My Vanishing Country--#62 finished

 This is a memoir by Bakari Sellers, a political analyst on CNN.  I have seen him on the Abbey Phillip show & really liked what he was saying so when I saw his book at 1/2 Price Books and was like $2.00, I bought it.  He has had a really interesting life as well as interesting opinions.  I thought I was sort of up on things but I hadn't heard of the state police shooting in Orangeburg, SC in 1968 before the Kent State shootings/killings.  Bakari's father was charged & spent time in prison for this even though at that time he was not at the protest, he was at other times.  How this changed his family's life and then Bakari is a really interesting part of his life story.  I enjoyed this book and look forward to continuing to see Bakari on CNN or maybe back in elected politics.

There are 4 WL for this book on PBS so might post & send away but no hurry to do so at this point.

A Peculiar Indifference--#61 finished

The rest of the title:  The Neglected Toll of Violence on Black America.  Book was published September 2020, so right before Biden was elected but also during Covid.  It seems so long ago now.  Many of the things the author talks about on attempting to solve this issue takes money and in today's politics that seems impossible to even have this debate with everything being cut except for deportation money and defense.  Crazy doing tax cuts for the wealthiest while there are these issues still of violence in our cities.  Author lays out the research, makes the book read more like a college textbook at times and then some ways to help.  Sad but we are probably years away from any of these ideas gaining traction to start.

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

Anatomy of a Miracle--#60 finished

A soldier injured in Afghanistan and paralyzed from the waist down for 4 years is suddenly able to stand up & walk.  Cameron Harris was a troubled young man before joining the army and after he came home in a wheelchair was again troubled.  His sister, the only relative left, has been taking care of him.  Because he is able to stand and walk again, the doctors don't have an answer as to why and the people in his southern Mississippi town see it as a miracle.  The Vatican is brought in to investigate as well.  Eventually you get a lot more backstory of Cameron and also what happened in Afghanistan that is about Cameron's life.  The miracle of him walking again is left as a miracle but other things happening around him change some of the people's view of him.  A good story but just a long way to go to get to the heart of it.  This is a large print book that I picked up from the library sale too which maybe made it seem even longer.

There are no WL for this version book but there are for the regular hardcopy & paperback.  Not sure if I will post this or not--is a big heavy book so postage will be high, may just donate away instead.

Your Dad Stole My Rake--#59 finished

Comedian Tom Papa's book of observations and just kind of funny stuff.  I am not sure where I saw this book but probably on another person on PBS's their wishlist.  I like to read comedian books as a change of pace type read and this fit the bill.  Him and me are about the same age so many of the things he was talking about fit into my life in a sort of way.  I had to wikipedia him since I didn't know anything about him and from reading that I am not sure if I have ever seen him on TV or movies--he has done some but nothing I had watched.  He also does radio and podcasts as well.  Oh well, I enjoyed the book

There are 3 WL for it on PBS so I will probably post & mail off at some point.

Nothing Personal--#58 finished

The rest of the title: My Secret Life in the Dating App Inferno.  I thought this might be a sort of lighter read about a lady around my age getting into dating using the apps that are around.  It was that except for the lighter part.  The author is a reporter and had done a couple articles while using this app but also had a sort of relationship with a much younger man she met on the app.  After the articles she wanted to do a documentary about the apps and talks about the research and interviews and the ups and downs of this process throughout too.  A lot about her personal life and the people around her and their experiences with dating today.  She really was looking at the big downsides to these apps, the sexual assaults, rapes and more that seem to increase with using these apps.  The whole idea of independent women making dating choices vs what is really happening with these apps.  This is a much deeper read than what I thought it was going to be.  I am glad that I have read it, probably more glad that I am not dating and need to think about using these apps.

There is 1 WL for this book and I will probably post & see about mailing off in the coming days.

Eruption--#57 finished

This is a book started by Michael Crichton and after he died his wife found his notes & drafts and at some point decided to ask James Patterson to finish this book.  I haven't been a big fan of either of these authors, they write in what seems to be a fast paced almost TV or movie script way.  The bad guys or just not nice guys are easy to pick out along with the hero, good guy types.   This is about the volcanos on the big island erupting and the main guy there in charge is also brought up to speed on deadly radioactive and even deadlier pesticide being stored nearby by the military.  Because of this they need to try to route the lava flow away from this critical area.  A cast of characters and there is your story.  It is fast paced & easy to read but again for me not much there too.  A kind of nice break though from other type books have been reading.

There are 45 WL for this book on PBS so will be mailing it off at some point.

A Fever in the Heartland--#56 finished

The rest of the title:  The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them.  This was part of 3 books in a row that just seemed hard to read--Rust, The Threat and this one.  All three were serious struggle books and while the author in Rust seems to have gotten through her rough part and this book eventually the KKK went back under a rock, they are still there and then the FBI is struggling under new leadership that really shouldn't be there.  All 3 sort of depressing in different ways, oh well, still all good reads.  This one about the KKK reforming in the 1920s and becoming a power in the US, not just in South but also the midwest and west.  I have a hard time understanding how people could ever want to join a group like this that is based on hate and fear.  I see today with voters putting Trump back in charge and many want the illegal immigrants out of our country but I think most don't want all out but Trump played on people's fears.  It is like how the KKK did the same, playing on people's fears of African Americans, Catholics and immigrants--the 1920s was a time of change and small town midwestern people did not want that much change I guess.  Similar to today & not just with immigrants but also Trump wanting to push out any form of DEI.  I just seems like it is almost the same playbook as the 1920s except modernized.  Instead of paying off pastors and threatening businesses, the conservatives have Fox News and the multiple other channels and podcasters spreading the fear and arguing to fight back for our country.  Just a sad state of affairs that our country was in in the 1920s and again today in the 2020s.

