Reading Log: October 2024

 The books that I read in the month of October 2024

October 2024 Books: photo by Cliff Hutson

"The Waiting," Michael Connelly

"Football for Dummies," Howie Long, John Czarnecki 

"Women," Charles Bukowski 

"The Backyard Bird Chronicles," Amy Tan

"The Downhill Lie," Carl Hiaasen

Reading Log: September 2023

 The books that I finished reading in September 2023:

September 2023 Books: photo by Cliff Hutson

"Harlem Shuffle," Colson Whitehead

"The History of White People," Nell Irvin Painter

"The Complete Guide to Mysterious Beings," John A. Keel

"Crook Manifesto," Colson Whitehead

"Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law," Mary Roach

Cliff's Notes:

"Shuffle" & "Manifesto"

"Harlem Shuffle" is apparently the first book in The Harlem Trilogy. And, "Crook Manifesto" is the second. They set stories about a furniture store owner against actual events. What is most interesting to me is that they offer an explanation of why an intelligent person may turn to a life of crime.

"Mysterious Beings"

I just have to mention that "The Complete Guide to Mysterious Beings" is well ahead in the running for the worst book that I will read this year. Even believers in mysterious creatures and the paranormal will start to doubt themselves after slogging through the "evidence" presented by this author.

"White People"

Spoiler alert: White people in America did not coalesce as a group until Malcolm X achieved national prominence.

"Fuzz"

An engrossing discussion of ongoing conflicts between humans and the species that happen to get in our way. But, no "laws" are actually broken.

World Lizard Day

World Lizard Day is celebrated on August 14 every year:

Outside My Front Door: photo by Cliff Hutson

This day celebrates the diverse and often misunderstood world of lizards, and raises awareness for conservation efforts for the reptiles.

The name "lizard" doesn't correspond to a single scientific group. Lizards belong to the order Squamata, which they share with snakes. There are several subgroups within Squamata that are commonly called lizards, including geckos, iguanas, worm lizards and Autarchoglossa, according to the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS), a partnership of North American agencies, organizations and taxonomists that provides taxonomic information. All lizards are sometimes grouped under the suborders Lacertilia or Sauria, but ITIS doesn't consider these to be valid scientific groups. 

While I like to think of myself as somewhat of a naturalist, I more into plants than animals and must admit that I have not make the effort to identify any of the lizards that show up in my yard or on my patio - including the little one (see above) that was hanging out on my front screen door. 

Nor do I give them names. And, it seem that a lizard, with a name, which I looked forward to seeing on a weekly basis was not at all real.

 

Nature Notes: Datura

 Toloache

A plant of many names.

Toloache: photo by Cliff Hutson

Datura wrightii

Datura, the name I first learned, is a member of the Nightshade family (Solanaceae) and is not uncommon from Central California to northern Mexico and east across the Southwest to Texas. It is, in fact fairly common in the foothills north of my home. So you may imagine my surprise that two of my field guides: "Introduction to California Chaparral" and "Introduction to the Plant Life of Southern California: Coast to Foothills" fail to mention it.

Perhaps this is due to the plant’s seedy reputation. Easily recognized by its trumpet-shaped flowers , it has been used for hundreds of years for its hallucinogenic properties. However, it is as toxic as it is narcotic and has been responsible for the deaths of some seeking to use it for its traditional religious purposes; or more likely, recreation.

Like many Americans of my generation, I first learned of the properties of Datura, also called Jimsonweed, through reading Carlos Castaneda’s "The Teachings of Don Juan". His purported experiences led many to go out and try it for themselves. Surprisingly, I never did.

I say surprisingly as I have gone through what I called a Euell Gibbons phase and have an abiding interest in ethnobotany, as evidenced by my work at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden. These pursuits have led me to consume more than a few native plants of California. But, I have a healthy respect for for things that might kill me if I do not know what I am doing and figure to give Datura a permanent pass.

The book "California Indians and Their Environment: An Introduction" by Kent G. Lightfoot and Otis Parish has a few interesting entries on what they call Toloache. They describe religious uses, such as gaining the ability to transcend reality, and medicinal purposes. Some groups prepared it in a drink as a painkiller and a treatment for a variety of ailments.

