Archive for Book Review

Book Review: Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama

May 10, 2017

An exhaustive dissection of virtually every experience that went into shaping our 44th president.

Book Review: At the Edge of the World: The Heroic Century of the French Foreign Legion

April 5, 2017

Part biography, part history, part homage to manly men in the mercenary service of colonial overreach.

Let the Book Speak for Itself

March 22, 2017

J.D. Vance’s thoughtful, engaging HILLBILLY ELEGY has become the demon/darling of pundits on all sides. My advice: ignore them and let the book speak for itself.

Book Review: Dark at the Crossing

March 6, 2017

When the cause seems hopeless, what distinguishes dedication from delusion?

Toward Compassion

January 22, 2017

It’s worth considering what we mean by compassion, empathy, and a shared social contract–and what we lose when we don’t bother to consider it at all.

Jenny’s Year in Reading, 2016

December 31, 2016

2016 was an exceptionally good reading year. Here’s what I managed to consume!

Book Review: The Bowl with Gold Seams

November 22, 2016

This gorgeous, quietly nuanced debut novel teaches that what is broken is also beautiful.

Book Review: The Most Famous Writer Who Ever Lived

November 10, 2016

He may no longer be a household name, but after reading this captivating bio/memoir, you’ll never forget MacKinlay Kantor.

Book Review: Mary Astor’s Purple Diary: The Great American Sex Scandal of 1936

November 5, 2016

The legendary illustrator delivers a rip-roaring fan bio that reminds us coitus isn’t a recent invention.

Book Review: Commonwealth

September 25, 2016

The line between fiction and autobiography blurs in this wholly satisfying novel.