The Midnight Library

 

One of my coworkers was kind enough to buy me my very own copy, since the waiting list is so long. And then it took me forever to finish it. Not because I didn't like it, I loved it, but because I didn't want it to end. I was a bit afraid of the ending. I wasn't sure he could pull it off. I've read so many books that were amazing and then the ending just destroyed it for me, but Haig absolutely nailed it. 

Nora Seed is unhappy with her life. She feels like she wasted many opportunities: she could have been an Olympic swimmer or a musician, or gone to Iceland, or a million other things. Instead she works at a music shop and feels like no one needs her. She is filled with regrets over her wasted life, so she decides to end it one night and overdoses on her anti-depression medication. 

In between life and death there is the Midnight Library, filled with books telling the stories of the lives that could have been, if different decisions had been made. Nora is given the opportunity to visit these other lives and find the perfect life. If she does, she can stay there and live happily ever after. It really resonated with me (as I'm sure it has with many people, which is why it's so popular). It was sweet without being maudlin and like I said, I loved the ending. I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

No Time Like the Future; Come Fly the World; Grace and Steel

 

Okay, first up, Michael J. Fox's latest. If anyone has a reason to be down on life and full of pity, it's Fox. In addition to being diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in his twenties, cutting short what would have been a long and brilliant acting career, the last few years have thrown a few more health curveballs at him. He had a dangerous tumor on his spine that required surgery, which was followed by a long rehab where he basically had to learn to walk all over again. Not too surprisingly, he took a bad fall and shattered his left arm, requiring more surgery and more rehab. Yet Fox remains positive and confronts each new challenge with grace and determination. I'm heartbroken for him on his behalf, since he won't be for himself. Especially if you go back and watch Family Ties and Back to the Future. He was so athletic when he was young! He had a move on Family Ties where he would jump up to sit on the kitchen counter with his hands in his pockets (I don't recommend trying it--it's a lot harder than it sounds). He was forever jumping over the staircase to land in the living room, running, even dancing in a few memorable episodes. I can't imagine how hard it must be for him to watch those and think of what might have been. 

I hoped "Come Fly the World" by Julia Cooke would be a little more about Pan Am (I admit to having an unnatural obsession with Pan Am, I truly don't know why), but it was still interesting. It followed three stewardesses: Lynne, Tori, and Karen, who worked during the heyday of flying. Back when stewardesses (not yet flight attendants) were all female of a certain height and weight, had to wear their hair and makeup a certain way, and had to quit if they reached a certain age or got married. For the lucky few who were chosen, it was truly a dream job. In the 1950s and 60s, single women didn't have the freedoms they do now to travel around the world. These young women dreamed of seeing new places and having adventures, and their jobs with Pan Am allowed them to do that. A substantial portion of the book was about the Vietnam War and the heartbreaking flights those stewardesses had to take to deliver more boys to the front. They also participated in rescuing refugees from Saigon before it fell. 

I've read a few of Taraborrelli's biographies and enjoyed his writing style. I liked "Grace and Steel", which was about not just Dorothy, Barbara, and Laura Bush but really the whole Bush family. I had no idea Barbara suffered from such crippling depression that she contemplated suicide, that was heartbreaking. Dorothy was a true trailblazer: she insisted on her marriage to Prescott Bush being a true partnership and started writing a newspaper column when they lived in D.C. when Prescott was in Congress. She encouraged Barbara to have more of a say in George H.W.'s political career when Barbara complained that he made all the decisions and she was just along for the ride. Laura had a tough time making connections with her formidable mother in law, but deep down they loved and respected each other. It was fascinating and well told. 

RIP Larry McMurtry

I just heard the news that the great Larry McMurtry, one of my all time favorite authors, passed away. 

McMurtry is the reason I fell in love with the idea of Texas, long before I ever saw it. "Lonesome Dove" is my all time favorite book, I've read it dozens of times. I had always hoped to go out to Archer City to his big used bookstore and potentially meet him, and when he sold it a few years back I was so disappointed. 

Thank you for the wonderful memories and creating such amazing characters like Gus McCrae and Woodrow F. Call. Thank you for bringing the great state of Texas to life and allowing me to visit and live vicariously through your beautiful writing. You will be greatly missed.

http://bekkisbookblog.blogspot.com/2020/08/lonesome-dove-dont-you-forget-about-me.html

http://bekkisbookblog.blogspot.com/2017/04/lonesome-dove.html

http://bekkisbookblog.blogspot.com/2017/05/comanche-moon-los-angeles-in-1970s.html

Ready Player Two; Dark Days, Bright Nights

 

I really liked "Ready Player One". It was clever and fun and had a happy ending. 

In the sequel, "Ready Player Two", we quickly learn that the happy ending didn't last long. Wade met Art3mis (Samantha in real life) and the two fell in love, but quarreled and now they don't speak except at their co-owners meetings. Not long after Wade became James Halliday's heir and moved into his mansion and offices, he discovered Halliday left behind technology called ONI. It's a headset that locks into the user's brain and allows them to really live and experience things in OASIS through their avatars. Halliday didn't know if he should release the technology or not, so he was leaving it up to his heir. Wade decides to release it, and within a few years almost everyone is using ONI technology to access OASIS. You can only wear it for 12 hours at a time, otherwise it can cause an extremely painful death. 

