Fernando

This was my first book by Mark Kurlansky. I liked how he was able to describe the importance of such a common item as paper through history. We overlook many things in our everyday life and we are under the assumption that we know very well our surroundings, this book among other things makes you reflect about that as well.
I love history and the author does a good job at touching various aspects concerning paper, the material used to make it in different parts of the world at different times.

The Pillars of the Earth deserves the buzz that surrounds it. It's a very long novel, but I'm pleased to see how the author was able to have a fluid narrative with a great development of the characters across the span of decades. Even though this is the first book of the Kingsbridge series, it's my 3rd overall, I read the Armor of Light (#4) and the prequel (#0). I see a common thread with the juxtaposition of villains and heroes, even though, here, some of the characters have more nuanced personalities. I liked the historical backdrop of medieval England, the author researched well the period and it transpires during the book. In the forewords, the author explains his fascination with Chatedrals and how long it took to begin writing a novel where the Cathedral was the center of the story. As with the other books of the series, Ken Follett can portray the everyday life of peasants or common men and women of the time, and the struggle for things that we take for granted in our modern society.

I enjoyed the book, I picked it mostly because of the subject of mathematics, however mathematics is more the background of the story, the essence of the novel is its characters. In particular the main character, Milo Andret, a mathematician, a womanizer, and an alcoholic. The book is divided in two parts, in the first part we learn of Milo's youth and his ascending career, a career that takes him from his native Michigan to Berkley, Princeton, and Ohio. The first part is narrated in the third person while in the second part the narrative turns in the first person, as we learn that the story was indeed told by his son, Hans Andret, who also suffers from his own addiction, to drugs in his case. Like his father, he has a talent for mathematics that shows since early age.
Even though in some chapters I felt as if the story was dragging itself nowhere, with some superfluous details, if you step back and look at the big picture you can see how well the author develops not just the two main characters, but everyone involved in Milo's life. The intricacy of all the figures in this novel is remarkable, at the end it makes you feel as if you have closely known them for what they are.
Milo uncommon understanding of topology, his field in mathematics, eventually leads him to win the Fields Medal, the highest award for a mathematician. The obsession with these topics is not unusual in mathematics and other scientific fields.
We learn from the book how this obsession, tied with his personality, creates fault lines with people close to him, family, lovers, and friends.

This was the last book of the Kingsbridge series. I didn't read them in order since I started from the last book, #4, and then read #0, #1, and #2. Ken Follett is crafty at developing characters with the right pace, across decades. In all of his books, I could rediscover historical facts recounted in a fictional form but nonetheless I always felt as if I was witnessing an everyday moment just happening in a crucial time in history. In the case of the Column of Fire, Follett puts the spotlight on events that I never paid full attention to, critical milestones such as Protestants and their struggle in the late 16th century, and the intelligence services required to keep the English monarchs safe. The author ends with showing how the will of the Puritans to freely express their religious belief pushed them to adventure in a new world, even though, this passage is very short in the book.

Why We Sleep is an informative book, the author is a neuroscientist specializing in the area of sleep and a strong advocate for it. We all know how important sleep is, but I believe we typically only scratch the surface. The understanding of the effects of the various phases in our sleep gives us an opportunity to act on them for our benefit. The lack of sleep in our society is causing damage to our health and increasing the risks of accidents, low performance at work, sports, and learning.
The author presented arguments for increasing the quality and quantity of sleep, he corroborated these arguments with results of scientific studies conducted on different sets of subjects.
He also offers viable ways to improve our sleep hygiene with improved habits, technological aid, better and informed decisions.
It's amazing to see that with something so cheap we can boost our health outcomes, reduce risks, live fuller lives, be better at work and sports.