Speaking of names, the "National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers" refers to the plant as Southwestern Thorn Apple. It says that the common name Jimsonweed is a corruption of Jamestown Weed. The story goes that it got the name when many soldiers sent to quell Bacon’s rebellion in 1676 were poisoned by it.

Jimsonweed

Jimsonweed: photo by Cliff Hutson

By the way, the flower is typically white (see above), but  may be some times tinged with violet, as shown in the lead photograph.

Looking Back: The Books of 2021

All the books that I finished reading in 2021:

Still-life with Book & Cat: photo by Cliff Hutson

1. "Your House Will Pay," Steph Cha
2. "Next to Last Stand," Craig Johnson
3. "50 Ways to Cook a Carrot," Peter Hertzmann
4. "Are You There God? It's Me, Margarita," Tim Federle  
5. "What It's Like to Be a Bird," David Allen Sibley 
6. "The Ninth Inning," A.J. Stewart
7. "Deacon King Kong," James McBride
8. "Lords of the Fly," Monte Burke
9. "Shakespeare in a Divided America," James Shapiro
10. "Why We Sleep," Matthew Walker, PhD
11. "The Zombie Survival Guide," Max Brooks
12. "Nick: a Novel," Michael Farris Smith
13. "City on the Edge of Forever," Peter Lunenfeld 
14. "The Day of the Locust," Nathanael West
15. "Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents," Isabel Wilkerson 
16. "Underland: A Deep Time Journey," Robert Macfarlane 
17. "Black, White, and The Grey," Mashama Bailey and John O. Morisano 
18. "An Indigenous People's History of the United States," Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
19. "The Reindeer Chronicles," Judith D. Schwartz 
20. "Dirt: The Erosion of Civilization," David R. Montgomery
21. "Past the Post," A.J. Stewart
22. "Of Mutts and Men," Spencer Quinn
23. "A Cat's Tale: A Journey Through Feline History," Baba the Cat as dictated to Paul Koudounaris 
24. "Project Hail Mary," Andy Weir
25. "Chasing Darkness," Robert Crais
26. "World Travel: an Irreverent Guide," Anthony Bourdain and Laurie Woolever 
27. "Animal, Vegetable, Junk," Mark Bittman
28. "Deliverance," James Dickey
29. "Tender is the Bite," Spencer Quinn
30. "The House Without a Key," Earl Derr Biggers
31. "Chinatown Beat," Henry Chang
32. "Interior Chinatown," Charles Yu
33. "The Chinese Parrot," Earl Derr Biggers
34. "Red Earth, White Lies: Native Americans and the Myth of Science," Vine Deloria, Jr. 
35. "Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of an American Myth," Bryan Burrough, Chris Tomlinson, and Jason Stanford 
36. "Squeeze Me," Carl Hiaasen 
37. "The Age of Wood," Roland Ennos 
38. "How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe," Charles Yu
39. "Clark and Division," Naomi Hirahara 
40. "The Botany of Gin," Chris Thorogood and Simon Hiscock 
41. "This Is Your Mind on Plants," Michael Pollan
42. "Behind That Curtain," Earl Derr Biggers
43. "The Black Camel," Earl Derr Biggers
44. "Sorry Please Thank You," Charles Yu
45. "Charlie Chan Carries On," Earl Derr Biggers
46. "The Keeper of the Keys," Earl Derr Biggers
47. "Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation," Michael Pollan
48. "Diet for a Small Planet: 50th Anniversary Edition," Frances Moore Lappé 
49. "Every Tool's a Hammer," Adam Savage
50. "Weapons of Math Destruction," Cathy O'Neil
51. "It's a Wonderful Woof," Spencer Quinn
52. "On Juneteenth," Annette Gordon-Reed
53. "Sapiens," Yuval Noah Harari  
54. "Where the Deer and the Antelope  Play," Nick Offerman 
55. "Good Clean Fun," Nick Offerman
56. "On Animals," Susan Orlean
57. "The Dark Hours," Michael Connelly 
58. "Coffee Lids," Louise Harpman and Scott Spect  
59. "Seven Brief Lessons on Physics," Carlo Rovelli
60. "The New Yankee Workshop," Norm Abram

