Some Favorite Books From 2021

    You know that I love to read. I always keep a journal of the books I’ve read during the year. In the year 2021 I read a few classics, a couple of books that were published in the early 1900’s, some that I’ve read more than once along with a lot of others!  56% of the books I read this year were fiction, 36% were non-fiction works and 8% were books of poetry. 

    I rate them by how much I enjoyed reading them, not necessarily how well they were written, though that does naturally figure into it. The books I read aren’t always best sellers; in fact, a lot of the books I read aren’t even widely known! Most of the books on this list are fairly current.

    So, these are a few of my favorites from 2021, listed in the order that I read them. I enjoyed them all and I hope you’ll see a couple that might pique your interest and make you want to give them a try. (You don’t have to buy them, go to your local library and borrow them!) The library is truly one of our unappreciated treasures. Take advantage of it! Also, don’t forget about your local bookstores, most of these books can be found there. Support your local businesses!

1)      The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. (Fiction) The story of a man who discovers a book in the library stacks that has a story about him from his early childhood. He starts uncovering clues which eventually lead him to an ancient hidden library deep under the earth. The story tells his search and what is revealed to him.

2)      The Saint Makers by Joe Drape. (Non-fiction) This book tells about a man from Kansas, Father Kapaun, who served in the Korean War. He is considered by many to be a saint. The book also tells about those who are attempting to get him beatified. The book tells his story, those of the people who believe that Father Kapaun has interceded for them after being prayed to and describes the process in which saints are declared, a process that has changed little in the past couple thousand years.

3)      The Last Stargazers by Emily Levesque. (Non-fiction) In this book, Emily tells us stories about astronomy and astronomers. She tells about the wonders of working as a professional astronomer and some of the goofs and mistakes that have been made, in both her career and others. In one chapter she tells about flying through an aurora while using the Sofia Airborne Telescope and in another watching a total solar eclipse with her family. In the way she describes them, both of these stories had me choked me up!

4)      Elsewhere by Dean Koontz. (Fiction) A man is given a device that he must NEVER use! Of course, he does almost as soon as it is given to him. It results in him and his 12-year-old daughter getting transported to a parallel universe. When they return, they have to hide the device from the evil governmental operatives who are searching for it. Dean adds a lot of literary references in this story. His storytelling kept me glued to the book!

5)      Mad at the World by William Souder. (Non-fiction) This is a biography of the great writer John Steinbeck. The author tells it all and he makes it into an interesting read. After reading this book, I reread a couple of Steinbeck’s books. (None of which made it to the 4 star list)

6)      The Book of Lost Names by Kristen Harmel. (Fiction) An older woman is shelving books at her library when she sees an article about books stolen during the Second World War that are being returned to their proper owners. One, an ancient religious manuscript has some sort of code in it. The woman recognizes the book because she was the one who devised the code. She is living in Florida, the book is in Germany, and she wants to go there and explain what the code is. Her son thinks she is a bit soft minded and too feeble to make the trip. He doesn’t know who she really is! The book tells us about her past and her quest to get the information in this book to the proper people.  The book tells us a little about the underground agents working during the Second World War. It is a well written story.

7)      Grandma Gatewood’s Walk by Ben Montgomery. (Non-fiction) Grandma Gatewood, Emma, was a 67-year-old woman who one day decided to take a hike on The Appalachian Trail. In 1955 the trail wasn’t as well marked and used as it is today. Her journey became well known and people followed her in newspapers and magazines. The book tells a bit about her background and her difficult life. She ended up hiking the trail, in tennis shoes, becoming the first female thru-hiker. She did it three times. She was a mother of 11 children and a victim of domestic abuse. She always enjoyed walking in the woods and she continued to hike into her 80’s.

8)      The Liar’s Dictionary by Eley Williams (Fiction) This is a parallel story of two different people, one a lexicographer in Victorian times working on the “S” section of a dictionary. He starts to put fictitious words in the volume. The second person is a present day woman who is helping to update and digitalize the book. She has to find these fake words, “mountweazels” as they are called. She is also getting strange phone calls, threatening the company. It is a fun book filled with all sorts of wonderful words, some real and some…made up.

9)      Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane. (Fiction)  A US Marshal goes to an island which houses a hospital for the criminally insane. A extremely dangerous prisoner has escaped from her cell while under constant watch and the marshal has to figure out how she escaped and if she is still on the island. Meanwhile, a hurricane is rushing towards them and he learns how possible experimentation and radical surgeries might have been performed at the hospital. This knowledge could put him in further danger. Of course it all comes together at the end, the way most good stories do!