There are 27 WL for this book on PBS but I am keeping it.  This is a book that I need to think about more and probably recommend to others.

Oysters to Angus--#55 finished

The rest of the title:  Three Generations of the St Louis Faust Family.  The Faust family ran a restaurant, bar & store in downtown St Louis in the 1800s after the Civil War.  They became one of the leaders of St Louis especially of the Germans in St Louis along with the Busch family and during the 2nd generations the Faust and Busch family married into each other.  Interesting time since it is also St Louis elites during the Gilded Age.  While not like the Astors or Vanderbilts of New York/East Coast, the children still went to eastern boarding schools and the families vacationed in Europe and even had homes in Germany.  There is of course the St Louis World's Fair of 1904 talked about some as well.  The Faust family moved from that downtown restaurant to the 3rd generation owning a large farming operation in Chesterfield after WWII.  They donated a large part of that for it to become Faust Park.  Lots of good information, well researched book.

There are no copies in PBS system and because it is such a local type book, will probably not post on PBS but will keep for now & maybe give away at some point--not sure yet.

Romantic Comedy--#54 finished

 I had read this author's short story book a year or two ago and it said she lived in St Louis at the time so when I saw this book at a library sale I picked it up.  It now states she lives in Minneapolis, so St Louis lost an author but I am sure we will still claim a connection.  This is about a writer on an SNL like TV show called The Night Owls--TNO.  It is basically Saturday Night Live in every sense though but guessing had to come up with a different name for book & all that.  Female writer meets a hot younger singer that was also hosting the show.  She helps him with some of his writing for a sketch and seems to be a connection but nothing comes of it.  During pandemic, they do connect through emails & then calls to where she travels to meet him.  They really do connect and seems like a good ending even.  Obviously more to it than this but that is why you should read it, especially if an SNL fan because does seem to go into plenty of detail about the behind the scenes stuff of the show--I will have to see if author has a connection.

I think there are 33 WL for this book on PBS and since she no longer lives in St Louis--ha ha--mostly because a nice read but no need to be a keeper, I will mail off at some point.

Finlay Donovan is Killing It--#53

 I had too many serious books lately so I needed to mix in a lighter type book and this one fit the bill.  A struggling author was talking to her agent at a Panera about book ideas and someone sitting close by thought author was actually a paid assassin.  She stumbles into participating in killing that lady's husband--who was an ass and probably deserved it and from there the story continues.  Author is struggling not just with writing but with her whole life but things seem to come together.  This is first book in a series, I think up to 6 books now.  It is only one that I have but might look for others at some point.

There are 21 WL for this book on PBS but one of my daughters is thinking about reading it so will hold back for her for now.

The Threat--#52 finished

 Reading this book was just depressing, I have to start by saying that.  Here is the rest of the title: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump.  Andrew McCabe had a long career in the FBI, becoming the Acting Director when Jim Comey was fired by Trump.  He was then eventually hated by Trump in fired a day before he was set to retire.  Trump is an ass.  Lots of good information about his career and how the FBI works and investigates what comes up.  Toward the end of the book is where he talks about Trump and how Trump was terrible President and really unqualified to be there.  The book was written before the Mueller report, before Trump's first impeachment and Jan 6th.  Reading all this while also living now with Trump 2.0 is depressing and almost nightmare like.  This will be a tough 4 years.

There is 1 copy already on PBS but at this point I am keeping the book.  Even though depressing, was still a good book with lots of information inside.

Rust--#51 finished

 This is a really good book/memoir.  The author touches on so much in her life that is really so very important and from a different perspective that it really makes you think.  She grew up in Cleveland in a Catholic household and schools and at one point wanted to be a nun--like was thinking about this in high school when the convent she talked to suggested she first go to college.  She went to a very Catholic college but struggled to fit in & this lead to a great trauma in her life--she was raped and then not supported in any way afterwards--just awful.  Not sure if her bi-polar disease was kick started from this trauma or was hereditary and going to happen anyway but during her manic episodes they really screwed up her life.  She eventually applied & got hired on at the local steel mill in Cleveland but had to get through the probationary period with crazy hours and crazy work.  Just such a good read with the angles of Catholicism, politics/Trump, economy, rust belt, bi-polar and more, in the end seems like she is in a good place.  No longer at steel mill but working/teaching at a university and writing this book.  I hope there will be more books from her in future because I would like to read more.

There are no copies in PBS & no WL for this book but it is a keeper for me right now.  Probably in my top 3 of the year at this point.  I did finish this one at end of May but just now getting around to logging it in, was my final book finished in May.