Read any good books lately?
We're sure you or your spouse have come across some books that were really worth the read, and we're thinking other Prep '58 guys and family members might like them too. Cos suggested that we set some space aside to share info on these books, and ask the gang for a brief review of the books they recommend.
The response has been excellent, and we decided to provide a separate page for the recommendations, and keep them all on line as a Prep '58 Reading List. If you have a book that you think the gang would like, send in a review and we will feature it in the Blog, and make it part of the Reading List on this page.
This section of the Library holds reviews from 2020 thru 2022
November 2022 - Bob Filoramo sent in this review...
Pax vobiscum!
I just finished reading THE GREAT REFORMER, "Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope" by Austen Ivereigh, published by Picador Press.
This is an extremely well researched biography of Jose Mario Bergoglio, aka Pope Francis, from his childhood in Argentina, his entry into the Jesuits, his rise to Provincial of the Argentine Jesuits, to Cardinal, to a close second in the voting that led to the election of Pope Benedict xvi.
He is a fascinating human being and now a controversial Pope shaking things up in Rome. This is a very readable book. The author's style is clear, direct, factual, no editorializing. 396 pages.
Peace,
Bob
June 2022 - Bob Filoramo sent in this review...
John Cleese's biography. Remember Monty Python? Cleese was a central goofball.
Like many of us in the class of '58, John Cleese was born in 1940 and like us, attended St. Peter's Preparatory School, though not in Jersey City, rather his Prep was in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England.
An only child, he had a great relationship with his father, an inveterate prankster and a deeply strained relationship with his mother, which led to a lifetime of awkward or strained relationships with women and at least four marriages., Cleese is best known for his creations of Monty Python and Fawlty Towers, but he spent a lifetime writing comedy for TV and movies, usually with Graham Chapman.
Cleese loved writing, often working non-stop when the creative juices were freely flowing. The book gives an honest picture of one who became an international celebrity while struggling with life's fundamental relationships, some of which he never resolved.
Peace, Bob
May 2022 - Bob Filoramo sends in comments about 3 books...
Lightning Joe - An Autobiography of General Joseph Lawton Collins
Just finished Lightning Joe - Autobiography of 4 Star General Joseph Lawton Collins who helped lead the Normandy invasion in WW2. Very detailed battle planning and execution. LIghtning Joe was Eileen, grandfather. Also Chief of Staff of the Army at one time.
I also read A Night to Remember about the sinking of the Titanic. The book is about passengers' experience. Lots of dramatic stories.
Currently reading John Cleese's biography. Remember Monty Python? Cleese was a central goofball. Peace, Bob
Mar 2022 - Jack Gavin sends in this review...
The Anomoly by Herve Le Tellier
An airplane on a routine international flight encounters very bad weather and communicates that to air control. After a while the plane emerges from the bad weather into calm, blue skies and radios that to air control which questions the captain intensely about his and the plane's identity.
It turns out this plane and all its passengers had arrived at its destination three months ago. Thus begins (sort of) a great book by a French author. But it's not really a science fiction book; it's about people, relationships, prejudice, love and much more. It's also a great suspense novel. One of the best I've read.
Jack Gavin
Jan 2022 - Jim Heaney sends in this review...
A Crack in Creation - Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution" by Jennifer Doudna & Samuel A. Sternberg".
I found the book in our local library and read it a few years ago. Jennifer Doudna went on to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2020.
If you Search for her on YouTube, you can find a 10 minute Ted talk that she gives on the subject discussed in the book. I found the Ted talk to be interesting and informative. She was raised in Hawaii and was a typical teenage surfer chick who goes on to make an astounding discovery about gene manipulation and eventually the Nobel Prize.
I have had the good fortune to work with a NASA scientist who was raised on a dairy farm in Sussex, NJ and went on to win the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2006. The Lord works in mysterious ways.
Jim Heaney
Nov 2021 - Bob Filoramo sent in 2 reviews...
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
"An innocents abroad" picture/satire of American life and its foolishness. As an English teacher, I always considered it the great American novel."
Bleachers, by John Grisham
"A group of former highschool football players return to the field after 15 years towait out their dying coach's last day and tell "war stories"about their beloved/hated, madman of a coach and town pressureto never lose a game. Lots of chop busting. A man's book."
Sept 2021 - Dick McConville
"How To Avoid A Climate Disaster" by Bill Gates.
In an attempt to add my own thoughts about the book beyond the publishers' comments, the things which stood out to me are the different areas that need to be addressed in order to reduce carbon emissions by 51 billions tons per year in order to get to net-zero.
CO-2 from burning fossil fuels for transportation is only one of them. Going to all electric or hydrogen powered vehicles shifts the problem to producing electricity — hence the imperative to maximally utilize renewable energy such as wind and solar which then drive the need for gigantic storage capacity. Here Gates reintroduces the role that nuclear power plants could play.
Another huge source of CO-2 is the making of cement, aluminum, and steel we use in all our buildings and equipment. A third huge area is producing our food supply: both meat and vegetarian.
He spends a lot of time talking about the roles that government, industry and the consumers need to fulfill in order to fund the research and provide viable paths for industries to invest and develop the new net-zero products and consumers willingness to become first adapters to show a path to profitability for the investors.
In this urgent authoritative book, Bill Gates sets out a wide-ranging, practical and accessible — plan for how the world can get to zero greenhouse gas emissions in time to avoid a climate catastrophe.
