Lab Girl by Hope Jahren *****

Hope Jahren is a paleobiologist. She studies the lifecycle and evolution of trees. Her autobiography (Lab Girl) intertwines her experiences as a woman scientist, a person with bipolar disorder, and a mother. The biographical chapters are alternated with chapters on the biology of trees. Both threads are fascinating.

Some of the book is about the science of plants, including many things that are only known because of her research. Other parts describe the struggle to succeed as a female scientist and person with bipolar disorder. There is also a lot about the life of a scientist. Her family is mentioned, but it is not central to the story. Why? Because this book is really dedicated to Bill.

Early in graduate school, she meets an undergraduate named Bill. In addition to Hope’s story, and the science, this book is about Bill. Dr. Jahren is a Ph.D., prize-winning scientist, tenured professor, with a husband and child. Bill is her assistant, often without a place to live. This book is their story.

Before long we were telling each other the stories of this book. I am amazed to realize that these stories now span about twenty years. During this time, we’ve gotten three degrees, worked six jobs, lived in four countries and traveled through sixteen more…

This is a summary of the results of their partnership, but it is bittersweet, as all the credit went to Dr. Jahren for work done in The Jahren Lab funded by her grants and winning her prizes and acclaim. She is the one with a marriage and family. Bill is featured and praised in this book as something of a consolation prize and maybe an apology.

An interesting thought experiment would be to imagine the situation if the genders had been reversed, as has been more typical over the years.

The science of life and the life of scientists. The story of one person and the entire planet.

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The Library Book by Susan Orlean *****

The Library Book by Susan Orlean is an engaging history of the Los Angeles Central Library with an emphasis on the 1986 fire— “the single biggest library fire in the history of the United States.” While the book repeatedly returns to the fire, it ranges freely over many book and library-related topics, including book burnings, arson investigations, the changing role of libraries, architecture, and the biographies of head librarians.

The first recorded instance of book-burning was in 213 BCE in China. In modern times, UNESCO estimates the number of books destroyed to be in the billions, but this is not always “book burnings.” War is the predominant cause. Libraries are often collateral damage when cities are attacked.

Libraries grow more inclusive over time. Early libraries charged a subscription fee, had age requirements for membership, and restricted access to some books. Over time all these barriers have been lifted. Today, libraries are among the very few public spaces open to everyone. For some in downtown LA, the library is not only a source of books, but also a place to get out of the rain, access Internet, and even apply for services.

Los Angeles has had many interesting librarians. An early head librarian walked from Chicago to Los Angeles to assume the reigns. When the library board attempted to remove Mary Jones “because she was not a man,” The Great Library War went on for years.

A must-read for anyone interested in Los Angeles, libraries, or arson.

A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Raybourn *****

A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Raybourn is the third installment of the Veronica Speedwell series. Veronica finally moves beyond her origin story and fulfills her promise as a detective in Victorian England. Her case involves Egyptian treasures, mummy curses, and a missing person. Along with her loyal companion Stoker, she solves the mystery after plenty of false directions and surprises.

Sir Leicester Tiverton’s expedition returns from Egypt with Princess Ankheset’s sarcophagus, mummy, and a gold diadem. This would have been the expedition of a lifetime, assuring Tiverton’s place in history, except… Jonas Fowler, expedition director, died of a bad heart. John de Morgan, the expedition photographer, made it back to Dover and then mysteriously disappeared. The god Anubis appeared first in Egypt and later in London. American millionaire Horus Stihl opposed Tiverton, and J.J. Butterworth has been publishing sensational stories in the Daily Harbinger attributing much of this to a curse.

The main mystery is what happened to John de Morgan, but the appearances of Anubis, the disappearance of Princess Ankneset’s diadem, and Jonas Fowler’s death are some of the other mysteries. All the relationships, husband-wife, parent-child, are problematic. The mystery is wonderfully convoluted and resolved. This can easily be read without the two-volume origin story.

Veronica is smart, fearless, and has a dry sense of humor.

“How can you [Veronica] stand to be near him now that you know he has taken a life?” she demanded.

[Veronica] moved closer to her, giving her a slow smile, a tiger’s smile. “Because, Mrs. De Morgan, I have taken two.”

I read the eBook and found myself referring to the online dictionary often: furbelows, chinoiserie, vitrine, dimity, vesta, insalubrious, imagoes, cartonnage, and virago.

A cozy mystery of Victorian England and Egyptian expeditions with plenty of twists and turns.

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Messy by Tim Harford ***

Messy by Tim Harford is a mess, letting you decide whether the subtitle, The Power of Disorder to Transform our Lives, is good or evil. The book is a disordered collection of research and anecdotes, occasionally contradictory and often cherry-picked. The book takes its own advice: “rapid movement and bold independent action…creating more chaos...”