Once enough players have logged into OASIS using ONI, a new quest pops up. Collect the seven shards and put the siren's soul back together. The catch is that only Wade or Og (who co-created OASIS with Halliday, had a huge falling out, and broke off contact with him) can actually collect the shards. Wade goes to Og to ask for help figuring out where the shards are, but Og begs him not to do it. The siren is Kira, Og's late wife and the love of Halliday's life. Kira never loved Halliday. I don't want to give too much away, but the quest becomes deadly when Halliday's corrupted AI highjacks the ONI software, taking billions as hostages, forcing Wade to collect the shards so he can have Kira once and for all. 

I must admit, I didn't like this one much. The quest felt forced. Wade was downright unlikeable at times, it made it hard to root for him. Plus you kind of didn't want him to find the shards and make Halliday happy, even if it meant saving billions of lives. If you're a giant (and I mean *giant*) Prince fan, then the Prince section of the book was probably fun. For me, it was a long "huh?". It had a happy, if somewhat weird, ending, leaving way for another sequel. Why kill the cash cow, I guess. I don't know. It was really a letdown. 

I saw the episode of "Criminal Minds" (phenomenal show, BTW) where people lived in the tunnels under Las Vegas and thought it was just fiction. Turns out it's not. People really do live under the streets in these flood channels, and O'Brien interviewed several of them for this book. It's really a collection of their answers to his questions. For me the thing that really stood out was how some of them (for the most part, they've all relocated) fondly remember their time in the tunnels. They met partners, made new friends. For others, they hated every second of it. It was pretty sad at times, to see the endless loop of people whose stories were all pretty similar: drug addiction, abuse, losing their jobs/homes/kids, nowhere to go, ending up in the tunnels. Trying to escape but not being able to stay sober long enough to get a job. Many of them seemed pretty optimistic about their futures, though, which just goes to show how indomitable the human spirit can be, even under the most stressful of circumstances. 
 

A Torch Kept Lit; The Greatest Comeback

"A Torch Kept Lit" was a collection of obituaries William F. Buckley published in his magazine, National Review. You wouldn't think a book of obituaries would be interesting, but I'd never read anything Buckley wrote, and I kept hearing what a great writer he was, so I decided to give it a shot. It was, for the most part, pretty good. Of course there were some obituaries of some folks I didn't know, so they were boring. He was awfully hard on some people, too, like Winston Churchill. It was interesting to see how his writing evolved from the early years (the 1950s and 1960s) and how he mellowed out as he approached his own demise. Age gives us perspective. 

I realized I really didn't know much about Richard Nixon, other than Watergate. I've been to the Nixon library and museum in Yorba Linda (it's close to where I live), but other than that I hadn't read anything about him. 

The media destroyed Nixon during the 1960 election. Nixon hated journalists and the feeling was mutual. Buchanan joined his speechwriting team and helped him win the election in 1968. It was truly fascinating to see how history repeats itself. Especially over the last few years, I've heard a lot of people my age or older (who really should know better) talk about how terrible politicians are and how they've "never seen things like this". I think that's why it's so important to look back and remember. The more things change, the more things stay the same. Here's an excerpt from Nixon's speech in 1968, accepting the nomination at the Republican National Convention: 

 As we look at America, we see cities enveloped in smoke and flame.

 

We hear sirens in the night.

 

We see Americans dying on distant battlefields abroad.

 

We see Americans hating each other; fighting each other; killing each other at home.

 

And as we see and hear these things, millions of Americans cry out in anguish.

 

Did we come all this way for this?

 

Did American boys die in Normandy, and Korea, and in Valley Forge for this?

 

Listen to the answer to those questions.

 

It is another voice. It is the quiet voice in the tumult and the shouting.

 

It is the voice of the great majority of Americans, the forgotten Americans -- the non-shouters; the non-demonstrators.

 

They are not racists or sick; they are not guilty of the crime that plagues the land.

 

They are black and they are white -- they're native born and foreign born -- they're young and they're old.

 

They work in America's factories.

 

They run America's businesses.

 

They serve in government.

 

They provide most of the soldiers who died to keep us free.

 

They give drive to the spirit of America.

 

They give lift to the American Dream.

 

They give steel to the backbone of America. They are good people, they are decent people; they work, and they save, and they pay their taxes, and they care.

 

Like Theodore Roosevelt, they know that this country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless it is a good place for all of us to live in.

 

This I say to you tonight is the real voice of America. In this year 1968, this is the message it will broadcast to America and to the world.

 

Let's never forget that despite her faults, America is a great nation.

 

And America is great because her people are great.

 

Coffeeland

 

I love coffee. People who don't like coffee make me nervous. I first tasted Dunkin' Donuts coffee about a decade ago when I was on a trip to New England. They are ubiquitous there, like Starbucks is here in So Cal. I fell in love with the orange and pink shops and their delicious coffee. I started emailing them once I returned home, begging them to come back to So Cal. For awhile, my closest Dunkin' was in Barstow, up the 15 on the way to Vegas. About a 4 hour round trip. And friends, I did it for my Dunkin' (not to mention by the time I got to Barstow, I would think oh hey, it's only two more hours to Vegas...)  

At any rate, despite loving coffee and drinking way more than I should, I didn't know much about it. This book was pretty interesting. It mostly focused on El Salvador and one family, the Hills, who had several plantations. It was fun to learn how coffee is grown and processed. I think he did stretch a little too much, trying to tie world events into coffee. It was tenuous at best and kind of took away from the main story, but other than that I enjoyed it.