There you have it. I completed sixty books the second year of the pandemic. That total is fewer than I read in the previous year, but not too far off my average of 58 from 2015 through 2020 - give or take a book.  However, it puts me well behind David Allen, who I like to measure myself against. However, I will register a protest in that fourteen of his were audio books, listened to while he was in his car. There are those amongst us that do not count that as actually reading. Be that as it may, here is my recap:

The Best:

There were a lot of excellent books in this lineup. Rather than pick just one I am going to divide them into two categories. The best in fiction (in this case hard science fiction) was "Project Hail Mary" by Andy Weir, author of "The Martian." As one of the main character's bosses says; in “When the alternative is death to your entire species, things are very easy. No moral dilemmas, no weighing what’s best for whom. Just a single-minded focus on getting this project working.” Advice that would be well heeded in our times. And, the problem solving that unfolds is a delight to follow.

The best in nonfiction is a close call. However, my pick is "Caste" by Isabel Wilkerson. The author examines the social divisions in American society, many of them generally unacknowledged but which have certainly affected my life, using comparisons with India and Nazi Germany. I may not be in 100% accord with her argument, but it is a very well written book.

A close runner up is "On Juneteenth."

The Most Disappointing:

A book I read back in the 1970s had a fairly big impact on my wife and myself. So, I was eager to pick it up again when I saw that a new edition was being released. What a let down!

The book is "Diet for a Small Planet: 50th Anniversary Edition" by Frances Moore Lappé . While it provides a new and "timely introduction plus new and updated plant-centered recipes" the bulk of it contains the same data from the original - which I see as scarcely relevant any longer.  The author and her daughter, who is responsible for the new and revised recipes, should have just released a cookbook. The point of the book is still pertinent, but newer ones are better suited for the present day. 

What Lies Ahead:

Tsundoku: photo by Cliff Hutson

Self-fulfilling prophecy can be a thing, and I would hate to fall into that trap. But, 2020 may see me competing even fewer books. It is the middle of January and I have yet to finish one. Also, my tsundoku has a couple of heavy volumes in it (see above) and others on physics and philosophy which may be heavy going. So, we shall see. 

Fairy Duster

"In the end, we conserve only what we love. 

We will love only what we understand.

We will understand only what we are taught."

- Baba Dioum, Senegalese poet

Calliandra eriophylla

Fairy Duster: photo by Cliff Hutson

During the time that I worked as a naturalist, I liked to have a theme in mind when I led an interpretive walk. I saw this as a means of engaging the audience’s interest, as opposed to just wandering around identifying plants until their eyes glazed over. One of the themes I used was “does the common name of this plant make sense”.  A favorite plant for these discussions was the Fairy Duster, Calliandra eriophylla. It took  little imagination to see that the fluffy pink blossoms do rather resemble feather dusters scaled down to fairy size, assuming we are thinking of Tinker Bell instead of Titania.

The flowers appear between late winter and late spring. They have dense clusters of pale to deep pink stamens and are about two inches wide. I think that they are quite attractive; and, in fact, Calliandra is derived from the Greek kallos, "beautiful," and andra, "stamen”. The leaves are also interesting being twice pinnately compound with each division bearing five to ten pairs of leaflets.

The plant, also known as False Mesquite, is a densely branched shrub, about two feet tall and twice as wide, native to western North America. A member of the Pea Family (Fabaceae), it belongs to a group of primarily tropical plants that include Acacias and Mimosas. However, Fairy Duster grows in sandy washes and on slopes in the arid desert and grasslands of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas; and Mexico.

But, to say it occurs in California may be a bit misleading as it is found only in the Creosote Brush Scrub community and then seemingly limited to Imperial and San Diego Counties. Due to this geographic circumscription , it is included in the California Native Plant Society Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants on list 2.3 (rare, threatened, or endangered in California; common elsewhere). In the interest of full disclosure, I would like to point out that one specimen was collected by Dr. Robert F. Thorne (of RSABG) on April 12, 1964, in Riverside County and that there is also a questionable 1881 accession from Kern County. I, myself, first encountered Fairy Duster while hiking in Riverside County. It was on land that was starting to be developed somewhere outside of Palm Springs, so it may not have been a natural occurrence.

