The great detective is investigating the murder of a politician with a mysterious background.

• Author: Peter Romer
• Fiction      Crime

Book 2 of 2 of Agent Shaw. In this book, Shaw’s mission intersects with another amateur group of modern Nazi hunters as they try to take down an old Soviet warlord. Gripping, but pretty airy stuff.

• Author: David Baldacci
• Fiction      Crime

Epic in scope, the author weaves together a disparate group of protagonists to tell the story of the battle over the logging of old growth forests and what we have lost due to our ignorance and greed.

• Author: Richard Powers
• Fiction      Historical Fiction

Larson’s distinct brand of historical fiction details the story of the birth of wireless telegraph and it’s impact on the world, particularly on a strange murder in London. A key figure covered is Marconi, who is debatably the inventor of wireless telegraph while not apparently not understanding much of its scientific underpinnings. This time period appears to be a pivot point from the “gentleman scientist” who discovers for mankind’s sake and shares their finding far and wide for others to build upon and the capitalist dabbler, who has the good sense to see a scientific tide emerging and seeks to be the first to commercial application and covets the advances as trade secrets. While the gentleman scientist was limited to a privileged few who had the wealth and influence, we are worse off for not having some great minds striving for the general welfare.

• Author: Erik Larson
• Nonfiction      History

A thriller about the winner of a rigged lottery drawing. It spends the first 200 pages setting the scene before it really gets humming.

• Author: David Baldacci
• Fiction      Crime

Book 1 of the Hyperion Cantos. The structure parallels the Canterbury Tales in having a number of pilgrims tell their story on their journey. Through each of the tales, more of the world as well as the stakes of the pilgrimage become clear. Beautifully written book.

• Author: Dan Simmons
• Fiction      Sci-Fi

Recommended by Austin. Very strong beginning. I really like how the analogy the author used in describing the ocean as Earth’s engine, turning heat into motion and motion into life. The first part was the strongest as she laid down this basis and hooks the reader on the importance of the ocean to life on this planet. The 2nd and 3rd parts were deeper dives that I felt dragged a bit - still informative but likely at a deeper level than I was seeking.

• Author: Helen Czerski
• Nonfiction      Science

This story finds Bernie after WWII as a pawn in a murder mystery that revels in the cynicism of the post-war order. Classic Gunther.

• Author: Philip Kerr
• Fiction      Crime

The good detective investigates a murder at Tuchinski theatre, one of the cooler buildings in Amsterdam that shows movies nowadays.

• Author: Peter Romer
• Fiction      Crime

Each successive Reacher is more formulaic than the last. I’ll keep reading them but almost think it would be more rewarding to start again with the first book rather than the derivative adventures.

• Author: Lee Child
• Fiction      Crime

Subtitled “The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World”, the book is written by the Surgeon General under Obama, Vivek Murthy. It’s a good premise, exploring why human connection is just as important for our health as is eating well, exercise, etc. I’ve seen this repeated recently, where studies of old people reveal that those that live the longest have strong relationships. The author tries to underpin some evolutionary rationale for this in the beginning, after which breaks into more anecdotal evidence. The final chapter finishes strong as it talks about examples we can set for our kids, which resonated for me. Recommended by my Mom.

• Author: Vivek Murthy
• Nonfiction      Science