This is two long novellas mashed into one book. The second ("Magic, Inc.") is surprisingly diverse, considering it was written by a white man in 1940. Both stories feature magic, but were written by a guy known for hard sci-fi.

A Promised Land by Barack Obama

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hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

3.75

This is a detailed, heartfelt, vulnerable account of Obama’s early life through part of his first term as president (a second book is expected). I found it more honest than defensive, more willing to admit mistakes and failures than one would expect. More than anyone, Obama is aware of his critics on both the left and the right, and he seems to keenly understand the criticisms from both directions. Here, he doesn’t cast judgment on those critiquing him, but rather simply offers his experience: <i>This is what I did, and the reasons I did it: make of it what you will.</i>

World Without End by Ken Follett

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Did not finish book.

For me, it introduced too many characters early, with too complex relationships between them. (I enjoyed other books in this series.)

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

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4.0

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond

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4.0

Lost to the West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire That Rescued Western Civilization by Lars Brownworth

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