Weighing in at 1304 pages, THE WORLD: A FAMILY HISTORY OF HUMANITY by Simon Sebag Montefiore certainly qualifies as a Big Fat Book. Montefiore takes on an impossible mission to tell the history of humanity through mostly tales of families. If you glance at the Table of Contents you’ll get an idea of the chronological and geographical approach Montefiore takes in tackling thousands of years of History. Here are some samples of the types of stories and facts Montefiore presents:

“Fatso (Physcon)–as Ptolemy VIII by the Alexandrians–was effete, obsessed and sadistic, thriving in a period of mob violence and factional intrigue. Marrying his sister Cleopatra II and fathering a son Memphites, Fatso then fell in love with her daughter, child of his sister-wife and late brother–his niece and stepdaughter Cleopatra III–and married her too… Fatso and his younger wife fled to Cyprus, while Cleopatra II ruled Egypt as sole queen. But Fatso had not given up. Realizing that their son Memphis might replace him, he kidnapped the fourteen-year-old, who trusted his father. Then Fatso had him strangled in from of him before cutting off his head, legs and hands, which he then sent to the boy’s mother the night before her birthday.” (p. 117)

“An American invertor Richard Gatling created this first machine gun to save lives during the Civil War: ‘If I could invent a machine–a gun–which could, by its rapidity of fire, enable one man to do as much battle duty as a hundred, it would supersede the necessity of large armies, and consequently, exposure to battle and disease.’ It did not work like that.” (p. 903)

“LBJ, whose style of leadership was ‘If you can’t fuck a man in the ass, then just peckerslap him–better to let him know who’s in charge than to let him get the keys to the car…” (p. 1127)

I was impressed with the vast knowledge of History Montefiore displays in this book. Although The World is over 1000 pages long, I never found it dragging. Montefiore is a master tale-teller who keeps the reader’s attention by presenting historical stories that are new and different (and often cruel). If you love History, you’ll love The World despite its length. GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Preface and Acknowledgments — xxvii

Note — xxxi

Introduction — xxxiii

Act one. Houses of Sargon and Ahmose: ziggurats and pyramids ; Houses of Hattusa and Rameses ; The Nubian pharaohs and great kings of Ashur: House Alara versus House Tiglath-Pileser — 1-40

Act two. Haxamanis and Alcmaeon: Houses of Persia and Athens ; The Alexandrians and the Haxamanishiya: Eurasian duel ; The Mauryans and the Qin ; The Barcas and the Scipios: the Houses of Carthage and Rome — 53-114

Act three. The Han and the Caesars ; Trajans and first step sharks: Romans and the Maya ; Severans and Zenobians: Arab dynasties — 117-175

Act four. Houses of Constantine, Sasan and Spearthrower Owl — 177-197

Act five. The Muhammad Dynasty ; Tang and Sasan — 199-220

Act six. Houses of Muhammad and Charlemagne ; Rurikovichi and the House of Basil ; The Ghanas and the Fatimiyya — 223-280

Act seven. Song, Fujiwara and Chola ; Seljuks, Komnenoi and Hautevilles — 283-313

Act eight. Genghis: a conquering family ; Khmers, Hohenstaufen and Polos ; The Keitas of Mali and the Habsburgs of Austria — 315-370

Act nine. The Tamerlanians, the Ming and the Obas of Benin — 373-397

Act ten. Medici and Mexica, Ottomans and Aviz ; Incas, Trastamaras and Rurikovichi ; Manikongos, Borgias and Columbuses ; Habsburgs and Ottomans — 399-453

Act eleven. Tamerlanians and Mexica, Ottomans and Safavis ; Incas, Pizarros, Habsburgs and Medici ; Tamerlanians and Rurikovichi, Ottomans and the House of Mendes ; Valois and Saadis, Habsburgs and Rurikovichi — 455-540

