​Absolutely wonderful. Michael Lewis successfully blends two biographies, an intellectual love story (there really is no other way to describe the Daniel Kahneman/Amos Tversky partnership), astute sketches of the work they did (in heuristics and biases), and how the partnership had ripple effects in a myriad of areas (from economics to psychology, from medicine to the military, and beyond). 

A must-read for science fiction fans. Yoon Ha Lee has created a bizarre future, where a ruling structure known as the Hexarchate (comprised of six factions) manages an interstellar territory. Power is based on a high calendar that allows advanced technologies to work. The technologies often feel less scientific and more magical, working on large groups of people subscribing to those beliefs and anything that is, in effect, blasphemous undermining the workings of the empire. As a reader I am still unsure of whether it is better categorized as science (as advanced mathematics play a role, and there is truly sophisticated engineering, cognitive programming, and biological medicine at play), or as magic, or perhaps magical due to (paraphrasing the third of Arthur C. Clarke’s famous three laws) the fact that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

​Overall this is a solid book, outlining the history of chronic illness in the United States, offering the reader both a medical perspective and a patient perspective. There is some excellent insight to glean and a lot to think about, especially as our longer lives mean more of us will deal with some form of chronic illness. Of course, such illnesses run the gamut. Some are miserable conditions that cause constant pain, extreme fatigue, or other ailments that severely limit many life activities. Others are milder conditions that either can be reliably controlled with medication and lifestyle changes (e.g., some forms of diabetes) or issues that can be tolerated as a “new normal” (e.g., some forms of allergies and asthma).  

​The middle books in trilogies are difficult, and this one certainly demonstrates that middle act tension and complication.  On the one hand, the story is interesting (but not as interesting as Mr. Mercedes), and a little bit predictable.  However, because it allows King to explore and discuss the topic of writing, creativity, the relationship between author and fan, and the like, it still works and moves.  It helps that I am simultaneously reading King’s writing guide cum memoir, On Writing.  You can easily see how he uses the central plot of Finders Keepers to tease out some of the material he includes in On Writing.  He also uses the plot as a neat way to echo some themes in Misery. 

​Ohler takes what feels like a too brief (or at least not broad enough) look at drugs in Germany during the interwar and World War II period. The general public (at least those who are history buffs) have known for decades that amphetamines (e.g., the drug colloquially known as speed) have been used by soldiers in wars throughout much of the twentieth century. But historians have known for decades that it wasn’t just amphetamines, but also methamphetamines. Both drugs were copiously consumed during World War II. In this book, Ohler covers the history of these drugs, how they came to be mass produced and mass ingested, and how this fueled and then derailed the Nazi war effort.

​This excellent history is not for the squeamish. It is no overstatement to say that antiseptic methods utterly revolutionized the practice of medicine in general, and surgery in particular.  Fitzharris tells the story of the antiseptic watershed through a sweeping history of medicine and some very nice biographical work on key figures of the time and on Lister, who documented and championed the cause.  

​Imagine a world where magic is everywhere but most people don’t see it. Feels fairly typical, doesn’t it? Like any of a host of fictional landscapes where the fantastic and the mundane are side-by-side, but only those with special powers are fully aware. Such stories are usually largely bright and cheery, and often driven forward by non-adult characters. And should the tale stray into darkness, the conflict is often resolved by the triumph of good (think Harry Potter and its predecessors). The darkness is there and important, but not typically overwhelming. You get some excellently crafted stories that skew a bit older and a bit more serious, like Lev Grossman's “The Magicians” (which I am embarrassed to admit I have yet to finish), with magic as a costly thing, requiring serious study and perseverance, and plots that cannot neatly resolve into good versus evil. 

​This is a solid book of reporting on the VW scandal (thus far). In explaining the contours of VW's efforts to thwart United States emissions tests, Ewing first places VW in history. The book, after a brief introductory chapter, flashes back to the founding families of VW and Porshe (the Piëch and Porshe families), covering their interests in engineering, their place in Germany and Austria during WWI, the interwar period, and WWII, and the personalities at play. Ewing also gives highlights of each car company's products, explanation of some of the engineering behind advances, and a broad portrait of how the larger companies were run.

Author: John Connolly  
Rating: 4 Stars
Review By: Shana

​What if the only thing standing between the Devil (aka, the Great Malevolence) and the destruction of the world was eleven year old Samuel Johnson and his trusty dachshund, Boswell? John Connolly (yes, THAT John Connolly) answers the question aptly.  

​A bit of a twist on the typical murder mystery, employing an atypical nascent detective. Mayne has created a main character who blends social naivete and occasional ineptitude with a brilliantly analytical mind. Professor Theo Cray is a computational biologist, and uses mathematics and computers to uncover biological nuances in species, environments, and the like. After a former student of his is killed while doing research in Montana (while Theo happens to be in Montana), he is drawn into the mystery of her brutal demise.