crystal’s book. But unlike Crystal, Steve Israel us a US Congressman who is also a very witty writer. Our hero, the never-make-waves pharmaceutical salesman Morris Feldstein unwittingly takes on some terrorists who seem to lose their enthusiasm for self-martyrdom. A light-hearted look at one of the world’s biggest challenges, if that’s possible. Israel makes it work.
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The Nightingale (#3)
This is a well-written novel about two sisters who suffer the ravages of World War II in France. If you liked Ken Follett’s Century trilogy, you will like this book. I liked it much more. Unlike Follett, author Kristin Hannah narrows the scope of her story to the lives on Vianne and Isabelle Mauriac. The result is a much richer read as her characters develop more fully and again, unlike Follett, more believably. «««««
The Wright Brothers (#4)
We all know the story of the Wright Brothers and how they were the first to fly at Kitty Hawk in 1903. Vineyard resident David McCullough tells the backstory in a way that only he can. Rich in detail, the Wright Brothers come to life in a way that tells us more about these early 20th century American heroes as only McCullough can.
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Whistle Stop: How 31,000 Miles of Train Travel, 352 Speeches, and a Little Midwest Gumption Saved the Presidency (#5)
Count me among those who find that the current process to elect a President an assault on the senses. If you long for the pre-Twitter days when strong campaign speeches and a lot of pressing the flesh were the calling cards of a candidate, then you will love this story about Harry Truman. What makes this a great read is that the story is true.
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The Martian (#6)
For me, this is of those rare cases where the movie was better than the book. The book was good, but for a non-technical person like me, it carried a bit too much data. Still, author Andy Weir made our hero astronaut Mark Watney funny and likeable under extremely dire circumstances.
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The God Delusion (#7)
Richard Dawkins, an avowed atheist and pre-eminent scientist speaks to the irrationality of the notion of belief in God and how it has caused grievous harm to society. And yes, of course he’s right. But his compulsion to wash all believers with the same cloth is a bit of a reach. His points could be made without preaching about why atheism works.
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The Girl on the Train (#8)
If you’re in the mood for a good mystery/chiller, then you will like this book. Our heroine (Rachel) is the girl on the train and her infatuation with a presumably happy couple she sees everyday serves as the backdrop. The fact that Rachel has plenty of warts (alcoholism and other issues) makes her real and the book a fun read.
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Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania (#9)
I knew that the Lusitania was a luxury liner that was sunk by a German U-Boat and it likely precipitated the United States entry into World War I. What I hoped for when I read this book was to learn more about the story and the people involved. How could this happen? How could it be allowed to happen? While there is an occasional drag to author Erik Larson’s story, there is much to be learned about a very interesting time in world history.
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The Johnstown Flood (#10)
This is the book that started it all for David McCullough. His first work, published in 1968 tells the amazing tale of the Johnstown flood of 1889. Some of the survivors were alive when he wrote this which makes the story of this disaster that took place 126 years ago compelling. There were many stories of many people, and there were times when I felt I needed a scorecard to keep up.
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Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream (#11)
I am a big fan of Doris Kearns Goodwin and still have a few more of her books to read. Thus far, I would rank what I have read as follows: No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II (1), Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln (2), The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism (3). They were all great and I almost could have listed them in any order. This book on LBJ doesn’t fall into that class. The story was well told, but the book was much longer than it needed to be.
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The Racketeer (#12)
John Grisham always tells a good story and this one was indeed enjoyable. Still, he deviated from his normal story line, which to me means that his stories are believable. This one was not, but still fun.
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The Teammates: A Portrait of a Friendship (#13)
I read this book because I am a Red Sox fan and I loved another book by the late David Halberstam - Summer of ’49. This book tells a more intimate story of players on my father’s Red Sox team: Dominic DiMaggio, Johnny Pesky, Bobby Doerr and Ted Williams. A good book, not great.
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81 Days Below Zero (#14)
Okay. This book was “okay” by war story standards, but it didn’t capture my attention as other stories of World War II have. Yes, the story was amazing, but it dragged a bit.
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Many Lives Many Masters (#15)
I have to admit, I really enjoyed reading this book, which prompted me to read another book by Brian Weiss – Same Soul Many Bodies. The reason two books these rank lower than the rest is that upon retrospection, I am not sure what to make of these claims of past life experiences. He does make a good case for it. Maybe I am just not ready to hear it.
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Same Soul Many Bodies (#16)
See above.
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Bull Mountain (#17)
Interesting story. But if this were made into a movie, it would be in the “B” class. Lots of violence and degradation were central to the story. Not my style.
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Last Man Off: A True Story of Disaster and Survival on the Antarctic Seas (#18)
Have you ever ordered Chilean Sea Bass at a restaurant? Sounds nice, but in reality the fish is actually known as Patagonian Toothfish. That much I remember from this book. Another story about survival on the high seas, but frankly given that the author is one of the survivors I am not sure about the authenticity of the story.
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The Plane That Wasn’t There: Why We Haven’t Found Malaysia Flight 370 (#19)
I must have been in the mood for a good conspiracy book, and this seemed to for the bill. The author writes the book under the theory that the Russians somehow stole the aircraft and redirected it. The story was a real reach and when wreckage started to wash ashore in the southern hemisphere after this book was written, it pretty much shot holes in the story. You can pick it up for free with Kindle unlimited. Enough said.
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