Jim鈥檚 Year in Books

What did you read this year?

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2023

14,080

pages read

books read

Jim B

Shortest Book

pages

Longest Book

pages

Average book length in 2023

352

pages

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Most Shelved

2,069,328

people also shelved

On the Edge of Eternity by Rev Robert L. Sawall

Least Shelved

people also shelved

Jim鈥檚 average rating for 2023

4.1

Resilient Recovery Workbook by Jason Jonker

Highest Rated on 欧宝娱乐

it was amazing

5.00 average

Jim鈥檚 first review of the year

it was amazing

A series of speeches about history delivered by historian David McCullough:
First, on the need for histories of congress and of the individuals in the senate and congress who have achieved great strides in our national development. It seems that the scoundrels get books about them, but McCullough lists many great legislators who do not have a single book written about them. I was reminded of Profiles in Courage and how I was struck by the impo A series of speeches about history delivered by historian David McCullough:
First, on the need for histories of congress and of the individuals in the senate and congress who have achieved great strides in our national development. It seems that the scoundrels get books about them, but McCullough lists many great legislators who do not have a single book written about them. I was reminded of Profiles in Courage and how I was struck by the importance of a single senator at key times in history.

Other speeches on Adams, the White House, Kennedy, Lafayette, and the importance of education were filled with interesting facts, but (as McCullough would call more important) also wisdom gleaned from those facts. For example, as an illustration of how true education (not just learning) produces wisdom, he gave the example of Charles Sumner, whom McCullough said was an indifferent student and not very motivated, but when he went to Europe, he noticed that black and mullato people fully participated in public and social life in France and commented, "They were standing in the midst of a knot of young men and their color seemed to be no objection to them. I was glad to see this, though with American impressions, it seemed very strange. It must be then that the distance between free blacks and whites among us is derived from education, and does not exist in the nature of things." Sumner became an ardent abolitionist as a United States Senator.

I know that some people criticize McCullough's histories as too rosy. But he doesn't evade unpleasant facts such as slave labor used to build the Capitol building. It's popular to judge the people of the past on the basis of what we now know, but McCullough points out that we need to humbly remember that our own actions will be judged by future generations who know what we haven't learned yet. His love for this country, and the unique constructions of our government that maintained and grew our freedoms for over 200 years contributes to his telling the stories that illustrate what an amazing thing it is that flawed human beings could have the freedom that we have today (McCullough grants that women, slaves and others had to win this freedom guaranteed in our founding documents - but points out that this is a system where that is possible).

Like a book of short stories, these speeches are easy to read and each fascinating in its own way. And listening to McCullough read his words is always a pleasant experience. ...more

闯滨惭鈥橲 2023 BOOKS

it was amazing

Why Can't They Just Stop by Dr. Jennifer Londgren

All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot

it was amazing

The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman

Surprised by Grace by Tullian Tchividjian

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick

The Mercy of God in the Cross of Christ by Ross Edward Johnson

The Grass Harp, Including A Tree of Night and Other Stories by Truman Capote

Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne

Other Voices, Other Rooms by Truman Capote

The Lake Wobegon Virus by Garrison Keillor

The Boy in the Suitcase by Lene Kaaberb酶l

it was amazing

it was amazing

The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne

How Long, O Lord? Second Edition by D.A. Carson

The Best Strangers in the World by Ari Shapiro

it was amazing

The Majesty of the Law Publisher by Sandra Day O'Connor

Jim鈥檚 last review of the year

really liked it

I found this gem in a "Little Free Library" in my neighborhood last year, and finally got around to reading it - coincidentally I was about half way through the book when I heard that Justice O'Connor died and read opinions and reactions to her work on the Supreme Court.

Although her book outlines the history of the Supreme Court and its development into how it functioned during her years of service, The Majesty of the Law also serves as an in I found this gem in a "Little Free Library" in my neighborhood last year, and finally got around to reading it - coincidentally I was about half way through the book when I heard that Justice O'Connor died and read opinions and reactions to her work on the Supreme Court.

Although her book outlines the history of the Supreme Court and its development into how it functioned during her years of service, The Majesty of the Law also serves as an interesting snapshot of our nation's perspective at the turn of the millennium. Her brand of conservatism is no longer called conservatism. However, when I grew up in rural Wisconsin, conservatives were less of idealogues and more dedicated to the values that Sandra Day O'Connor held. Her work in office is criticized today as being too "ad hoc" and not enough about building legal philosophy. In the book she admits this about herself, but attributes this to the fact that in every case she has considered, she also limits herself to try to find justice for the specific parties involved, even if the just outcome doesn't fit with a legal philosophy that the Supreme Court wishes to abide by.

Of course, her conservatism was - even in its day - not enough to please conservatives. While regarding abortion as repulsive, she felt a commitment to uphold Roe v Wade. I remember reading, though, that no less a conservative than Barry Goldwater (who was considered extreme by some) felt that the government had no business inserting itself into citizen's lives in areas such as abortion and homosexuality. This book has only passing comments about Roe v Wade and nothing I can recall on "gay rights" but as those who lived through the 1980's might expect, an entire section of the book is dedicated to women's rights and she does an admirable job of not only covering the history, but exposing the prejudice that stripped women of many rights of citizenship for far longer in the United States than in many other countries. I found this section to be insightful and thought-provoking.

She recommends changes to our system, including improvements on jury trials. Her comments in this section seemed practical and open to other solutions. And near the end she looked at the future and described how the Supreme Court would have to advance a lot in international law, law affecting technology, etc. Her comments, read 20 years later, seem right on target.

After retirement, Sandra Day O'Connor advocated strongly for the teaching of civics in our nation. Maybe civics is still taught in some schools, but a lot of adults could use lessons in civics these days. That's not a put down - the health of our nation's system of democratic republic government depends on citizens understanding how to participate as "we the people." ...more

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