Reviews and Comments

With 10,000 combatants and civilians dead, the Battle of Hue was the bloodiest battle of the Vietnam War, and both sides claimed victory. This comprehensive book tells the story of this battle for each side in a detailed and readable approach. Maps and photos lead each section, and a comprehensive index is available online.

This battle was described as the turning point of the war, and the outcome of this offensive likely led to Johnson's decision not to seek reelection, along with the removal of General Westmoreland. The latter provided consistent false reports about this battle, sending small groups in to "clean up pockets", when in fact the forces of the north held the city in strength. It is also likely that less lives would have been lost, and extremely possible that less negative reaction would have followed stateside.

In a reaction vote, 1968 saw the election of Richard Nixon, who stated he had a secret plan for winning the war. I must compare to a similar recent reaction vote and secret plans, as history repeats itself - to my great disappointment.

[a:Mark Bowden|3098|Mark Bowden|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1493848145p2/3098.jpg] is also the author of [b:Black Hawk Down|55403|Black Hawk Down|Mark Bowden|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1442149156s/55403.jpg|1041952], which received much acclaim. I find I must now add it to my reading list for the near future. Hue 1968 was really an excellent read, and I highly recommend it to students of recent history.

Very good book which delves into modern physics, both quantum entanglement and locality. To do that, the author starts with an accessible history of these (and related) concepts. When he comes back to the present focus, the going gets tougher... and stranger.

Partly that's because we don't have the answers. One major point is that science is about debate, with the most progress made by discussion between champions of ideas. In this book, the author mentions some of those champions and the ebb and flow of their cases - and that can require a deeper understanding of physics than I possess.

The author does attempt to put these ideas in easier terms, and frequently returns to earlier metaphors with new wrinkles. In the earlier part of the book, this works very well. For an excellent explanation of Einstein's "Spooky Action at a Distance", this can't be beat. Another major plus is the excellent bibliography.

In conclusion, there's no consensus yet. I plan to read more about gravitational waves before returning to reread this book, and possibly expand my review. Until then, a solid 4 stars.

This book has two halves, and unfortunately they end up with different ratings. The first half works okay, introducing the situation and the characters and the overall breakdown. The second half is a weak road trip that finally leaves the reader hanging.

Both halves use flashbacks to tell the story, and both have interesting characters. Like the main character, few of these reach resolution. Reading the first half, I was reminded of [b:The Girl with All the Gifts|17235026|The Girl with All the Gifts|M.R. Carey|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1403033579s/17235026.jpg|23753235]. Late in the second half, the groundwork is laid for a "where are they now" moment - the main character sees a TV news report - but even that is abandoned without resolution.

In summary, too many mysteries are introduced and far two few are concluded. The first half is in the 2-3 star range, but the second half falls way short of even that. I read nearly all of this on a four hour plane flight, which perhaps saved me throwing it across the room on completion.

This short time travel novel hits all the points and paradoxes - altering the past, witnessing historic events, making money with future knowledge, and encountering yourself. Described as the ultimate time travel novel, this seems more of an exploration - the very self-focused main character lacks a conflict, and the story suffers for it.

In the opening paragraphs, the main character is cautioned to keep a journal, and this novel is told through a series of (undated) journal entries. This stream-of-consciousness approach works for this story, and the points where it is hard to follow are intentional. It also manages to pack in most of the time travel tropes in a fairly short space, and can easily be read in a few hours.

Heinlein's All You Zombies is shorter and has at least a mystery. This novel hints at that mystery but never completes the circle, and for me is the worse for it. Overall rating 3 stars, but a future self seems to have edited this to be 4, and I can't really argue with him, because I like him so much.

Written in late 2003, this book details much of what happened around one game in late August of that year between the Red Sox and Yankees. Many big personalities from both teams are involved, along with a few outsiders (e.g. Spike Lee and Bob Adair). While enjoyable to read, it is not without flaws.

The first half introduces many of those personalities and covers what they do between the previous night game (a Sox win) and this one. The second half of the book is an inning-by-inning breakdown of the game, which is an interesting read. The book ends with a postscript saying that these Red Sox seem to be ready to shake up baseball, and predicts a world series in in the near future. As this book was released in August of 2004, it was a very near future indeed.

While Fenway provides the backdrop, little is said about the old park. Some of the personalities fill no more than a walk-on role, author [a:Robert K. Adair|406137|Robert K. Adair|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] unfortunately among them. The book is extensively researched, and most likely very accurate. The slight lean of the book indicates the author is likely a Yankee fan, or at least from New York.

Other books covering just a single game include [b:Pitch by Pitch: My View of One Unforgettable Game|23848135|Pitch by Pitch My View of One Unforgettable Game|Bob Gibson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1426664359s/23848135.jpg|43458114] by pitcher Bob Gibson; [b:Nobody's Perfect: Two Men, One Call, and a Game for Baseball History|10277577|Nobody's Perfect Two Men, One Call, and a Game for Baseball History|Armando Galarraga|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328824053s/10277577.jpg|15178185] by umpire Jim Joyce and pitcher Armando Galarraga, and [b:Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption, and Baseball's Longest Game|10410420|Bottom of the 33rd Hope, Redemption, and Baseball's Longest Game|Dan Barry|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348201660s/10410420.jpg|15314551]. I would include this and recommend them all to any baseball fan.

Telomeres are one of the more fascinating things from research into DNA - repetitive sequences of base pairs at the end of each chromosome, because each time they are copies, chromosomes are shortened. This book, written by one of the original scientists involved, unfortunately focuses more on self help than science.

Telomeres start out long in children and get shorter as we age. As they get shorter, we are also more susceptible to disease - our protecting cells work less efficiently as they age. Blackburn was a co-discoverer of telomerase, an enzyme that can replenish telomeres to some extent. Rather than going deeper into the mechanisms of this, or why we can't just go around mainlining telomerase, the authors instead survey a broad range of activities and look at how they affect your telomeres.

So instead of science, this book preaches the benefits of exercise, fruits & vegetables, and mindfulness meditation, while also emphasizing the evils of stress, smoking, sugar, and processed meats. This in itself isn't bad, but the science is shaky. "Three studies showed..." out of how many performed? "We saw improvements..." details? I stopped and skimmed the rest of the book at this point.

Turns out Dr. Blackburn co-founded the company Telomere Health, which offers telomere length testing to the public. Perhaps a portion of this book was driven by that work - she has since severed ties with that company.

In summary, if you would like to read another self-help book, go for it. If you are looking for science on telomeres, this book contains only a fragment. I plan to check out a few TED talks by this author and hopefully track down a more science based work in the future.