“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.

Upgrade by Blake Crouch. New York: Ballantine Books, [2022].

This is the perfect book to read on a scorching hot day as you wonder if, perhaps, this near future isn’t far away at all, and maybe we need to do something about it before it is too late…

If you’d like to scare yourself about the possibilities of using gene therapy to permanently alter humankind, this is the book for you!

Upgrade is set in the near future, when climate change has half of Manhattan and other coastal cities under water, and genetic alterations led to a mass starvation event.

The Great Starvation occurred when Mariam Ramsay genetically altered some locusts to deliver a virus to improve a rice crop. But instead it mutated and killed off crops all over the world.

Mariam killed herself, and her son Logan works for the GPA (Gene Protection Agency), trying to make amends for her mistakes and his part of it. During a routine arrest, he is lured to a basement and is infected with a gene-altering virus. But instead of hurting him, it has made him smarter, stronger, faster – better in every way.

Soon Logan is running away from his former employers, who want to study his mutations and keep him locked up in a black site. He finds out his mother is still alive, and is the one who infected him. And his sister Kara has gotten the same “upgrade.” Now he and Kara have to decide whether to continue their mother’s work.

This story definitely makes you think about what limits need to exist in science to keep even well-meaning experiments from leading to grave unintended consequences. It makes some pertinent points about humanity and our lack of effort to curb climate change. And it is a rollicking good thriller to boot! If you like the pace and excitement that thrillers provide, you’ll love Upgrade, even if you’re not usually a science fiction fan.

The only thing that might keep people from enjoying this book is the discussions of genetics. Crouch has a reputation of making the science in his books accessible to readers, and I found that to be true in Upgrade. But the discussion of gene therapy sometimes gets very technical, even if he isn’t using scientific jargon, and that might turn off a casual reader. I found it fascinating!

Mary Beth Adams is the Community Engagement Librarian for Alamance County Public Libraries. She can be reached at madams@alamancelibraries.org.

Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. 2015.

Welcome to Night Vale is a book of everyday conspiracies, non-existent and heavily regulated dog parks, life threatening librarians- and two women.

The dog parks are the most normal part of this book, as expected.

Welcome to Night Vale.

Jackie is an eternally 19 pawn shop owner, with a piece of paper reading KING CITY suddenly and permanently attached to her hand. This makes operating her business impossible, and disturbs her endless days of making trades and writing out slips of paper for the many items (like single tear drops) that come through her door.

Diane is a PTA mom of a shape shifter son who is just trying to get a glimpse of his estranged father, no matter how many eyes he will have to grow to do it. When she begins to catch glimpses of the father around town, looking exactly as he did when he left years ago, she knows nothing good can come of their meeting.

A mysterious man with a deerskin suitcase weaves in and around the desert town they call home- a man no one can seem to remember, not even the angels that city officials would like to remind you do not exist.

Inspired by the podcast WELCOME TO NIGHTVALE, this book personifies the phrase “A wild ride from start to finish.” Embroidering the impossible fabric of a town with its own radio station but no way to leave, are points of discussion and emotions that seem a bit more everyday- Why should you grow up? How do you warn your teenage child about a bad influence in their life? When should you take the risk of accepting a little adventure into your life? And why on earth would you ever risk your life by going to the library?

(Side note- as a library worker, I would like to reassure you that, outside of Night Vale, libraries are NOT populated by tentacled eldritch horrors. However, just like inside of Night Vale, libraries do absolutely hold answers to many of life’s questions.)

This book is a joy to read, and a creative feat. Between bouts of laughter and mysterious exclamations of “ALL HAIL THE GLOW CLOUD” you just might catch yourself thinking deeply about what constitutes a “normal” community, and how you might interject a little healthy weirdness into your neighborhood. After all the talk of mysterious, sentient, glowing clouds (not to mention a dog park that is under 24/7 surveillance by individuals in dark hooded cloaks) this book is, at its core, about Jackie and Diane exploring their town, interacting with their usually harmless neighbors, and trying to solve their respective problems while hanging on to whatever shred of routine and normalcy they can muster.

And really, can’t we all relate to that?

Cyna A. Woodard is Library Assistant I at Graham Public Library, and can be reached at cwoodard@alamancelibraries.org

“Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the Fifty-Year Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man” by Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic; Simon & Schuster (592 pages, $28).

Published in July of 2018, Indianapolis by Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic is an in-depth true account of the 1945 sinking of the USS Indianapolis, the court-martialing of Captain Charles B. McVay III, and the decades long legal battle to clear his name. The sinking of Indianapolis resulted in the greatest loss of life at sea from a single ship in the history of the US Navy. Of 1,195 crew, only 316 survived, including Captain McVay.

Indianapolis departed San Francisco’s Hunters Point Naval Shipyard on July 16, 1945 on a top-secret mission of utmost significance to national security: to proceed to Tinian island carrying about half of the world’s supply of uranium-235 as well as other parts required for the assembly of the infamous atomic bomb codenamed Little Boy, which would be dropped on Hiroshima, Japan a few weeks later. Indianapolis set a speed record of 74.5 hours from San Francisco to Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor, averaging 33 miles an hour. Indianapolis arrived at Pearl Harbor on July 19^th, then raced on to deliver the atomic bomb components to Tinian island on July 26^th. Indianapolis next went to Guam, where crew who had completed their tours of duty were relieved. Leaving Guam on July 28^th, the ship began sailing toward Leyte, where its crew was to train before joining Vice Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf’s Task Force 95.

