Chosen by Chandra Hoffman
Publishers Weekly
Hoffman’s middling debut explores the darker side of open adoption, as seen through the eyes of Chloe Pinter, a young social worker at a Portland, Ore., adoption agency. Juggling the insecurities of the wealthy and infertile Francie and John McAdoo with the increasingly strident demands of the contracted and impoverished birth parents, Penny and Jason, Chloe starts to question her own beliefs and motivations. When Chloe sees that Penny has bought a basinet, she warns the McAdoos that the adoption might not go through, inadvertently setting off a chain of events that eventually puts a newborn in danger’s path. Hoffman seems to want the reader to understand the dilemma of birth parents confronted with the need to give up a child, but Penny and Jason and their family are too damaged and destructive to elicit any empathy, and the McAdoos, on the other end of the class spectrum, never fail to fall into stereotype. There is a whisper of a solid story about the way poverty, yearning, opportunity, and loss can play out, but with characters so weakly realized, it’s tough to see this as anything more than a good-intentioned but inexpert exercise.
O’Brien writes about such events as the Greek defeat of the Persians at Salamis in 480 BCE, the Swedish victory over the Russians at Narva in 1700, and the Japanese defeat of Great Britain at Singapore in 1942. O’Brien thoroughly explains the reasons for the underdog victories. Many times the victors were better led and equipped. For example, the Roman defeat of the Gauls at Alesia in 52 BCE can be directly attributed to Caesar’s leadership and the professionalism of his soldiers.
Many of the examples O’Brien uses are well known to history – the Carthaginian annhilation of the Romans at Cannae; the English defeat of the French at Agincourt; and the Confederate pounding of the Union at Chancellorsville. However, he also brings up some less well-known victories – the Roman defeat by the Parthians at Carrhae in 53 BCE or the German victory over the Russians during World War I at Tannenberg.
Each chapter highlights the strategic situation before the battle. O’Brien then explains the battle and the various factors that come into play – such as tactics or terrain. Interposed amongst the text is a variety of pictures and, in many cases, maps. At the end of each chapter, O’Brien explains the significance of the battle in the context of the war that it was fought in – many times the victors lost the war. For example, even though Hannibal destroyed the Roman Army at Cannae, the Romans were able to quickly rebound and eventually defeat the Carthaginians.
At 263 pages (average of 18 pages per chapter), the book is more of an overview of each battle. O’Brien does an excellent job of summarizing each battle. This book is well-worth a read.
Each chapter discusses the background surrounding the decision, reasons for why the decision was made, and the effects of the decision on the history of the United States (and sometimes the world). The chapters are short (average of 10 pages) and easily understandable – a novice of the subject can handily follow along with the subject.
The authors make a very compelling argument regarding these decisions. Each of the decisions in their own right changed the course of our country. For example, no one can argue with how huge President Lincoln’s decision was to issue the Emancipation Proclamation – that forever changed the racial history of the United States. Or, conversely, how much race relations were set back by President Hayes’ decision to pull federal troops out of the South (thus ending Reconstruction and allowing many white racists back into power).
Any reader interested in how our country came to be what it is today will fully appreciate this work by Craughwell and Kiester.
The Smart Swarm: How Understanding Flocks, Schools, and Colonies Can Make Us Better at Communicating, Decision Making, and Getting Things Done by Peter Miller
Publishers Weekly
Insects are social creatures, perhaps even more social—in the strict scientific sense—than humans since they lack such socially obstructing attributes as ego, personality, and opinion. Miller, senior editor at
National Geographic, examines hives, mounds, colonies, and swarms, whose complex systems of engagement and collective decision making have catalyzed innovations in engineering and can suggest solutions to such problems as climate change. The sophisticated system of decentralized interdependence exhibited by termites invites a lesson on how to respond to emergencies, while the chemical-based communications among African ants helped officials at Southwest Airlines define their seating policy. Insects, birds, and fish variously demonstrate the plausibility and success of disorganization leading to self-organization and leaderless processes. Adding understanding to the dark side of group dynamics and, inevitably, mob behavior is the study of locusts, innocuous until they become part of a crowd. Miller informs, engages, entertains, and even surprises in this thought-provoking study of problem making and problem solving, and through the comparison of human and insect scenarios, shows how social cues and signals can either bring about social cooperation or destruction.
A Bad Day’s Work by Nora McFarland
Publishers Weekly
McFarland’s less than assured debut introduces TV camerawoman Lilly Hawkins, who knows her job at KJAY in Bakersfield, Calif., could hinge on how she covers a middle-of-the-night murder. What she doesn’t realize until all the rough stuff starts is that her life might depend on it as well. That the tape she took at the crime scene appears to be blank doesn’t deter the bad guys from vying to get their hands on it–or, failing that, Lilly herself. Among them are the pair of crooked cops she suspects may be working for Leland Warner, megabucks owner of the orchard where the victim was found, and Tom Sinclair, Warner’s scuzzy son-in-law. McFarland, herself a former “shooter” for a Bakersfield TV station, nails the newsroom as well as her feisty, funny accidental sleuth, but she’s less adept at pacing. One hopes she’ll rely less on exposition and more on action to tell her story in Lilly’s next outing.
