June-July Books

** The Creative Destruction of Medicine: How the Digital Revolution Will Create Better Health Care by Eric  J. Topol, one of the nation’s top physicians and a leading voice on the digital revolution in medicine, argues that radical innovation and a true democratization of medical care are within reach, but only if consumers demand it. Topol asks “what happens when you combine cellular phone technology with the cellular aberrations in disease? Or create a bridge between the digital revolution with the medical revolution?” “This marvelous book by Eric Topol, a leading cardiologist, gene hunter and medical thinker, answers not  these questions and many more”—an amazing combination of breath, depth and excellent writing.

A Dog’s Journey by W. Bruce Cameron is a  sequel to bestselling A Dog's Purpose. In case you’ve forgotten, Buddy is a good dog.  After searching for his purpose through several eventful lives in Purpose, Buddy is sure that he has found and fulfilled it. Yet, when Buddy is reborn, he realizes that he has a new destiny—to take care of Clarity, a vibrant but troubled teenager.  “A charming and heartwarming story of hope, love, and unending devotion”, Journey asks if we really take care of our pets, or do they take care of us? … “a moving story of unwavering loyalty and a love.” 

What Money Won’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets  by Michael J. Sandel asks if  there something wrong with a world in which everything is for sale? Market values seem to have crowded out nonmarket norms in almost every aspect of life—medicine, education, government, law, art, sports, even family life and personal relations. Sandel makes an important point--over and over again.

*History of a Pleasure Seeker  by Richard Mason is “an opulent, romantic coming-of-age drama..(during)  Europe’s belle époque, written…with a lightness of touch that is wholly modern and original. “It is about a young man with an instinctive appreciation for pleasure and a gift for finding it. Piet’s father is an austere university administrator and his late mother, a singing teacher gave him a thorough grounding in the arts of charm. Piet becomes a  tutor to the troubled son of Europe’s leading hotelier As the young man enters this glittering world, he learns its secrets—and soon finds his life transformed as he changes the lives of those around him.

Rescue by Anita Shreve's is a smooth, but somewhat disappointing, story of EMT Peter Webster who is drawn to a woman he rescues at the scene of a one-car drunk driving accident. Webster is a well-intentioned straight arrow, but their affair evolves into marriage and parenthood with the birth of a daughter Rowan. Sheila's drinking leads to another accident and Webster sends her away to avoid jail time. Years later, the daughter is a typically turmoil-ridden high school senior and her tribulations prompt Webster to reach out to Sheila to help. “Webster and Sheila are more type than character--good-hearted man, damaged woman incapable of love--and the paramedic rescue scenes feel mostly like opportunities for Shreve to show off her research.”

*The World in 2050: Four Forces Shaping Civilization's Northern Future  by Laurence C. Smith points to four major engines of change: population growth; the increasing demand for natural resources; economic and cultural globalization; and climate change.  Smith believes that the future is brightest for will be the northern rim of nations including the Northern United States, Canada, Russia and the Scandinavian countries. Here there are still plenteous stores of oil, natural gas, water and arable land. The melting of ice in the Arctic Ocean has opened that area up for mineral exploration and extraction and increased the number and reach of shipping lanes. In the end, Smith does not see humanity as merely a passive observer and victim of all these seismic shifts.

They Eat Puppies Don’t They by Christopher Buckley skewers our relationship with China, along with the corruption endemic to lobbying, weapons manufacturing, and media spin. Lobbyist, Walter "Bird" McIntyre, is asked to "whip up…anti-Chinese fervor" to win support for a new secret weapon. Hapless and endearing, Bird divides his time between a condo he calls the Military-Industrial Duplex and the country estate called “Upkeep”, home to his trophy equestrian wife, Alzheimer's-afflicted mother, and freeloading brother Bewks, a Civil War reenactor, while writing egregiously clichéd thrillers. Fights break out on Chris Matthews' Hardball, the Dalai Lama is in peril, and the reasonable president of China is having nightmares about the US and political enemies at home…pleasant to read but not great. 

A Plague of Secrets by John Lecroart brings back Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitsky “in a compelling and timely legal thriller filled with blackmail, political intrigue, and multiple murders.” When Dylan Vogler, a charming ex-convict who manages the Bay Beans West coffee shop in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district is found murdered, his knapsack is filled with high-grade marijuana. Maya Townshend-the beautiful socialite niece of the city's mayor, and the absentee owner of the shop-know becomes the leading suspect and Dimas must be creative to help her avoid conviction. Not Lecroat’s best book, but still an engaging story with lots of surprises.

*A Dog’s Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron is the engaging story of a dog’s search for his purpose over the course of several lives. After a rough ‘first incarnation’ as a stray, Bailey is surprised to find himself reborn as a rambunctious golden-haired puppy after a tragically short life as a stray mutt, Bailey’s search for his life’s meaning leads him into 8-year-old Ethan. During their adventures Bailey joyously discovers how to be a good dog. But, there’s more for him to learn, and the ending is moving and well crafted. “Heartwarming, insightful, and often laugh-out-loud funny…this moving and beautifully crafted story teaches… that every creature is born with a purpose.”  

*An Available Man by Hilma Wolitzer explores the fallout of suddenly becoming single later in life, and the chaos and joys of falling in love the second time around. When Edward Schuyler, a modest and bookish sixty-two-year-old science teacher, is widowed, he finds himself ambushed by phone calls from widows seeking love, lunch or sex. Edward doesn’t feel available and prefers solitude and the familiar routine of work, gardening, and bird-watching. Then his stepchildren place an ad in The New York Review of Books on his behalf and letters flood in. Gradually and reluctantly, he begins dating (“dating after death,”), and his encounters are surprising, comical, and sad. “With wit, warmth, and a keen understanding of the heart, An Available Man … celebrates the endurance of love, and its thrilling capacity to bloom anew.”

The Beginner’s Goodbye by Anne Tyler “gives us a wise, haunting, and deeply moving new novel …(about) how Aaron,  a middle-aged man, ripped apart by the death of his wife, is gradually restored by her frequent appearances. Though crippled, Aaron is a little strange, but not handicapped. His unremarkable marriage ends when Dorothy is killed.  He is lost until her unexpected appearances help him to live in the moment and find peace.  “A beautiful, subtle exploration of loss and recovery, pierced throughout with Anne Tyler’s humor, wisdom, and always penetrating look at human foibles.”

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