Review: The Drop

The Drop by Michael Connelly
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Harry has to solve two mysteries all while dealing with what he calls "high jingo." I love how Harry's relationship with his daughter is deepening; it humanizes him. He can be such an ass to everyone else but his relationship with Maddie reminds us of who Harry is and why he does what he does.

Some of the details of the cold case are harrowing and disturbing -- it's hard to fathom such evil.

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Review: On Being Jewish Now: Essays and Reflections from Authors and Advocates

On Being Jewish Now: Essays and Reflections from Authors and Advocates by Zibby Owens
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is an interesting collection of short essays and reflections by a wide range of authors (75 of them). They range in length, quality, and focus. Many of the contributors are authors themselves, others involved in the writing business in some other way. I definitely put several new books on my wish list after reading the essays. Though I'd guess the majority of the contributors of American Jews from more liberal/reform traditions, there are several that don't fit that mold: religious Jews, Jews of color, Israelis, and so on. The essays are short, they can be read in any order and at any time.

I only gave this 4 instead 5 stars because I think I was expecting something a bit more intellectual, a bit more pensive and philosophical about what it means to be Jewish today. Mostly, though, these are more personal reflections on how October 7 and the rise of antisemitism affected the authors. There are a few that are broader than that, but for the most part these are two or three pages about the personal impact of that awful day. This is important and interesting; but I was hoping for something with a bit more intellectual bite. Nevertheless, Zibby Owens has put together an impressive collection here that is worth reading.


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Review: Arete: Greek Sports from Ancient Sources

Arete: Greek Sports from Ancient Sources by Stephen G. Miller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is an impressive collection of sources from a range of writers from the ancient world. These selections are from poets, politicians, philosophers, as well as plaques, stone inscriptions, and vase paintings. They all connect in different ways to ancient Greek sport. Many are about the Olympics, but it is far broader including a variety of ancient competitions as well as physical education and exercises more generally.

This is not a book to be read as such; it is a useful handbook to find ancient quotations about sport. I found it quite useful for finding sources for my classes -- but it is not something a causal reader would find helpful. I would have liked more introduction to, context for, or interpretation of the quotations. But the author quite consciously is putting this together to be used along side a text that would provide such explanations.



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Review: Road Kill

Road Kill by Zoë Sharp
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I like Charlie; she is an interesting character with lots of growth potential. But I had trouble getting into this. Partly, I am not a motorcycle guy and so that part of the story was not interesting. And there was a lot of that! But much more than the motorcycles, the story just took far too long to develop. The first 200, 300 pages meandered and dithered far too much. The last 100 pages or so got interesting as the plot became clearer. That redeems the book, but I am not sure how quickly I'll be to pick up the next book in the series.

The relationship between Sean and Charlie develops a bit here, which is good. And Sean is a good character, but the relationship sometimes takes up too much space for me.

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Review: Great Minds of the Medieval World

Great Minds of the Medieval World by Dorsey Armstrong
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A wide-ranging, overview of key thinkers of the medieval period. Armstrong's lectures cover thinkers from Augustine up through figures like Petrarch, Medici, and Mallory. She covers Christian, Jewish, and Islamic thinkers; and also includes three female thinkers. The focus is mostly philosophers and theologians, but there are poets, writers, political figures, and she closes with William Caxton, the first English printer.

All in all, a useful introduction and overview of the key ideas and thinkers ranging over more than 1000 years. This is intellectual history, so there is not much in the way of in-depth discussions of the arguments and explications of the ideas. Armstrong is providing the intellectual and historical context for these thinkers and summary of their ideas and influence.

Armstrong's delivery is clear, enjoyable, and interesting.

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Review: A Brief History of the Olympic Games

A Brief History of the Olympic Games by David C. Young
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The title tells you all: this is a brief history (it's barely over 150 pages) of the Olympic Games. Brief though it is, it is a solid introduction to the ancient games: the origins, the events, and its relevance in the ancient world. The last chapter connects the ancient games to the modern revivals.

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Review: The Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum: The Rise and Fall of an American Organized-Crime Boss

The Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum: The Rise and Fall of an American Organized-Crime Boss by Margalit Fox
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was intrigued by the title of the book after seeing it mentioned it somewhere. But the book itself is disappointing. As many other Goodreads reviews note, there is just not a lot about Mrs. Mandelbaum in a book purported to be about her rise and fall. A good chunk of the text is taken up by accounts and narratives of other people and situations. There is a chapter on the Pinkertons, for example. Why? Because Pinkerton detectives where instrumental in finally entrapping Mandelbaum. But do we need the biography of Pinkerton himself and how he grew his famous detective agency? We get a chapter on the biography of her lawyers. There is a history of Jonathan Wilde, the infamous London thief-catcher. Interesting, but the relevance is weak.

Some of have noted that the book is better billed as a history the rise of organized crime in New York City more generally, but it is hardly even that. The history presented is rather thin. The author frequently delves into oversimplified and often one-side accounts of Gilded Aged economics and politics. I don't know if the written text has notes, but it was disappointing to that for the most the only references in the audio text were something akin to "a historian notes."

The last chapters of the book that focused on the capture and trial of Mandelbaum and then her exile in Canada are the most interesting and relevant to the book's purpose. Not quite enough to redeem to the book, but enough to make it worth finishing.

The author had the material for an interesting long-form magazine article, just not a book length treatment.

(on a positive note, the narrator Saskia Maarleveld was very good)

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