10)   The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz. (Fiction) A professor teaching an Writing class is told by a student about a book he is writing. The teacher has written before and is now experiencing a dry spell. After hearing that his student has died, he uses the plotline from his book to write his own novel. Later, after becoming a bestselling author, he receives an e-mail, the first of many, saying only, “You are a thief!” Searching into his former student’s past he learns more about who he was and where he got the idea for his novel. Who was it that stole from who?

11)   The Arbornaut by May Lowman. (Non-fiction) May always enjoyed climbing trees. Realizing that she couldn’t study the trees from the ground, May made equipment which allowed her to study them from inside their crowns, their tops. Her studies evolved from climbing to eventually making walkways in the treetops, allowing scientists and students to easily visit the tree tops, even those with physical handicaps. She is a big promoter of equal rights and she never hesitates to stoop and talk with children about her work and to answer their questions, because she never knows when she might be talking to someone who might be a future key to saving the planet. The book tells stories from her adventures in trees around the world and how she strives for equality in her field and the world.

12)   The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles. (Fiction) Eighteen-year-old Emmett is driven home from a work farm by the warden, his intentions are to pick up his younger brother and head west to start their lives anew. His father recently died and his mother left long ago. Two friends from the work farm hid in the warden’s car and this changes his plans, much to his displeasure. The story takes place over 10 days as they travel on the Lincoln Highway attempting to head west, after a few “important things" are taken care of. Amor has a wonderful way of telling peoples stories. I fell into it and didn’t want to put it down! (If you haven’t read A Gentleman in Moscow, also by Towles, try it!!!) 

13)   Rust Belt Boy by Paul Hertneky. (Non-fiction) The stories in this book can strike home with any Pittsburgher, anyone who has lived here for any length of time. He tells stories of his childhood, telling his experiences with the mills of Ambridge, how they were the major employer in the town and how he eventually ended up working there, even though he felt as if he had better places to go. He tells about how the decline of the steel industry changed the town and his life. His stories are the same stories that countless Pittsburghers lived through. Even if you didn’t work in a mill, your life was affected by them! I related to a lot in this book. Paul has a good voice and knows how to tell his stories!

14)   The Bottom of the Harbor by Joseph Mitchell. (Non-fiction) Paul was a writer in New York City in the 40’s. He often wrote about the small harbors, villages and fishing companies that were scattered along the waterfronts. He has a way of telling his stories in a slow but gripping way. When he is finished you feel as if you intimately know the people he told you about, their jobs, their histories and where they live. It was another book that I didn’t want to put down, I wanted to see where and who he would introduce me to next.

    So these are just a few of the books I came across during the last year, just a few of the best in my own mind! I hope you give one or two of them a try. It always makes my day when I hear that someone enjoyed a book I suggested, AND, I am always open to suggestions. Please share your favorites with me!

Read on!

"No two readers can or will ever read the same book, Because the reader builds the book in collaberation with the author."

Neil Gaiman

The Morning Matrix

 

The Morning Matrix

    Raindrops slide down the window, I am inside the Matrix, only vague images of the valley below filter through. The day isn’t bright yet, heavy clouds and rain hide the sunrise. The brightening is gradual, slow enough to be almost imperceptible.

    Cars on the roads are still using their headlights. Four colors make up the spectrum so far, red from brake lights and the two traffic lights below, occasional greens when the lights change, the bright white of headlights and then, the overwhelming color, or lack of color, gray. The grays overpower everything.

    Brightening, ever so slowly, smaller details start to become evident. The silhouettes of the trees become more apparent. Skylights in the roofs of the buildings below start to appear. Far away, cars on the highway appear as indistinct shapes, one following another, their direction of travel hiding their lights from view.

    Occasionally, all seems to stop. Only the drips on the windows continue. No cars are visible on any of the roads. The traffic lights are static; the Matrix has stopped, halted, a pause in the continuum, a momentary shift in the constant movement of our world.

    Then a few cars speed past on the highway and movements begin again. Thankfully, the world is coming back up to speed! I see the reflection of my coffee cup in the window, I take a sip and think. It looks like it will be a slow day, wet and cold, a good day to stay indoors.

    Whoa...Wait…What’s that? I HEAR A TRAIN WHISTLE!!!