The short book, padded with twenty pages of notes, runs amok through popular social science, picking interesting studies and conjectures. What do Darwin, Erdos, Jobs, MLK, Bezos, Schwarzenegger, and Trump all have in common? The answer? Harford was able to spin an interesting yarn out of an incident in their life and use the word “messy” in the process. Sometimes messy is a conscious strategy, other times it is a challenging environment. Sometimes it is a force for good, other times it supports the dark side.

Messy explains the success of Rommel, Bezos, and Trump. It also forecasts the failure of automation and AI. As an anthology, the collection of vignettes is interesting, if not overly long. Most have appeared in many other places, making much of the book repetitive and derivative.

As a book about Messy,The Power of Disorder to Transform our Lives, it succeeds on a meta-level, demonstrating the “Power of Disorder” and leaving the reader to decide if they love or loathe the author’s chaos. I prefer my non-fiction to be more orderly.

A wild adventure through the science and mythology of human behavior. Caveat emptor.

Check out https://amazon.com/shop/influencer-20171115075 for book recommendations.

A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn ***

Veronica Speedwell returns with her partner Stoker to reverse the conviction of art patron Miles Ramsforth for the brutal murder of his artist mistress Artemisia. Much is familiar in the second installment of this series: the plot concerns a royal secret and Victorian sex. While the novelty of Victorian women discussing sexual desires and practices while the men are coy and modest enlivened the first novel, I found the second book to be repetitive.

The book plays on the Victorian (and maybe the 21^st century) stereotypes of women.

“Are you the rarest of birds, a lady detective?”

“I am not. I am a lepidopterist by trade.”

“What ho! An educated female. Now that is an interesting creature.”

While the men have mistresses, few have speaking roles. The women, however, rarely pass up a chance to discuss their liaisons.

[Lady Wellie] looked about, clearly in a nostalgic mood. … “Is there still a camp bed up in the snug? I misplaced my virtue up there. Dashing fellow, he was a Scotsman, in full clan regalia. I do like a kilt,” she added fondly.

While the first book had a key as an important clue, this second book has two different keys as clues. Will there be three keys in book 3?

A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn is a formulaic second novel in the series. If you loved the first, you’ll like the second.

Check out https://amazon.com/shop/influencer-20171115075 for book recommendations.

Becoming by Michelle Obama *****

Becoming by Michelle Obama is an autobiography in three parts: growing up, meeting Barack Obama through his election as president, and finally her life in the White House. Great book. You may want to skip the last part, as much of it is well known and discouraging. Becoming is an inspirational story of upward mobility through hard work and education, tempered with the limits imposed on women and minorities.

Michelle Obama’s mother said, “I’m not raising babies, I’m raising adults.” Much of Michelle Obama’s story contains excellent parenting advice. Nurturing successful and healthy children is a theme that starts with her childhood and continues through her time as the first lady. Her mother walked the delicate line between teaching independence and being supportive. “When things were bad, she gave us only a small amount of pity.”

However, her mother would intervene when necessary. In second grade her mother got her transferred to a better classroom. Michelle Obama was grateful for this intervention, but she also thought “about the twenty or so kids who’d been marooned in the classroom stuck with an uncaring and unmotivated teacher.”

She learned her mother’s lessons of self-confidence and responsibility enough that when her high school guidance counselor said, “I’m not sure that you’re Princeton material,” she had the strength to ignore the advice. Of course, it helped that her brother was already enrolled.

Her strategy was built on the “age-old maxim in the black community [also women and other minorities]: You’ve got to be twice as good to get half as far.” This straight As, follow all the rules, approach left her vulnerable to the right-wing press when she reached the White House, forever trying to avoid their criticism.

An uplifting story of women in the 21^st century having it all, career, love, family, followed by a sad chronicle of US national politics.

Check out https://amazon.com/shop/influencer-20171115075 for book recommendations. 

A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn *****

Veronica Speedwell grew up in Victorian England with two aunts who moved often. In 1887 while she was burying her last aunt, someone burgled her cottage. Veronica attacked the intruder who tried to abduct her. Baron Maximilian von Stauffenbach rescued her and delivered her to Mr. Stoker in London for safekeeping. That night the baron was murdered. She and Stoker were the prime suspects. If you imagine she is a damsel in distress, you underestimate her, as does pretty much everyone else. She is outspoken, smart, and fearless.

Veronica is a scientist and explorer. She saw Krakatoa explode and has published papers with the Royal Society, albeit using only her first initial. She’s had many lovers, but never in England. She is well read and up to date on the latest science, especially in her field of Lepidopterology. She is never without her hatpin and unafraid to use it. She describes herself as “a woman in search of adventure.”

Stoker says, “You are the most impossible woman,” to which she replies, “I am entirely reasonable and thoroughly logical.”

Later someone concludes, she is “the most dangerous person in the British Empire.”

Ultimately, Veronica and Stoker solve the mystery of her origin and the murder of the Baron.

A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn: a courageous orphan takes on Irish home rule forces, Scotland Yard, and the royal family. Origin story. Beginning of a four-book series.