Columbine by Cullen

This book is about the attack on Columbine High School by two of its students in 1999.

I barely remember Columbine happening - I was out of high school myself and not yet interested in current events. Before I read this book, I could identify Columbine as the location of a school shooting but I couldn't have told you where it was (it's near Denver, Colorado).

This background made me a member of the ideal audience for this book. Not only did the author give and incredibly detailed description of what actually happened, but he also addressed what didn't happen - all the false theories and misinformation that have shaped our thinking about school attacks. Pretty much everything I knew about Columbine was wrong. Examples: there was a loose group called the Trenchcoat Mafia, but it had nothing to do with the attack; the girl who was asked if she believed in God and responded "yes" was not shot (Cassie Bernall was killed instantly, without talking to the killers); the attack was intended to be a bombing with the gunmen picking off survivors, not a shooting, but the bombs never went off.

It's clear that the author has a journalistic background from his writing style. There are perhaps too many short sentences and short paragraphs - the single-sentence paragraph used for dramatic effect can get tired if it's used too much. I don't know if there's a term for that writing device but you see it all the time in news stories. Overall, though, the writing is easy to read and keeps the focus on the content.

Some of that content is a little too focused. The author includes many graphic details of the victims' injuries - not "he got shot" but, the bullet came in at this angle, traveled through these organs, causing such-and-such damage, etc. I got the impression that he was trying to make the event more real to a modern reader desensitized to violence, but it came across like one of those surgery shows on TV which I find disgusting. So I skipped over those paragraphs.

This book is important because it sets the record straight about a nationally important event. In doing so, it forces us to face our stereotypes about the dangers lurking in our schools - incorrect stereotypes that could cost lives if they cause us to overlook the next potential mass killer. The book also shows us how the media handed us these stereotypes pre-formed, disregarding the facts of the case. It's an object lesson in the power of the media to set the truth, shape our culture, ruin lives, and make an already tragic disaster even worse.

Out of Africa by Denisen/Blixen

I really enjoyed listening to this classic book, but it's been so long since I finished it that I can't write a meaningful post. Oops.

Concise History of Modern India by Metcalf and Metcalf

Personal life has made it immediately very important for me to know about India.

I would say that I currently know very little about the history of that part of the world. I will admit that before reading this book I didn't even know that Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh were one big region under British rule and were separated according to religion, or that Bangladesh was originally part of Pakistan. Or that Mohandas Gandhi and Mahatma Gandhi were the same person, and the Gandhis that were major in politics in later years are not related to him.

Since this is my introduction to this area of history, it was a bit overwhelming at times, though overall I felt like it gave me a good foundation to begin my study. I'll be adding many of the "further reading" titles to my list.

On a side note, I'm finding that a lot of the books I find recommended for history of India are not available on Kindle. So sad.

Getting Things Done by Allen

I picked this book because I have been feeling useless and overwhelmed at work and saw a glowing review online.

I'm implementing his system and I really think it's going to make a huge difference in my stress and productivity levels. I plan to reread the book after running the system for a month to make adjustments and reassess my situation; if I remember I'll edit this entry with more details.

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Brown

Native American/American Indian history is really interesting to me and one of my personal goals is to learn about what really happened and what is happening with these peoples. As part of a general push in my personal life to make some of my daydreams into reality, I've put a bunch of books about this topic into my reading list. This is the first for me to get to. It was published in 1970 and seems to have been widely acclaimed at the time.

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee gives a history of the tribes of the “Indian Wars” of the American West from the American Indians' point of view. Personally, since my little previous reading had been about Eastern tribes,very little of this was previously known to me besides some of the famous names. (I have no idea how I knew the names of Sitting Bull, Geronimo, etc without knowing anything about the Indian Wars except that they occurred.) The bias is obvious, but the author made his intent clear – he wanted to give a side of the story that had not been told, not necessarily a fair and balanced account.

To read this book as an American, it's heartbreaking to see a dark side of my country – blatantly lying and breaking treaties to get at land, denying that the American Indians were people until forced by law, “the only good Indian is a dead Indian”, etc. Even more heartbreaking is the fact that from my modern point of view with greater acceptance of high population density, there was no reason to take most of that land – even today it's still pretty sparsely populated. Before reading this book, I had some idea that the worst of the atrocities happened in the very early days of America and earlier. But to be confronted with dates nearing 1900 and Civil War heroes (which were the heroes of Foote's massive Civil War history which I listened to last summer) acting like savages made me reassess some things I had in mind about my country.

To read this book as someone with significant American Indian blood yet no personal interaction with that part of my heritage, I felt both awed and frustrated by the picture of their cultures given in this book. On the one hand, in general the chiefs had more honor and nobility than any white character that comes into play. What the Americans at the time saw as butchery was fair and just within the internal logic of their culture, and was clearly provoked. On the other hand, they showed little ability to be flexible and play the new political game that the white men brought with them. Perhaps this is an unfair criticism, because in our modern time people have to deal with major changes at rates unprecedented in human history. And racism at the time was stronger than I can truly believe. But still I feel that the American Indians could have preserved much more of themselves if they had gone about things differently.

Another thing that surprised me, especially after the aforementioned education on the civil war, was the small numbers involved. Where thousands were dying in single days of battle in the South, out west the casualties rarely numbered more than 50 on either side. Yet these relatively small battles had such a huge major effect on our society.

