Driven--#59 finished

 The rest of the title is:  The Race to Create the Autonomous Car.  This is a book about how in early 2000s DARPA--a government defense agency, created a contest/race of sorts for developing an autonomous driven car.  From there several teams competed and the researchers--engineers, computer techs, etc kept going with this concept working on this still to today.  It seems there was a sort of boom cycle on this when Uber and Google were involved--putting millions of dollars into the research and sort of forcing the big 3 automakers to also be involved.  The idea that if ever found a way to develop this were safe for people in car & outside of car, the autonomous driving car would take a large percentage of automobile sales numbers--which is a huge number each year.  While this research hasn't hit the holy grail on this yet, the research has contributed to tech upgrades to cars and trucks.  An interesting read and interesting characters in the book.

I have already posted this on PBS, it is the only copy in system so could get requested, will just have to wait & see.

The Language of Thieves--#58 finished

 This was an interesting read about a sort of secret language in Europe called Rotwelsch.  The author was born and raised in Germany but is a professor at Harvard.  He remembered some things about this language and the symbols used from growing up and during his research found that his grandfather & uncle also had researched this language.  The grandfather's research was done while he was a member of the Nazi party in Germany.  The author believes grandfather could have been a true believer but towards end comes to maybe not--cannot tell for sure.  Author's research into Rotwelsch takes him back to Martin Luther indicating this language has been around a longer time than he first believed.  This is a language of people on the road, people that went from town to town without settling down.  It is similar to Romani and Gypsies but while those languages were tied to an ethnic people this one was not.  This is a combination of languages that was used as a sort of secret code that the wanderers could use so other people they encountered didn't know exactly what they were saying.  Interesting read and interesting research on this language.

There are 4 WL for this book so I will post & mail off at some point on PBS.

Harrow--#57 finished

 This was a disappointing book.  This copy did not have the cover for the hardback book so didn't have a writeup on what it was about.  I don't remember why I put it on my WL for PBS, probably was written up in Post Dispatch & sounded interesting.  It was not interesting.  It is about some futuristic time in America, not many years off if I had to guess.  A girl is sort of the main character and people around her are strange and strange.  Nothing really made sense and just sort of stumbles along with a disjointed story.  Nothing is clear.  It is a short book, just over 200 pages so I kept thinking things would get put together but they were not.  The last 50 or so pages I just forced myself to finish since I was close to end but by then had already resigned myself to disappointment with this book.  Nothing here to recommend and will not be looking for anything else by author.

There are 4 WL for this book on PBS.  I don't  need credits right now but this will be one of the first ones I post to send off, just don't want this book on my shelf anymore.

The Christie Affair--#56 finished

 I have not read anything from Agatha Christie but had obviously heard of her and did remember hearing that she sort of disappeared for days and came back but never really explained where she went.  This book is a historical fiction work that makes up a story about those 11 days she went missing.  It also weaves in a 2nd relationship and the WWI and an issue of Irish women that were unmarried and what happened to their children.  A good and interesting read even if the story is basically not true and probably not even close to true but just an good story about Agatha Christie's missing days. 

There were only 2 WL for this book after there being 9 a few months ago.  This is one of the reasons I figured to read the book so that I could then post & mail off right away.  I have posted it and should be getting mailed off in next few days.

One Goal--#55 finished

 The rest of the title: A Coach, A Team, And the Game that Brought a Divided Town Together.  This is about a soccer team in Lewiston Maine where they has been an influx of immigrants mostly from Somalia, via different refugee centers.  I don't remember reading in the book how the first one decided on Lewiston but others came because there was a community there.  It was a smaller town than others were the government was trying to settle them.  There became a system of assistance around the families as well.  The focus of the book was the high school soccer team and the long time coach that was finally able to win the state championship.  It was also about how the team and families have been embraced by the town.  Not saying everything was great but in general it has been a positive.  An interesting read and shows what would hope other towns would look at in accepting immigrants as a way to grow and strengthen a community.

There are 2 WL for this book so will get it posted & mailed off probably pretty soon but have enough credits on PBS so no hurry.

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck--#54 finished

 A sort of self-help book or at least a different way to align your priorities in life.  Don't worry so much about things that don't matter all that much.  Some helpful ideas and ways to maybe change your perspective on things.  It was easy to read and some good stories about author's life.  Sounds young and glad he seems like he is on the right track.  Just some observations though, he said he comes from a well to do family--I am guessing a family that can back him up financially if needed--this makes it much easier to prioritize things when you know you have a fall back.  This book came about from his blog where he was giving out advice.  I still don't get how one makes money at those but again good for the author, he seems to have figured it out.  Good read but wouldn't be highly recommended.

There are like 28 WL for this book on PBS so will post & mail off at some point.