Wherever we find it, I think it offers people an opportunity to ask people to look more carefully at nature and by observing this one flower they might go to focus on other aspects of nature rather than passively walk though it.

One is not going to value something they do not know and love.

Reading Log: January 2021

 The Books I Read in January 2021

January 2021 Books: photo by Cliff Hutson

"Your House Will Pay," Steph Cha

"Next to Last Stand," Craig Johnson

"50 Ways to Cook a Carrot," Peter Hertzmann

"Are You There God? It's Me, Margarita," Tim Federle 

 

"What It's Like to Be a Bird," David Allen Sibley  

Book of the Month

To Be a Bird: photo by Cliff Hutson

"In his latest offering, the renowned avian expert explores birds’ remarkable adaptations and abilities, and how their experiences are far richer and more complex than even he realized."

Life Imitates Art

LA City Hall: photo by Cliff Hutson

Near the the finish of "Your House Will Pay", which was published in 2019, the author depicts a bacon-wrapped hot  dog vendor plying his trade amongst a protest held at Los Angeles City Hall. This was echoed in real life as a street vendor worked around a mob Trump supporters at City Hall on January 6, 2021. "LA Taco" ran a couple of stories on this. 

Looking Back: The Books of 2020

Reading

Book on Table: photo by Cliff Hutson

Reading has long been the first thing that I turn when I have leisure time. And, last year I had a lot more idle hours than I had before as an adult. But, surprisingly, my total of 65 books was the the greatest number I have read in any year since I have been keeping records, it is only eight more than my average for the previous four years.

This might be due to a difficulty to concentrate, to which others have alluded.  This led me to watching more TV and movies (at home) than I usually do. Not to mention the hours that I spent doomsurfing.

But, still I put up a passible record, here is the complete list:

1. “Residue,” Michael McGarrity

2. “The Fallen,” Ace Atkins

3. “The Boat Man,” Dustin Stevens

4. “The Dark Wind,” Tony Hillerman 

5. “Coyote Waits,” Tony Hillerman

6. “Y is for Yesterday,” Sue Grafton

7. “A Thief of Time,” Tony Hillerman

8. “Skeleton Man,” Tony Hillerman

9. “Talking God,” Tony Hillerman

10. “The Good Son,” Dustin Stevens

11. “The Ranger,” Ace Atkins

12. “The Greatest Books You’ll Never Read,” Bernard Richards

13. “The Western Star,” Craig Johnson

14. “Darkest Hour,” Anthony McCarten

15. “Cover Fire,” Dustin Stevens

16. “The Partnership,” Dustin Stevens

17. “The Return of Jeeves,” P. G. Wodehouse

18. “Justice,” Dustin Stevens

19. “The Scorekeeper,”  Dustin Stevens

20. “The Shape Shifter,” Tony Hillerman

21. “The Bear,” Dustin Stevens

22. “Heart of Barkness,” Spencer Quinn

23. “The Harlem Hellfighters,” Max Brooks

24. "The End is Always Near,” Dan Carlin

25. “50 Things to Do with a Penknife,” Matt Collins

26. "Stuff White People Like,” Christian Lander

27. “Sixkill,” Robert B. Parker

28. “Saturn Run,” John Sanford and Ctein

29. “Iced in Paradise,” Naomi Hirahara

30. “Stalking the Angel,” Robert Crais

31. “The End of October,” Lawrence Wright

32. “L.A. Requiem,” Robert Crais

33. “Fair Warning,” Michael Connelly

34. “The Dreamt Land,” Mark Arax 

35. “On Tyranny,” Timothy Snyder

36. “Devolution,” Max Brooks

37. “The Driver,” Dustin Stevens

38. “No Country for Old Men,” Cormac McCarthy

39. “To Have and Have Another,” Philip Greene

40. “The Ultimate Cooking for One Cookbook,” Joanie Zisk

41. “Cooking Through Trader Joe’s Cookbook,” Kelsey Lynch

42. “Alton’ Brown’s Gear For Your Kitchen,” Alton Brown

43. “Annihilation,” Jeff VanderMeer

44. “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre,” B. Traven

45. “Station Eleven,” Emily St. John Mandel

46. “One Bowl Meals Cookbook,” Williams Sonoma

47. “The Lola Quartet,” Emily St. John Mandel

48. “Alton Brown’s Good Eats: The Early Years,” Alton Brown

49. “The Science of Good Cooking,” the Editors of “Cook’s Illustrated

50. "Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food," Paul Greenberg

51. “Good Eats 2: The Middle Years,” Alton Brown

52. “Good Eats 3: The Later Years,” Alton Brown

53. “Matty Matheson,” Matty Matheson 

54. “Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean,” Edward Kritzler

55. “Cooking for One,” America’s Test Kitchen

56. "The Silence," Don DeLillo

57. "The Law of Innocence," Michael Connelly

58. "The Drunken Botanist: the Plants that Create the World's Great Drinks," Amy Stewart

59. "Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man," Emmanuel Acho 

60. "Tequila Mockingbird: Cocktails with a Literary Twist," Tim Federle

61. "Black Sun," Rebecca Roanhorse  

62. "Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America," Ijeoma Oluo

63. "East of East: The Making of Greater El Monte," edited by Romeo Guzman, Carribean Fragoza, Alex Saye Cummings and Ryan Reft

64. "American Tacos: A History and Guide,' José R. Ralat 

65. "Desert Oracle: Volume 1," Ken Layne 

Looking over the list this afternoon, I am  amused as I observe the trend from mysteries at the start of the year to cooking and drinking toward the end of it.

Highlights

I always find it difficult to pick a  ranked "best of list".  But, certainly, “Saturn Run," John Sanford and Ctein was one of my best reads of the year. “Station Eleven,” Emily St. John Mandel would also be a contender. 

Two that rank as most useful, but not necessarily best reads, are “The Ultimate Cooking for One Cookbook,” Joanie Zisk and “Cooking for One,” America’s Test Kitchen. The latter alone can rate just for its tip on how to fry eggs. 

Biggest Disappointment 

There is no doubt at all as to which was the most disappointing of them all - “One Bowl Meals Cookbook,” Williams Sonoma.

One Bowl Meal: photo by Cliff Hutson

The book can be easily summed up: cook almost any meal that you would ordinarily prepare for yourself or your family and serve it a bowl instead of on a plate. Still, I would rate it two out of four stars as it does not require one to go on a spiritual quest for the perfect bowl as so many of the books of this ilk ask you to do.

Looking Ahead

With only one book finished so far in 2021, I seem to be behind the curve. It will be interesting (to me anyway) to see how the year finishes. 

Dodder

California Dodder

One of the sites I referred to when preparing to write about a plant I encountered in my rambles is maintained by the Consortium of California Herbaria  which provides information about California vascular plant specimens that are housed in participant herbaria. One can search on just about any plant and obtain a list of accessions from around the state.

California Dodder (Cuscuta californica), hits close to home as it has records dating from 1897 to 2009 for specimens found in and around Claremont. One was collected from the Bernard Field Station. The other was found along Thompson Creek, where Holly and I often passed by the plant on our walks.

California Dodder: photo by Cliff Hutson

Cuscuta californica, also called Chaparral Dodder, is an annual parasitic herb or vine that is native to California. It is also found outside of California, but is confined to western North America. Dodder is readily identified by its threadlike, hairless, yellow, orange, or red shoots which twine around host plants eventually creating a tangled mat. One notable feature is that it does not usually have roots that reach the ground. Instead, knoblike organs along the shoot (haustoria) penetrate the host stem. Shoots either lack leaves or have very tiny red, yellow, or orange scalelike leaves pressed close to the stem. It tends to bloom from May through October. The white flowers are tiny, only about 3 to 6 millimeters wide. The fruits are even smaller.

Dodder once had its own family, but it is now consigned to CONVOLVULACEAE, the Morning Glory Family. The epithet Cuscuta seemingly comes from Cuscu'ta a name of Arabic derivation meaning "dodder”. The common name, Chaparral Dodder, tips us to one of its habitats. It is also found through out the state in many other plant communities such as forests and grasslands. And, of course, “the City of Trees and PhDs”.