American Midnight - Adam Hochschild

 Sub-title: The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy’s Forgotten Crisis

This book was recommended to me by a friend and journalist as a perspective on American history - our past attitudes and actions in the 1917-1920 timeframe, when America entered WWI.  It meticulously documents the anti-German fervor of the time, the prosecution of anti-government and socialist party members, the continuing racial and mysognistic culture - things we are experiencing again today - the parallels are stark.

On one hand, it provides a perspective on today's political and social attitudes that shows how easily the U.S. embraces absurd beliefs and those promoting them.  I couldn't finish it though because of the exhaustive documentation of minutiae and the depressing persistence of evildoers. 

Published: 2023  Read (partially): April 2025  Genre: History

Joyspan - Kerry Burnhart

 Sub-title: The art and science of thriving in life's second half

I heard about this book on a video and it appealed to me because the author is a gerontologist, a area of study for me for years.  She suggests are four part focus in the second half of life - Grow, Connect, Adapt and Give.  The book is structured to introduce these concepts, provide examples of individuals applying them, giving instructions and quizzes to adopt them yourself.  She contrasts joyspan with lifespan, longevity, and healthspan and argues for deliberately seeking joy.

While I liked the idea of seeking joy I found the book repetitive and simplified in its writing and examples, a kind of overkill of her points.  

Quotes:

Life expectancy vs. Lifespan definition - "predicted average number of years a person will live vs total number of years a person lives."

[In example of how "genes are not destiny"] Identical twins die at different times - on average, ten years apart."

"Social connection played a more significant role in predicting lifespan than socioeconomic status, wealth, or professional success. Those with strong social bonds and joyful relationships also exhibited lower levels of stress hormones..."

Published: 2025  Read: April 2026   Genre: Self-help

Robinhood Math -Noah Giansiracusa

Sub-title: Take Control of the Algorithms That Run Your Life

Once again, I think this was recommended from a YouTube video I watched.  The author is a mathematician who is able to explain statistical analysis clearly.  He introduces basic concepts about how numbers are used to interpret the world and builds on them to explain the many ways they are used and abused when presenting information.  His intent is to provide understanding of the use of math in our complex world and how we can take control over it.

Some terminology / concepts he covers:

- average error rate

- expected value

- covariance

- logarithm

- algorithms

- engagement probabilities

Quotes:

"In the end 2 main factors separate professional gamblers from amateurs: 1) the ability to methodically stick to a plan for a long time, resisting temptation and impulsivity and 2) a gambling strategy that edges the odds enough to achieve a positive expected value."

"To insulate yourself from the risk posed by AI and automation, you want to diversify your skill set. That doesn't mean just learning more skills. It means learning more skills that are as different from each other as possible--skills with minimal covariance between them, so to speak."

"The Kelly strategy [even money bets] provides the optimal betting strategy in the sense that it maximizes the expected value of the logarithm of the winnings"

"if you don't want [a type of content] online, then don't engage [like, comment, share] with it. You too can shape your social media experience in whatever way you want."

Published: 2025  Read: March 2026 Genre: Non-fiction

The Sovereignty of Good - Iris Murdoch

 

I can't remember where I got the recommendation for this slim book.  It took me several months to read. It's dense, convoluted writing and I don't know that I grasped all her points.  What I took away is that the philosophies of life of other philosophers and schools of thought were being criticized in favor of her viewpoint on goodness.   In the 70s, existentialism was advanced, the focus was on making the right moral choices when a decision was required.  Her argument is that we need to get out of ourselves and see reality aside from our own egotistical view to be Good and to then act accordingly.  

Quotes:

"We are men and we are moral agents before we are scientists and the place of science in human life must be discussed in words.  This is why it is and always will be more important to know about Shakespeare than to know about any scientist and if there is a 'Shakespeare of science' it is Aristotle."

"...the idea of the Good as the source of light which reveals to us all things as they really are."

Published: 1971  Read: March 2026  Genre: Philosophy