Act twelve. Dahomeans, Stuarts and Villiers, Tamerlanians and Ottomans ; Zumbas and Oranges, Cromwells and Villiers ; Manchus and Shivajis, Bourbons, Stuarts and Villiers ; Afsharis and Manchus, Hohenzollerns and Habsburgs ; Durranis and Saids, Hemingses and Toussaints ; Romanovs and Durranis, Pitts, Comanche and Kamehamehas — 541-698

Act thirteen. Arkwrights and Krupps, Habsburgs, Bourbons and Sansons — 699-725

Act fourteen. Bonapartes and Albanians, Wellesleys and Rothschilds ; Zulus and Saudis, Christophes, Kamehamehas and Astors — 727-784

Act fifteen. Braganzas and Zulus, Albanians, Dahomeans and Vanderbilts — 785-825

Act sixteen. Bonapartes and Manchus, Habsburgs and Comanche — 829-870

Act seventeen. Hohenzollerns and Krupps, Albanians and Lakotas — 873-894

Act eighteen. The Houses of Solomon and Asante, Habsburg and Saxe-Coburg ; The Houses of Hohenzollern and Roosevelt, Solomon and Manchu — 895-923

Act nineteen. Hohenzollerns, Krupps, Ottomans, Tennos and Songs ; Hohenzollerns, Habsburgs and Hashemites ; Pahlavis and Songs, Roosevelts, Mafiosi and Kennedys — 957-1023

Act twenty. Roosevelts, Suns, Krupps, Pahlavis and Saudis — 1025-1067

Act twenty-one. Nehrus, Maos and Suns, Mafiosi, Hashemites and Albanians ; Norodoms and Kennedys, Castros, Kenyattas and Obamas ; Hashemites and Kennedys, Maos, Nehruvians and Assads ; Houses of Solomon and Bush, Bourbon, Pahlavi and Castro — 1069=1148

Act twenty-two. Yeltsins and Xis, Nehruvians and Assads, Bin Ladens, Kims and Obamas — 1150-1195

Act twenty-three. Trumps and Xis, Sauds, Assads and Kims — 1243-1255

Conclusion — 1257

Select Bibliography — 1265

INDEX — 1267

I’ve read two novels recently–Charles Stross’s Season of Skulls and Martha Wells’s Witch King–which the authors admit were affected by the Pandemic. Now, here’s a third: Mary Robinette Kowal’s SF mystery, The Spare Man (2023).

The Spare Man–just check out the cover artwork above–is basically The Thin Man in space. Here’s the book’s marketing hype:

Tesla Crane, a brilliant inventor and an heiress, is on her honeymoon on an interplanetary space liner, cruising between the Moon and Mars. She’s traveling incognito and is reveling in her anonymity. Then someone is murdered and the festering chowderheads who run security have the audacity to arrest her spouse. Armed with banter, martinis and her small service dog, Tesla is determined to solve the crime so that the newlyweds can get back to canoodling—and keep the real killer from striking again.

The Spare Man is basically a locked room mystery because the murders occur on a spaceship in mid-flight. Complicating factors are Tesla’s chronic pain (from a workplace accident) and PTSD. Tesla travels with her service dog, Gimlet, who plays a role in the murder investigation. Kowal presents a recipe for a different classic cocktail at the start of every chapter in the book.

I really wanted to like The Spare Man but some of the cutesy dialogue and plotting put me off. GRADE: C

David G. Myers is a social psychologist and professor at (ironically!) Hope College in Michigan. Myers discusses the latest research findings on Life and Death, depression, fear, anxiety, and happiness.

The last part of How Do We Know Ourselves? focuses on cultural issues and how Change (good and bad) takes place. There’s plenty of information in these brief chapters. This is a browser’s delight: you can read many of these chapters in any order…and they’ll only take you a few minutes to finish them.

If you’re in the mood for an intelligent discussion of many of our personal and social problems–and what we might do to make them better–you might consider giving How Do We Know Ourselves? a try. GRADE: B+

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Preface xi

Part I Who Am I?

