Artemis by Andy Weir

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!

Rare: Portraits of America's Endangered Species by Joel Sartore

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.

Face to Face with Grizzlies by Joel Sartore

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.

The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz

On a random Sunday when the Husband and I were on our regular weekly pilgrimage to Costco, we did our usual swing by the book section to see if anything caught our eye.  We often look at what's out to make our library book list then request them of our local library (best thing ever!).  This book caught my eye.  The Husband asked if I had read the other books in this series, indeed I have, and I watched the original movies in Swedish with English subtitles - streamed from Netflix on my computer.  I don't remember if I saw the English-language movies.  I normally don't like to read my movies - I opt for films in English.  But since the English-language movies hadn't been made yet, and I was so eager to see them, I watched/read the movies.  They were fantastic.

When we saw this book at Costco, I was intrigued and wanted to know if this was the "next" one in the series.  Indeed, it is.  Except it isn't by the original author, Stieg Larsson, but rather by David Lagercrantz.  I like continuity in series books, but I'm not one to not read a book in the series if it is by a different author, especially if the original author has passed.

So, the Husband requested this for me from our local library, and I started it on September 5th and finished it on September 30th.

I hadn't read the synopsis or any reviews, I just dug right in.  It started a little slow, but once it picked up, it was like a kick in the head from Lisbeth Salander herself.  The action was awesome, I was invested in the characters, and in the last 100 pages or so, I couldn't put it down.  The day I finished it was a Saturday.  I usually get up around 8am, have a quick breakfast and watch a show on the DVR, then rush off to work out with my trainer for an hour.  On September 30th, I got up at my normal time, read during breakfast, and when I got home, continued reading until I finished the book.  Lisbeth lent me some of her bad-assness during my training session.  I was boxing that day, and channeled Lisbeth.  It was fun!

Lagercrantz paints a good picture of life for Mikael.  Millennium is a pickle and the press for some reason is on Mikael's ass, and in typical Nordic form, there is a storm raging outside.  We come to learn more about Millennium's pickle and about a young autistic boy.  Lisbeth is her usual brooding, loner-self who is on a hacking tirade.  Somehow all of these things collide and in typical form, the shit hits the fan.  There are guns, car chases, seductresses, hit-men, hackers, government employees, sexual encounters, artistic moments, mathematical equations, and more.

I loved it.  There is another book out that follows this - the Husband already has us on the list for it from the library.  Woo hoo!

The book starts slow, but ends with a thrill.

What If: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe

What If this or that happened?  What are the consequences?  If you have an active imagination and you like to ask "what if" - this is the book for you.  I started this on August 10 and finished it on September 2.

I love a book that starts with a disclaimer!

"Do not try any of this at home.  The author of this book is an Internet cartoonist, not a health or safety expert.  He likes it when things catch on fire or explode, which means he does not have your best interests in mind.  The publisher and the author disclaim responsibility for any adverse effects resulting, directly or indirectly, from information contained in this book."

So, yeah.  Don't try the things in this book, no matter how much you might want to.  As a lifelong learner, an avid reader, and being curious by nature, this book was right up my alley.  I like the absurd, the off-kilter, the super random shit, and I like to know what would happen if... and why.

Some of the absurd questions that Munroe answers, often with hilarious cartoons accompanying the text are:

• What if I took a swim in a typical spent nuclear fuel pool? Would I need to dive to actually experience a fatal amount of radiation?  How long could I stay safely at the surface?
• Bottom line - you'll probably be ok as long as you don't dive to the bottom or pick up anything

• One of my faves:  What would happen if you made a periodic table out of cube-shaped bricks, where each brick was made of the corresponding element?
• Bottom line - very, very bad things would happen.  "Unfortunately for our project, the transuranic elements don't vanish quietly.  They decay radioactively.  And most of them decay into things that also decay.  A cube of any of the highest-numbered elements would decay within seconds, releasing a tremendous amount of energy... It wouldn't be a chain reaction - just a reaction.  It would happen all at once.  The flood of energy would instantly turn you - and the rest of the periodic table - to plasma."