Overall I am very glad I listened to this book. It gave me a great foundation to continue my study of this topic. I would say, if you have an interest in learning about American history then this one should make it to your bookshelf/mp3 player sometime.

Religious Literacy by Prothero

I really enjoyed this book because it had a significant effect on my understanding of US history.

This book is divided into three sections.  The first part, "The Problem" gives data and anecdotes to support the author's claim that Americans have no clue about religion.  It had a bit of a "preaching to the choir" feel to it.

The second part, "The Past", was the most interesting for me.  It lays out a brief history of how religion and religious education has changed in the US over time.  I had no idea about a lot of it, and it explained a lot of things about American Christianity that confused me.

The third part, "The Proposal", gives the author's plan for reversing the effect of history along with a short dictionary of religious terms that one should be familiar with as an American citizen.  I found the dictionary interesting to read through (this coming from a girl who used to read the encyclopedia for fun as a child), and I liked how Prothero explained why the term was important to American politics/society.

All in all I'm glad I read it, though I could have done without most of it.  Anyway, I plan on checking out some of the references for more in-depth explanations.

Guns, Germs, and Steel by Diamond

I already had a good idea about this book since I listened to an abridged version last year, and saw the author speak several years ago. I found his observations so interesting that I wanted to read the whole book. He uses data from a variety of different fields to create a strong case and an interesting read. I plan to read this again sometime, and also check into some of the references he recommends.

Perhaps because I am an academic, I prefer his writing style to that of any other nonfiction authors that I've read recently. He presents the data in a logical manner and draws reasonable conclusions from it. He doesn't bring in a human-interest element or put himself into the story any more than he has to.



ETA: This book has really stuck with me. It made me aware of some assumptions about our planet that I shouldn't have been making... which causes me to question a lot of ideas that were based on those assumptions. However I am having a hard time finding words for these changes in my worldview.

By exploring the development of food production over the world, Diamond gently points out that most places on earth do not have native species that can be used in agriculture. This means that most populations on earth grew only because they somehow managed to bring in plants and animals from elsewhere. Diamond uses this fact to explain why different cultures "developed" at different rates, but somehow this observation has rocked me beyond that. This movement of species happened thousands of years ago in many cases, so of course it doesn't seem strange that there are cows in Europe, the Americas, Asia, Australia, etc. But now, when I think about our current preoccupation with being natural, organic, locavorous, etc it all seems a bit silly. When potatoes originated in the Andes, isn't it a little bit silly to worry about genetically modified potatoes growing in idaho, for example? They are already modified by our many many generations of growing them outside their original location.

Taking it a step further, the whole idea of a plant having a place where it is "supposed" to grow is silly too. If we want to be one with the earth and only grow mother nature's plants where mother nature planted them, then I suppose we all ought to move back to the fertile crescent. Any other situation is inherently unnatural and disruptive of "the natural balance" - whatever that is.

Where God Was Born by Feiler

I love reading Bruce Feiler's books. I think what he writes about is really important for this world.

This book wasn't my favorite as far as writing goes. He does have a bad habit of claiming to have had impossibly cheesy and perfect conversations, but I find this forgivable. While I enjoyed reading this one the least of his three books I've read, I really wanted to hear what he had to say. I learned a lot about Iraq and Iran, and got a better understanding of biblical history. Also, his thoughts on dialogue between the religions touches me to the core. I wish I could make everyone I know read his thoughts on such matters.

This seems to be a general theme... I don't like the style that is currently considered good nonfiction writing, but I cannot help but read these books for the content.

Quotes I found worthy of noting:

"One recurring problem with religions the grew out of the Hebrew Bible is that each has a tendency to believe its faith is unique, its interpretation of the text absolute, and its relationship with God so exclusive that is has the right to harm those who disagree. The idea that the writers of the Bible were influenced by sources that predate their own suggests the Bible should be seen not as sui generis but as being in dialogue with other texts. And if scriptures can be in dialogue, surely the faiths that grow out of those scruptures can be in dialogue as well."

"The Bible is neither conservative, in that it recommends returning to a better time, nor is it optimistic that a better time lies ahead. The Bible is redemptive, in that it gives humans the ability to save themselves."

"God embraces any people who share his moral vision, no matter their identity."

Seeking Spirits by Jay and Grant

I read this book because Ghost Hunters is "my show" and I've been watching it religously for over a year now. I have to say that it's a lot better than their first book, and considering that they are two plumbers with a reality tv show, the writing isn't all that bad. But, I see this as cheap entertainment and zealous fandom. I wouldn't even bother to compare it to the quality of most books that I read.

And, I must admit... I read it in a few hours in one night, and I slept with a light on. ;)

The Botany of Desire by Pollan

(finished Sept 2009)

I keep reading Pollan's books, because I love his choice of material and I want to hear what he has to say.  I just hate the way he says it.  His writing style is so preachy and cliche, he creates the perfect product for yuppie consumption.  Very interesting read though.

The Lost City of Z by Grann

(finished Aug 2009)

I really enjoyed this one.  The author's writing style didn't get in the way of the great story, although some of the chapters about his personal modern-day experiences were a little lame.  But the last chapters, talking with the archeologist guy, were worth it.