1 Implicit Egotism 3

2 The Amazing Power of Attention 8

3 There Is More to Hearing Than Meets the Ears 12

4 How Do We Know Ourselves? 17

5 Dual Processing: One Brain, Two Minds? 21

6 Making New Year’s Resolutions That Last 27

7 The Powers and Perils of Intuition 32

8 Fearing the Right Things 37

9 We Knew It All Along 42

10 Judging Others and Judging Ourselves 47

11 Behavioral Confirmation: Getting What We Expect 51

12 How Do I Love Me? Let Me Count the Ways 54

Part II Who Are We?

13 The Science of Humility 65

14 When Birth Order Matters 70

15 Cardiac Arrest and the Conscious Experience of Death 75

16 Do People Repress-or Vividly Remember-Traumatic Events? 81

17 When Fear of Losing Steals Our Chances of Winning 85

18 How We Polarize, and What We Can Do About It 90

19 Our Differences Seize Our Attention, Define Our Identity, and Sometimes Deceive Us 96

20 The Psychology of Division 102

21 The Social Psychology of Dissent 106

22 The Overconfidence Phenomenon 111

23 Why Is Everyone Else Having More Fun? 117

24 Social Facilitation: The Energizing Presence of Others 124

25 The Happy Science of Micro-friendships 129

26 How to Make and Sustain Friendships 136

27 Narcissism: The Grandiose Self 142

Part III What in the World?

28 How Nature and Nurture Form Us 149

29 The Wonder of Walking (and Singing): Synchronized Spirits 154

30 Wise Interventions Can Change Lives 158

31 Failure and Flourishing 163

32 Death Is Terrifying to Contemplate, Except for Those Who Are Dying 168

33 Do Places with More Immigrants Exhibit Greater Acceptance or Greater Fear of Immigrants? 173

34 Implicit Bias Is Real. Can Training Programs Decrease It? 178

35 How Politics Changes Politicians 183

36 The Power of Confirmation Bias and the Credibility of Belief 188

37 Friends Versus Phones 194

38 Wealth, Well-Being, and Generosity 198

39 The Mere Exposure Effect: Familiarity Breeds Content 203

40 Do Replication Failures Discredit Psychological Science? 208

Notes 213

Acknowledgments 251

A couple days ago I reviewed Otto Penzler’s Golden Age Bibliomysteries (you can read my review here) so I figured I’d read Martin Edwards’ Murder By the Book: Mysteries for Bibliophiles. As you might suspect, Edwards’s choices feature more British mystery writers–there’s no overlapping stories between these two books. As always, Martin Edwards’ introductions to the stories provide wonderful detail about the writers.

My favorite story in Murder By the Book is Victor Canning’s “A Question of Character.” Canning presents a marriage where a successful writer marries a young woman who then starts writing books that out-sell her husband’s books. The bitter husband decides to murder her and devises a cunning method. But, things don’t always work out the way they’re planned. I also enjoyed Julian Symons’ brief but entertaining “The Clue in the Book.” And, you can’t go wrong with a John Creasey story like “The Book of Honour.”

With Golden Age Bibliomysteries and Murder By the Book you have plenty of tricky stories about books to enjoy! GRADE: B

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction by Martin Edwards — vii

A lesson in crime / G. D. H. and M. Cole — 1

Trent and the ministering angel / E. C. Bentley — 19

A slice of bad luck / Nicholas Blake — 40

The strange case of the Megatherium thefts / S. C. Roberts — 53

Malice domestic / Philip MacDonald — 69

A savage game / A. A. Milne — 95

A clue in the book / Julian Symons — 106

The manuscript / Gladys Mitchell — 114

A man and his mother-in-law / Roy Vickers — 119

Grey’s ghost / Michael Innes — 156

Dear Mr. Editor … / Christianna Brand — 174

Murder in advance / Marjorie Bremner — 186

A question of character / Victor Canning — 209

The book of honour / John Creasey — 221

We know you’re busy writing… / Edmund Crispin — 238

Chapter and verse / Ngaio Marsh — 260

Just like there are busted sets in books, there are busted sets in albums and CD series. I recently found Atlantic Rhythm and Blues, 1947-1974, Volume 5: 1962-1966. I haven’t seen any of the other volumes in this series, but if you glance at the Track List, you’ll see why I think this CD is the pick of the litter.

