| 1. Animal
Farm - George Orwell - I think I read this book in
high school so I thought it was time to read it again.
It is a story of a farm where the animals took control
of from the humans and made it their purpose to rid the
world of their suppressors and show the world they were
capable. They developed a set of commandments that all
four legged creatures (and birds) should live by. Over
time the pigs, with there superior intelligence, became
the leaders of the animals but slowly the pigs became
more and more reclusive and took on the characteristic
of the humans the animal wanted to replace. In the end
the pigs started to walk upright on two legs, ware human
clothing, drink human alcohol and smoke human
cigarettes. Over time the commandments were carefully
rewritten to supports the pigs in their quest for
control. In the end the animals were starved and
oppressed just as they were under human control, so
nothing had really changed. I guess the moral of this
story is where ever a group of animals (humans included)
gather there will always be ones that rise to the top
for control over all of the rest as history has proven
over and over. |
| 2. 1984 -
George Orwell - I thought I should reread
this novel as well as it has direct correlation to
today's politics. Big Brother altering history to remove
any previous data so that people wouldn't have any way
to compare their quality of life to previous times so
they couldn't know they were being oppressed and their
quality of life was diminishing. This is somewhat
analogous to the Republicans banning books and trying to
remove teaching of slavery so children would never know
our real history and how bad slaves were treated.
Winston's (the main character in the story) re-education
is really eye opening. How the state can make
you believe anything it wants you to believe and if you
cannot be re-educated your fate was sealed. It was
sometimes chilling to read this novel in the context of
today's politics and world order. This is a cautionary
story at best but hopefully not our actual future. |
| 3. The Omega
Factor - Steve Berry - I haven't read a Steve
Berry novel in a long time so I got this one from the
library. It is another story with deeply religious
implications of what happened to Mary, the mother of
Jesus. According to the gospel, Mary effectively
disappeared from history after Jesus died and stories
about what happened to her afterwards are many. Berry
has really dug into religious history and hearsay in
presenting this story. The debate about Mary was not
only where she lived out her life, but what happened
when she died. Was she human and was buried somewhere on
Earth as a normal human or did she ascend into heaven to
join her son. If she went to heaven did just her soul go
or did her whole body? Big questions that the actual
Pope in 1997 answered with a dictate that her soul and
body ascended to heaven and since he was the Pope and
Pope's don't make errors that was the end of the debate
that had lasted for thousands of years. Berry talks
about how Mary was elevated from a mere human woman to a
saint by religious dictates that slowly over the years
changed her story. He says the Roman Catholic church did
this to temper the male only aspects of their teachings. In this story there is a order of nuns who have protected her grave site for 2000 years and have eluded the Vatican's efforts to destroy them. After outsiders get involved, the nuns order is reveled to the Vatican and the Vatican sends in the Dominicans to destroy them and squash the narrative that Mary was buried as a human because it didn't jive with their official story which would make the Pope wrong. In the end the nuns outsmart the Vatican thugs into thinking they had destroyed the tomb and the bones of Mary and in doing so got the Vatican off of their backs. The real tomb and bones of Mary and the ashes of Joan of Arc were still in tact and the nuns order could continue guarding them without the Vatican knowing. This was a good story as to be expected from Steve Berry so I may grab another of his books to read. |
| 4. Ancient
Denvers - Kirk Johnson and Robert G. Raynolds - An
interesting read about the geologic evolution of the
Denver area, including Colorado Springs. The
authors present what the area looked like during
various epochs of time, from 300 million years ago to
the present. They discuss the two versions of the Rocky
Mountains that formed and how these time periods were
interwoven with absolutely flat inland seas. For each
time period the flora and fauna were described. There
are many fossils of plants that do not exist today and
many of those can be found around Castle Rock. Of course
many of the animals that existed in antiquity like
dinosaurs don't exist today either. An interesting fact
about Castle Rock is that its cap was formed at the very
bottom of the inland sea and it is now the highest point
as the earth around it has been eroded away. Many of the
points of geologic interest described in the book can be
seen around Morrison and not surprisingly at the Garden
of the Gods. This is a very short book so it was a very fast read but I think the authors did a good job of explaining the history of the area for the lay person. |
| 5. Modern
Rockhounding and Prospecting Handbook - Garret Romaine
- An incredible book covering just about every
rockhounding topic possible. The text has hundreds of
links to useful sites covering everything from meteorite
collecting to fossil collecting to gold panning to
rockhounding tools to tumbling rocks to metal detectors
and everything in between. There are even sections
covering how to display the treasures you find and the
code of ethics rock hounds should obey. If a topic is
not covered in this book you probably don't need to know
about it as a collector. |
| 6. Rocks,
Gems and Minerals of the Rocky Mountains - Garret
Romaine - Another book by the author above.
