Jeffrey Penn May's Blog, page 4

Rebecca

Rebecca is a masterpiece. Brilliant for its time and enduring for its craft. Not much I can say about it beyond what’s already been written. My only small disappointment came in the last paragraph where du Maurier seemed to abandon her descriptive style including the gush of the narrator’s emotions and relies on inference, which felt incomplete, perhaps intended, but for me, slightly unsatisfying. Overall of course it is an excellent read and I highly … Continue reading →

Stay in the Woods

Harlan Coben is a fantastically successful and talented author of suspense. I’ve read and enjoyed most of his books and there are lots of them. While some slowed slightly and some pontificated unnecessarily, I never felt compelled to stop reading and toss the book into the recycle bin. Until now. The Boy From The Woods is his worst. I can recommend reading all the others. But skip this one. If anything, it shows that the … Continue reading →

Many Midnights

Perhaps I was expecting too much. But The Midnight Library by Matt Haigg was a disappointment. It reads like a children’s story, even with the suicide angle. The 35-year old main character, Nora Seed (seed of potential) seems about as naive as a ten year old, which sets up the didactic exchange between her and the librarian Mrs. Elm (tree with many branches). The theme is then driven home – be grateful for what you … Continue reading →

The White Spider

The White Spider by Heinrich Harrer is a series of gripping tales about the successes and failures on the notorious North Face of the Eiger, from the first fatal attempt in August of 1935 through 1963. Harrer, author of Seven Years in Tibet, recounts his own success as part of the first team to climb the North Face. His descriptions are meticulously focused on accuracy and are a salute to climbers everywhere. His efforts to … Continue reading →

Shopping Party

The Rooftop Party by Ellen Meister is fast and fun like eating a big bag of popcorn without getting indigestion. Normally I don’t read light rom/com wrapped around a murder mystery, but it’s a testament to Meister’s skill that I could enjoy anything about shopping. A severe critical eye might stumble over perceived flaws, but the scenes are almost required for fans of this genre and Meister masterfully hits all the right notes. I zoomed … Continue reading →

Avoidable Apocalypse Long Way Off

T-Minus AI by Michael Kanaan deciphers seemingly impenetrable complex computer machinations with clarity and insight in straightforward prose that makes it all seem relatively simple. Don’t look for apocalyptic assumptions about robots taking over and enslaving humankind. What you find is a clear-eyed appraisal of the AI world we are immersed in right now whether you recognized it or not and what should be done to assure our democratic and humanitarian values. T-Minus AI is … Continue reading →

Why Fish Don’t Exist

Why Fish Don’t Exist by Lulu Miller is a luminescent account of late 19th and early 20th century taxonomist David Starr Jordan and the consequences of his scientific obsession with creating order in a beautifully chaotic world by assiduously classifying fish and, in doing so, finding moral purpose. However, Jordan’s single-minded, admirable dedication to his life’s work, his belief in himself, his persistence and drive, which helped elevate him to become the first president of … Continue reading →

Obvious Exploitation

Hooked: Food, Free Will, And How The Food Giants Exploit Our Addictions by Michael Moss is a clearly written and important discussion about food corporations and their marketing techniques. However, for me, it seemed like a statement of the obvious and could have been accomplished in about 50 pages. Share on Facebook

Social Systems That Hurt Us All

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson is a must read. Seldom do you read nonfiction with such an original clearly stated, elegantly written, razor sharp perspective on centuries old conflicts and social traditions and their effects on current social challenges. Highly recommend. Share on Facebook

Where’s the Peanut Butter?

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini: A long review for a gratuitously long book. Spoiler alert! Not much to spoil. Let me apologize in advance. Christopher Paolini deserves respect for his imagination, ambition, and intellect in creating a detailed fictional world, and to have written a few good scenes in 800-plus pages. But this book seems ripe for a spirited response. If I had read Paolini’s YA novels, the Edergon series, … Continue reading →