You might remember when MTV showcased singers and groups in their “Unplugged” series. The gimmick was that the songs were performed acoustically. Some people liked this approach, others hated it. But MTV and Warner Brothers brought out a series of soundtrack CDs of these studio concerts. Some sold better than others. This CD, The Unplugged Collection, Volume One features many “Name” performers. Michael’s favorite group, R.E.M., concludes the CD. Whoever put this collection together decided not to include the “Big Hits” from the Unplugged series. Eric Clapton’s unplugged version of “Layla” is missing: “Unplugged is a 1992 live album by Eric Clapton, recorded at Bray Studios, England in front of an audience for the MTV Unplugged television series. It includes a version of the successful 1992 single “Tears in Heaven” and an acoustic version of “Layla“. The album itself won three Grammy awards at the 35th Annual Grammy Awards in 1993 and became the bestselling live album of all time, and Clapton’s bestselling album, selling 26 million copies worldwide.” Instead, “Before You Accuse Me” is the Clapton selection here.

Are you a fan of these CDs? Do you have any favorite songs/artists presented here? GRADE: ATLANTIC RHYTHM AND BLUES, Volume 5: A; The Unplugged Collection, Volume One: B

TRACK LIST:

	The Drifters–	Up On The Roof	2:33
	La Vern Baker*–	See See Rider	2:32
	Ben E. King–	I (Who Have Nothing)	2:31
	Solomon Burke–	If You Need Me	2:25
	Otis Redding–	These Arms Of Mine	2:30
	Barbara Lewis–	Hello Stranger	2:39
	The Drifters–	On Broadway	2:57
	Doris Troy–	Just One Look	2:28
	Nat Kendrick & The Swans–	(Do The) Mashed Potatoes (Parts 1&2)	2:57
	Chris Kenner–	Land Of 1000 Dances	2:26
	Rufus Thomas–	Walkin’ The Dog	2:30
	Esther Phillips–	Release Me	3:15
	Don Covay–	Mercy Mercy	2:21
	The Drifters–	Under The Boardwalk	2:37
	Esther Phillips–	And I Love Him	2:38
	Joe Tex–	Hold What You’ve Got	3:05
	Otis Redding–	Mr. Pitiful	2:35
	Barbara Lewis–	Baby I’m Yours	2:30
	Willie Tee–	Teasin’ You	2:42
	Otis Redding–	I’ve Been Loving You Too Long	3:09
	Wilson Pickett–	In The Midnight Hour	2:26
	Don Covay–	See-Saw	2:58
	Otis Redding–	Respect	2:05
	Sam & Dave–	You Don’t Know Like I Know	2:37
	Percy Sledge–	When A Man Loves A Woman	2:50
	Sam & Dave–	Hold On, I’m Comin’	2:38
	The Capitols–	Cool Jerk	2:35
	Jimmy Hughes–	Neighbor, Neighbor	2:35

AA

Stevie Ray Vaughan–	Pride And Joy	3:49
	Eric Clapton–	Before You Accuse Me	3:45
	Lenny Kravitz–	Are You Gonna Go My Way	6:25
	Soul Asylum (2)–	Somebody To Shove	3:43
	k.d. lang–	Barefoot	3:54
	Paul Simon–	Graceland	5:11
	Elton John–	Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me	6:48
	Neil Young–	Like A Hurricane	4:44
	Rod Stewart–	Gasoline Alley	3:39
	John Mellencamp*–	Pink Houses	5:21
	Paul McCartney–	We Can Work It Out	2:57
	Elvis Costello & The Rude 5–	Deep Dark Truthful Mirror	4:51
	Don Henley–	Come Rain Or Come Shine	3:46
	Annie Lennox–	Why	4:59
	10,000 Maniacs–	Don’t Talk	5:26
	R.E.M.–	Half A World Away	3:40

