REALLY SERIOUS OREO BOOK CLUB We met at the home of Ginny Nevitt to review her recommendation, Turn Right at Manchu Picchu. The author, with guides and porters, trekked the Inca trail covered by the discoverer of Manchu Picchu for the European and Western world of Bingham. Some members of the group had been to Manchu Picchu and connected their … [Read more...]

We reviewed the book Justice by M. Sandel who summarized the ethical philosophies of Plato, Socrates, Benthem, Mill, and Kant among others to lend guidance to many of theethical problems of our times—such as organ donation, military conscription, abortion, surrogate parenthood, abortion and end of life decisions. Also, we covered some abstract … [Read more...]

We reviewed the book The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert. The author gives us a litany of mass extinctions in the history of our planet, with the notion that Man is precipitating another one at an increased rate of speed that, eventually, will include all of us. There are many sources of destruction, but the main culprit is the use of fossil … [Read more...]

We reviewed the book One Summer 1927, written by Bill Bryson. Mary Crowl hosted the meeting where we feasted on the new thin Oreos. All agreed that Bryson tells a good story and 1927 was an interesting year in America. The Lindberg flight, Babe Ruth’s record home runs, the Sacco-Vancetti trial, Ponzi schemes, prohibition and crime were all wrapped … [Read more...]

We reviewed the book, Revenge of Geography, written by Robert Kaplan, a reporter who has traveled the world on assignments and has a grasp of the history and culture of each region. His thesis was that geography matters in the development of each region, both in terms of defense of the region and its industrial development. Comments from the … [Read more...]

We reviewed the book Stuff Matters—Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World, by Mark Miodownik. Mr. Miodownik thinks we should know about the innards and outers of variety materials and takes us from the surface of materials to the underlying crystal or atomic structure. It was a facilitating tour and the discussion was led … [Read more...]

We reviewed the book The Boys in the Boat, by Daniel Jones Brown at the home of Norton Schwartz, who provided Oreo cookies on the proviso that he be nominated to lead the discussion. The Boys were the eight-man rowing crew of the University of Washington who, in spite of the hardships of the depression in 1933, were able to learn trust in each … [Read more...]

We reviewed the book Why Jews Rejected Jesus by David Klinghoffer. Rich Schwartz led the discussion and cited the author was writing from an orthodox point of view, which does not represent all Jewish points of view. The author’s thesis was twofold. First, to accept Jesus did not conform to traditional Jewish legal framework and second, Jesus did … [Read more...]