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Democracy has been in decline around the world for the last several years, as the ascendance of the far-right, including Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Marine La Pen in France, the AfD in Germany, and Donald Trump in the United States, has made clear. The health of any democracy can be measured objectively using a polity score, which determines if a country is an autocracy (low polity score), a democracy (high polity score), or an anocracy—something between an autocracy and a democracy. Since Donald Trump was elected in 2016, the polity score for the United States has been in a state of steady decline. After the January 6, 2021 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, the polity score dropped sufficiently for the U.S. to be recategorized as an anocracy. That means that the United States is no longer the longest-standing continuous democracy. That title now belongs to Switzerland, followed by New Zealand and Canada.

The historical, social, political, and economic factors that determine why countries descend into civil wars are complex. However, two variables can predict the probability of civil war more than others: anocracy and factionalism. Civil wars rarely break out in full democracies or autocracies either because governance is strong and citizens are generally happy in the former, or autocratic rulers use strong-arm tactics to quash uprisings in the latter. The risk of civil war increases when democracies slip into anocracy. Factionalism occurs when people organize themselves into political, economic, racial, or religious groups. Social media is it's most powerful weapon. With the rise of white nationalism, the United States finds itself as a factionalized anocracy, and the risk of civil war is high.

The book's author, Barbara Walter, is a distinguished political scientist who has made civil wars throughout history the focus of her research. Although the particular issues that lead to conflict are specific to each country, the basic factors that lead to civil war—such as poor governance or government institutions, economic or social disparity, or racial injustice—are remarkably similar. Countries that have been on the path to civil war but have managed to avoid it have all strengthened their democracies through improved governance, equality, and education. Walter also recommends global efforts to regulate social media in a way that preserves democracies around the world while at the same time protects free speech.

I found this book disturbing. If it wasn't clear before January 6, 2021 that even the strongest democracies are fragile and need to be defended against aggrieved authoritarian factions, it should be after reading this book. Walter's thorough and thoughtful research into the geopolitical, social, and economic forces that drive countries toward civil war, synthesized in crystal clear prose, provides a valuable mirror that we can use to reflect on ourselves and correct our course before it becomes too late. Her insight and wisdom hasn't come a moment too soon. Everyone who cares about democracy should read this book.

The well known psychological state of Flow was essentially defined by this famous book. Flow occurs when one is singularly focused on a challenging task where time seems distorted, distractions seem diminished, and one's sense of well being is high. Although this state is usually achieved spontaneously, and most of us have experienced it at least occasionally, it has been extensively studied and the factors that induce it are known. If one understands these factors, then entering a flow state on demand is possible.

In order to achieve a flow state, one must learn how to focus attention on the task at hand and reduce distractions. The task, whether it's physical or mental, must be challenging with clear goals or outcomes. One must approach these tasks with genuine interest or curiosity, otherwise, the motivations will not allow for a flow state to develop. For example, if you're researching a topic because you want to win a debate or showcase your brilliance in a social group, you're unlikely to experience flow because the motivation is extrinsic. However, if you're researching a topic to satisfy your intrinsic curiosity, then a flow state is possible.

It seems to me that there's a lot of overlap between mindfulness or meditation and flow. Both require focused attention, openness to new experiences, and practice in order to achieve the desired state—a calm mind. A disordered mind is the opposite of a calm mind, which the author calls cognitive entropy. Several examples are provided where people have managed to achieve a flow state in the most mundane of circumstances, like the assembly line worker, the prisoner in solitary confinement, the lawn cutter. Each develops routines to fill in the boring parts. They'll focus on the tiniest of details or invent games to help them achieve a flow state pass the time in as enjoyable a manner as possible.

Ironically, I found the author's writing style a bit distracting, which prevented me from experiencing flow while reading this book, even though reading is one of the best flow-inducing activities. In his effort to provide relevant examples to help make his point, he lists off several relevant but arbitrary items to make the point. Here's a sample:

For a child, it could be placing with trembling fingers the last block on a tower she has built, higher than any she has built so far; for a swimmer, it could be trying to beat his own record; for a violinist, mastering an intricate musical passage. For each person, there are thousands of opportunities, challenges to expand ourselves.

