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Blurb:

For the fortieth anniversary of 1969, Rob Kirkpatrick takes a look back at a year when America witnessed many of the biggest landmark achievements, cataclysmic episodes, and generation-defining events in recent history.

1969 was the year that saw Apollo 11 land on the moon, the Cinderella stories of Joe Namath’s Jets and the “Miracle Mets,” the Harvard student strike and armed standoff at Cornell, the People’s Park riots, the first artificial heart transplant and first computer network connection, the Manson family murders and cryptic Zodiac Killer letters, the Woodstock music festival, Easy Rider, Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, the Battle of Hamburger Hill, the birth of punk music, the invasion of Led Zeppelin, the occupation of Alcatraz, death at Altamont Speedway, and much more. It was a year that pushed boundaries on stage (Oh! Calcutta!), screen (Midnight Cowboy), and the printed page (Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Sex), witnessed the genesis of the gay rights movement at Stonewall, and started the era of the “no fault” divorce. Richard Nixon became president, the New Left squared off against the Silent Majority, William Ayers co-founded the Weatherman Organization, and the nationwide Moratorium provided a unifying force in the peace movement.

Compelling, timely, and quite simply a blast to read, 1969 chronicles the year through all its ups and downs, in culture and society, sports, music, film, politics, and technology. This is a book for those who survived 1969, or for those who simply want to feel as alive as those who lived through this time of amazing upheaval.

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Review:

I read this book as a follow up to 1968: The Year That Rocked the World by Mark Kurlansky. While it was a fine book if you enjoy pop culture from America in late 1960s, it didn't have much of the seriousness that 1968 book had. 1969 was an implosion of the hippie ideology.

I wasn't engaged in the writing due to the lengthy discussion of some rather minor pop culture events. Yes, 1969 had the birth of punk and long ass rock albums, but it was also so very male-centric, you wonder if there were any women making art in 1969. I also didn't need several sections devoted to the New York Mets' winning season, much less a play by play of the post season games that led to their World Series win. Honestly, in the history of the 1960s, was the Mets winning the World Series all that important? I don't think so. The book goes into true crime territory with lots of discussion about the Manson Family murders and the rise of the BTK serial murders. 

Just an underwhelming work on such a pivotal year.

We have an official announcement and a pack of paperwork so the assignment move is for real and moving more rapidly than we thought. We leave the UK mid-June and have to be at our next base by the end of June (so no taking a vacation to visit family). So I have a lot on my plate, but this being the military, every office/department we visit to get clearance/signed off on our outprocessing checklist involves a lot of waiting room and ques. Perfect time to read a few pages that add up to chapters finished by the end of the day. My kids still have a month of their extracurricular activities, so our weekends are going to be busy as well.

I hope to start my last two library borrows, We Fed an Island and Black Man in a White Coat. I also want to finish 1969 so that I can get to 1972 starting in May.

The Weight of Our Sky is one of the rarest Malaysian books I enjoy. I did tried a few that even prevent me from reading any further local author works... until this was released. I heard so much about it that I said to myself, alright I will read this and if its not good, I will never read another Malaysian written book ever. And for that, there were no regrets.

Melati Ahmad is a young 16 year-old girl with a Djinn inside her head that torments her with scenes of death of her mother. Taunting her in her daily life, the only way she can suppressed it is by counting of threes. On the day of 13th May, 1969, the inevitable happened and she was cut off from her mother when racial clash between three races happened in Kuala Lumpur. With the Djinn inside her head and Melati need to survive in one of the darkest history event in Malaysia, can Melati ever reunited with her mother without getting caught on both sides?

Fictional and yet, based on May 13th 1969 Racial Clash in Malaysia, I found myself engrossed in reading what would be a better young adult novel about Melati trying to survive and saving some others in need of help and looking for her mother. I love the style of writing and the constant flow of storytelling. Hanna Alkaf had done no other authors (those who wrote historical stories) dare - writing fiction based on May 13th. There is suspense and there is hope, and the genuine of how close reality was written. There are scenes of violence that may make you feel cringe and there scenes of sadness that may make you feel teary. What I like about it is its straightforwardness in telling this story. The characters are well-developed in a sense you can remember them. I always love Aunty Bee and Jaydev, no matter how supporting characters they are. Still, there are words that really are memorable - "Di mana bumi dipijak, di situ langit dijunjung". Absolutely real and priceless.

I am proud to say that this is one Malaysian book everyone should read. Ms. Hanna Alkaf is bold, brave and for her first English debut book on how she wants her book to written, truly a respectable author I am looking forward in the future to read more. If you have not read The Weight of Our Sky, its time to read it.

This was a cute little adventure and some backstory into Ajax Penumbra.  In this we learn of Penumbra's origins, how he came to be in San Francisco, became a member of a secret book society, and came to own the 24-hour books store.  It was an enjoyable short story.