How to Hide an Empire

 

How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States by Daniel Immerwahr
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Every time I opened this book, I learned something new. Nothing entertains me like my own ignorance. On top of that, Immerwhar's writing is refreshing; he finds relevant ways to relate pertinent facts. A must read.

View all my reviews

Annexing territory was a way to secure both sea routes and the vital tropical materials that one could reach by them.

But there was something different about the post-1898 acquisitions.  It wasn't the land.  It was the people;e who lived on it.  

The worldwide anti-imperialist revolt drove the cost of colonies up.  Yet at the same time, new technologies gave powerful countries the benefits of empire without claiming populated territories.  In doing so, they drove the demand for colonies down.

"The truth, the central stupendous truth, about developed economies is that they can have--in anything but the shortest run--the kind of scale of resources they decide to have," U Thant marveled.  "It is not longer the resources that limit decisions.  It its the decisions that make the resources."

"The frontiers could be closed," wrote Lech Walsea.  "Words could not."

The Grammarians

The Grammarians by Cathleen Schine
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A story of sisters--twins who both share a love of language but whose approach to words reflect their different perspectives of life that eventually create a rift between them. (I also loved the subtle bromance of their husbands and wished there was more of it in there.). They share a secret language growing up but use it less and less as they grow apart. Perhaps most tellingly, it is their approach to motherhood and their careers that really starts and intensifies their divergence. Each sister adheres to her perception of words and life without recognizing that so much of their lives are the same--using the same words in different ways, success in different areas, both have a kid and husbands that love them. Fittingly, it is the essence of language that will bring them back together again.

View all my reviews

Identical twins, dressed in identical outfits--are they half or double?

"Who thinks of 'chaotic', 'operatic', 'dilation', and 'direful' as malformations?  Yet nome of them have any right to exist...."  Except they do exist, and by existing, "have now all the rights of words regularly made.  They have prospered, and none dare call them treason...."

What people call 'standard' English is really just the dialect of the elite.

The Mountains Sing

The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one of those rare historical novels that balance history with the story in perfect harmony. Chapters toggle between Guava, living through the Vietnam War and its aftermath, and her grandma, telling her stories of the unrest before--The Great Hunger and the Land Reform. The history was educational, but the characters and emotions were equally compelling. Like most stories in life, some have happy endings, some sad, and some have no clear ending at all, and the protagonist navigates her way through it all to try to find answers and come to peace with the past.

View all my reviews

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

 

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Eleanor has built a solid wall around herself to protect her from a childhood trauma and the resulting upheaval. That would be expected, but this wall is so thick that not even social norms and pop culture get through, so she comes off as rigid, humorless, and strange. But when she decides to go after a crush, she opens the door a bit, and a coworker who is insightful, patient, and kind slips into that crack of the wall, and Eleanor is never the same. It's a breezy book but it helps us to remember that people who seem different, socially awkward, and even rude may be so despite themselves, and a little kindness can go a long way.

View all my reviews