This was very similar to the previous book and has a lot
of the same material. This wasn't as impressive a book
because it talked in generalities instead of specifics.
That is it didn't explain where to find rocks, gems and
mineral except in the general sense. |
| 7. A City On
Mars - Kelly and Zach Weinersmith - An
interesting book that discusses the real issues involved
in humans moving beyond Earth. The authors point out
that we have not studied the complex details enough that
would be required for us to do so. The authors suggest
the Elon Musks and Jeff Bezos of the world are racing to
establish settlements on the Moon and Mars that are
bound to fail if done too quickly. There are issues of
international law that would need to be worked out in
order to avoid potential conflicts here on Earth caused
by land grabs of the richest space faring nations. Other
issues about how humans respond to low gravity
situations, space radiation and whether humans can even
reproduce off of Earth need to have funded research done
before contemplating a move off planet. The authors go
to great length analyzing settlement topics put forth by
space nerds (like humans need to colonize the Moon and
Mars to protect the species in case of nuclear war or an
asteroid strike that would otherwise exterminate us) for
what is currently known and what is hopeful speculation.
They point out that claiming parts of the Moon and/or
Mars could result in wars on Earth. Also, settlements
off planet would be bound to Earth for supplies for
decades which, with the cost of transport would be a
very expensive proposition. This book is over 600 pages long but over half of that is research background material like pointers to reference materials they used for the book. |
| 8. Elemental
- Stephen Porder - The books premise is
summed up with this phrase: "How five elements changed
Earth's past and will shape our future". The five
elements are referred to as HOCNP or Hydrogen, Oxygen,
Carbon, Nitrogen and Phosphorus. As
an ecologist Porder explores how life itself shapes
Earth using the elemental constituents we all share.
He says it is
rare for life to change Earth, yet three
organisms have profoundly transformed our planet
over the long course of its history. The book
reveals how microbes, plants, and people used
the fundamental building blocks of life to alter
the climate, and with it, the trajectory of life
on Earth in the past, present, and future. He describes
how single-celled cyanobacteria and plants
harnessed HOCNP to wildly proliferate across
the oceans and the land, only to eventually
precipitate environmental catastrophes. He
then brings us to the present, and shows how
these elements underpin the success of human
civilization and how their mismanagement
threatens similarly catastrophic unintended
consequences. But, Porder argues, if we can
learn from our world-changing predecessors,
we can construct a more sustainable future.
