Book Review – The Book of Horror

The Book of Horror: The Anatomy of Fear in Film by Matt Glasby
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Though the introduction suggests that this is an attempt to draw universal conclusions about horror movies, the rest of the book reflects the author’s personal tastes more than the genre as a whole. It must have taken a lot of work to carefully map out scary moments on a minute-by-minute timeline for each entry, though I admire Matt Glasby’s passion more than his proofreading. Here and there his tastes intersect with mine; for the most part I enjoy a good Asian ghost story. But oh so many of the films on the list dwell exclusively or primarily on serial killers and other forms of crass, misogynist violence. Those entries consistently left me unpersuaded. The result is a catalog of the author’s loves, a reasonably accurate snapshot of the genre in the 2010s, and a showcase for some fun illustrations by Barney Bodoano.

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Book Review – Godzilla: The First 70 Years

Godzilla: The First 70 Years: The Official Illustrated History of the Japanese Productions by Steve Ryfle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Before I started reading, I was worried this might prove to be an empty-headed coffee table book full of pictures and little else. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that it’s actually a reasonably well written history of Godzilla’s film career, at least in Japan. Going movie by movie, the text supplies fascinating behind-the-scenes details ranging from storytelling decisions down to minute details about production techniques. I particularly liked the longitudinal sidebars, such as the in-depth descriptions of how the Godzilla suits differed from movie to movie. Coverage is strongest for the millennium series, though the rest of the book is also thorough. I had a couple of issues with the e-book version on Hoopla, including formatting problems and occasional spots where captions and pictures didn't match. But overall this book is well worth the attention of anyone with an interest in the subject.

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Book Review – The World War I Reader

The World War I Reader by Michael S. Neiberg
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Overall this is a good set of primary and secondary accounts of the title subject. But be aware of the text’s limitations. As most perspectives are subjective and limited in scope, this isn’t the best choice for one’s first ever reading about the war. And several entries work better as artifacts than as education, particularly those where the writing is so terrible that it verges on unreadable. However, if you already have a firm grasp of the bigger picture, these snapshots from many particular angles prove fascinating more often than not.

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Book Review – Everything Is Tuberculosis

Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The author of The Fault in Our Stars turns a nonfiction spotlight on the triumphs and tragedies in the battle against tuberculosis. I admit that before I read this I probably would have guessed that malaria or cancer was the world’s single deadliest health problem, but that’s mostly because I live in a country where this curable illness is easily treated in most cases and deaths are exceptionally rare. After establishing the history and biology of the bacteria, John Green spends the rest of his book explaining the roadblocks (mostly economic) that prevent people in many places in the world from getting the assistance they need. He puts a human face on the problem by focusing on one young victim from Sierra Leone, a case study that shows the perils of poor quality treatment and the promise of improved systems. The book is short but makes its points effectively enough.

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Book Review – Jesusland

Jesusland: Stories from the Upside Down World of Christian Pop Culture by Joelle Kidd
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

From the outside looking in, mass media produced specifically for evangelical Christian consumers looks a lot like a slightly distorted mirror image of its mainstream counterparts: somewhat crappier production values, the total absence of profanity and nudity, the bizarre delusion that Kirk Cameron is talented and smart, and of course the omnipresent evangelical agenda. But as Joelle Kidd ably demonstrates, the view from inside looking out is much darker. Focusing on her church school childhood in the early 2000’s, she explains how music, movies and other media produced by Christian nationalists are designed to unite “true believers,” often at the expense of everyone else. Thinking back on my own often-awkward younger years, I can only imagine how much worse things would have been if, in addition to masking my thoughts and feelings from those around me to avoid bullying, I also had to hide myself from myself in order to avoid spending eternity in Hell. Tempting as it is to regard right wing media as dumb but essentially harmless, Jesusland serves as a well-written reminder of the dire consequences of regarding this stuff as acceptable.

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Book Review – Not Built in a Day

Not Built in a Day: How Slavery Made the Roman Empire by Emma Southon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This must have been an extremely difficult book to write. Emma Southon’s affection for ancient Rome is evident in all her books. But here she undertakes 350 pages of unflinching discussion of the essential underpinning of Roman society: an unspeakably brutal system of slavery. And I do mean “unspeakable.” Despite her tireless scholarship, extensive vocabulary and brilliant wit, the author frequently finds herself at a loss when trying to express her feelings about just how cruel the Romans were to enslaved people. Nonetheless, she does her job as a historian. The result is an excellent account of the various forms of slavery in the republican and imperial eras, described in detail with a constant care for viewing things from the perspective of the enslaved.

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Book Review – The Disappearing Spoon

The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements by Sam Kean
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sam Kean does another good job of making a scientific discipline accessible, this time bringing wit and history to bear on the chemistry and physics of the periodic table. Despite his best efforts, some of the doings of subatomic particles remained elusive. But I was fascinated by the personalities and processes that organized the table and put the elements in their places.

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