The essays in this book or intelligent, charming, and often cranky. I know Mr. O’Rourke sees himself as a Libertarian, and probably a classical conservative, so I was interested to hear what he has to say on the current administration.

In Schoolhouse Burning: Public Education and the Assault on American Democracy by Derek W. Black, a professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law, provides context for the ongoing debate about public education, vouchers, charter schools, and more.

In a small Swedish town, a bank robbery has taken place. The bank robber is, obviously, not a professional for trying to rob a cashless bank. The robber stumbles into a showing for an apartment, on New Year’s Eve no less, and accidentally turns the incident into a hostage situation.

I have long ago realized that many things are more than they seem, and that politics seem to be encroaching on every aspect of our life.

Apeirogon by Colum McCann is an extraordinary book, it’s different in narrative and structure, yet poignant and able to make its point.

This memoir by Tracy Walder nee Tracy Schandler tells of her time in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which recruited her right out of college. Ms. Schandler worked in counterterrorism after the September 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the insights she gives about the work her and her fellow patriots did at the CIA before and after.

There is lots of good banter, sometimes you can’t tell if the character is saying, thinking, or just gesturing (oh, you) but the author gets the feeling across efficiently and quickly which makes the reading much more pleasurable.

The book covers what it takes to keeping soldiers effective in the field. The author mostly concentrates on science and technology, but touches on policy as well. Actually, she is more amazed by the policy and how it has been implemented, but that’s a small part of the overall narrative.

Ms. Cook has a great narrative through biblical women, most of them do not get a voice or to tell the story through their eyes. The author takes her time to demonstrate the power of repentance that occurs in King David after he commits adultery with Bathsheba.

“The cold he could stand with multiple layers of underwear, and the darkness he would one day do something about.”