Paul Newman: A Life
by Shawn Levy, 2009

Paul Newman was a Phi Tau at Ohio University, which I why I initially got interested in his career (I was a Phi Tau at CWRU). Newman started a summer camp for diseased and disabled kids called the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, which spread to many different camps across the country and globe in what is now called the SeriousFun Network. Whenever Phi Tau held a philanthropy event at CWRU, our donation went to these camps. Many of our brothers also volunteered at the camps during the summers.

Besides being interested in his philanthropic efforts (including tasty Newman’s Own creations), I am also a fan of some of Newman’s movies, including The Sting (one of my favorite movies), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Cool Hand Luke, Road to Perdition, and Cars. I’ve seen a few others, but those are my favorite Newman movies. Tim Pennings, who invited me to my first internship, at Hope College, introduced me to The Sting at an intern event.

It was somewhat interesting to hear about Newman’s movie career, auto racing, philanthropy, political efforts, and family, but I realized (again) that I’m not really a biography person. I like the Wikipedia version or Spark Notes versions of people’s lives, not hearing about the nitty gritty. If you are a biography person, however, and enjoy Paul Newman movies, he does have a fascinating life and this would probably be a good book to read.

I listened to this book on tape. At the beginning, whenever “Newman” was said, I heard a Jerry Seinfeld voice in my head screaming his version of “Newman!”.

Master and Commander
by Patrick O’Brian, 1969

I listened to this one on tape over the course of about a year. Every time I finally got it checked out from the library, someone would reserve it and I wouldn’t be able to renew. (I was probably doing the same thing to the other guy that was trying to finish it.) So… one or two CD’s at a time, I guess, since my commute is a whopping 8-12 minutes. (I eventually got tired of the process and burned the last few CD’s. Don’t tell anyone.)

Really cool book about naval warfare in the Napoleonic-age (early 1800’s). Covers looting, fighting, “taking prizes”, and blowing stuff up from the personal perspective of the captain and surgeon on one smaller ship. What I liked the most was that the book doesn’t spell every little detail out. A lot is left to the reader to imagine or fill in. Well-written and fairly fast-paced. I was able to pick the book back up in the middle after a few months off and remember what was going on. Recommended, though I doubt I’ll be reading all 19 sequels.

Gatefather
by Orson Scott Card, 2015

The final installment in the Mithermages trilogy. Continues storylines from the previous book, The Gate Thief. Checks in at almost 400 pages, though I read it in about a day. Could have lost 50-100 pages of excessive dialogue with some tidying editing. The storyline about the high schoolers is particularly long-winded and somewhat superfluous in this book. I get that the main character is supposed to still be a 17 year old, but trying to ground him to other high school friends in the midst of the chaos and power swirling around his world doesn’t work very well.

With about 20 pages to go, I was worried that this was going to need a 4th book to wrap up the various storylines, but it finally does bring it all to a conclusion. Worth reading if you’ve started the trilogy.

Sucker’s Portfolio
by Kurt Vonnegut, 2013

With typical dark humor, this collection of short stories gives a glimpse into Vonnegut’s view of the world in his later years. The posthumous publication actually includes a final story that was unfinished at time of death. Unfortunately, this was one of the most grandiose and interesting stories, so I’m sad that it didn’t get finished properly. The book draws on Vonnegut’s Indiana upbringing for a couple of stories, which keeps the references interesting. There is also a wide-ranging rant from the author on the ridiculous behavior of many people. Overall, interesting enough for our car trip (we listened to it on tape).

The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home
by Dan Ariely, 2010

Walking a tight line between memoir and research, this book manages to explain many of the impulses behind some of our irrational actions. We try harder when our work is meaningful to others. We go out of our way to punish people who didn’t act fairly. We become ineffective and risk-averse when offered big salaries and bonuses. We overvalue things we made with our own hands. We respond to specific pleas for aid but not to general ones. Ariely draws from his life experience, especially from a series of hospital events after he experienced a severe burn as a teenager, to motivate each idea. Much of the research presented involves simple laboratory experiments that attempt to distill the essence of emotions or choices out of complex issues. The results are fairly believable, with the caveat that real-world behavior is often much more complicated. Interesting read; I listened to it on tape. One downside of listening on tape was missing out on the referenced “figures” in the text, which was occasionally annoying.

Water 4.0: The Past, Present, and Future of the World’s Most Vital Resource
by David Sedlak, 2014

Interesting book about the history of water management, but I’m not sure if I buy the picture of the future. The first water revolution was Rome installing aqueducts to import freshwater to a city without enough of its own water. The second water revolution was chlorine and other treatments to disinfect tap water. The third water revolution was treating sewage water prior to releasing it to the wild or re-using it. The book argues that scarcity of water and climate change are pushing us to a fourth revolution, which may be true. However, I’m not sure if I buy these possible steps forward (the second option seeming especially unlikely):

In terms of water supply, the first version of Water 4.0 will look a lot like the upgraded, centralized systems that are emerging in Singapore and the water-stressed cities of Southern California, Australia, and Israel. As part of this approach, imported water will be supplemented or replaced by desalination and potable water recycling employed in conjunction with a full arsenal of policies designed to incentivize water conservation. Waste treatment will also look a lot different in this version of Water 4.0: centralized sewage treatment plants will evolve from a means of protecting surface waters from pollution to systems that recover water, energy, and nutrients from sewage…

The other version of Water 4.0 takes a more radical approach to urban water by pushing the responsibility for acquisition, treatment, and management of water back to the individual household or neighborhood. In the distributed version of Water 4.0, a shift in public attitudes will make it possible to reduce consumptive water use by around 75% through the installation of ultraefficient appliances and elimination of wasteful forms of outdoor water use. In the distributed water future, landscape irrigation with drinking water will be unthinkable, and rooftop rainwater collection tanks, rain gardens, and household wells will be common features of housing developments. In areas where the conditions are right, housing developments will operate without help from the expensive and difficult-to-maintain centralized water infrastructure…

Can you imagine relying upon your shoddy apartment management company or home owner’s association to supply you with drinking water? Sounds problematic.