Crow Talk by Eileen Garvin

CROW TALK by Eileen Garvin (The Music of Bees) is a beautiful story as much about nature and birds as it is about people. The setting is a remote collection of summer homes near a lake by Hood River, Oregon. Garvin says she only imagined June Lake, but finds it a welcome “place of refuge” and hopes her readers will, too. That peacefulness is what Mary Francis (call me Frankie) O’Neill is seeking when she heads to her family’s caretaker cottage near the end of the season. She is still grieving her father’s death; plus, her plans to be the first in her family to obtain a master’s degree in the ornithology field have been thwarted by a vindictive advisor. Life feels overwhelming and uncertain. The loneliness, grief, and unhappiness are echoed by Annie Ryan, Irish musician and daughter-in-law to one of the long-established summer families. Annie and husband Tim have brought their five-year-old, Aiden. Once a cheerful, outgoing little boy, he no longer speaks, but manages to establish a rapport with Frankie and with Charlie Crow, a young, injured bird that she nurses back to health. Gavin intersperses many facts (and even idioms) about birds; for example, that there are roughly two thousand distinct species, that a group of hummingbirds is called a glittering, and that birds may have capacity for facial recognition (see 2014 TedTalk by Dr. John Marzluff). Told from multiple viewpoints, CROW TALK received a starred review from Booklist (“A stunning affirmation of nature’s power to soothe and rejuvenate.”). Despite the sadness, readers will revel in a positive ending, all while feeling as though they are forest bathing due to Garvin’s vivid descriptions.

Stay Dead by April Henry

I have commented over the years on suspenseful young adult reads by April Henry like Eyes of the Forest or The Girl I Used to Be and STAY DEAD is another gripping mystery from this prolific, talented author. Sixteen-year-old Milan (great name, right?) has just been expelled from her third boarding school after the death of her Dad, Senator and environmentalist, Jack Mayhew. She and her Mom, Heather, who is now the serving Senator, are with staff aboard a private plane when it crashes. As the only survivor, Milan must rely on quick thinking and her past hiking experiences to beat the cold, the snow, and an animal predator as she struggles to get to Portland, Oregon and the only person her Mom told her to trust. That hazardous journey is exciting enough, but Henry treats readers to added perspective from Lenny, the woman hired to kill Milan and her parents, plus details from Jane, a dairy farmer dealing with the consequences of allowing fracking to occur on her farmland. The pace is quick – and Milan needs to draw on inner resources, remembering a favorite quote of her Mom’s from Amelia Earhart: “The most difficult thing is the decision to act. The rest is merely tenacity.” In her acknowledgments, Henry sounds super curious and adventuresome herself; she says, “as a writer, I've done many things for research, but probably the most intense was a three-day course called Urban Escape and Evasion. The final day of class you are kidnapped; hooded, cuffed, and mouth duct-taped.… You must use all your newly learned skills to escape...” Wow – that is serious research! And her adrenaline-charged writing reflects it. Enjoy! 

Also wanted to note this quote... from another character who reflects on his departed wife: “She just got to heaven a little sooner than me, … she always liked to be early to things.”

The Skill Code by Beane & Code Dependent by Murgia

I am looking forward to virtually attending The Washington Post Futurist Summit on AI later this week. Here are another couple of new books related to that subject:

THE SKILL CODE by Matt Beane is subtitled “How to Save Human Ability in an Age of Intelligent Machines” and it looks at the importance of what Beane calls the expert-novice bond, meaning that that we each achieved mastery by working with someone who knew more than we did. Beane conducts extensive observational field research as an ethnographer and in his role as an Assistant Professor in the Technology Management Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The first key insight he notes is “that the working relationship between experts and novices is a bundle of three C's that humans need to develop mastery: challenge, complexity, and connection.” He explains those and points to threats to each, arguing “if we don't put this knowledge [3C’s] to use right now, our species is in deep trouble.” Overall, this is really a text about training, teaching and educational psychology. He points to how we need to consciously make these new technologies part of the solution but not by inserting them between novices and experts. A captivating section is where he discusses “shadow learners” – people who take risks and step outside norms to embrace the 3 C’s. Beane writes about finding challenge (not unlike Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development (ZPD)) and provides a checklist to know when you are facing healthy challenge. Beane then repeats those steps with respect to complexity and connection, stressing the importance of “building mutual respect and trust so that employees view a boss as an expert but also someone who cares.”  Like much of the rest of the book, this is solid advice on social emotional skills and applies to any industry, whether AI is involved or not. Added (9/8/24): The Wall Street Journal review:  "Digital transformation has made the workplace more efficient. It has also reduced opportunities for skill development and mentorship."

CODE DEPENDENT by Madhumita Murgia is subtitled “Living in the Shadow of AI” and in a rather angry manner Murgia stresses the need for individuals around the world to unite in the face of AI. She writes about the concept of data colonialism and points to how gig workers (e.g., those affiliated with Uber) are oppressed and manipulated by algorithms. That made me wonder about how did business management transform from a cooperative, albeit paternalistic, view to an all-knowing heartless controller? Is that accurate? Is it part of a continual cycle of exploitation and reform? Some of these points were raised several years ago in The End of Loyalty by Rick Wartzman. Murgia, an award-winning Indian-British journalist who is currently AI Editor at the Financial Times, argues that “by reflecting on the march of AI, we can start to address the imbalances in power, and move towards redress.” Her work draws on examples from around the world, having spoken to people living in Kenya, Britain, Argentina, Italy, and to refugees from Iraq and China. In sections labeled Your Livelihood, Your Body and Your Identity, she shares concerns about wage differentials, deepfakes, and facial recognition. A subsequent section on Your Health features a doctor in rural India who is able to use an app to help to quickly diagnosis TB and later to contribute to recalibrate it to distinguish between TB and COVID. After several other chapters, Murgia describes OpenAI and Chat GPT and the tendency to hallucinate based on training. A favorite part is the Epilogue where Murgia describes the work of the world’s major religions in contributing to developing some ethical standards for deploying AI. Endnotes and an Index comprise between ten and fifteen percent of the text. The Guardian called CODE DEPENDENT “highly readable and deeply important,” saying “the power of this book lies in the rich stories it tells of individuals ... Drawing on interviews from around the globe.” Those stories veer between deep pessimism and glimmers of optimism and offer unique perspective. Much to consider.  

Added from NPR: Pope to discuss AI at G7 meeting.

You Are Here by David Nicholls

YOU ARE HERE by David Nicholls (One Day) is a novel about making sure that someone sees us. Set post-pandemic in the North of England near the beautiful Lake District, the story features Michael Bradshaw, 42 and a geography teacher, and Marnie Walsh, 38 and a freelance copy editor. She is recently divorced, and he is soon-to-be. A mutual friend, feeling each has had too much alone time, has invited them on an outdoors walk along with a handsome pharmacist who like Marnie, lives in London and Tessa, an outdoors-y type whose interests match Michael’s. Little, especially weather, goes according to plan and pretty quickly just Marnie and Michael are left on the walk, heading across England from one coast to the other. Their adventures with nature and a different hotel or pub each night are quite comical. Plus, the walks promote some soul-bearing and a simmering romance as the two start to bond. More details in reviews from The New York Times (“each is such good company for the other and for the reader.”) and The Wall Street Journal (“falls halfway between the serious novel and the breezy fantasy of the beach read”). As I read the thoroughly enjoyable YOU ARE HERE about finding oneself and finding one’s way in the English countryside, I repeatedly thought of Raynor Winn’s The Salt Path and The Wild Silence – also well worth reading. 