At 12:15 a.m. on July 30^th, the Indianapolis was torpedoed twice by the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-58, sinking within 12 minutes. Of its 1,195 sailors, approximately 300 went down with the ship. The remaining 890 faced the hardships of exposure, dehydration, saltwater poisoning, and shark attacks while stranded in the open ocean with few lifeboats and almost no food or water. The US Navy learned of the sinking four days later, when survivors were spotted by the crew of a PV-1 Ventura on routine patrol. In total, only 316 sailors had survived, little over a fourth of the crew.

In November 1945, Captain Charles B. McVay III, who had commanded Indianapolis through several battles, was court-martialed on two charges: failing to order his men to abandon ship and hazarding the ship. Cleared of the charge of failing to order abandon ship, as he was one of the last to leave it, McVay was successfully convicted of “hazarding his ship by failing to zigzag”. Several aspects of the court-martial were controversial. There was evidence that the US Navy itself had placed the ship in harm’s way. McVay’s orders were to “zigzag at his discretion, weather permitting” but McVay had not been informed that a Japanese submarine was operating in the vicinity of his route to Leyte. Commander Mochitsura Hashimoto, the commanding officer of I-58, testified that zigzagging would have made no difference. Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz remitted McVay’s sentence and restored him to active duty. McVay retired in 1949 as a rear admiral.

Many of Indianapolis‘s survivors didn’t blame McVay for the ship’s sinking, but some families of men who died felt otherwise. “Merry Christmas! Our family’s holiday would be a lot merrier if you hadn’t killed my son” read one letter. The guilt placed on him mounted until he died by suicide in 1968, using his Navy-issued revolver. McVay was found in his front lawn by his gardener with a toy sailor in one hand, and his revolver in the other. He was 70 years old.

In 1996, a sixth-grader by the name of Hunter Scott began his research on the Indianapolis’s sinking for a class history project, stirring public interest in the process as well as catching the attention of certain officials, including Senator John Warner III (R/VA). This culminated in Congress passing a resolution that Captain McVay’s record should state that “he is exonerated for the loss of Indianapolis.” President Bill Clinton signed the resolution in October 2000. The resolution noted that, although several hundred ships of the US Navy were lost in combat during World War II, McVay was the only captain court-martialed for the loss of his ship. In July 2001, Secretary of the Navy Gordon England directed Captain Toti to enter the Congressional language into McVay’s official Navy service record, clearing him of all wrongdoing.

Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic’s Indianapolis is an emotional and informative retelling of the tragic sinking of the USS Indianapolis, the injustices that followed for its captain, and the eventual clearing of his name in far more detail than I could hope to capture here. I highly recommend the book for history fans, Navy fans, and aspiring lawyers alike.

Lynn Vincent is an American writer, journalist, and author or co-author of 12 books. Her work focuses on memoirs, history, and narrative nonfiction. She also wrote a 2001 book called The Military Advantage which focuses on how one can best take advantage of a military career. Sara Vladic is an acclaimed documentary filmmaker and one of the world’s leading experts on the USS Indianapolis, having met and interviewed 108 of the ship’s survivors.

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

Untamed By Glennon Doyle. Narrated by: Glennon Doyle Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins Unabridged Audiobook Release date: 03-10-20 Language: English Publisher: Random House Audio.

It is rare when an author can move me from a belly laugh to tears within the space of a five-minute story, but Glennon Doyle does this repeatedly in Untamed. Her poignancy and hilarious honesty were totally unexpected in what I thought was going to be a self-help book!

I found this title through a referral from someone I know whose tastes in reading are similar to mine. Lately we have both been immersed in nonfiction titles on leadership, management, and antiracism. When she recommended this title, I was fully anticipating that it would be directly related to one of those topics.

Imagine my surprise when, within the first few minutes of the very first story, Glennon Doyle has become my good friend. She has drawn a complete picture not just of the cheetah that she and her daughter are observing, but of the life I and so many of the women I know have been living! I was hooked, and she has not let me down since.

Glennon’s ability to take her experiences and relate them to something universal is a touchstone of this book. Her honesty about her eating disorder, alcoholism, and failed marriage allow the reader/listener to connect with her as a real person – a less than perfect person – who is willing to open herself to the world through writing powerful memoirs about her experiences.

A little background on Glennon Doyle – after her early battles with bulimia, alcohol, and drugs, she was faced with an unplanned pregnancy in her 20s. This pregnancy was a lifeline, as it was the realization that she wanted to be a mother to this child that allowed her to tap into her own stubbornness and use it to motivate her to clean up. Glennon got married, found God, and started her writing career. As her family and her success grew, Glennon was certain she was living the perfect life. Then she met the love of her life, and she knew that her perfect life was a perfect lie.

Glennon Doyle was swept off her feet by Abby Wambach, a retired soccer player and member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. When people told her that she would lose both her family and career by coming out, Glennon decided “I’m willing to lose anything that requires me to hide any part of myself.” This radical self-acceptance is a message so many of us need to hear, whether we are members of the LGBTQ community or simply people wondering why we have spent so much of our time and energy pleasing others.

Much of Glennon’s insight comes from her close relationship with her family. As the mother of three, her reflections on what it means to be a mother and what a mother’s responsibility is to her children provide her with some of the most moving insights she shares with readers. In addition, her humor rings true when she says “It’s so important to be a bad parent often. This way if our kids become parents, they will be able to forgive themselves for being human – Because they’ve seen us do it.”

Check out Untamed as an audio, eBook or book today. Other titles by Glennon Doyle include Love Warrior and Carry On, Warrior.

Deana Cunningham is the Associate Director of Operations for Alamance County Public Libraries. She can be reached at dcunningham@alamancelibraries.org.