Winter Solstice 2021

     I still hadn’t seen Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) and since the sky was looking rather good, I decided to take a trip up to Wagman Observatory to see if I could change that fact. The chances of seeing it are rapidly disappearing. 

    Since it was the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, the sun would be setting at 4:56. The three day past full moon would be rising a few minutes past 7, giving me an hour or two of darkness before it rises. I arrived on the top of the hill at 4:30 with plenty of time to spare. Other than a couple deer that ignored me, I was the only one there. The sun was sitting just above the trees on the horizon but unfortunately, so was a large cloud.

    I set up the tripod and camera, got out my binoculars and scanned around a bit. I took a few pictures and worried about the big cloud.

    I saw Venus shortly after the sun dropped below the horizon. A little later I saw Jupiter. Using the binoculars, I quickly found Saturn. The three planets were in a nice straight line.

     Now if this where a perfect world, the comet would be below Saturn and off to the left of Venus. Sounds rather simple to find…

    The clouds provided a spectacular canvas for the sun to illuminate. As the sun sunk down, the sky started out with an orange tinge which slowly turned towards red. The lower the sun dropped below the horizon the deeper the color became. The tops of the clouds were dark gray, making the scene that much more dramatic!

    Turning around towards the east, the clouds were pink, looking to the south, the shades morphed into the purple range. During the next half hour or more the color show continued. I can’t remember seeing a more spectacular sky! The reds in the west were getting darker and deeper while the colors behind me started fading into grays and blacks. The edge of the western horizon stayed red long after everything went dark, silhouetting the trees. There was a bit of clearing towards the north but even with binoculars, I couldn’t see any stars yet. The clouds moved over to hide Venus and Saturn from view.

    Slowly the cloud drifted south and eventually Venus reappeared from behind it. Try as I might, I couldn’t see the comet, I felt that it had already gone below the horizon.

    I packed up my gear, accepting the fact that once again, I missed it. Behind me, hundreds of stars had appeared. I spent awhile exploring them with my binoculars. I visited the Andromeda Galaxy, almost directly overhead, the Hyades, the Pleiades and even the Coat Hanger Cluster to name just a few. I drifted through the constellations and lost myself in the beauty of the tiny dots scattered everywhere. Eventually the cold and hunger pulled me away and I headed home for dinner. When I arrived home, the moon was hanging above the eastern horizon.

    While I was searching for the comet, trying to see it through the clouds and haze I couldn’t help but think about the old Yiddish proverb, “We plan, God laughs”. Yes, I’m sure He was laughing this evening, perhaps even thinking, “I gave you that wonderful sunset, what more do you want?”

    The sunset show was the definitely the highlight of the evening. The views of the stars through the binoculars before I left came close behind! I spent some time hanging out on the hillside with a couple deer. Only a few cars went by and it was nice and quiet. It was a great way to celebrate the Winter Solstice!

    My own thoughts about the comet…eh, there will be others!

Sometimes You're Lucky...

    I had slept in. Getting out from underneath the warmth of multiple quilts, blue skies greeted me. The sunshine was working its way down into the valley below. The first thing that ran through my sleep addled head was, “This would be a great day to chase a train!” Then the idea of visiting the bathroom overcame that. First things first I guess!

    Occasionally, the railroad below the house runs a train in the morning hours. Last week one came through around 10:30. Since it was raining, I stayed inside, nice and dry and watched it through the window. A day or two later, one passed by around noon but I was on the road and didn’t have time to turn around and chase it. “There will be others! It just wasn’t meant to be today.”

    With these two recent runs in my mind, I got dressed and put the camera gear near the door. I still had a few hours until anything would show up…if it did at all.

    The coffee cup was filled and steaming as I sat down at the desk. The shadows on the hillside had all but disappeared. I got lost for a few minutes watching the cars go by, small bunches then nothing, cars coming out of the shopping center and piling up behind each other while they waited for the light to change. Like little organisms under a microscope, all going in different directions, all with different purposes in mind. I checked my e-mails and then called a friend to see what was new in his world.

    In mid-BS, I heard it. Rather soft but still that distinctive sound that I know and love. Ending the call, I grabbed my gear and ran out to the car.

    “Drat, I left my keys in the house.” By the time they were retrieved, the sounds of the train were getting louder. Arriving at the stop sign in the neighborhood, the train was blowing its whistle at the crossing below the house. “This might be a close one!”

    The next problem encountered was road construction at a near-by intersection. Luckily, I was waved right through, only to find myself behind eight or nine cars waiting for a traffic light.

