4 Stars. There’s a lot going on here as John Lewis transitions his life story from March to Run. The Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act were finally passed at the end of March: Book Three but that doesn’t mean that the struggle is over. The book feels a little chaotic to me but it’s about a chaotic […]
I haven’t yet read Mr. Lewis’s more traditional autobiographies for comparison, but actually seeing the hate and the violence confronting people who just want to be treated like full citizens of their country with equal rights in these graphic memoirs is so powerful. What struck me most as I read […]
5 Stars. Sometimes it feels that everyone has strong opinions about Israel and the Middle East. Given the current war, I found myself forming my own strong opinions even though I knew practically nothing about the modern history of Israel and its relations with the Palestinians and surrounding […]
4 Stars. I found this absolutely fascinating. It’s written in a simple question and answer format with an index and extensive bibliography. It’s easy to dip in and out of but I mostly read it straight through. He begins with my first question after reading the title, “What general terms are most appropriate for talking about […]
4 Stars. The framework for this graphic novel seems a bit odd at first. An artificial intelligence guides the girls through important times and places, beginning with Sumer in 3000 BCE. That framework does serve to tie everything together though. The “story” basically consists of brief biographical sketches of women from all over […]
4 Stars. Reading Our Time is Now in the wake of the 2020 election felt a bit like a victory dance. Anyone who isn’t outraged by voter suppression doesn’t have a good concept of what “government by the people” means. As a white woman, I’ve never experienced anything like what Ms. Abrams details in these pages. This review keeps […]
4 Stars. I miss Obama in the White House, I really do. Reading his thoughts and decision-making processes, his deliberations, his efforts to reflect many voices from many backgrounds in his policies–I just miss that stability and thoughtfulness. That said, I’ll start with my one complaint. At 703 pages (751 with the index), the […]
4 Stars. In this information age, we find ourselves bombarded with facts or “facts,” as the case may be. A fringe group believing a kooky conspiracy theory may seem fairly harmless but when large swathes of the population believe anything they read that reinforces their own beliefs, we have a huge problem. Consider these sobering statistics […]
I almost always have one nonfiction book on the go that I read exclusively before bed. I’m primarily a fiction reader so I don’t usually fall into the “one more chapter” trap that keeps me awake way past my bedtime if I follow this plan. This was not a great book for that. It’s intelligently written, presented, and argued, but […]
Malala Yousafzai was only fifteen when she was shot in the head by a member of the Taliban for speaking out for education for everyone around the world, but especially for girls, and especially in Muslim countries. She miraculously survived and now has an even larger audience for her message. I think I’d heard a […]
After following the Northern Alliance troops around Afghanistan and reporting on the fall of the Taliban, journalist Åsne Seierstad finds herself in Kabul. She stumbles upon a bookshop and goes in. She and the proprietor, Sultan, hit it off at first and she is invited to spend a little time with his family. She thinks […]