Bill Gates has spent a decade investigating the causes and effects of climate change. With the help of experts in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, political science, and finance, he has focused on what must be done in order to stop the planet’s slide to certain environmental disaster. In this book, he not only explains why we need to work toward net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases, but also details what we need to do to achieve this profoundly important goal.
He gives us a clear-eyed description of the challenges we face. Drawing on his understanding pf innovation and what it takes to get new ideas into the market, he describes the areas in which technology is already helping to reduce emissions, where and how the current technology can be made to function more effectively, where breakthrough technologies are needed, and who is working on these essential innovations. Finally, he lays out a concrete, practical plan for achieving the goal of zero emissions—suggesting not only policies that governments should adopt, but what individuals can do to keep our government, our employers, and ourselves accountable in this crucial enterprise.
As Bill Gates makes clear, achieving zero emissions will not be simple or easy to do, but if we follow the plan he sets out here, it is a goal firmly within our reach.
Bill Gates is a technologist, business leader, and philanthropist. In 1975, he cofounded Microsoft with his childhood friend Paul Allen; today he and his wife Melinda, are co-chairs of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He also launched Breakthrough Energy, an effort to commercialize clean energy and other climate-related technologies. He and Melinda have three children and live in Medina, Washington.
Oct. 2020 - Bob Filoramo...
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, considered by many the greatest novel ever written. Insight into life in 19th century Russia. A study of intense family relationships and even more intense searching for truth and meaning. Lots of Vodka.
Oct. 2020 - Bob Filoramo...
Last Man Down - A Firefighter's Story of Survival and Escape from the World Trade Center by FDNY Deputy Chief Richard Picciotto
This is a powerful, true story of survival and heroism. I had bought a set for my h.s. seniors to read 5 years ago. I could not use it with them because of the very frequent use of the F word. It was a Catholic school
Oct. 2020 - Bob Filoramo...
"The Day Is Now Far Spent" by Robert Cardinal Sarah
Sarah is African and rose through trials and mayhem from age 11 in minor seminary to Cardinal. The book is a penetrating assessment of the current state of the Catholic Church. He does not pussy-foot around. Well worth reading, regardless of where one stands in relation to the Church.
Oct. 2020 - Bob Filoramo...
An Embassy Besieged" by Emmy Barth
An Embassy Besieged is about the Anabaptist community, The Bruderhof, under the leadership of Eberhard Arnold .The Nazis used relentless pressure to force this small group of radically committed Christians to either abandon their beliefs and embrace the new regime or face death, concentration camps , or exile. Arnold did all he could to resist. No chance.
Oct. 2020 - Bob Filoramo...
The Lion of Munster" by Fr. Daniel Utrecht
The Lion of Munster is about the determined resistance of Archbishop and later Cardinal Clemens Von Galen to the step by step Nazi plan to remove anything smacking of Christianity and especially Catholicism from Germany.
Catholicism in Germany was historically very strong, so Von Galen had a lot more clout than Arnold. Von Galen gave a series of homilies thoroughly denouncing the Nazi regime, had them copied and widely distributed, even in England.
He hit the top of the Nazis list of opponents to be assassinated, especially by hanging. Hitler decided to wait until they had won the war and then really take care of him, saying, "revenge is sweetest served cold". Von Galen has recently been beatified. Most of the other German bishops adopted a policy of diplomacy and appeasement. Von Galen would have none of that. At six feet six, he was an impressive figure, a hero to the Germans who had remained faithful to their Faith, a man's man, a warrior for the Truth
Oct. 2020 - Bernie Whalen
Where the Crawdads Sing" by Delia Owens - GP Putnam's Sons.
This novel has been a # 1 New York Times Bestseller for more than a year. It centers around a young girl that has been abandoned in the marshlands of North Carolina. While living in solitude we learn much about ecology and relationships through her eyes as she comes of age.
Most of the town's people believe that this Marsh Girl is the primary murder suspect of a local hot shot. The story moves along at a fast pace with some twists and turns that should keep your attention.
Jun, 2020 - Fred Baran offers information on 2 books...
Spy Schools: How the CIA, FBI, and Foreign Intelligence Secretly Exploit America's Universities "Spy Schools" - Daniel Golden - Henry Holt Publishers - Copyright 2017
This book has a chapter devoted to Marietta College Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Daniel Goldman.
It exposes how academia has become a major target of foreign and domestic espionage- and why that is troubling news for our nation's security and democratic values.
My Fathers' Houses" (Memoir of A Family ) by Steven V. Roberts (husband of the late Cokie Roberts) - Harper Collins Publishers - Copyright 2005.
This book is primarily about Roberts telling the story of his grandparents, his parents and his own life, vividly bringing a period, a place and a remarkable family into focus
The period was the forties and fifties when the children of immigrants were striving to become American in a booming postwar world. The place was one block in Bayonne ,N.J. and the house that Robert's grandfather built with his own hands. It makes many references to Jersey City and people that I knew from sports, grade school and many other connections in Town.
One of my 1st cousins graduated from Bayonne HS with Roberts and is mentioned in the book. I am sure that other Bayonne members of the Class of '58 will recognize many of the people and places described in the book. Most importantly it takes place during the time we and our classmates are experiencing a similar awakening and interest in our ancestry, customs and dreams. Steve Roberts was Jewish and Cokie was Catholic from a prominent, political Louisiana family. They both went on to become well known journalists and TV personalities.