Mysteries that involve books. That’s the theme of this anthology. I really liked Anthony Boucher’s “QL 696. C9.” The murder of a librarian baffles the police, but the cryptic clue (and the stories’ title) expose the murderer. Frank Gruber’s “State Fair Murder” featuring a murder of a publisher by a poisoned dart! I also enjoyed Ellery Queen’s “The Adventure of the Three R’s” and Vincent Starrett’s Sherlock Holmes pastiche “The Unique Hamlet.”

But maybe the best story in this book might be Cornell Woolrich’s “The Book That Squealed” with a librarian who goes to the police to report a crime, but is turned away. Plenty of suspense!

If you’re looking for a nice collection of mysteries about books, this is a good one! GRADE: B+

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction by Otto Penzler — 1

Anderson, Frederick Irving, 1877-1947. Jorgenson plates. — 5

Blochman, Lawrence G. (Lawrence Goldtree), 1900-1975. Aldine folio murders. — 31

Blochman, Lawrence G. (Lawrence Goldtree), 1900-1975. Death walks in marble halls. — 62

Boucher, Anthony, 1911-1968. QL 696 .C9. — 136

Cozzens, James Gould, 1903-1978. Foot in it. — 156

De La Torre, Lillian, 1902-1993. Missing Shakespeare manuscript. — 162

Gruber, Frank, 1904-1969. State fair murder. — 193

King, C. Daly, 1895-1963. Episode of the codex’ curse. — 224

Queen, Ellery. Adventure of the three r’s. — 259

Starrett, Vincent, 1886-1974. Unique Hamlet. — 286

Starrett, Vincent, 1886-1974. Volume of Poe. — 310

Wells, Carolyn. Shakespeare title-page mystery. — 346

Woolrich, Cornell, 1903-1968. Book that squealed. — 365

Wren, Lassiter. Stolen Endymion. McKay, Randle. Stolen Endymion. –419

Diane got up early and drove over to our Wegmans grocery store at 6:00 A.M. The line of Buffalo Bills fans was out the door. Diane waited about 20 minutes before she got the opportunity to buy this Fisher-Price Little People Collector set of Buffalo Bills for 2023. This is the third year of this promotion. The first set of Fisher-Price Little People for the Bills sold out literally in minutes. Last year, Fisher-Price increased the number of sets, but they also sold out in a day. This time, the number of sets was increased again and Diane finally scored!

This all-new set includes QB Josh Allen, TE Dawson Knox, LB Von Miller, and a Buffalo Bills super fan wearing the iconic Water Buffalo headgear. 

Fisher-Price, the Western NY toymaker, is charging $25 for the set with $10 of that donated to John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital in Buffalo. These sets are now on eBay selling for $50…or more! What kind of promotions does your favorite NFL team do?

“There are two essential ingredients for an anthem. First is timelessness. An anthem is a song that transcends genres, generations, and eras, to continually reach new fans over the decades.

The second, and more important is universality.” (p. xvii)

I won’t argue with Steve Baltin’s definition of rock “anthems” but I will argue with some of Baltin’s 29 song choices. I have no problem with The Temptations’ “My Girl” or The Beach Boys iconic “God Only Knows.” I enjoyed Grace Slick providing her views on “White Rabbit”:

“[White Rabbit] has a buildup, the same way that sex has a buildup. You start kissing, then you start feeling around. Then you get into bed and take off your clothes and then you poke like crazy and then, oh boy! A climax. That the way “White Rabbit” is. It stars off softly and comes to a climax in the end. So people are geared to like that progression.” (p. 28)

Grace Slick wrote “White Rabbit” and admits she “borrowed” from Ravel’s “Bolero” and Alice in Wonderland to create the song. She’s surprised that “White Rabbit” appears in the movie Platoon, the animated TV series Futurama, The Sopranos, American Dad, Skull Island, The Handmaid’s Tale, and a dozen other series and films.

