Keynes: The Rise, Fall, and Return of the 20th Century's Most Influential Economist   Peter Clarke
A chatty, even gossipy overview of Keynes’ life, and a good, well-written introduction and evaluation of his economic work. Being who I am, I was much more interested in the biographical elements, especially when they intersected with his economic theory and policy. Wish he had more influence in the 21^st century. Brief, well done, and valuable.

The Upright Thinkers: The Human Journey from Living in Trees to Understanding the Cosmos   Leonard Mlodinow
Disappointing book supposedly about human intellectual development. I was really excited about it because of the great title. Turned out that Mlodinow only briefly skimmed over human origins. Also, he presented an irritatingly adolescent view of human thought, the tired idea that current science is the smartest humans have even been, he even disparages Aristotle for not using the scientific method. Too bad the title was the best thing about this book.

This One Summer   Mariko Tamaki, Jillian Tamaki
Read this Caldecott award-winning teen graphic novel because I saw an article about it being banned in a school because a single person complained about it, the usual stuff. Story of two friends and a summer they spend at the lake. Very thoughtful, real, sweet, and interesting, even for an old man like me. Graphics strongly influenced by manga. Enjoyed it. Disgusted that it was banned.

The 1920s Decade in Photos: The Roaring Twenties   Jim Corrigan
Excellent little book with good, representative photographs of all the high points of the decade in the United States, with a small nod to Europe and the rise of fascism. Very useful summary, a quick read.

The Deluge: The Great War, America and the Remaking of the Global Order, 1916-1931   Adam Tooze
Very well written, highly intelligent, very well researched history of America’s economic and political ascendancy to world leadership. Amazing detail on the economic and political maneuvering of the belligerents in the war, after it, and through the 1920s. Not nearly enough about the domestic situation in the United States for me, but that is not a criticism of this excellent, impressive book. While his understanding of European economics and politics, and America’s growing involvement, in this period is impressive, wasn’t really what I was looking for. But an excellent book.

The Twenties in America   Paul A. Carter
Disappointing rumination on how the twenties have been understood rather than a history of the period. More a meta-history, with abundant reference to scholars who have written about the twenties. No real history here, but plenty of self-referential interpretation. Waste of my time. At least it was short. Too bad.

The Perils of Prosperity, 1914-1932   William E. Leuchtenburg
Well-written, informative, serious history of the period in the United States. Excellent, concise explanation of Wilson’s reluctant move to war. Good explanation of the social, cultural, and political movements and trends of the 1920, the political and social fundamentalism surprised me. Brief, but effective overview of the causes of the 1929-1932 crash and depression. Well worth it.

The Other Side of Silence   Philip Kerr
Latest in the generally very enjoyable Bernie Gunther series. Even though Kerr’s prose moves things right along, didn’t really like this one very much. Bernie’s in the south of France in 1956, and the rather contrived plot is about Somerset Maugham and British intelligence. Only token Nazi references, and once again, the female relationship is  unconvincing. Too bad. But thanks, Charlie, I really appreciate it. Glad I read it.

Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania   Erik Larson
Bloated “history” of the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915 that helped eventually to nudge the U.S. into World War I. Filled with unnecessary information like what clothes one of the babies was wearing, and extensive commercial background on one of the passengers. It’s like Larson put in anything he found, relevant or not. Written a little sensationally, like true crime rather than real history. Disappointing.

The Tyranny of Change: America in the Progressive Era, 1900-1917   John Whiteclay Chambers
More of a survey than a primary-source history, Chambers covers these years in broad strokes. American society changed dramatically because of massive immigration from southern and eastern Europe, rapid urbanization, and sweeping industrialization. He gives a glancing account of the Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson presidencies, but  much detail about what is generally referred to as the progressive movement that resulted from all the change. Also, America’s shift from isolationist to interventionist foreign policy. Pretty good introduction to the first two decades of the 20^th century. Overall, worthwhile, especially since I had trouble finding histories about these two decades.

The Universe in a Nutshell   Stephen Hawking
A lavishly illustrated sequel to Hawking’s unbelievably popular A Brief History of Time. A little too rudimentary, and about 15 years out of date. Good, clear explanations of concepts that are, however, basically incomprehensible in any practical sense, like real time and imaginary time. All that matters in understanding the universe is whether the math works. Ok, I guess.

The Particle at the End of the Universe: How the Hunt for the Higgs Boson Leads Us to the Edge of a New World   Sean Carroll
Interesting, lucid, and up-to-date book about the “God particle.” Fascinated by the idea that there are no such things as particles, everything is really a field, and what we call particles are really vibrations or fluctuations in a field. Good background on particle physics, the history of colliders and what they do, and the LHC experiments. An excellent history of the development of “Higgs” theory. Very helpful diagrams and photographs. Good book for me, learned a lot.

Providential Accidents   Geza Vermes
Deeply interesting autobiography of one of the world’s foremost scholars of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the historical Jesus.. He is chatty, gracious, and a little emotionally distant. Would have been nice to know what it was like for him to go from lifelong celibacy to falling in love and getting married. I loved his discussions of his life of scholarship. I’ve always enjoyed books like this, and I really liked this one.

American Bloomsbury: Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau: Their Lives, Their Loves, Their Work   Susan Cheever
Gossipy rather than scholarly, admittedly very repetitive, account of the interplay of the lives of some of the greatest writers and thinkers in American history, all congregated in Concord, Massachusetts in the middle of the 19^th century. While Cheever acknowledges their genius, she is disparaging of the men, but always sympathetic to the women. The book is like an exposé, it became very tedious. Deeply disappointing. Too bad.