The Fate of the West: The Battle to Save the World’s Most Successful Political Idea by Bill Emmott

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Bill Emmott thinks the west will survive Trump, Brexit, China, Putin, and the rest of the threats to the west, if the west doesn't shoot itself in the foot so frequently that it bleeds to death. However, he doesn't have much to say about global warming, which at the moment seems to be the greatest threat of all. Emmott's focus is macro economics and politics.



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Missing Mom by Joyce Carol Oates

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Not Oates' best novel, but her usual very competent writing. A young woman goes to her mother's house to find out why she's not answering her phone and discovers her brutally murdered. The culprit is soon caught. This all happens early in the novel, and the story we are interested in is how people, primarily the main character, deal with such a horrific incident. The novel is not a thriller, but it is nevertheless a detective novel. As the story proceeds, we witness how our protagonist learns to process what has happened to her and the people around her, including the detective who solves the crime.



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