Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance

Someone suggested this book as an insight into "red" America.  Born into a hillbilly culture and raised in the Rust belt by a single, often drug dependent mom and multiple father figures, Vance's Mamaw and Papaw where his strange but consistent source of security.  But he got out.  Now a happily married Yale Law School graduate, he looks back at how he got out.    What things provided a way up and out?  What were the road blocks?  Given my introduction to the book, I expected some blame to be placed securely at the feet of the government.  Not so. Vance examines ACEs - adverse childhood experiences - as the greatest barrier.  Actual abuse and neglect are easy to identify as ACEs but it is the lack of family support, all the constant reminders that you are part of a loser culture that are just as devastating.  It was not knowing what fork to use or when a suit was required that got in the way of his climb out.  It is a reminder that we need to acknowledge our own history and focus on the changes required for a different future - the changes we must make for ourselves.  Not sure how "red" America sees his own personal rise. 

News of the World by Paulette Jiles

Jiles is known as a poet and a memoirist and draws on both talents to tell this story of an unlikely friendship in Texas in 1870. Captain Kidd earned his rank in the Civil War but at the age of 70 he earns his living reading the news to small towns around Texas.  When he is asked to return a ten year old girl who was captured by the Kiowa four years earlier, he isn't sure he is up to the long journey from Wichita Falls to San Antonio.  Although there are many adventures along the way, the bigger story is Kidd's understanding of Johanna and the many children like her.  Conventional wisdom then said that they were brutally treated by "savages" but Kidd sees something very different.  Johanna is a clever, free spirit and as they begin to form a bond, Kidd begins to think that returning her to her rigid aunt and uncle might not be what is best.  Jiles did a lot of research on both the times and the real truth of captive children which provides a real authenticity to this fictional story.  Even better, the idea of a time when the news would only be shared by a rich voice bringing news from places the listeners could only imagine seems like such an improvement over the information overload of today.

Fermat's Enigma by Simon Singh

Ten year old Andrew Wiles, lover of mathematics, wandered into his village library in 1963 and picked up a book called The Last Problem.  It had to do with notes left in the margin of another book in the seventeenth century by French mathematician Pierre Fermat referencing the solution to a problem that dates back to the 6th century B.C. and a Greek mathematician named Pythagoras of Samos.  All of us learned the Pythagorean theorem in school - "In any given right triangle, the square upon the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides".  Pythagoras and other great minds wondered, "Is this true for any other values other than squared?" "Is there a possibility that somewhere  the value of the hypotenuse cubed is equal to the sum of.... or times four.... or times 24?"  Fermat left notes in the margin of a book saying he had solved this problem but the solution was too long to record in the book he held.  His solution was never found and Wiles was driven from the age of 10 (and I must add because of a book he found in a library - just saying) to discover a solution.  The story ends in 1993 with Wiles' announcement of his discovery.  From 1987 to 1993 Wiles spent all his time working alone on this one single problem.  Most of the mathematics shared would be incomprehensible to most of us but that is not the real story.  It is the quest.  It is math as philosophy, as logic, where a solution to a single problem might be 100 pages of complicated argument and little to do with numbers.  There may be no practical application for this problem and its solution but the reason for the search is the same as the reason we climb any mountain or explore any distant planet - because it is there and we want to know.  For people like Wiles, it is a need to know.

The American Spirit by David McCullough

This collection begins and ends with speeches at and about the Capitol.  In between are thirteen speeches McCullough, one of our most honored historians, delivered over the years. Many are at various college graduations.   What better occasion to call out young people to match the courage and integrity of significant individuals in history, often with connections to the site where he speaks.  But his words aren't just relevant to his audiences.  He words are just as inspiring to the rest of us - lessons in history - reminders of the unique way our country was born -  and, most of all,  what it takes to keep it special.  Pick and choose which of the speeches inspire you - then read the rest of his books.

The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood

I remembered reading this years before, but I thought it was long before it's 1985 publication date.  I remembered it as a feminist story (Did I have time for feminist thoughts with two small children in 1985?) - women reduced to the value of their uteruses,  But this time it read more as a political tale about power and its abuses.  I didn't see the Netflix series but would be interested to see where they made the emphasis. A different focus for dystopian literature.  It was interesting that the city? state? country? was named Gilead.  Atwood always gives you something to ponder and discuss.

The Spy by Paulo Coelho

Like most of Coelho's books, a story about something seems to be about something else instead. Mata Hari, the spy, tells her story through letters written to her lawyer from her prison cell awaiting execution.  She is above all else a self made woman but at what cost?  Was it the time and barriers to women that forced her to become the "exotic dancer" that captured the imagination of Europe.  Was her promiscuous life really a way of finding power - or love?  Despite her reputation as a spy, it doesn't appear that she shared anything of importance with either Germany or France but she was still found guilty - of espionage? of challenging the rules of society?  What does Coehlo want the reader to think about her, about war, about what is sacrificed for what we think we want?  Hmmm.  Maybe it is just about Mata Hari.  Nah...

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

This is certainly a period piece - NYC - 1937 - a little Great Gatsby, a little Edith Wharton.  Roommates Eve Ross and Katey Content, out on the town, meet Tinker Grey - charming, dashing and apparently very rich.  What are the rules of civility when best friends are attracted to the same man? A tragic accident tips the balance in Eve's favor.  But is she the "winner"?  When Katey discovers a copy of George Washington's "Rules of Civility" on the book shelves in Tinker's apartment, she imagines it a sign of his cultured upbringing.  But as relationships develop and shift and war intervenes, new truths emerge and the book takes on a new meaning.  This focus on a unique time and a specific class of people is elevated by insight and grand language.