Initially I thought this book would be another compilation of time-management advice. Not at all! Its emphasis is on the word “live” in the title, and the goal is to help you arrive at a feeling of having lived your life, rather than passing through it and feeling vaguely dissatisfied. The advised process by which you may achieve this is to revisit how you employ your non-work hours, and to use them to greater personal benefit through a combination of mental focus exercise, self-analysis, and enriching education in topics that interest you. This summary probably sounds a bit dry—the actual text is delightfully entertaining, with a strong author voice. Even better, you can listen to it as an audiobook for free through librivox! The total listening time is only 1.5 hours, so I imagine it’d be an even faster read. Enjoy!

• “The Wars of John McCain”: a description of McCain’s wartime experience, which likely plays a large role in shaping his opinions of our current military conflicts. The main question raised by the article, of whether McCain’s Vietnam experience has tinted or tainted his policy views, is never really answered (and probably cannot be, possibly not even by McCain itself), but the article is great reading nonetheless.
• “How the West Was Wired”: entrepreneurial efforts in the far west of China have brought internet access to the least likely of users: subsistence farmers. Great (and ongoing) story.
• “Is Pornography Adultery?”: this reads like an exercise in a high school debate class. There seems to be a clear answer: [the viewing of] pornography is literally not adultery because it does not involve sexual intercourse with a non-spouse, which is a necessary condition of adultery. The only reason the discussion is of interest is that it seems to mask the question everyone really wants answered: “Is Pornography Acceptable?” If pornography constitutes adultery, then it isn’t acceptable. But if it’s just a hobby, then maybe it is. But even if it’s a hobby, it seems to be one that levels serious damage at spousal self-esteem—which is an interesting facet of our societal attitudes, at the very least.
• “Land of Green Gables”: a travel article about Prince Edward Island, and specifically its appeal to fans of the book, Anne of Green Gables. This was interestingly relevant as I just finished reading the book for the first time; I’d watched the TV show as a kid but never read the book. It was interesting to read about the fanatical tourism to the (fictional) town of Avonlea, recreated near the (real) town of Cavendish. Apparently, this destination is particularly popular with Japanese tourists; there is a great photo in the article of two Japanese women wearing straw hats with fake red braids dangling on each side.

This book is long—2 inches thick. Its length derives from the over 100 illustrations created by the author, which interleave with the text in a complementary, not redundant, fashion. The book alternates between telling the story visually, with an almost silent-picture feel, and telling it in text (made all the more vivid by the preceding illustrations). The story itself immediately draws you in and combines a great young adult tale (or two!) with some fascinating history of the early filmmaking world. Clocks, magicians, automata, and the dreamland of film all combine to create a wonderful reading experience.

• Atlantic Retrospective on Politics: excerpts from articles in this magazine going back to 1862 (!). The oldest one is an article by no less than Ralph Waldo Emerson (quote: “We want a state of things in which crime shall not pay.”)
• Perplexing ad from Capella University: picture of a black woman setting a table, with a child in the background running towards the table. Text reads: “Knowledge is finding the place where mom and PhD can actually co-exist.” Punctuation gaffe aside, I can only assume that they mean the conflict between raising kids and finding time to study for a Ph.D., not that having a Ph.D. somehow precludes you from reproducing. I’m no raging feminist, but I would have preferred a version that replaced “mom” with “parent”.
• “The Drama of the Gifted Parent”: Sandra Tsing Loh is back with her usual scintillating wit as she reviews four books on the high-stress existence led by overachieving, gifted children. I really enjoy her particular sort of vaguely subtle sarcasm, at least partly because she is so willing to turn her own criticisms on herself and to acknowledge her own foibles.
• “Making Sinatra Sinatra”: an obituary for Bill Miller, Sinatra’s pianist. I find the Atlantic’s two-page obituaries unexpectedly compelling; they tend to be written in a lively fashion, and I come away with a real sense of a person whom I otherwise would never have known. (I have yet to read an obituary for someone whose name I recognized—but that makes them all the more interesting, like extended character sketches for a novel.)

