Search the Sky by Pohl and Kornbluth

I enjoyed this book. Very good flow.

I decided to read it after watching and looking up background for the movie, Idiocracy. The movie was not the greatest, but it was very funny in some parts, and a little weird elsewhere. The basic premise to this movie and the book reviewed here is that smart people have fewer children than dumb people which has bad consequences after a while; loss of genes - sometimes important ones - over time is at play as well.

The main character (Ross) lives on Halsey's Planet which is far from Earth. Ross is a descendant of humans who were sent out to settle new worlds such as Halsey's.

A problem has developed in that Halsey's planet is losing population, but no reason is apparent. In addition, contact from other human settlements on other planets has dropped off.

One day, a ship from Earth arrives unexpectedly on Halsey's Planet. Aboard are descendants of the original passengers/crew - the ship took many many years to reach Halsey's given the great distance and lack of faster than light propulsion. The people on the ship are basically idiots,  but they had a message to deliver - part of this message is a mathematical formula that no one understands.

This message leads to Ross going out to visit other worlds that humans had settled - he travels in a faster than light ship that has been well hidden since the settlement of Halsey's.

The first planet Ross travels to has been totally destroyed, so he moves on. The next planet he visits is tightly controlled by the oldest inhabitants; he meets Helena there and takes her with him when he leaves. The third planet he visits in ruled by women; things go wrong and Helena is sentenced to death and Ross and a guy (Bernie) who Ross met on this world are imprisoned in an orbiting prison. Helena escapes death and rescues Ross and their new friend, Bernie.

The next planet they visit is controlled by people who all look alike - the Joneses. Ross meets a doctor who performs plastic surgery on people who aren't Joneses to look like a Jones so that they can enjoy a better life. The dialog here gets a bit weird, since the Joneses use the word Jones in many ways when communicating. These people are also obsessed with the mathematical formula mentioned above. A really odd thing here is that Ross thought he was headed for Earth, but ended up on Jones world. There is a town named Earth on this planet which Ross visits to get information.

The Jones doctor then becomes part of the group and after Ross finds out what went wrong in navigation, the group heads toward the planet Earth. On Earth, the people are mostly good looking, but stupid, and they spend most of their time partying. Despite this, the planet is highly developed and safe.

After a very strange visit to a TV show, Ross soon finds a very unlikely person who leads him to the truth about who is really running things on Earth. The people running things explain to Ross what the problem is for all the human settlements and tells him how it can be fixed. The book wraps with Ross and his group returning to Halsey's.

The book is kind of funny in places and interesting in many ways. One caveat to feminists. The book was written in the 1950's and contains some sexist passages - but these are also balanced out in part; usually the effect is kind of comical.

Give it a try if it sounds like your thing.

Jet Set by William Stadiem

Remember when flying was a real event? Almost as fun as the destination. People got dressed up and there was lots of room on the plane, even in economy. Cocktails were free or low cost, and the food was free and at least decent. Might be a little hard to remember that far back. The situation today is a shadow of its former self. They are starting to charge to put a bag in the overhead now. Pathetic.

Well, this book takes readers back to when flying was something great in itself. Fans of Mad Men and (the early episodes) of Pan Am on TV will love this book. Mainly covers the late 1950's to early 1970's when the 707 was THE (jet) plane.

The book takes us through these times mostly by following the rich and famous members of the jet traveling public - the Jet Set. Hilton (Conrad not Paris), the Cassinis and many more. Interesting background (pre-1950's) material provided as well. Lots of photos - I would have preferred it if there were more though.

Interesting to see how the middle class was able to get on board to some extent as well. The airfare was a bit high to Europe then, but those were the days of being able to do Europe cheaply once you got there (Frommer's $10 a day etc) - no more of that now. :)

Might be a little too gossipy for some - I give it 4 and not 5 stars out of 5 because of this.

The book concludes with material on how the Jet Set and its era fell apart.

Overall, an interesting book. Great nostalgia.

Serving Victoria by Kate Hubbard

Queen Victoria was a woman after whom an entire age was named, as well as a style. She presided over a great empire - one upon which the sun never set, as they said. Famously quoted as "we are not amused". Subject of the movie, Mrs. Brown.

So what was it like for those in her household? This book gives readers some taste of that.

The book kept my interest, but I was still a little disappointed. If I had been the editor, I would have gotten the author to provide more context and tie the chapters together a little better. It got a bit dry at times.

As other reviewers have noted, life at court seemed pretty monotonous - I'd say almost sad. The Queen was quite selfish in some ways, yet gracious in others. She seemed to live more like a symbol and less like a person -  and less than an engaged ruler in most respects. The rulers just before her were all too human. She went to the other extreme in some senses.

Not everyone will like this book. I thought it was OK overall. Had hoped for more.

If I Had Lunch with C. S. Lewis by Alister McGrath

My first exposure to C S Lewis came when I saw the movie, the Shadowlands. A very good movie - but beware - it's mostly a tragedy. Not sure if it is totally accurate, but it was good drama if nothing else.

After that, I read several of his books (and saw a movie or two based on them). Enjoyed all. Both fiction and non-fiction. There are many others that I have not gotten to read so far.

When I saw this book, I knew I wanted to read it. The lunch concept seemed interesting - though soon after starting it, I found out that it really isn't how the book is structured.  The author makes some weak reference to a lunch at the start of the chapters,  then seems to forget about this until the end of the chapter. No matter. The book gives a good overview of Lewis' life, writings and philosophy.

If you've never read any of Lewis, then this book might give you an idea of what of his you'd like to try. If you have read him, then this may give you new insights. There are some profound things in his writings.

One thing that stands out for me is how Lewis went from being an atheist to a theist and then a Christian. There were several reasons, but one was his realization of how joyless and pointless a universe without God is - famous atheists that I am familiar with do seem more than a bit down all the time, so I guess Lewis had a point here.

I give the book 4/5 and not 5/5 stars mostly because it didn't do the lunch with Lewis thing the title indicates. But it is still has many good points that make it well worth reading.