I just finished reading All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel by Anthony Doerr. I wasn't sure I was up for another book on WWII, but this one is an entrancing and creative look at individual lives. I read it, thinking of what is going on in so many parts of the world, wondering if it is possible to bring about a change where nations and individuals live balanced in peace.
And then there is One Summer: America 1927 by Bill Bryson. I wasn't sure about this one either, but it was a book club choice and so I went along. I am finding it fascinating and it, too, puts things in perspective. It may seem this country is going nuts, but what's new? What is sobering is the power America had in 1927. We were in charge of making things. We had astonishing wealth, and it's tragic, or perhaps it is the natural ebb and flow to see where we are now. We've let so much slip away, and as we do, we tighten, forgetting that this country was a welcoming and innovative refuge that now seems to tighten more and more in fear.
This is fun, or tragic, depending on how you look at it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz_V4lRdtjo