    When the light changed, most of the cars went straight and I followed two down Mt. Royal Boulevard. Thankfully they had no problem with going a few miles above the posted limits. Nearing Allison Park, the train could be seen traveling on the tracks below the road. “Yes, this would be tough!”

    The cars in front to me went straight at the stop sign leaving me with open road for the rest of the chase. I turned and stepped on the gas…only to come into another construction site. The train could be seen in the valley, three engines pulling a line of gondolas, streaming away from me.

    The flagman turned his sign and I crept passed the workers and then hit the gas, hoping that there weren’t any policemen sitting along my route. Bryant Road came up and soon I was turning into a small pull-off. 

    The train was nearly there, the sound of it was getting louder as I ran from the car to a spot between the trees. I saw the headlights coming out of the shadows around the bend as I checked the camera settings. I found my spot and quickly focused and snapped a shot as the train roared by. Repositioning myself I took a couple more as it continued on its way.

    It was a fun run, I doubted if any of the shots would be anything special but I did enjoy the chase, which is half of the fun! “Sometimes you get lucky…and then there are all the other times

    Returning home, I found out that the first shot I took came out OK. The chase wasn’t a waste after all, in fact, it was a great way to start the day, or for that matter, the week!

    I’m sometimes asked why I continue to chase trains that I have already taken pictures of…perhaps this cartoon might shed a bit of insight on it.

"I just love the feelings I get from them!"

Readjusting the Books

     With my head a bit stuffed, my sinus’s congested and a slight fever, the last thing I'd want to do is go outside into the world. The early part of the day was spent on the couch with an afghan pulled over me. I drifted back and forth between dreams and consciousness.   My hot cup of tea sat on the table and got cold, undrunk.

    Feeling as if I should be doing something other than lying around, I took a look at what I could see from my prone position. Directly in front of me was the television. No, that wasn’t anything productive. I would end up right where I was now, lying on the couch.

    On either side of the television are bookcases. There were a few piles of books on them, waiting to be put away. The shelves definitely needed a little reorganizing.

    Yes!  That is what I’ll do, put my books in order. The shelves on the left have two shelves which contain “Books on Books”. The vast majority of them are non-fiction but there are a fair number of fictional stories dealing with libraries, bookstores and “special” books. There is a copy of “84 Charing Cross Rd” by Helene Hanff, a couple of Nicholas A. Basbanes’s books, a copy of John Carter’s “ABC for Book Collectors”, “The Library Book” by Susan Orlean, “Ex Libis” by Ann Fadiman and “The Book of Flying” by Keith Miller to name just a couple. They all fit into the same description, they are about books. Unfortunately, they don’t all fit on the shelves!

    The piles sitting in front of these books were new acquisitions that hadn’t had a spot found for them yet, there wasn’t any room for them.  I started my chore, pulling out books on the shelves below. There were some classics, a group of Edward Abbey books, and a few that was once important to me but are no longer. Soon there were piles scattered across the floor. One pile was for discards, a small pile I’m happy to say and the others which could be put in different areas.

    My Neil Gaiman books moved down a shelf along with some other fiction. The Abbey books ended up on their sides, stacked against the Books on Books, acting as a bookend.

    I came across two old copies of Christopher Marley’s books, “Parnassus on Wheels” and “The Haunted Bookshop”, both of which were moved up the shelves to the book section. I also found in amongst the classics, a book I had been searching for, “The Bottom of the Harbor” by Joseph Mitchell. I knew I had it but wasn’t sure where it was. I had even considered ordering it but managed to resist the temptation. Really, I guess it's good that I didn't!

    After organizing the shelves in the one case, I moved over to the opposite side of the television. I opened the doors and wondered, “Where do I begin?” The books in this case are all “special” volumes. The top two shelves are signed books. There is a shelf of older books in the bookcase, some books my parents owned and a couple religious tomes. There are ten or eleven old Baedeker’s travel books and also an antique blue vase. I can see that the vase will soon be occupying a different spot.

    I did a little rearranging and cleared up the piles that were stacked on the front of the shelves. There was still more that could be done but the Joseph Mitchell book kept calling to me. I could keep working on the organizing or I could retire back to the couch.

    I was ready to revisit the waterfront in New York City. I love the way Joseph describes the scenery, the people, their jobs and their history. Yes, I’m off to the Fulton Fish Market of New York once again. The shelves can wait, the story is more important!