From Ellen Druda
Author: David Browne
Fire and Rain: the Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor and the lost story of 1970
1970 was a pivotal year for me too, so I was really looking forward to enjoying this behind –the-scenes look at some of my favorite musicians from that time. Browne does a good job of interweaving the groups’ careers and personal lives, how they intersected and splintered, and rose and fell. Despite my affection for the subject matter and time period, I found the writing a bit dry. Not much fire and rain, but an interesting read if you remember the year.
Category Archives: Ellen’s Picks
Automate this : how algorithms came to rule our world
From Ellen Druda
Author: Christopher Steiner
Automate this : how algorithms came to rule our world
Every day more and more aspects of our modern lives are assisted or guided by computer-made decisions. Decisions that used to take humans hours, days, or years to study and interpret are now figured out by a computer algorithm in micro-seconds. The highly competitive financial markets were the leaders in using automation to make fast choices about buying and selling, and the science has filtered down into speech recognition patterns, medical diagnosis, musical composition, customer service, and much more. The book is an eye-opener on the subject. For better or worse, the bots are here to stay.
Rules of Civility
From Ellen Druda
Author: Amor Towles
Rules of Civility
If you’re a fan of movies from the 30’s and 40’s starring a wise-cracking and beautiful heroine who mingles with high-society New York, put this book on reserve now. Meet Katey Kontent and her best pal, the tragic Eve. Out celebrating the end of 1937 in a Village jazz joint, Katey and Eve meet wealthy Tinker Grey, and the three become fast friends. Tinker allows them into his world of the rich and very rich, and Katey impresses his associates enough to start her own ascent from legal secretary pool to glamorous publishing world. The writing has an elegance and style that perfectly mimics the New York City setting.
Who I am : a memoir
From Ellen Druda
Author: Pete Townshend
Who I am : a memoir
After devouring the memoirs of Patti Smith and Keith Richards, I was looking forward to spending a little time reminiscing with Pete Townshend, lead guitar and writer for The Who. 500+ pages later, I don’t think either of us has figured him out. While Pete’s songs are beautifully crafted and speak volumes in ciphers, I found the book a bit slow going and unrevealing. The parts about his childhood were perhaps the most clear, after that, all the drinking and drugs must have blurred the memories.
The Swerve: how the world became modern
From Ellen Druda
Author: Stephen Greenblatt
The Swerve: how the world became modern ( sound recording CD)
This book traces the Roman work by Lucretius, entitled “De Rerum Natura”, or “On the Nature of Things.” The original work was lost, found, destroyed, and rediscovered throughout history, and Greenblatt focuses on the book lover who ultimately saved it from oblivion. On the way we learn about the history of civilization and how we have dealt with radical ideas. Even more startling than the ignorance and brutality that can befall those who refuse to conform were the surprising insights within “On the Nature of Things,” which talks about the true physical structure of our world – atoms and their apparent randomness.
Knocking on Heaven’s Door
From Ellen Druda
Author: Lisa Randall
Knocking on Heaven’s Door
We are getting closer and closer to understanding the true scientific nature of the universe,yet there are still many mysteries waiting to be explained. Physicist Lisa Randall describes the latest new particles discovered in the Standard Model, takes us on a detailed tour of the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva,talks about advances in cosmology and warped space, discusses string theory and branes,and wraps them all up together with wonderful insights into the nature of science, beauty, and spirit. Randall is equally at home expounding on the new physics as she is dealing with the human quest for meaning in life.
The warmth of other suns : the epic story of America’s great migration
From Ellen Druda
Author: Isabel Wilkerson
The warmth of other suns : the epic story of America’s great migration
The great migration by African Americans from the South to the North during the 20th century is told through the stories of three individuals who made the trip. We learn about the rough lives of Ida Mae Brandon Gladney, George Swanson Starling and Robert Joseph Pershing Foster in the Jim Crow south: the humiliation and fear, pitiful pay, and brutal working conditions that were regular parts of their daily existence. Separately they make the leap up North, and we follow their lives, for better or worse. Wilkerson interweaves the personal histories with the great history and brings the migration to life with facts, quotes, and an incredible amount of research. Eye-opening, expansive, and moving, this book sheds brilliant light on an important part of the American story.
The Uncommon Reader
From Ellen Druda
Author: Alan Bennett
The Uncommon Reader
This is a quick 120 page book about what would happen if the Queen of England was able to escape her minders and mingle, just a bit, with the commoners. Once she is exposed to the wonderful world of books and reading, her majesty discovers so very, very much. Light hearted and lovely.
The Greater Journey : Americans in Paris
From Ellen Druda
Author: David McCullough
The Greater Journey : Americans in Paris
“Not all pioneers went west.” McCullough looks at Paris in the 19th century as the other destiny for Americans as they looked to expand their horizons as a new nation. Starting in 1830, we watch the prominent citizens come and go: Samuel Morse, James Fennimore Cooper, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Henry James, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mary Cassatt, John Singer Sargent, Mark Twain, P.T. Barnum, and many more make their way there for short or extended stays. We see the beautiful City of Lights blossom into a metropolis filled with beautiful architecture, large fragrant gardens, and cosmopolitan citizens of the highest taste in fashion and the arts. We are witness, via the unforgettable diary entries of diplomat Elihu Washburne, the Franco-Prussian war and the long siege of Paris.The book ends with the Universelle Paris Exposition of 1900 as the new century begins, noting the changes just around the corner with the exhibited paintings of the teenage Pablo Picasso.
God is not great : how religion poisons everything
From Ellen Druda
Author: Christopher Hitchens
God is not great : how religion poisons everything
The late Christopher Hitchens ended his writing career as one of the world’s best known atheists. If you want to understand his reasons, this is the book to read. Filled with essays that take on the popular organized religious tenants, he takes them apart brilliantly at every turn with a rigorous intellectualism. Hitchens writes like he lived his life: with courage, humor, and a clarity of thought that cuts through dogma like a saber.