The Ministry of Culture--#53 finished

 This one took a while to get going.  It is about 2 reporters in Iraq during the Iraq vs Iran war in the late 1980s, a guy and a women that also get together on their different foreign assignments.  They have a sort of relationship going but since neither really has a home is tough.  The book also focuses on a few people in Iraq, a painter & his father and the painter's wife and her father.  This is a rough time in Iraq with the war going on and Saddam really exerting his power and control over the country.  The latter part of the book, the female correspondent comes upon a Kurdish village where chemical weapons were used and the whole village was killed.  The male correspondent is in Southern Iraq at the trenches of the war and witnesses the roped together line of Iranian kids forced to walk to the Iraqi side--setting off the land mines to clear the way for the Iraqi tanks.  Both of these really did happen and is a powerful reminder about how awful this war was.  It is remarkable that Saddam and the leaders of Iran remained in power after this war. Book written in 2007 so after we went after Saddam twice and finally taking him out.  This 2nd invasion of Iraq and the aftermath was a wrong approach that hindsight shows--many saw before hindsight but back then I was a believer in the Bush admin for their reasons.  The cost to America, especially in lives but money & resources as well was too great but the removal of Saddam hopefully proves to be a good thing for Iraq maybe in long term.  Iran without Iraq to balance the power of that area, Iran has assume more power in the region and has become a player in terrorism throughout the Middle East--how this is possible with that horrendous leadership is beyond me.  I hope there are change for the good in both countries and the region soon.

I have posted this book on PBS, it is the only copy but since older--published 2007--not sure it will be going anywhere anytime soon.

Lion & Lamb--#52 finished

 This is a James Patterson book with one of his many other author's attached, this time Duane Swierczynski.  Lion is a female PI with last name Lion and Lamb is a male PI with last name Lamb--pretty easy to figure out.  In Philly so for the Eagles the star QB is murdered right before the NFC championship game.  Lion is working with the prosecutor's office and Lamb is working with the wife--a superstar singer and the lead suspect.  Lots of other angles--gambling, theft, assault--he beat his wife & kids, girlfriends on the side, a nanny that is too good to be true, corrupt owners, etc.  Reads like a TV script more than a novel to me, like one of those hour long detective shows.  Maybe that is what this becomes.  Still an easy to read quick page turner, sort of needed after getting through the last two books I read.

There are 60 WL for this book so will post & send off at some point but no hurry right now.  I have plenty of credits & too many other books that I can mail off already. 

Let Them Eat Tweets--#51 finished

 The rest of the title: How the Right Rules in an Age of Extreme Inequality.  This book was written in 2020 before the election and then the whole aftermath of the election.  It is not so much about Trump but instead the Republican party that has been shifting rightward since the 1990s.  The author's argument is that the Republican party is being run by wealthy supporters for their own gain--lower taxes, less regulation, etc and they realized only way they can get enough support in elections is to join or inspire right groups in emotional support--the NRA, Evangelicals, racists, anti-immigration, pro-life groups, etc.  With their money they can support enough of these causes to keep them in their party while still getting their true goals of financial help.  The author's use the term plutocracy to describe this & it sounds like a pretty much spot on term.  It also talks about the rightward swing of the courts from justices appointed by Trump as well as earlier under Bush and the stalling of appointments under Obama.  At times this reads more like a textbook than a regular book but does have a lot of good information in it.  Also sort of adds to my thoughts that Trump isn't the real problem with the Republican party, it is that the party--both the party officials and their voters--that support him and the issues/problems he addresses.  I am hoping once Trumps cult of personality goes away that the party will go more moderate but this book makes it sound like that is not happening.

There is 1 WL for this book so I will probably post & send off at some point.  Interesting read but not a keeper and I don't think friends & family would be interested enough to read either.

The Color of Law--#50 finished

 A powerful book that was incredibly researched about the segregation in America concerning redlining and home ownership.  Looks at how at the federal level mortgage loans would not be secured by the federal government if a mixed race neighborhood and also in African American neighborhoods would not secure the loans either.  I had read the book Ghetto a few months ago--maybe a year, can't remember--and talked about ghettos in America and was sort of left wondering how they got there.  This book goes into the details of how the ghettos were basically the only option for African Americans in most cities.  These neighborhoods with 80-90% one race are still with us today.  A really sad history in our country and certainly part of the root race problem we have today with poor neighborhoods that also make poor schools as well as still fear of other races.  As I said a very powerful book, one of those that I will have to take some time yet to reflect on what I have read.

There are 56 WL for this book.  Not sure if I will mail off or maybe offer out to friends yet but need to make sure more people read this book.

Metzger's Dog--#49 finished

 This is the 2nd novel that Thomas Perry wrote, it is from 1983.  Obviously a different time, a sort of fun ride back in time.  A group of basically small time crooks breaks into a university research area and steals cocaine there for research and while in act the leader sees a guy that looks important so he searches the professor's office that the guy was meeting.  He steals a lock box.  On way out of parking lot a security guard tries to stop them & they blow up the security shed with a cannon attached to their van--security guard not hurt.  The lock box was research CIA was doing with professor about causing disruptions in areas to better control the people.  This becomes a CIA issue on that side and the small time group figuring out what they have and how to get paid for it.  Some good back & forth stuff and some inner workings of crazies in CIA too.  A good read overall.

It is an older beaten up cover paperback.  I did get it from PBS and will go ahead and post back on PBS but isn't great shape on the cover.  It will be the only copy in system and author is still popular so could get moved at some point.