I also enjoyed Carly Simon sharing the origins of “Anticipation” which she wrote in 20 minutes while waiting for her date to show up. As much as I love Linda Ronstadt, “Skylark” is not the song that I associate with her long career of hits. The same goes with the selection of U2’s “One” which wouldn’t be at the top of my Favorite U2 songs.

Do you remember these anthems? Any favorites? GRADE: B

Table of Contents

Foreword Cameron Crowe ix

Prologue Spencer Proffer xiii

Introduction xvii

1 The Temptations, “My Girl” 1

2 The Beach Boys, “God Only Knows” 11

3 The Doors, “Light My Fire” 19

4 Jefferson Airplane, “White Rabbit” 27

5 Neil Diamond, “Sweet Caroline” 37

6 The 5th Dimension, “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” 47

7 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, “Our House” 55

8 The Jackson 5, “ABC” 61

9 Carly Simon, “Anticipation” 69

10 Don McLean, “American Pie” 79

11 The Spinners, “I’ll Be Around” 87

12 Barry Manilow, “Could It Be Magic” 95

13 KISS, “Rock and Roll All Nite” 103

14 Janis Ian, “At Seventeen” 111

15 Hall & Oates, “Sara Smile” 121

16 Aerosmith, “Walk This Way” 129

17 Bob Marley, “One Love/People Get Ready” 137

18 Earth, Wind & Fire, “September” 143

19 CHIC, “Le Freak” 151

20 TOTO, “Africa” 159

21 Linda Ronstadt, “Skylark” 167

22 Tears for Fears, “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” 173

23 Fleetwood Mac, “Big Love” 181

24 U2, “One” 189

25 Shania Twain, “You’re Still the One” 199

26 Tom Waits, “Take It With Me” 209

27 TLC, “No Scrubs” 217

28 Linkin Park, “In the End” 225

29 My Chemical Romance, “Welcome to the Black Parade” 235

Notes 247

Acknowledgments 249

About the Author 252

After the terrible October Storm of 2006 when we lost power for three days and our basement was flooded because the sump pump had no electricity to work, we found that the water in the basement also killed our two dehumidifiers. We bought two new GE dehumidifiers and they worked well…until now. One of the GM dehumidifiers died last week (the other one still works but I’m guessing its life might be ending soon, too) so I did some research and decided to order the Frigidaire dehumidifier. We have a Frigidaire microwave, oven, and refrigerator. All problem free.

The Frigidaire FFAD3533W1 Dehumidifier is quiet and works well. If the GE dehumidifier dies, I’ll buy another Frigidaire FFAD3533W1 Dehumidifier for that part of the basement. Do you use a dehumidifier? Do you have a favorite? GRADE: too soon to tell, but so far so good

Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez reprise their roles of Charles-Haden Savage, Oliver Putnam and Mabel Mora, respectively, who are True Crime aficionados. They solved a murder in Seasons 1 and 2 ( you can read my reviews here and here) and now face a third murder investigation in Season 3. Martin Short is finally directing a Broadway play after his disaster of Splash blacklisted him from Broadway directing for years. Steve Martin, who played a cop on a TV program for 224 episodes, dreads the 8 shows a week regimen of a Broadway show so a murder comes as a relief. Elena Gomez plays a podcaster who specializes in True Crime solutions. Together, they focus on the wacky clues in this 10-episode series.

Guest stars Meryl Steep as a struggling actress and Paul Rudd as an egotistical leading man freshen up the formula Only Murders In the Building perfected over the years. GRADE: Incomplete, but trending towards a B