Last Best Hope: America in Crisis and Renewal by George Packer A friend recommended this book to me when it came out in 2023, but I guess it took the tumult of the 2024 election to make me want to understand just what the heck is going on in our country these days. Packer does …
Category: Book Review
Jul 25
Book Review: Babel
Babel by R.F. Kuang This book has magic in it, but it’s not a fantasy book so much as a historical fiction about the intersection of identity and 19th century British Colonialism. Most of the book takes place at Oxford, and carries the to-me delightful conceit that magic relies on the existence of those ineffable …
Jun 19
Book Review: The Secret Life of Groceries
The Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket by Benjamin Lorr This is a very well researched non-fiction book about the grocery industry. Lorr breaks the chapters up into sections touching on nearly every aspect of the grocery industry, from supply to shipping and niche marketing. There’s a chapter about what …
May 06
Book Review: Savage Appetites
Savage Appetites: Four True Stories of Women, Crime, and Obsession by Rachel Monroe Honestly, I’m not sure if I’m a true crime fan or not. Let me get one thing straight: I hate serial killers. They are gross and disgusting and I think it’s seriously messed up that people treat them like celebrities. If I …
Apr 26
Book Review: Paved Paradise
Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World by Henry Grabar Not since Tom Vanderbilt’s Traffic have I felt so engaged by a book about driving. Not just driving, but about the least-sexy part of driving: parking. If you live (as I do) in an American city in which driving is not a luxury but a …