Reading is an alternate form of travel around the world and across the time horizon. Below are some good reads and I hope you find one that you like.
They both die at the end by Adam Silvera
What will the world be like if death is predictable and we have 24 hours to live after being notified? This is a book about two boys living out their life in their last 24 hours. It is a touching story of loss, of love, of friendship and of living not just existing. Nice storyline!
The memory man by David Baldacci
David is among the most widely read storytellers with over 110 millions of his novels in print. His plots are good movie storylines. The story started with the brutal scenes of the murders of the protagonist’s families, that forever changed the detective’s lives in his pursuit of the murderers and the untangling of the murder motives.
Kochland by Christopher Leonard
The book is a well researched documentary of the secret history of Koch Industries and Corporate Power in America. Charles Koch, a zealous believer in power and capitalism, has propelled the Koch company into arguably the most influential company in the energy policy making of the US government. In chasing the unparalleled business successes, the company has invented Market-based Management, has taken full advantage of the information asymmetric in its trading business, and established a frightening network of influence to American policies. Through its four elements in the political campaign (education, media outreach, litigation and political influence), Koch has done arguably as much damage to the climate agenda and carbon reduction as one could possibly imagine. Koch’s products are used by everyone. Political influence is everywhere.
If you admire capitalism and the American dreams, this is a must read to portray both sides of the coin. If you are concerned about the corrosive effects of success at all cost and the inequity created, this book offers the formula for success for you to feast on. If you know little about the dynamics of American politicians, and the corporation owners in the shaping of American policies, this book is a must read to gain that perspective.
Mendeleyev’s Dream “The Quest for the Elements” by Paul Strathern
Not the kind of book you would pick up, it is an intriguing and absolutely enjoyable read about the history of Chemistry. Whether you like Chemistry or hate the experiments, “Periodic Table” is the thing we all remember from our high school.
When Mendeleyev organized the patterns of the elements into the “Periodic Table” in 1869, it was the culmination of a two thousand and a half years epic and a wayward parable of human aspiration. Let’s not forget the hardship of Copernicus and Galileo in their advocacy of heliocentrism as we hold contempt for flat earthers. Alchemy may be more remembered as hoax and deception, yet, it is that human aspiration to create the precious metal that allows discovery of how things work, through experiments. From the onset of scientific thought by the founders of philosophy (Thales 624, to Socrates, Plato, and Aristotles), through the ages of alchemy to the industrial revolution, the story of Chemistry witnesses cultural, social and scientific evolution. It is humbling how trivial our belief is, as we read about how human society has changed over the last two thousand years, and that two thousand years are still all but a wink in the chronology of the universe.
Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology by Chris Miller
This is the book to read to understand the semiconductor industry. The pandemic years remind us the critical role played by these semiconductor chips when we have taken for granted its critical roles in automobiles, in cell phones, in planes, in military weapons and pretty much in every facet of our lives. The author does a great job to chronicle the evolution of the industry, and unpack the myriad of interdependencies among the chip design software, the lithography and the fabrication. In the chip war, the current powers reside squarely in the America and a limited number of countries, together with a handful of companies evolved to dominate different parts of the overall chips ecosystem. The book will give you a deeper understanding in why the America government has sought to form alliances to restrict the advanced chip export to China. It will be a destructive play to both slow down the technology advancement of China, and at the same time, hurt the business of many global chip companies.
oliviatamccue 