booksrockcal's reviews
550 reviews

Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House by Jonathan Allen, Amie Parnes

challenging informative reflective relaxing medium-paced

4.0

unbiased overview of the 2024 election

Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham

challenging emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

I read an in depth study of the Challenger disaster as part of supervisor training with the Navy so I didn’t dive right in when this book came out, although I have always been interested in the topic, ever since I saw the Challenger blow up on the tv in the cafeteria at my law school.  I loved the last book by this other- Midnight in Chernobyl- and when it came up on my Kindle and Sharon Say So picked it for a book club book, I decided to dive in.  The author had access to materials and sources not available when the material I read was written. Higginbotham tells the story of Challenger by going back to the beginning of the space program, profiling astronauts and NASA leaders, delving into the NASA history and culture, explaining in lay person’s terms the science of space flight and the specifics of the issues with Challenger in a riveting manner in which the book of nonfiction reads like a thriller. It so effectively puts the reader in the moment that I found myself hoping against hope that NASA would call off the launch. The author also places the disaster in America of the moment in the era of Reagan when optimism for the American future ground to a halt with the explosion of Challenger. I only wished that the author had spent more time on the hearings. His description of the hearings was excellent but I wanted to hear more from Richard Feynman, the iconoclastic physicist who was an architect of the atomic bomb in Los Alamos, dying of radiation-induced cancer as he sat on the panel and blew the NASA explanations out of the water with his straightforward questions and on the spot science experiment with freezing material and the O ring. My only quibble with the book is that I wanted more Feynman - but the appendix to the report that he wrote on his own awaits my future reading. Truly an excellent read 

Why the Germans Do it Better: Notes from a Grown-Up Country by John Kampfner

challenging funny hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

3.75

this book was written for British readers who are apparently skeptical of German achievements in business, governing, and the arts. Germany became a country just 150 years ago and in those years experienced turbulent times unknown in frequency in most countries- not to mention the Nazis. The author shows that now, as much of the world succumbs to authoritarianism and democracy is undermined from its heart, Germany stands as a bulwark for decency and stability. The author uses his own experience as well as history to discuss modern Germany.  Kampfner notes that its postwar growth and efforts at unification  have made Germany a model for others to emulate, while Britain still languishes in wartime nostalgia and fails to tackle contemporary challenges. This was a fascinating book but too long in some parts of 

Menzel's Realism: Art and Embodiment in Nineteenth-Century Berlin by Michael Fried, Adolph Menzel

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

excellent overview of the art of Adolph Menzel, placing him in the context of other mid nineteenth century realist painters such as Courbet and Eakins. 

Borrower of the Night by Elizabeth Peters

adventurous dark funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

i enjoyed this mystery by Elizabeth Peters, best known for her Amelia Peabody books. In this series, Vicky Bliss, an art historian, goes to Germany to search for a long lost late Gothic sculpture and altar. Her fellow academic and suitor goes too- if he finds it first she has to marry him. They believe the art work is in a German castle and when they arrive to find it many suspicious events indicate either a thief and killer is hunting to the sculpture too- or ghosts from the 16th century inhabit the castle. They solve the mystery- together and simultaneously- but Vicky has no intention of marrying Tony or anyone else. I loved the zany aspects of the mystery and the independence of the character - the book was written in 1973 and her protestations of independence and portrayal as a smart and independent women seem a bit overplayed for this era but not for the early 1970s. 

Rick Steves Best of Germany: With Salzburg by Rick Steves

informative inspiring medium-paced

3.5

excellent overview of Germany read in prep for our trip there

Three Days in June by Anne Tyler

emotional hopeful reflective relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This is a book about love and family, those starting out in life and those with second chances. The book takes place over three days in which divorced couple Gail and Max’s daughter is getting married. Gail is awkward and set in her ways, Max is her opposite and he arrives at her door in the day of the rehearsal dinner with a cat and no suit. Gail has just lost her job or has been laid off- whichever it was she walked out the door. Their daughter Debbie at the rehearsal dinner tells her parents a secret she has just learned about her husband that brings up old issues between Gail and Max’s daughter and throws the wedding into question. I truly enjoyed this quiet, thought provoking book and its portrait of quirky characters. It’s been many years since I read an Anne Tyler book and this short and thoughtful book reminded me of how wonderful her books are. I will be reading more 

Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

This is a beautifully written book about grief and mourning, love, hope and community. I saw the author, Geraldine Brooks, speak about this book at USD, sponsored by Warwick’s, which made it even more heart wrenching. I knew Geraldine Brooks as the author of March, the story of the father in Little Women. Until I heard her speak, i was not aware that her husband was Tony Horwitz, the author of Confederates in the Attic, one of the books I read to understand the south we lived in for fourteen years- in a humorous and insightful manner. This  book is the story of their lives together, as Columbia journalism students, as war correspondents, as parents of their sons and residents of Martha’s Vineyard who love gathering with friends and watching sunsets in the beach. When Tony dies suddenly of a heart attack on the street in DC while he is on a book tour promoting his most recent book, Geraldine’s life changes immediately. this is the story of that event and her grief, of coming to terms with her life without Tony. The chapters alternate between the events surrounding Tony’s death and its immediate aftermath and Geraldine’s sojourn in a windswept island off the coast of her native Australia where she goes three years after Tony’s death to come to terms with her grief. It’s a compelling story and so heartfelt; my husband had a heart attack in the street and was saved by a police officer doing CPR so any story like this always hits home to me. 

Black Tunnel White Magic by Rick Jackson

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

I loved this book, it was a true crime version of a Harry Bosch novel filled with details of police investigations conducted amid the backdrop of 1990s Los Angeles. In the book LAPD RHD detective Rick Jackson tells the story of the murder of Ron Baker, a UCLA student, in a train tunnel in a park in Chatsworth near the Spahn Ranch where the Manson Family lived. The investigation of the murder leads to two main suspects, the victim’s roommates, one white, one black but also involves issues roiling Los Angeles in that era- the influence of the occult, the fallout from the Rodney King beating, video, and verdict, and the OJ Simpson trial. In the book the detectives methodically and doggedly follow one clue after another, some leading nowhere, others leading to unexpected places. This is a story of betrayal and deception and a murder committed in cold blood and the book demonstrates that the process for bringing the murderers to justice is not as smooth as that depicted in most movies. I could not put this book down- it was riveting and thought provoking. 

Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible & Why We Don't Know About Them by Bart D. Ehrman

adventurous challenging informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

4.75

Bart Ehrman’s book about Jesus is eye opening and highly readable. He discusses many myths relating to the Bible in depth. For example the books of the New Testament were written 60 plus years after Jesus’s and the authors were not the disciples but rather Christian writers living much later  Established Christian doctrines—such as the suffering messiah, the divinity of Jesus & the trinity—were the inventions of later theologians. These eye opening revelations to the average Christian reader are presented with details and supporting information. Really Compelling.