Interesting articles from this issue:

• “The Front-Runner’s Fall”: an analysis of Hillary Clinton’s campaign, including what worked and what didn’t. Perhaps the most fascinating reading comes from the excerpted emails and memos from her campaign staff that show the behind-the-scenes drama and disagreements throughout.
• “Girl, Interrupted”: a discussion of the Patty Hearst story, the details of which were new to me. The events occurred in the 1970’s but are newly up for discussion due to an upcoming book by William Graebner called Patty’s Got a Gun. The story, of abduction, violation, and brain washing, is disturbing enough. Caitlin Flanagan, the author of this article, also discusses society’s reaction to the events in a way that yields a broader context and complexity.

Do you ever really “finish” reading a cookbook? I’ve now made quite a few of the recipes in this book and for the most part was delighted with the results (generally easy, and generally tasty). Originally I was particularly excited by the concept of having recipes batched by week, so in theory you just go shopping once for all of them and then already have the needed items on hand for a week’s worth of dinners. However, it’s really tailored to a four-person family’s needs. Even cutting amounts back, I just don’t have the time (or need) to cook every night (especially with the heaping portions these recipes generate—leftovers are great!). For me, it makes more sense to shop for only two of the recipes per week (and I’m not even that regular).

Still, there are several recipes I have remade or plan to remake (Tofu and Black Bean Stew, Veggie Lasagna, Three B’s Salad, etc.) and it’s certainly given me the chance to try out some new ingredients. Yum!

Mind-blowing, adrenaline-pumping, world-expanding science fiction at its very best. Dan Simmons has big ideas and grand schemes, and he is never content to simply tell a story; no, he must weave it into our own reality in a seamless fashion, reaching backward and forward in time and literature. In this story (I’m grouping the previous book, Ilium, into the “story”), he brings together Shakespeare, Homer, Proust, quantum teleportation, terraforming, robots, and so much more. Each new bit that unfolds reveals new amazements, filled with both horror and wonder. I definitely recommend both Ilium and Olympos to any fan of science fiction. Or Greek/Trojan history. Or Shakespeare. Or ignore all of the connections and enjoy it for its own sake!

This is an absolutely stunning book. The pacing starts out slow - in fact, it continues to feel slow throughout - but I found myself entirely wrapped up in it regardless. The thesis of the book involves cloning—but rather than just genetic cloning, it explores how you might try to control the environmental and chemical factors that also have a strong influence on the person who ultimately comes out. Cherryh has a masterful hand when it comes to putting you right inside a character’s mind, even in the third person, and even with a character constantly changing (in age and other ways) throughout the book. My only complaint is the long list of questions left unanswered at the end, when the curtain falls so suddenly that you’re left blinking in surprise. But definitely, definitely worth the time it takes to read.

This book provides a fun romp through a future post-singularity universe, where the singularity itself included the creation of a sentient artificial intelligence called the Eschaton. The technology in this book is fascinating (cornucopiae machines, FTL communication via entangled bits, ship drives) although perhaps not fully fleshed out—but technology was not the point of the book. It feels more like an author’s lark, containing subtle (or not so) pokes at bits from our own history (the jabs at “Jusef Smith” did make me chuckle). The characterization is exceedingly thin, the romance is (as too often happens) pasted on top of the plot, but if you can set that aside and skip to the fun tech bits, it’s an enjoyable read.

I am a latecomer to the writing of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, which is a shame. Even in translation, his writing is beautiful, lyrical, and full of imagery and power (some credit goes to the translator, of course!). I very much enjoyed this story, which has some interesting things to say about love and self-delusion and pursuit and success and failure. The characterization is very well done. Plotwise, the continual emphasis on the protagonist’s obsession with sex-sex-sex-sex-sex became somewhat tedious, but this is a minor detraction from an otherwise engaging tale. And, in contrast to many books I’ve read of late, it has a solid, delicious-yet-not-trite ending.