Crucible of Gold by Naomi Novik

This book has another great story about Temeraire. He and Captain Laurence have been recalled to service in order to help with British difficulties in Brazil. But when the Allegiance sinks, and the remaining crew is rescued (and subsequently taken prisoner by) the French, it takes all of Temeraire's and Laurence's wits to escape and help the British. I loved seeing the South American dragons, and the cultural differences in the ways dragons were treated. I think the dragons--as Novik has imagined them--are really great characters, because they are powerful and smart but deeply different from humans. These differences make for a lot of really fruitful conflict. I can't wait for more of this lovely series.

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

This book chronicles the journey of a research scientist to a small village in the Amazon to investigate the death of a college and the slow progress of the development of a fertility drug. But when the scientist, Marina Singh, arrives in the Amazon she realizes that there are all sorts of secrets and she must confront her own past. I found the plot compelling and I did want to hear more about Marina and the mysterious doctor in charge of the research project, Dr. Swenson, but I found the ending in which everything happened really quickly unsatisfying--mostly because a lot happened really quickly.

Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond

This book uses a broad approach to explain why some human societies are able to conquer others. For Diamond, it all comes back to environment. He contends that some environments are more conducive (both in their climate and in the naturally occurring potential crops and domestic animals) for food-production and farming than others. Human societies in these environments, then, are more likely to become farmers and sedentary than mobile hunter-gathers. Farmers, in turn, develop diseases (from close living with animals), systems of writing (because food can be stockpiled allowing for people to do other things than worry about their next meal all the time), complex systems of government, and metallurgy and other technologies. I applaud this book for its ambition and its style (very easy to read and entertaining). I could see it skipping and over-simplifying in places, though, and I think its broad scope is thus both a strength and a weakness.

Seized: A Sea Captain's Adventures Battling Scoundrels and Pirates While Recovering Stolen Ships in the World's Most Troubled Waters by Max Hardberger

I received this book via Sneak Peek, a branch of Barnes and Noble's First Look program. I have put the rest of my review behind a cut as we're still discussing the book on the Barnes and Noble boards.

A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies by Bartolomé de Las Casas

This book contains Las Casas's plea to the Spanish throne that they investigate and curtail the cruelties practiced by Spanish citizens on the native peoples of the Americas. Organized geographically first, and then chronologically, the book uses several rhetorical strategies to emphasize the mistakes, cruelties, and horrors the Spaniards have committed in the New World. The book at times details individual actions but denies its ability to recount all the horrors--it will either fall silent or say this example is but one of many. There's a point where Las Casas shows some of the natives' willingness to embrace the Christian religion when it isn't accompanied by violence and cruelty. Las Casas seems to attack these bad actions not only because they show the Spaniards to be more interested in gold than God (and thus leave Spain liable to divine retribution), but also because they are inhumane actions. At times, the book seemed a bit repetitive, but this repetition only drove home the horror of the conquest of the New World.

The Unimaginable Mathematics of Borges' Library of Babel by William Goldbloom Bloch

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Professor Bloch uses a delightful tone, and I found his analysis quite relevant to the text at hand. The book is quite well-designed, presenting the story before anything else, and then giving a mathematical analysis of some of the figures in the story. I appreciated the care used to select the mathematical examples; for while some were easier to follow for me than others (I found the analysis of the structure of the library spatially a little difficult), he used the math to make very good points about the implications of the story. While Professor Bloch held back from giving a full reading of the story, I found his analysis quite useful in my own ways of thinking about the truly unimaginable size and nature of the library. This book should not scare off anyone because of its mathematics.

The Lost Steps by Alejo Carpentier

Although I found the narrator of this book frustrating, it was a very challenging and enjoyable read. I loved the references to the Odyssey and to Proust especially. I also thought the implications of a return to primitive roots was very well played out.

Jubiabá by Jorge Amado (trans. Margaret Neves)

This book was very intriguing and left me with a lot of questions. I'm particularly interested in the way genre works--Baldo as a samba writer and as an ABC writer, Gordo as a poet, and our narrator as a participant in the moment and someone looking back. There's a brief spoof of a modernist novel and some attention to epic form, as well. I'm also interested in the ways that religion (Macumba), the eye of mercy, slavery, and class consciousness connect up. If anything, this novel works as a bildungsroman and Baldo's transformation from bandit-hero who wants his own ABC to organizer who wants an ABC for the strike is an important part of that work. There are some gendered absences in the novel, especially for Baldo: Lindinalva and his mother are both conspicuously absent and Aunt Luisa departs early. Finally, I'm still trying to figure out why the novel is named for Jubiabá and not Baldo. Very intriguing--an entertaining example of social realism from the 1930s.

The Cosmic Race by José Vasconcelos

I'm having trouble figuring out what to make of this essay. It maintains that the time is coming when the four races of the world will merge into a transcendent fifth race. There are religious overtones by the end. On one hand, the author's utopian dream is nothing to be dismissed, but on the other hand, he seems to want both a merging into equality and a superiority for Latin American peoples. I'll definitely need more time to think through this one.

Night Train to Bolina by Nilo Cruz

This play was intriguing. I was interested by the youth of the protagonists and the magical realism. A short read.

The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder

I found this parable very moving. At times Wilder sounded like García Márquez. This book ultimately rejects the attempt to create a greater pattern out of life and God's will, but instead shows the power of a life well-lived and well-loved.