I like to share my playlist updates both to keep a record for myself and to let anyone interested be exposed to a wide range of music. This new set includes some classical pieces, a Norwegian Children’s song, and some vintage early jazz stuff. I replaced one version of Tico Tico with a better version.

Here the list of adds:

I also removed some songs from my current playlists, although I did not delete them. In some cases I left them in one playlist but not others. Songs often disappear from my playlists but reappear after some months or years. Here’s that list (some names shortened):

Barbara Ann
Between the Devil
Carle Boogie
Head Rag Hop
I feel Good
I’m Walkin
Moonlight Boogie
Mr Freddy Blues
My old man
Pierre’s Blues
Powderhouse Rag
Pratt City Blues
Rag Mama
Ragtime without shot
Red Wing
Rock That Boogie
Sammy Price
Shirt Tail Stomp
St. Louis Boogie
Street Corner Rag
The Ma Grinder
Tico Tico
Tim Sparks Mississippi Blues/Carolina
Travelin Shoes
Vitality Rag
Walk Don’t Run
Warm Baby
When I go Walkin
Wipeout
Yes Sir That’s My Baby

A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck by Sophie Elmhirst
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The author deftly tells the true story of a British couple who sold off their earthly possessions to buy a yacht and sail to New Zealand to start a new life. Before reaching their destination a whale surfaces under their boat, sinking it. They grab what they can and move to a life raft and dinghy to await rescue. But they have no radio or other way to contact anyone. Their flares are all duds. This tale is page-turning fun to read and rates five stars, but ultimately makes for a rather short book. The author, perhaps encouraged by her editor, chooses to carry the story on past that event. Inevitably the rest is anticlimactic and drags my rating down. Still, I enjoyed the book and was amazed at the courage and resourcefulness the couple displayed.

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Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon by Michael Lewis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Michael Lewis does his usual journeyman job of writing about a timely, complex subject in a very accessible style. This book is about Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the founder of FTX the crypto exchange and now a convicted felon doing 25 years in federal prison. The book focuses almost entirely on SBF’s childhood and college education for the first half, then discusses the world of cryptocurrencies, trading, and the players in that universe. The actual collapse of FTX and the criminal convictions are a small fraction of the story handled only briefly at the end. Much of it remains a mystery. While it’s an interesting story, Lewis has made the mistake of publishing too soon. He doesn’t even mention SBF’s conviction, only those of the people who pled guilty immediately. He doesn’t explain what led to the collapse except in the most general terms; it appears from the book that as of the writing more money is being found and more malfeasance or idiocy uncovered almost daily. He makes no mention, or even speculation, of the lasting effect the FTX case may have on cryptocurrency in general. If he’d waited until Donald Trump went in whole hog on the idea, we’d have a more interesting and balanced book.

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Homecoming by Kate Morton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This murder mystery is more of an exploration of women, motherhood, family, and the role women were expected to play in the 1950’s in Australia than a crime novel. It’s written by a woman and all the main characters are women, which is unusual for a murder mystery, but as I said, it’s mainly about women and family. The murder (or perhaps an accidental poisoning) takes place at a family picnic in Australia. The mother and three of her children die, but there was an infant in a wicker basket who disappeared. Fast forward to modern day and Jess, a successful writer who was raised by her grandmother Nora, is called to attend to Nora who had suffered a fall. Nora is incoherent but babbles something about a baby. Jess eventually finds out Nora was present at the scene of the family death as her brother owned the estate. Nora also gave birth that same day, we learn. The truth is complicated, convoluted perhaps is a better word, but it all comes out in the end.

The story kept me interested for several days as it is a long book (835 pages LT edition), but it was a struggle to get to where the plot really takes off (page 577). The author pads it, especially the first half, way too much with backstory, much of which is implausible or fanciful, but it’s manageable until it gets interesting. As an American I had almost no concept of Australian geography, but that’s what Google maps is for. Still, much of the logistics and differing terrain were lost on me. The author was too clever by half at the end with red herrings and switcheroos but found a satisfying resolution. The author seems to think that almost every man deserts his wife and children, either literally or by marrying his work. At least that’s the impression the book gives. Perhaps I’m just the rare exception (still with my wife of 45 years). Four stars is a stretch, but I’ll make that stretch.

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Polostan by Neal Stephenson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I’d read a couple of Stephenson’s books before this one, so I had an idea of his style: epic scope, jumping around to widely different places, non-linear time. That combination can be tiresome if you don’t have the patience for it, but here it works okay to a point. The protagonist is Aurora (name while in Russia)/Dawn (while in the U.S.), a tall, striking American Communist woman living in the time of the Chicago World’s Fair (1933) and Joseph Stalin. She experiences a wide variety of fantastical and improbable situations – learning to train polo ponies in Montana – learning to use a Tommy gun (and then using it) – forms of torture at the hands of both Americans and Russians, taking in the fair as a walking billboard, and many more. The plot doesn’t really come together until the very end and gives the impression the author just kept writing a series of anecdotes or short stories until he figured a way to unite them. There is a lot of originality in the style and considerable research, especially as to the Chicago Fair. I had trouble keeping characters, settings, and places straight. The plot is too scattered and implausible to give it a high rating, but it was entertaining enough when viewed as a collection of unrelated stories. I was not aware until writing this this review that it was the first in a series. It didn’t catch my interest enough to make me want to read the next one.

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