It was the arbitrariness, I think, that I found most distracting. I also found that the latter half of the book was more about leading a fulfilling life rather than the flow experience itself. Although I appreciate the larger point he was trying to make—that flow experiences can be extended well beyond the immediate task at hand to life in general, especially as it relates to optimal performance—it still came off as a bit of a stretch from the familiar psychological state of flow. For me, a deeper discussion of the science behind the flow state would have been more useful.

Overall, there's no denying that this book is a classic. But I found it a bit "soggy in the middle," as some editors are wont to say—maybe even more so towards the end. I've read this book twice now just to convince myself that once was really enough.

Fellowship Point is a peninsula off the coast of Maine, once held by a proud indigenous hunting community before being taken over by rich American aristocrats—the Fellowship founders. The Fellowship established five grand manors on the peninsula, allowing the partners and their descendants to conserve the natural wonders of the Sank—now a bird sanctuary, but once a fertile hunting ground for the peninsula's rightful stewards.

The story follows two of the founding partners' descendants, Agnes and Polly, who were life-long friends, but now in their eighties, faced with the prospect of their own mortality and the conundrum of what to do with Fellowship Point once they're gone. Polly's children wish to dissolve the fellowship and develop the land for profit, as does the only other known descendant, Archie. Agnes has no children and fears that once she's gone, all her and her ancestors' conservation efforts would be for naught.

On the surface, this is a story about diverging generational and cultural values, environmental conservation and stewardship, aging, and the complexities of life-long friendships. But this book is richly layered in symbolism and metaphor, and at its core, it's a searing misandrist diatribe. With few exceptions (i.e., Robert the handyman, and Seeley, Archie's wife), men are portrayed as bumbling twits, underhanded money grubbers, or corporate shills, while women are portrayed as victims, innocent do-gooders, and the only sensible voices.

There's no doubt that Dark is a talented author. She deftly piled layer after layer of texture and nuance to a heart-warming story. But I found the underlying themes deeply disturbing and, frankly, unnecessary. I'm sure there's an appetite for this kind of vitriolic brow-beating, however cleverly disguised, but not from me.

It doesn't happen often, but every once in a while a book leaps out of nowhere, takes you by surprise, and changes you. Write For Your Life by Pulitzer Prize winning author Anna Quindlen is one such book. After reading it, I've come to realize that my favourite books are those about writing written masterfully by a literary artist; books like Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, or How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster. There are many reasons to read this book. But read it for the writing. The eloquence alone is enough.

In many ways, this is an author's plea for everyday people to pick up their pens and write about their normal, ordinary lives; to preserve a snapshot of the writer in their particular time and place. The simple act of note-taking can offer a glimpse of history that would otherwise be lost because of its ordinariness. But that ordinariness is the fabric of life, and it's up to us to preserve it for our future selves and everyone who follows.

Handwriting offers a direct connection between writer and reader. Imperfect handwritten lines betray the emotional state of the writer more faithfully than illuminated pixels on a computer screen. The weight of the pen stroke and the shape of the loops and swirls betrays the writer's mood. Frustration shows in a swift-flicked line struck through a misspelled word. Sweeping arrows and tight marginalia on a handwritten manuscript reveal the progression of an idea. No combination of electrons, copper, and silica can confirm the physical existence of a writer in any time or place like the handwritten word.

But writing is much more than a way to preserve the past. It is as much for the writer as it is for the reader. It offers an emotional outlet for doctors and nurses and anyone else who lives their life in a fast-paced, high-stress environment. It is an expression of creativity and innovation. It is both counselor and friend. Writing is thinking.

This book was a surprise for me because it stumbled into my possession before I knew anything about the author or even what this book was about (beyond writing, of course). I hadn't prepared to be so moved. There are some funny passages, and some deeply personal passages that left me soggy-eyed and reaching for a tissue. Just the visceral responses it induces speaks to the power of the writing. I rank this among one of the best books I've read this year. I would encourage everyone, writers and non-writers alike, to read this book. It is sure to change you, too.