• If you suddenly began rising steadily at 1 foot per second, how exactly would you die?  Would you freeze or suffocate first?  Or something else?
• For you chefs out there, from what height would you need to drop a steak for it to be cooked when it hit the ground?
• For you road warriors, which US state is actually flown over the most?  Eager for the answer - it's Virginia.
• What would happen to the Earth if the Sun suddenly switched off?  
• Some good things like reduced solar flares, improved satellite service, better astronomy (it's darker, duh), cheaper trade (no more time zones).  And, some bad things - we'd all freeze and die.
• And for you baseball fans: What would happen if you tried to hit a baseball at 90% the speed of light?
• You guessed it - very bad things would happen.  I wouldn't want to be anywhere near the stadium where this happens.

This book is hilariously entertaining, and chock full of quite interesting and accurate science.

If you want to be entertained and learn something, definitely read this book!  And enthusiastic two thumbs up!

And, if you like this, you might want to check out The Thing Explainer.

This is from "A mole of moles" - I love anything having to do with animals, especially strange animals

This is from "High Throw" - I love anything about balls and Giraffes

River Monsters by Jeremy Wade

I can't say for certain why it is that the TV show on Animal Planet, River Monsters, fascinates me, but it does.  I'm not a fisherperson.  I've been fishing, when I was little.  I think it was with my older brother's Boy Scouts troop, and apparently all of the boys were too squeamish to clean their fish, and I wasn't.  I think it was at a lake in SoCal near where I grew up that was stocked with fish, so it was pretty much a given that we'd all catch fish.  Can't say that I've ever fished since then.

But for some reason, I absolutely love the show River Monsters.  It may be because I'm an adventurer at heart, and curious by nature.  It may be because I like to tread light on this Earth we live on, and Jeremy Wade does too, and he isn't out to sport fish and catch and kill everything he finds.  He's a catch and release fisherman, I respect that.  See what you can get, take a look, then let it go.  I was sad to learn that the show is ending this season.  

I was talking with my dad on one of our regular Tuesday & Thursday morning on the way to work phone conversations, and somehow we were talking about River Monsters and how I love the show.  He said he liked the book too.  I had to remind him that I was talking about the TV show.  He was insistent that there was a book.  I looked it up, and lo and behold, it is a book too!  I had to have it.  So, thanks to the husband and his magical Amazon Prime account, I had the book in hand a few days later.  I couldn't wait to read it.  I started this on June 30th and finished it on August 8th.

Jeremy Wade is a pretty interesting man.  His show came about from a lot of perseverance and drive, and by not giving up.  In this book, he tells the tale of how River Monsters came to be, and he goes on to talk about some of the most interesting, challenging, and crazy expeditions and catches.

In the show as in this book, Jeremy Wade researches possible culprits for the mysteries he's trying to solve.  He then sets out to find out if his hypothesis is sound and true by visiting mostly remote and scary places and fishing.  A lot of fishing.  

I think the book was so interesting for me because I can remember the TV show episode that went with most of the monsters he included in his book.  The book brought a new dimension to what I saw and learned from the show.

This is one instance where the show was equally as good as the book!  Such a rarity.

All of the monsters he chronicles and searches for are pretty scary - piranhas, goliath tigerfish, wels arapaima, catfish, gars, eels, electric eels, rays, sharks - some pretty scary shit is lurking below.

This book was well written, easy to understand, and fascinating.  Water covers 71% of the Earth.  That's a lot.  In terms of what we know about what's down there, we basically know nothing.  The crazy creatures Jeremy Wade catches support that thought.  He's caught fish that were believed to be extinct, and found creatures of gigantic proportions. 

There's also an obvious message of conservation throughout.  In addition to us knowing nothing, many don't care - they employ drastic measures to catch fish that cause the death and destruction of entire ecosystems.  

"In parts of India they fish with dynamite that has been acquired from road-maintenance teams.  Fish concentrate in pools where only a couple of sticks, in a small river, can kill everything.  Then there's the electro-fishing, using wires hooked up to power lines and run down to the water - an insanely dangerous method and indicative of a level of desperation that I, for one, can scarcely comprehend."

"Killing what you fear will achieve nothing.  In fact, this can even rebound on us - as it undoubtedly will if they ever try to wipe out the Breede River bull sharks.  And the same goes for the casual killing of our fellow creatures that we are doing all the time through our now-untenable belief that our security is assured through ever-increasing consumption.  Now, more than at any time in the past, the challenge facing every one of us is to learn to coexist with other life.  Because the day the last monster dies is the day the river dies too.  And when that happens, we're not far behind."

