The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis

The Fifth Risk - after North Korea, Iran, etc - is project management. The Federal Government is complex and the starting point for many things we rely on and may believe are local or even private.  Michael Lewis explores the transition or lack thereof of the Obama administration to the Trump administration.  By law, members of the outgoing administration - all gazillion of them - secretaries and undersecretaries - department heads and those many pay grades below - are required to compose notebooks with all the information needed for the new administration to pick up the ball.  Between the November election and the January inauguration, the new team meets with the old team to ensure a smooth transition.  So what happens when no one shows up?  Lewis deep dives into the Departments of Energy, Agriculture and Commerce.  I am not a student of government and much of what I learned surprised me. I would love someone to read this book and convince me - with facts and data, not emotional ranting - that this is not true.  Warning: reading this may make your head explode.

Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny

Book number 14 and I still have not tired of the people of Three Pines and want to take the tour - there is a tour.  Gamache is still fighting for all that is right in a world that keeps finding ways to be corrupt and full of evil choices.  I thought Penny might stop writing after the death of her husband who was the inspiration for Armand Gamache. There better be a number 15 because there are a lot of loose ends this time. Start with Still Life although it is not the best.  Go to Three Pines for the mystery. Stay for the characters.

Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo

I didn't realize until I started reading this (Kellen's Christmas read choice) that it was a "shuvunda" book - a book that was either actually or metaphorically "shoved under "the bed for future reference.  Written in 1939, it was immediately embraced by those who feared that we were headed for another war and spent much of its early years banned.  It is a profound insight into the futility of war as the reader is invited into the mind and imagination of Joe Bolton.  Severely injured in WWI, he cannot move hear, see or speak.  What or who are we if we are just our mind,  our memories, our insights but no way to communicate?  And what if what we have to say, nobody wants to hear.

Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner

I'd read this a long time ago and remembered it as being beautifully written.  I had forgotten all the details of events including the tragic ending.  With this rereading, I was not so impressed but I think it is because I have read so much impressive writing lately.  This story within a story is a quintessential tale of the west.  At the center is Susan Burling Ward, author and artist who leaves her glittering life in the East for an adventure in the West which she hopes is temporary.  Her engineer husband,  Oliver Ward is the one responsible for their treks through many western states and Mexico.  Their life is often hard and often they spend months apart but, for the most part they rise to the occasion.  We learn of their story through Susan's grandson, Lyman Ward.  He is attempting to write his grandmother's biography although he has many challenging physical limitations.  In fact, the letters Lyman refers to for his grandmother's history are real letters from a woman named Mary Hallock Foote. It is history with a little melodrama but powerful descriptions of the early desolate west.  Life is a struggle for all the characters as they search for their angle of repose.

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Owens is a biologist and a naturalist who has written multiple memoirs and, although this is her first novel, her love of nature comes through on every page.  The story begins in 1969 with a body discovered in a North Carolina Swamp.  Then the narrative jumps back 17 years to the story of 10 year old Aya. One by one Aya's brothers and sisters and even her mother leave the isolated marshland of North Carolina.  She is left with her father who is often drunk, sometimes violent, frequently absent for long stretches of time - and then gone for good.  This is a story of survival through Aya's wit and the kindness of a few wonderful characters.  Bullied after her attempts to go to school, she hides from the authorities until she is forgotten.  Using her fishing and scavenging skills she not only avoids starvation but records the beauty of the marsh that protects her with detailed naturalist drawings.  Eventually she is befriended by a young boy named Tate who teaches her to read.  Their relationship will change the direction of the life of the "marsh girl" forever.  This is both a gentle and a powerful story particularly for anyone who appreciates the natural world.

The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon

It is hard to classify this book.  It is at its heart a mystery.  Mrs. Creasy is missing from this small English town.  It is hard to tell if the neighbors want her to be found because they share a secret they fear she will reveal.  But 10 year old Grace and her best friend Tilly are determined to solve her disappearance.  In the process, more question are raised.  Where does God live?  Is there a reason that many of the people on the block want to blame Walter, the eccentric loner at the end of the street?  Is the stain on the drainpipe really the face of Jesus?  Life is both simpler and more complicated through the eyes of these two children which give it a bit of a coming of age vibe.  It turns out there is more than one secret to be discovered.  It turns out humanity may have a very flawed method of identifying the sheep and the goats which makes this a very thoughtful mystery with an "Aha" ending.  If the mystery doesn't hook you, you can always see how many British sweet and British TV shows you are familiar with.

Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz

I picked this up because the author also writes the British TV series Midsomer Murders and the twists and turns in this book are just like the series with possibly less blood.  When mystery author Alan Conway sends the proof of his latest book, Magpie Murders, to his editor Susan Ryeland, the last chapter is missing - and Alan is dead - an apparent suicide.  But the character in the novel and the real life Alan share many similarities. Ryeland suspects that there are clues to be followed in this final book that will not only allow her to finish the mystery but also satisfy her growing belief that it wasn't suicide at all.  Serious mystery readers will probably recognize many Agatha Christie like characteristics. It made a great airplane read!