Book Review - 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created

Title - 1493: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus

Author: Charles C. Mann 
Date Read: December 2023
Rating: 👍👍👍👍👍

Review: Fantastic book. This book as well as its prequel, 1491, should be required reading for anyone who wants to truly understand America (Northern, Central and Southern). I highly recommend this book.

Description (Audible): More than 200 million years ago, geological forces split apart the continents. Isolated from each other, the two halves of the world developed radically different suites of plants and animals. When Christopher Columbus set foot in the Americas, he ended that separation at a stroke. Driven by the economic goal of establishing trade with China, he accidentally set off an ecological convulsion as European vessels carried thousands of species to new homes across the oceans.

Description (ChatGPT): 1493: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus is the sequel we didn’t know we needed to 1491. Charles C. Mann takes us on another thrilling historical rollercoaster, but this time, the focus is on the aftermath of Columbus’s arrival—the profound ecological, cultural, and economic transformations that rippled across the globe. From invasive species hitching rides on ships to the birth of global trade networks, Mann’s storytelling is as rich and complex as the new world order that was being stitched together. It’s history, but with a plot twist: the world we know today was shaped as much by the "Columbian Exchange" as by the people who actually lived here. If you thought the Americas were a quiet, pre-Columbus backwater, Mann’s research will have you thinking again—and probably Googling "global trade in the 16th century" in your free time.

Book Review - Better Living Through Birding

Title - Better Living Through Birding 

Author: Christian Cooper 

Rating: 👍👍👍👍👍

My Review: I absolutely loved this book! I’m a casual birder and I love books about getting outside and exploring nature. Initially, I thought the book would be mostly about birding but it’s so much more. Christian Cooper has lived a very adventurous life and is an awesome writer. I highly recommend his book.

Description (Audible): In Better Living Through Birding, Cooper tells the story of his extraordinary life leading up to the now-infamous incident in Central Park and shows how a life spent looking up at the birds prepared him, in the most uncanny of ways, to be a gay, Black man in America today. From sharpened senses that work just as well at a protest as in a park to what a bird like the Common Grackle can teach us about self-acceptance, Better Living Through Birding exults in the pleasures of a life lived in pursuit of the natural world and invites you to discover them yourself. Equal parts memoir, travelogue, and primer on the art of birding, this is Cooper’s story of learning to claim and defend space for himself and others like him, from his days at Marvel Comics introducing the first gay storylines to vivid and life-changing birding expeditions through Africa, Australia, the Americas, and the Himalayas. Better Living Through Birding recounts Cooper’s journey through the wonderful world of birds and what they can teach us about life, if only we would look and listen.

Description (ChatGPT): Better Living Through Birding is the kind of book that makes you want to trade in your daily grind for binoculars and a field guide. This charming memoir by Christian Cooper (yes, the Central Park birdwatcher) is part personal journey, part avian adventure, and all heart. Cooper’s wit is as sharp as the beak of a red-tailed hawk, and his passion for birds is infectious—whether he's describing a rare sighting or unraveling the complexities of human nature. In a world that sometimes feels a little too noisy, Better Living Through Birding offers the perfect reminder that nature’s quiet beauty can still teach us a lot about patience, observation, and the joy of simply being present. It’s a feel-good read that might just inspire you to start your own birdwatching habit—or at least, to look up from your phone every now and then.

Book Review - What the Dog Saw

 

Title - What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures

Author: Malcolm Gladwell

Rating: 👍👍👍👍

My Review: I love dogs. So the title of the book caught my attention. Malcolm Gladwell is a gifted writer. The book consists of a collection of short stories he wrote over time for The New Yorker. The title of the book comes from a story about Cesar Milan, The Dog Whisperer where Malcolm describes Cesar's uncany ability to understand what is going on in the minds of dogs and through that understanding, train them to be better companions. Some of the stories in the book were not as interesting but there were enough overall to make it a worthwhile read. 

Description (Audible): Here is the bittersweet tale of the inventor of the birth control pill, and the dazzling inventions of the pasta sauce pioneer Howard Moscowitz. Gladwell sits with Ron Popeil, the king of the American kitchen, as he sells rotisserie ovens, and divines the secrets of Cesar Millan, the "dog whisperer" who can calm savage animals with the touch of his hand. He explores intelligence tests and ethnic profiling and "hindsight bias" and why it was that everyone in Silicon Valley once tripped over themselves to hire the same college graduate.

Description (ChatGPT): What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures is Malcolm Gladwell at his most curious, playful, and, yes, slightly quirky. In this collection of essays, he explores everything from the brilliance of dog whisperers to the psychology of failure, all with his signature blend of insight and storytelling charm. Gladwell’s ability to find connections between seemingly unrelated topics is like watching a magician pull rabbits out of a hat—but with facts. Whether he’s dissecting why some people excel under pressure or how we perceive the world through the eyes of a dog, he makes you think, laugh, and maybe even reconsider how you view the everyday. It’s a delightful mishmash of science, culture, and human (and canine) behavior that will have you nodding in agreement one minute and scratching your head the next. Expect to be entertained—and definitely to look at the world a little differently.