The AI-Savvy Leader by David De Cremer

THE AI-SAVVY LEADER by David De Cremer is an excellent book on a complicated subject – so well-organized and not afraid to name the elephant in the room: too many leaders do not understand AI and are abdicating their responsibility for managing its adoption. De Cremer is dean of the D'Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University and the founder and director of the Centre on AI Technology for Humankind (AiTH) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School. He subtitles his text “Nine Ways to Take Back Control and Make AI Work” and after explaining what AI is (computational systems with a self-learning ability), proceeds to devote chapters to topics like inclusion and balance. For example, he recommends that leaders “build a flat communication culture” thereby ensuring quicker communication flow and promoting feedback and information exchange. He uses bold typeface and boxed material to stress key points as in chapter 5 (Vision) where he says that holistic communication and showing empathy “gives employees confidence that AI adoption is not an end in itself but a means to an end with full recognition of the interests of the workforce.” He describes the importance of getting buy-in from all stakeholders (employees, customers and society). In addition, he devotes an entire chapter to emotional intelligence’s soft skills (“curiosity, empathy, communication, and critical and proactive thinking”). Yes, learning about AI is important, but De Cremer notes again and again that emphasizing employees’ value and “portraying AI as a useful and supportive coworker” is essential to “turn AI into the tool that creates the value that you as a leader want to create.” Notes and an Index represent between five and ten percent of this text published by Harvard Business Review Press.

Playing from the Rough by Jimmie James

PLAYING FROM THE ROUGH by Jimmie James is more than a sports book. James, a former executive at ExxonMobil wanted a project when he retired and so he decided to try to play the top 100 golf courses (the vast majority of which are private) in America in a year. He includes plenty of golf stories (trying to keep a run of first hole pars going, missing a hole-in-one, etc.), but equally significant are the “life” stories he shares. Some recount his experiences as a Black man on the golf course. Many center around the contrast between his early life of poverty and his obvious privilege at being able to play these courses. The journey meant that James “flew 73,284 miles, drove another 17,472, and spent 82 nights in hotels or other people's homes … 8,796 strokes … across thirty-three states.”  This is an extremely entertaining read about which the golf writer Rick Reilly says, “I'm so damn jealous of Jimmie James. He not only pulled off my dream golf adventure, but he wrote a book so good I haven't spoken to my laptop in a week.” Make an effort to look for and read PLAYING FROM THE ROUGH – here is a link to the Wall Street Journal review which highlights some memorable anecdotes. Readers will also enjoy A Course called Scotland by Tom Coyne.

How the World Ran Out of Everything by Goodman

Do you remember the hunt for baby formula in 2022? I know that our family, spread over several states, were actively searching every time any of us went to a pharmacy, grocery store or even online outlet so as to provide our newest family member with sustenance. HOW THE WORLD RAN OUT OF EVERYTHING by Peter S. Goodman reflects on the pandemic’s impact by burrowing deep “Inside the Global Supply Chain.” Goodman, the Global Economics Correspondent for The New York Times, uses a case study involving a container filled with children’s toys to trace the breakdown in a system and “consequences of relying on faraway factories and container ships to keep humanity supplied with goods.” The text has three main sections: a review of China-centric globalization; price manipulation and engineered scarcities; and opportunities to reinvent the supply chain. Throughout, Goodman comments repeatedly on labor exploitation and deregulation; he stresses that, “ordinary people were paying the mounting costs” with weak unions, indifferent politicians, and over reliance on “Just in Time,” or lean, manufacturing. Extensive notes and an index comprise at least twenty percent of the book. HOW THE WORLD RAN OUT OF EVERYTHING received a starred review from Kirkus (“This book should be in the hands of policymakers and economists before the next crisis emerges.”) I would encourage readers looking for related perspective to also check out Arriving Today by Wall Street Journal columnist Christopher Mims. And, Goodman’s work even made me think of The Travels Of A T-Shirt In The Global Economy by Rivoli, published almost twenty years ago in a far more optimistic time.