Blending
conversational storytelling with the latest science,
Porder takes us deep into the Amazon, across fresh
lava flows in Hawaii, and to the cornfields of the
American Midwest to illuminate a potential path to
sustainability, informed by the constraints imposed by
life’s essential elements and the four-billion-year
history of life on Earth. |
| 9. The Light
Eaters - Zoe Schlanger - I heard an interview with
this author on NPR and the subject matter fascinated me
so much that I bought the hardcover book. The author
described many of the plant researchers she had been in
contact with in writing the book and the plant research
they were doing. Although research into plants and their
behavior have been going on for ages some of the recent
findings were blowing people away. By using new
technology it has been possible to look deeper into
plant biology to understand how plants function both
above and below ground. The research seems to indicate
plants have intention, forethought and many other
attributes that looks like they are intelligent though
the plant researchers themselves are really hesitant to
use that word. A big contentious discussion is centered
around the fact that plants make decisions but do not
have anything that remotely resembles a brain so how can
it be? Not only that but plants seem to be able to see
and to adapt to the environment they are grown in. She
sites many interesting examples of plants signalling
other plants when predators are attacking and in some
cases actually formulating chemicals that they disperse
into the environment to attract other insects that will
eat the insects that are currently eating them. It has
been found that plants that are related to each other
cooperate when growing in close proximity whereas non
related plants are discouraged from growing using
physical and chemical means. The research she describes
in the book make one rethink the role plants play in our
world. One scientist interviewed stated that the smell
of newly mowed grass is actually the lawn chemically
screaming from being cut. That makes one think for sure. There are many amazing examples in the book that makes one acknowledge that plants are truly smart and worthy of a seat at the table with all other living things, including us. And that people who talk to their plants might not be crazy after all. |
| 10. Rocks
Inside Out - Karen Brzys - A great book we picked
up at the Rock Doc gem and mineral store near Salida. It
details all of the major mineral types, how to identify
them and many pictures to help identify them. The
material in the book is well organized and straight
forward with many complex geologic terms explained. I
read this book cover to cover because it contains such
interesting information. This book is a keeper for sure. |
| 11. Hard
Truth - Nevada Barr - In truth, this was a hard
story to read due to its subject matter which included:
brainwashing, sexual exploitation of children and the
outright craziness of the mass murderer. In this story
Anna is promoted to top ranger at Rocky Mountain
National Park, in Colorado. On her first week in the
park she gets a call from a woman in a wheel chair
saying that two young girls have just wondered into her
campsite and they have ripped up clothing and no shoes
and seem to be in a daze. Anna doesn't really know any
of her subordinates yet but she organizes a search for a
third young woman that the other two girls said got lost
from them. As the girls were identified their parents
from a religious commune in Longmont denied them medical
examinations and medical care and took them back to
their homes. The third girl was still missing. Come to
find out one of the rangers leading the search was
secretly hiding them against their will while
indoctrinating them to his way of thinking using
starvation, threats and sexual means. The reason this
ranger was leading the search was because he needed to
find the third child because she might tell the rangers
and/or police what he had done. Anna get involved in the search effort and eventually gets caught by the insane ranger and is forced to play his games to prevent him from killing them all which he tells them he is going to do. The missing girl eventually turns up and Anna and the girls just about escape when one of the girls who had undergone the rangers' indoctrination turns on everyone and decides to kill Anna herself to please her master. After Anna sees an opportunity she trips the crazy ranger and commands the girls to attach him and they beat him up pretty well allowing Anna to tie and handcuff him and start a march from the ranger's back country cabin down towards civilization. The indoctrinated girl however comes to the ranger's rescue again and he regains the upper hand. In the end Anna gets a hold of her service revolver and places a bullet between the eyes of the insane ranger ending his life. The investigation clears Anna of any guilt and the two girls are returned to their parents and the third girl is jailed for her actions. The father of the girls was also arrested for forced sex with under aged children and sentenced to a long time in jail. This story was difficult to read because of all of the violence, sexual depredation and indoctrination. It underscores how anyone in the right circumstances can be turned into a monster and can commit heinous acts they would normally never be capable of. |
| 12. Until The
End Of Time - Brian Greene - This was a sometimes
difficult to read book because the topics covered were
pretty heavy/deep for lack of better words. Greene, who
is a string theorist/physicist, is obviously very well
read as he brings in research and quotes from other
physicists, philosophers, religious leaders and many
others to illustrate points he is trying to make. He is
a very good writer though I had to reread many
paragraphs over and over to sus out their meanings as
many of the topics are intense. The book wasn't only
about physics though a lot of the subject matter
discussed entropy and the second law of thermodynamics
and how these topics played out in the early, current
and late time frames of the universe. Besides physics,
Greene touches upon consciousness, creativity, art,
philosophy and evolution to describe the current human
state and how these pursuits helped humans survive and
flourish. The last part of the book described possible
scenarios for the end of time (and us, the Earth and all
we know) which for the most part were depressing. The
book also provided some ah ha moments and facts that I
have never contemplated before. I think it will take
some time for me to completely internalize all of the
topics covered in this book. This book makes the reader
think in a serious way. |