Book Completed - Bomb: The Race to Build-and Steal-the World's Most Dangerous Weapon

david@davidsmedberg.me (David Smedberg) — Fri, 25 Sep 2026 13:44:37 +0000

I just logged that I'm no longer reading Bomb: The Race to Build-and Steal-the World's Most Dangerous Weapon, by Steve Sheinkin. I Finished the book.

Here are my comments:

I read this with my kids as a part of our book club. It is excellent, and 100% worth reading for adults as well as kids. His writing style - compact, direct, but not impersonal - is really effective at keeping the story moving.

The book I am beginning or resuming now is Holes, by Louis Sachar.

Book Completed - The Love Songs of W.E.B. Dubois

david@davidsmedberg.me (David Smedberg) — Fri, 25 Sep 2026 13:28:39 +0000

I just logged that I'm no longer reading The Love Songs of W.E.B. Dubois, by Honorée Fannone Jeffers. I Finished the book.

Here are my comments:

Yet another book which by turns enthralled and bothered me. I am really, really glad I read it - it started to "come together" as the disparate historical threads began to relate to each other more clearly by the end. What really worked for me: - First and foremost, the history. Wow, history comes alive through living it vicariously. - The balance of light and dark. Her sense of humor is earthy and infectious. - The spiritual overtones. Never heavy-handed - I'd have to go back and read it again to really understand some (like Pop George). - The humility - none of the main characters are perfect saints of blackness, even Uncle Root. And Ailey, our main character, is flawed in ways that are designed to be cool or attractive, just real. What didn't work as well: - The poetical language. I think those parts came across as unconnected to the direct, even choppy prose of most of the book. - Certain sections, like the part when Ailey's parents were dating and first married, were not *bad* per se but didn't add as much to what I perceived as the themes of the book as well as I'd have liked for a book this **long**. In transparency, I also almost didn't finish the book due to the dark subject matter. That's not a judgment of the book, but the portrayals both of abuse and the little, petty kinds of racism and hatred were real hard to read.

The book I am beginning or resuming now is Bomb: The Race to Build-and Steal-the World's Most Dangerous Weapon, by Steve Sheinkin.

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Book Completed - Bomb: The Race to Build-and Steal-the World's Most Dangerous Weapon

Book Completed - The Love Songs of W.E.B. Dubois