Young Rupert: the making of the Murdoch empire, by Walter Marsh

In this uneven account of the evolution of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, journalist Walter Marsh presents meticulous reporting on the tangled fortunes of the Murdoch news business as it grows from its base in Adelaide to encompass all of Australia and beyond. Opening with five chapters recounting the career of Keith Murdoch, Rupert’s father, the book shares little about Rupert’s childhood or education. He barely makes an entrance until 80 pages into the book when the senior Murdoch died, and Rupert returned from Oxford to pick up the reins of the family business. Brash and inexperienced, Murdoch relies on the advice of his longtime friend and then colleague, Rohan Rivett, who guides him over the next eight years. While there is an enormous amount of information about the many transactions Murdoch made (or attempted to make), it does not provide a sense of Murdoch as a man, beyond his insatiable need to grow his operation with each acquisition leading to the next. A disproportionate part of the book is an account of a murder case that resulted in libel charges against The News, Murdoch’s most high-profile paper. VERDICT An authoritative yet scattered history of the early Murdoch media empire.

This review was published previously in Library Journal here.

Death is now my neighbor, by Colin Dexter

 

This is another complex Inspector Morse mystery set in Oxford, England. Similar to his other books, Morse jumps to conclusions about how the murders were committed and by whom, only to abandon each theory when more details are uncovered. This is the 12th in the series, nearing the end, and Morse is feeling his age as he suffers from a series of physical ailments that barely slow him down. Well written as always, the book reveals a more sentimental side of Morse, although he hasn't lost his ability to enchant the ladies.

Nature's best hope: a new approach to conservation that starts in your yard, by Douglas W. Tallamy

 

University of Delaware professor of entomology and wildlife sciences presents a convincing case for why everyone should create a haven for wildlife in their backyard. While not a how-to guide, Nature's best hope will give readers a good idea on how to get started making changes in their own properties that will improve the ecosystem by attracting more insects such as bees and butterflies, which will in turn attract more birds and other wildlife. Simple steps such as shrinking your lawn; planting more native plants, bushes, and trees; not raking all the leaves up; and allowing some dead plants to remain in the yard until spring will support the insect population that birds rely on to survive the winter. Examples in the book are more likely to reflect the northeastern U.S. geographically, but the concepts would apply everywhere and there's enough in this book to help anyone get started implementing them.

Self-portrait in black and white: unlearning race, by Thomas Chatterton Williams

 

This book opens with the author describing the drive to the hospital in France where his white French wife gave birth to their first child, a daughter with blond hair. Thomas Chatterton Williams is himself the child of an interracial couple; his mother is white and his father is Black. With a fairly light complexion, Williams is often mistaken in France as being of Arab descent, but has strongly held on to his identity of a Black man for his whole life. Giving birth to what appear to be white children and his experiences living in France have changed his perceptions about the meaning or even validity of the concept of race. This book is a thoughtful exploration of both his experiences and the development of his new mindset that race is a false construction and that only if we leave it behind will we be able to move beyond and transcend the racism that permeates our reality.

The daughters of Cain, by Colin Dexter

 

In the 11th Inspector Morse mystery, an Oxford don has been stabbed to death and Inspector Morse has been brought in to work on the case after the original detective had to step away for personal reasons. As usual, Morse quickly identifies his favorite culprit, but when that person also turns up dead, Morse has to unravel the complicated chain of events and find the killer's own killers. Morse is beginning to think about retirement and struggling with health issues that hamper his physical abilities but not his mental acuity.

Fresh water for flowers, by Valerie Perrin

 

I enjoyed this novel about a woman (Violette) who was orphaned as a child and lived with a series of foster parents. At 17, she's working as a bartender and meets a man 10 years older with whom she falls in love. Philippe invites her to move in with him and in a short period of time she's pregnant. Philippe's parents don't approve, but they marry and take work as level-crossing keepers in a small town. The story is told in a non-chronological fashion, with the older Violette living alone as a caretaker in a cemetery. Her life is rich with friends, pets, and her garden, but it's a solitary existence that is interrupted when Julien Seul shows up to arrange to leave his mother's remains in the cemetery. As their friendship develops, she looks back into the past and we learn of everything that transpired to bring her to this point. There's love, loss, tragedy, betrayal, and much more, including a mystery that is only revealed at the end. It's a long book, and it could have been improved by leaving out a second narrative about Julien's mother and her lover Gabriel. This story doesn't add anything and only serves to stretch the book out to an excessive length. I feel like the translation was a little awkward as well, with many choices of words and phrases that don't ring true. Otherwise, it's a satisfying story.

Rental person who does nothing: a memoir, by Shoji Morimoto

 

When author Shoji Morimoto decided to change careers, he struggled to find the perfect fit. After leaving an unsatisfying career in a company where he didn’t feel comfortable and his boss derided both his efforts and his personality, he tried freelance writing and blogging, but he became bored and lost interest. Inspired by a blog post by Japanese therapist Jinnosuke Kukoroya arguing that people have value even if they do nothing, he developed a service in which he fulfills requests from strangers to just “be there” for them when they need it. Asking only for transport and meal costs (if applicable), Morimoto performs any number of acts as long as he doesn’t have to actually do anything or provide more than a simple response. Examples of tasks he has taken on include sitting and watching while someone works, attending events, seeing someone off at the airport and waving goodbye, and sitting in the park and having a drink. He shares his experiences by tweeting to his many followers. In this memoir, Morimoto writes about his experiences and speculates about what they mean to the people who request help from him. This is a fascinating and oddly endearing memoir.

A version of this review has been previously published by Library Journal here. 

Lessons in chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus

 

I really enjoyed this novel about a 1950s woman chemist who struggled against misogyny and bigotry in her education and career. She is a feminist well ahead of her time, and when she meets her soul mate she refuses to get married. I don't want to give anything away, but she ends up as a single mom who takes an alternative but highly successful career as a television chef who teaches cooking through the science of chemistry. This book has a lot of wit and charm, with a precocious child and a highly intelligent dog.

Some people need killing: a memoir of murder in my country, by Patricia Evangelista

 

Reporter and filmmaker Patricia Evangelista provides an upfront view of the war on drugs brought by former Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte during his time in office as President as well as Mayor of Davao City in the decades prior to his presidency. Duterte was known for his volatile behavior and inflammatory rhetoric long before his election as President in 2016. His promises to kill drug dealers and addicts were not taken literally during his campaign, but extrajudicial killings of people involved with illegal drugs began on the first day of his presidency. Through her in-depth reporting, Evangelista shows us how Duterte’s orders to kill thousands of drug dealers and addicts were carried out by both police and vigilante groups. Evangelista worked the overnight shift, risking her own safety, going from the site of one killing to another to document the deaths and photograph the bodies. She explores the impact of the killings on the families left behind revealing the tragedy of so many unnecessary deaths. While Duterte denies knowledge of the extrajudicial killings, Evangelista’s deeply researched reporting and use of Duterte’s own statements show that he supported and encouraged them. This is an important record of the Filipino war on drugs. 

A version of this review was previously published in Library Journal here.