Grim, yes.  But true.  Sustainability, folks, that's where it's at.  Be curious, tread lightly, this is the only Earth we have.

Against All Enemies by Tom Clancy (with Peter Telep)

Oh, Tom Clancy, you weave an ever-so-complicated tale.  After finishing Bite Me, I started reading Against All Enemies on May 21st and finished it on June 29th.  Like many Clancy novels, this isn't a short book.  It is 709 pages of action-packed reading material.

If you've never read a Clancy book before here are a few things to note:  

• The book may seem disjointed.  Clancy writes complicated books with many small sub-stories that come together.  It can be a little tough to keep everything straight and remember how everything is intertwined.  That's ok.  He usually wraps everything up nicely in the last 100 pages or so. 
• There is a lot going on in the book.  Yes, there is.  Just go with it. 
• It is long.  Again, yes.  The book is long.  You'll enjoy it (probably).  Just keep reading. 
• The book sort of seems real.  Yes, it does.  Clancy writes realistic books that are well-researched.

Going into any Clancy book - know that it may seem confusing, it's long, there's a lot going on - that's his style and genre.  You'll either like it or not.  I really like it.  The Husband doesn't.  The Husband's dad actually gave me this book after he read it.  He and I have similar taste in some books, and he and The Husband have another similar taste in books.  You can have more than one taste.  That's the beauty of books - they are so diverse - and there is bound to be something out there that whets your appetite!

Back to Against All Enemies.  How do I even begin?  What came first - the chicken or the egg?  Who knows, but they both exist.  This book makes a tasty omelette out of the Mexican drug cartels, Middle-East terrorists, Guatemalan death squads, the alphabet soup of federal agencies (FBI, CIA, DEA, boarder patrol, and...), Navy SEALs, and more.  It seems like everything imaginable comes into the mix in this one.

One of the main characters in this book is ex-Navy SEAL Max Moore - he's the thread that is a constant throughout the whole book.  It starts and ends with him.  We experience many intense situations in present time and in Moore's past that help us understand who he is and what motivates him.  Another thread that is present throughout is a question that Moore was asked by a Middle Eastern man who was providing information to him.  This man asked Moore what the most difficult thing he has ever done in his life.  It is a question that Moore struggles with throughout the book.  

     "...So, in the name of brotherhood... what is the most difficult thing you have ever done in your life?"

      "I don't think I've ever faced that question before."

     "Are you afraid to tell me?"

     "I'm not afraid, I'm just..."

     "You don't want to look at it.  You've hidden it away."

     Moore gasped, and he was unsure if he could maintain his gaze on Wazir.  "We've all done many difficult things."

     "I need the most difficult.  Do you want me to go first?"

     Moore nodded.

     "I yearned to make my father proud.  I wanted to be a good son."

     "And how was that difficult?"

     Wazir raised his stump.  "I got hurt early in the war, and with that the paternal glow of pride, each time I entered the room, was quenched from my father's gaze.  His son was a cripple now, no longer a warrior.  It was never the same with him after that.  And there was nothing harder for me to do than make him proud."

      ... Moore's eyes began to burn - because he knew that the old man was going to press him again.  He did.

     "The hardest thing?"

     "Moore glanced away.  "I'm sorry.  I can't look in there."

     The old man sat quietly, sipping on his tea, letting the silence reclaim the room, while Moore forced his thoughts onto deep, dark waves of nothing.  And then he looked up.  "I guess if I don't tell you, you won't help me."

     "If you told me too quickly, I wouldn't believe you.  I understand that the pain is so great that you can't talk.  I know this pain.  And I will help you.  I must help you."

     "I just... I once made a decision that to this day I'm not sure was the right one.  Every time I think about it I feel like I'm going to throw up."

Through flashbacks of his SEAL training and missions we learn of some of the difficult things that Moore has been through, and we might just learn what that one thing makes him feel like he's going to throw up.

I like Clancy's books because he writes his characters very believably - they seem like real, complicated, complex, messed-up people - like all of us.  Everyone has problems, failures, challenges, successes, regrets, wants, desires, thoughts, happiness, sadness, frustration.  Not everything works out for every one.

I can't remember the last Clancy book I read - maybe Rainbow Six - and that was many years ago.  It was nice to pick up another Clancy book and really like it.  If you're a fan of Clancy or this genre, you'll probably like this book.