Book Review - Killers of the Flower Moon

Title - Killers of the Flower Moon

Author: David Grann
Rating: 👍👍👍👍

My Review: This book exposes a truly sad episode of American history. I enjoyed the book but found it somewhat hard to follow. Looking forward to the movie with Robert De Niro & Leonardo DiCaprio this October 2023.

Description (Audible): In Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann revisits a shocking series of crimes in which dozens of people were murdered in cold blood. Based on years of research and startling new evidence, the book is a masterpiece of narrative nonfiction, as each step in the investigation reveals a series of sinister secrets and reversals. But more than that, it is a searing indictment of the callousness and prejudice toward American Indians that allowed the murderers to operate with impunity for so long. Killers of the Flower Moon is utterly compelling but also emotionally devastating.

Description (ChatGPT): Killers of the Flower Moon is a gripping true-crime saga that reads like a chilling Western, but with the darkest of histories. David Grann’s meticulously researched account of the Osage murders in 1920s Oklahoma—a series of shocking killings for oil-rich land—is as haunting as it is infuriating. The story uncovers not just the greed and corruption that led to the deaths of dozens of Indigenous people, but also the heart-wrenching indifference of a justice system designed to overlook them. Grann’s writing strikes a perfect balance between historical thriller and journalistic investigation, with twists that are more shocking than any fiction. It’s a sobering reminder of America's often forgotten history—one that will stick with you long after the last page, making you both seethe with anger and marvel at the resilience of the victims. If you’re looking for an eye-opening, can't-put-it-down read, this one will hit you like a punch to the gut.

Book Review - Chip War

Title - Chip War

Author: Chris Miller
Rating: 👍👍👍👍👍

My Review: Awesome book describing the evolution of computer chips and how it has affected so many things in our daily lives.

Description (Audible): You may be surprised to learn that microchips are the new oil—the scarce resource on which the modern world depends. Today, military, economic, and geopolitical power are built on a foundation of computer chips. Virtually everything—from missiles to microwaves—runs on chips, including cars, smartphones, the stock market, even the electric grid. Until recently, America designed and built the fastest chips and maintained its lead as the number one superpower, but America’s edge is in danger of slipping, undermined by players in Taiwan, Korea, and Europe taking over manufacturing. Now, as Chip War reveals, China, which spends more on chips than any other product, is pouring billions into a chip-building initiative to catch up to the US. At stake is America’s military superiority and economic prosperity.
Economic historian Chris Miller explains how the technology works and why it’s so important, recounting the fascinating events that led to the United States perfecting the chip design, and to America’s victory in the Cold War by using faster chips to render the Soviet Union’s arsenal of precision-guided weapons obsolete. But lately, America has let key components of the chip-building process slip out of its grasp, leading to a worldwide chip shortage and a new war brewing with a superpower adversary that is desperate to bridge the gap.

Description (ChatGPT): Chip War is the ultimate high-stakes thriller—except instead of spies and secret missions, it’s about microchips, the invisible engines of the modern world. Chris Miller dives into the geopolitical chess game over semiconductors, showing how these tiny bits of silicon have become the new gold, oil, and military strategy all rolled into one. It’s part tech history, part economic battlefield, and all eye-opening. Miller weaves together the rise of global tech giants, the U.S.-China rivalry, and the high-tech arms race in a way that’s as addictive as a good spy novel—except the spies are engineers and the espionage happens in data centers and factory floors. Whether you’re a tech geek or just someone who uses a smartphone, Chip War will make you rethink everything you know about the world’s most powerful—and most fragile—commodity. A fascinating, fast-paced read about a subject that’s as small as it is mighty.

Book Review - Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Underrated Organ

Title - Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ
Author: Giulia Enders
Rating: 👍👍👍👍👍
My Review: I predict this will be my favorite book of 2023. The author has a wonderful sense of humor that turns what might be a yucky subject into a humorous and fascinating journey into the workings of the gut.

Description (Audible): Gut: The Inside Story is an entertaining, informative tour of the digestive system from the moment we raise a tasty morsel to our lips until the moment our body surrenders the remnants to the toilet bowl. No topic is too lowly for the author's wonder and admiration, from the careful choreography of breaking wind to the precise internal communication required for a cleansing vomit. Along the way, the author provides practical advice, such as the best ways to sit on the toilet to have a comfortable bowel movement, how clean your kitchen should be for optimum gut health, and how different laxatives work. She tells stories of gut bacteria that can lead to obesity, autoimmune diseases, or even suicide, and she discusses the benefits of dietary supplements, such as probiotics.

Description (ChatGPT): Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Underrated Organ is the ultimate deep dive into the world’s most underappreciated yet highly opinionated organ: your gut. Giulia Enders takes us on a quirky, informative journey through the digestive system, proving that what happens in the gut affects far more than just your digestion—it can shape your mood, immune system, and even your overall health. With humor and a knack for simplifying complex science, Enders makes the microbiome feel less like a biology lecture and more like a lively conversation with a knowledgeable (and slightly cheeky) friend. You'll never look at your stomach the same way again—and you might even start thanking your gut for all the hard work it does behind the scenes. It’s a fascinating, gut-busting read (pun intended) that will have you pondering your innards in a whole new light.