What I Just Read

Readable but poorly-unified story about Jedediah Smith and the other famous "mountain men" of the 1820s and 1830s, during the battle for control of the American West between the English, American and Mexican governments. Jed Smith turns out to be just a partial player in this book, he's one of several Paul Bunyan-esque figures described here; men who undertook incredible journeys through the bush, suffered incredible privations and dangers, and at the same time, as they led various trading and fur trapping operations, they helped the USA establish eventual control over a huge region that was truly up for grabs. The main criticism most readers will likely have of this book is its lack of a unifying thread. This period of history is complicated, with lots of bit players and a lot of historical background that the authors must explain to readers for the overall story to make sense and move along. Note also that sometimes the authors don't explain this historical backgrou...

An uneven collection of short stories about early 20th century small-town Ohio, originally published in 1919. Some of the stories are forgettable, some strange, some are mournful and genuinely beautiful. There's no "happily ever after" here, hardly any happiness at all in fact. Instead, there's confusion, suffering and loneliness. People don't know what they want, they lack the ability to express themselves or even understand themselves, they live lonely lives. It's a form of literary realism that I'd never have expected from this period or region. Over the course of the story cycle the reader starts to see the mosaic the author gradually assembles, illustrating what life was like at this time and place. And by the end, you know the town, you know the people. Which brings up a brief thought on what it means to have a voice as a writer. This author has one, even though objectively he isn't a great writer and his writing has obvious technical problems (o...

Readable history of the famous stand of Fox Company, a small US Marines force that held off enormous Chinese forces to hold open a key retreat path away from the Chosin Reservoir. It was one of the Korean War's many crucial turning points. This is a narrowcasted narrative: it discusses mostly one company and what happened to it, leaving out nearly everything else from this very complicated war. The authors give enough context to ground the reader on why and how the conflict reached the Chosin Reservoir, as well as how the Chinese then "entered the chat" with a huge army, overwhelming everything. Beyond this, however, the authors make just a few scant comments concerning broader aspects of the conflict, thus readers new to the Korean War may want to read a separate history of the war to fill in the blanks. It's worth it: the geopolitics behind this conflict are fascinating, and the see-saw conduct of the war itself is really fascinating, as MacArthur took a nearly de...

A limited book recommending investing in commodities and gold while warning of inflation and dollar weakness. Much less insightful and less interesting than it should have been. This book could have (and probably should have) been reduced to a four-page brokerage report, but author Larry McDonald fluffs it out to book length with stories and poorly organized financial history. You can save yourself several hours and simply read Chapter 9, the final chapter. The author also has moments of laziness and unrigorousness. He almost certainly exaggerates the accuracy and profitability of his market calls during the COVID crisis, he calls Nassim Taleb "an avid dead-lifter" (not realizing Taleb quit deadlifting and hasn't done it in years), and he inserts charts into the book that have nothing to do with the ongoing discussion. This last trick is one way to punch up the apparent rigor of your book, and unfortunately it usually works. Admittedly, this book will get you thinking ab...