Author: alamancelibraries

“Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life” by Jordan B. Peterson; Portfolio (432 pages, $29).

Published in 2021, Beyond Order is an engaging self-help book by the bestselling author and YouTube sensation Jordan B. Peterson, a renowned Canadian Clinical Psychologist and Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto. Beyond Order is a follow up to his prior book, 12 Rules for Life, and is meant to be read as a sequel, but it remains perfectly capable of being an insightful read all by itself. After all, you should not be afraid to go beyond the order of things. Ba dum tss.

With decades of scientific expertise and professional experience under his belt, Dr. Peterson set out to give psychological advice in written form that would help his readers understand the hardships of being human, and how we may better confront them. While 12 Rules for Life focused on 12 guiding rules meant to help its readers identify and recover their sense of self-determination from the chaos that may manifest in our lives, Beyond Order instead focuses on how its readers can learn to let their guard down in order to face their fears, and go fourth to engage in life’s many disorderly challenges despite the risks involved.

While no book can truly prepare its readers for the various catastrophes life has in store for us, Peterson has done an excellent job in offering direction and guidance to those who need it, as well as providing deep, meaningful psychological insights on the emotional secrets of the human mind. You’ll feel one step closer to being a psychologist yourself by the time you finish this book, likely to walk away with a better understanding of how we humans emotionally operate.

Ultimately, the goal of Peterson’s writings is not mere psychological analysis, but to give his readers the tools to better understand and prioritize their own desires in order to pursue them in a healthy, meaningful way. Peterson explains that no matter how we choose to spend our life, we will find it laced with burdens of one variety or another. With that being the case, he suggests our best bet for obtaining personal happiness is to head-on tackle the largest burden we can carry and to drag it with us with all the ferocity of a parent lifting an overturned car to save their child.

While we certainly can’t solve all of our own problems, Peterson recommends his readers tackle as many of their own problems as they can manage, especially before trying to tackle grand problems of the world beyond their own life. He suggests the process of organizing our own life in a way that orients us towards our desires can begin with something as simple as cleaning our own bedroom. He insists that we must be our own best caretaker whenever possible, to care for ourselves with as much enthusiasm and elbow grease as we would provide for a sickly loved one, which entails cleaning up our own messes.

Peterson always dots his life lessons with meaningful anecdotes and real-life examples of the various topics his book explores. These can originate from himself, his friends, his family, or one of the many unnamed clients from his decades of clinical psychology. Animal psychology, cultural stories, sociology, and neuroscience make guest appearances too. We’ve more in common with our pets than you may think!

I’d definitely recommend Beyond Order to just about anyone. Even if you would self-identify as the happiest person on earth, Dr. Peterson’s psychological insights are just too nifty and useful to pass up.

Jordan Peterson remains a Canadian clinical psychologist, cultural critic, and professor of psychology at the University of Toronto. His main areas of study are the psychology of religious and ideological belief, and the assessment and improvement of personality and performance. His YouTube videos and podcasts have gathered an audience of hundreds of millions worldwide, and his global book tour reached more than a quarter million people in major cities across the globe. Alongside his students and colleagues, he has published over one hundred scientific papers, and his 1999 book Maps of Meaning revolutionized the psychology of religion. He currently lives in Toronto, Ontario with his family.

Donavon Anderson is a reference library assistant at May Memorial Library. He can be reached at danderson@alamancelibraries.org.

“The High House” by Jessie Greengrass.  New York: Simon & Schuster, 2021.  255 pages, $27.00

 “The High House” is the story of British teenager Caroline “Caro” who must cope with caring for her young half-sibling Pauly in the environmental disaster aftermath of global warming that leaves the two orphaned and living atop at remote coastal summer home that the great flood has not yet invaded.  Caro is aided in her task by local twentysomething Sal, a diligent farm homemaker who has been brought up in comparative austerity by her capable elderly grandfather Grandy.

Caro’s stepmother is renowned environmental activist Francesca who births Pauly late in life and then spends his first 5-years preparing for the environmental apocalypse. Unbeknownst to Caro, who is 14 years old when her brother is born, her parent and stepparent have been making survivalist preparations to retreat to a coastal summer home high atop the cliffs as global weather becomes increasingly erratic.

After a disastrous weather event on the US east coast that kills both parents, 19-year-old Caro makes an arduous journey to the coastal stronghold, sometimes carrying her little brother on her back.  She finds that her parents have laid in years of supplies in anticipation of worldwide disaster and added amenities including a tide pool, a mill, a greenhouse, a vegetable garden, and lots of self-contained elements for sustainable living. She is met by Sal and her grandfather Grandy, who have been engaged to help the two embark on a life sans civilization.

After just months, the very tenuous fishing village near the High House has been abandoned and the last remaining local denizen is an elderly vicar who sometimes entertains pilgrims or climate refugees at sporadic church services.  Caro is troubled by her failure to assist the rapidly dwindling population and goes on solitary runs in the vicinity of their house to deal with survivor guilt.

The entire family remnant is devastated when the final high water arrives and patriarch Grandy collapses from illness and the church is deserted for good.  This novel touches on themes of isolation, family responsibility, personal good versus societal good, and what human reaction should be in the face of extinction.  This is the second novel for author Jessie Greengrass, who lives in Northumberland England and has written a previous novel and a critically acclaimed short story collection. 

“The High House” is a beautiful novel about going into the great unknown with hope, poise, and aplomb.  It stands with “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy as an intimation of the various trajectories that might arise when “the last one standing turns off the lights”.

Lisa Kobrin is the Reference and Local History Librarian at Alamance County Public Libraries. She can be reached at lkobrin@alamancelibraries.org.

A Lady for a Duke by Alexis J. Hall. New York, NY. Forever. 2022.

