I devoured Andy Weir's first book, The Martian, in July 2014. Loved it. Loved the movie, too. I thought it was a really good translation from the book to the movie. That doesn't always happen. I was pleased to learn, from The Husband, that Weir had another book out - this one called Artemis. The Husband read it first then passed it on to me. This was a super quick read - started 11/24 and finished 7 days later on 11/30/17.
I read some critical reviews of certain elements of this book, but hey, not everyone will like everything. For me, sometimes reading is an escape from the world around me. It can be a fantasy world where I don't have to think about too much, be overly critical or sensitive, and can just BE with the words on the page. Sometimes it is an enjoyable place to be, like with this book. Other times it is a not so enjoyable place to be, like with The Angel of History. I am sure there are many people out there who really enjoyed that book, I just don't happen to be one of them.
Like The Martian, Artemis was action packed, not completely predictable, entertaining, and funny. It was thrilling, kept you on the edge of your seat, laughing, anxious, and everything in between. This book is centered around a lady named Jazz who was born on and lives on the Moon. Yes, THE MOON. In this book, there is a colony on the moon, built by the country of Kenya. Jazz may be in to some shady and not so shady stuff, but she's got the spotlight in the book.
Apparently on the Moon, like everywhere, there is an underground element, there are mafia people, rich people, poor people, and people who think they can get away with anything. Jazz finds herself in the middle of all of this along with a random set of people who help and hinder her along the way. Of course there are a few twists and turns along the way, and a lesson in economics.
"The next big step is taxes."
"Taxes?" I snorted [Jazz]. "People come here because they don't want to pay taxes."
"They already pay taxes - as rent to KSC [Kenyan Space Agency]. We need to change over to a property-ownership and tax model so the city's wealth is directly tied to the economy. But that's not for a while."
She took off her glasses. "It's all part of the life-cycle of an economy. First it's lawless capitalism until that starts to impede growth. Next comes regulation, law enforcement, and taxes. After that: public benefits and entitlements. Then, finally, over-expenditure and collapse."
"Wait. Collapse?"
"Yes, collapse. An economy is a living thing. It's born full of vitality and dies once it's rigid and worn out. Then, through necessity, people break into smaller economic groups and the cycle begins anew, but with more economies. Baby economies, like Artemis is right now."
"Huh," I said. "And if you want to make babies, somebody's got to get fucked."
She laughed. "You and I will get along just fine, Jasmine."
I left without further comment. I didn't want to spend any more time inside the mind of an economist. It was dark and disturbing. I needed a beer.
And you have all of this set on the Moon (so there is sort of some science-y stuff in the book too)! With cussing!!!
This is an entertaining story, fast-paced and interesting. Two thumbs up from me. Look forward to the movie!
After finishing Face to Face with Grizzlies by Joel Sartore, I started Rare: Portraits of America's Endangered Species also by Sartore on November 8 and finished it on November 11. As I mentioned in the Grizzlies post, I follow Joel Sartore on Instagram. It was there that I learned about his project - the photo ark - his 25-year project in the making to showcase biodiversity and inspire action to save animals. Check out the photo ark here. He travels the world photographing animals in the wild and at zoos, preserves, and other animal institutions.
On his Instagram feed, he mentioned a 3-episode series that was airing on PBS about the photo ark, so of course I asked The Husband to record it on the DVR. The series sat there for several months, and we finally watched it a few weeks back. It was AMAZING! Seeing how he photographs the animals, and understanding why he does it the way he does was fascinating. His goal with the ark is to photograph animals using portrait photography techniques in an effort to help people connect with the animals to hopefully help us want to save animals. He captured lemurs in the wild in Madagascar and showed the devastation of deforestation there. He photographed a nearly extinct Northern White rhino at a zoo in the Czech Republic - she was one of the last 3 of this species ON EARTH. Shortly after Joel photographed this rhino, she died, leaving only 2 animals left ever. That broke my heart. Literally there are only 2 of these rhinos left. TWO. And that was in 2015. According to a quick search of the interwebs, there is only 1 male of this species left - and that's it. Poof, the end of this species.
The book, Rare, is full of amazing photos of beautiful animals that are in varying states on the extinction spectrum. The sections are separated into more than 10,000 individuals, 1,000-10,000 individuals, less than 1,000 individuals, population numbers unknown, and on the rise - populations increasing. At least there is some hope. The book also includes some plant species as well. The photographs are stunning. He photographs everything on both solid black and solid white backgrounds with studio lighting of sorts. The animals aren't shown with plants or other things - just the animals (and plants) plain and simple, front and center - in a portrait. Even ugly things look beautiful. And to think that some of these animals and plants will be gone forever in our lifetime is so tragic. It is difficult to be sad that some animals we consider "pests" are disappearing - I mean, am I sad that I won't get the opportunity to come face to face with a New Mexico Ridge-Nosed Rattlesnake? No.
But everything in our Earth's ecosystem is interconnected. If key species disappear, others will follow, and in an extreme version of this - we'll disappear too. How sad is that? That's the road we are on though, people. Pollution of all kinds, habitat loss, clear cutting, slash and burn deforestation all at our hands contribute to the destruction of our planet. We've only got one. We need to tread more carefully.
At the end of the book, Sartore offers some thoughts on how we can take action. He tries to answer the question - what can any of us do?
"Plenty. First, be aware of what's going on. Find out for yourself. Read. Talk to people who have firsthand experience in the natural sciences. Join your local chapter of the Nature Conservancy, the Audubon Society, or any other group that cares about saving the Earth. Above all, don't let anyone tell you what to think. Though some may shove their opinions your way, learn for yourself and make up your own mind. Next, realize that how you live has a real impact on the planet. What is your carbon footprint? How big is your house, and is it well insulated? What size vehicle do you drive? Can you take public transit? Better yet, can you ride a bike or walk instead? And what about your shopping habits? Reduce what you buy. Reuse what you buy. Absolutely, but think of that as a last result. Finally, know that every time you break out your wallet, you can make a difference. Every time you spend money, you are, in effect, voting. You're saying, 'I approve of what this is made of, I approve of who made this and how, I approve of the distance that this was shipped from, and most of all, I want you to do it again and again.' That's real power, and you don't have to wait for an election year to make your voice heard. You can practice this every day."
That hits home for me. We can all take actions that will save the planet and we all should take those actions.
This book was awesome, tragic, beautiful, sad, inspiring, depressing. I would definitely recommend checking this book out, or at least the on-line photo ark. Hopefully it will inspire you to make a change too.
After finishing The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz on September 30th, I started Hamilton by Ron Chernow. I took a little break from Hamilton (it's a long book) and read 2 books The Husband picked up at the library by a National Geographic photographer I follow in Instagram - Joel Sartore. I'm not certain how I came to follow Joel, but it probably is because I follow National Geographic, he's one of those photographers, and I often explore the feeds of the photographers whose work National Geo features. His photographs are amazing. As a surprise, The Husband brought home "Face to Face with Grizzlies" for me to read. I started and finished this on November 7.
The target audience for this book is kids - but it was fun to read a little about bears and see some of Joel's amazing pictures. It is informational (I learned that Grizzly bears and Brown bears are the same species - Ursus arctos), easy to read - lots of pictures, large type, tells us about habits of bears, their habitats, diets, and what to do to help save bears. And he tells a story about how he came face to face with a bear and lived to tell the tale.
Apparently the fishing bears or Brooks Falls, Alaska are famous and people gather there to photograph them fishing for salmon. Joel was there in July surrounded by people and bears. Late in the day he was heading back to his campsite about a mile away. Within seconds of his walk, he encountered a large female bear with two cubs. The bear saw Joel and immediately she "bounded down the hill, head down, mouth foaming. She was braced, ready to spring. She didn't roar; her mouth was closed. Her stare was intense. They tell you not to run if a grizzly charges you. That was not a problem for me. I didn't remember that I even had legs at that point. I lowered my eyes, apologized softly, and slowly backed up. The standoff lasted only ten seconds or so. She shorted and trotted back up the hill."
This was a cute book, definitely suited for kids - informative, great pictures, and a nice conservation message.