            A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall is a dashing regency romance that follows Viola Carrol after she is presumed dead at the battle of Waterloo. This “death” allows Viola to reinvent herself and live the life as the woman she always knew she was, but it is also means giving up everything she knew and loved. In her disappearance, Viola loses her wealth, her title, her inheritance, and all her friends. Viola believes this is a loss she suffers alone until word reaches her of closest companion, the Duke of Gracewood. Like Viola, Gracewood was changed by the battle of Waterloo. He was left crippled with terrible PTSD, believing Viola to be truly dead and her death to be his fault. Viola longs to go to Gracewood and help him, but revealing herself to be alive with a new identity could destroy everything she has built and sacrificed for. Can these friends make a fresh start, meeting each other again and finally seeing each other fully so their friendship can, perhaps, become something more?

            Do not let this summary fool you; while A Lady for a Duke tackles serious themes, it also has everything we know and love from a regency romance. Gracewood brings his sister for her debut in London, surprising Viola there. The book describes lavish balls, longing glances, new fashions in lady’s embroidery, and love embodied in a private dance.

            In the spirit of Jane Austen, the side characters in A Lady for a Duke shine. Meddling though well-meaning relatives interrupt situations where they do not belong. Insidious social climbers get their comeuppances. Evil dukes swagger with swishing mustaches and Shakespearean references. More importantly, all these characters speak with their own memorable voices, their roles underlined with humor and wit even in the direst circumstances of the book, adding to the ambience and enjoyment of this escapist romance.

            Unlike more classical fare, A Lady for a Duke is not afraid to mix regency romance with modern sensibilities. The novel’s characters curse. The book contains a sex scene. A Lady for a Duke revolves around LGBTQ+ issues and uses the backdrop of the regency era to question the healthiness of fixed gender roles. If these topics offend you, turn back now, but if you loved Netflix’s Bridgerton or the 2020 movie adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma, this book is for you.

            Alexis Hall’s A Lady for a Duke is an unexpected regency romance, but nonetheless a delightful one. Heartfelt and swoon-worthy, it introduces readers to flawed, but lovable characters who, through sword fights, kidnappings, and masquerade balls, must learn that it is only through loving, trusting relationships of all kinds that they can become the best and truest versions of themselves.

Rebecca Mincher is a Children’s Library Assistant at the Graham Public Library. She can be reached at rzimmerman@alamancelibraries.org.

 “Charlie Wilson’s War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History” by George Crile; Atlantic Monthly Press (416 pages, $26).

“In a little over a decade, two events have transformed the world we live in: the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise of Militant Islam.” – George Crile

Published in 2003, George Crile’s Charlie Wilson’s War shares the untold story of how the United States funded the only successful jihad in modern history, the CIA’s secret Cold War operation in Afghanistan that was intended to give the Soviets their own version of the Vietnam War. It follows Charlie Wilson, a left-wing congressman from eastern Texas, who conspired with a rogue CIA operative to launch the biggest, meanest, and arguably most successful covert operation in CIA history.

In the early 1980s, right-wing Houston millionaire socialite Joanne Herring turned Wilson’s attention to a ragged band of Afghan freedom fighters who continued their fight against Soviet invaders despite overwhelming odds. The congressman became passionate about their cause and saw the opportunity to make new allies over a mutual foe. While Ronald Reagan faced a total cutoff of funding for the Iran-Contra war, Wilson sat on the all-powerful House Appropriations Committee. Using his position, he would manage to procure hundreds of millions of dollars for the mujahideen (“those engaged in jihad”) whom were at war with Soviet forces invading Afghanistan.

Arms were secretly procured and distributed to the mujahideen with the aid of an out-of-favor CIA operative by the name of Gust Avrakotos, whose working-class Greek-American background made him an anomaly among the usual Ivy League American spies. Nicknamed Dr. Dirty, Avrakotos was an aggressive agent who learned how to stretch the Agency’s rules to the breaking point while serving on the front lines of the Cold War.

This operation was run by a staff of CIA outcasts handpicked by Avrakotos. Among them was codename Hilly Billy, the logistics wizard who could open an unnumbered Swiss bank account for the US Government in twelve hours when others took months; Art Alper, the grandfatherly demolitions expert from the Technical Services Division who passed on his dark arts to the Afghans; and Mike Vickers, the former Green Beret who created a systemic plan to turn a rabble of shepherds into an army of technologically-gifted holy warriors.

Moving from the back rooms of the Capital, to secret chambers at Langley, to arms-dealers conventions, to the Khyber Pass, Charlie Wilson’s War is brilliantly reported and one of the most detailed and compulsively readable accounts of the inside workings of the CIA ever written. While reading this book, I felt as though I had a front row seat for watching the real life James Bonds of the world in action and all of the dangers and breaking of international laws that entails. I’d highly recommend the book for anyone with an interest in the Cold War era and/or America’s involvement in Afghanistan.

George Washington Crile III (1945–2006) was an American journalist closely associated with his three decades of work at CBS News and known for his work as a producer for 60 Minutes and 60 Minutes II. He specialized in dangerous and controversial subjects, resulting in both praise and controversy. He received an Emmy Award, Peabody Award, and Edward R. Murrow Award. From 1968 to 1974, he served in the United States Marine Corps reserves as a lance corporal.

In the late 1980s, Crile began the research and reporting on the Afghan War that eventually led to the creation of his best-selling 2003 book Charlie Wilson’s War. It would go on to become the basis of the Tom Hanks/Mike Nichols film, Charlie Wilson’s War, which was released by Universal Studios in December 2007.

Donavon Anderson is a reference library assistant at May Memorial Library. He can be reached at danderson@alamancelibraries.org.