This book is equal parts gorgeous and terrifying. It’s a travelogue, a memoir, and most of all, an incredibly powerful piece of journalism about the eroding effects of climate change on our coastlines and coastal communities. Reading it felt like looking over Rush’s shoulder as she traveled to each devastated coastline location, discovering again and again the damage being done by rising sea levels-- the homes being lost, the lives being lost, the ecology being forever changed.
She mixes her reporting with first person accounts from people living in the locations she covers and her own personal story to create something really unique, truly compelling, and deeply vital. (Plus, gorgeous, eminently underlineable writing.)
What a gorgeous book this is. Smarsh's prose is damn near poetry and her family story is both crazy and all too normal an experience for the "white working class" farm families in the heartland of America.
Smarsh pulls some real wisdom about class and income inequality and prejudice out of her own history, yet is never remiss in pointing out that Black people in poverty had it much worse than families like hers. Her voice is strong and clear, nostalgic but realistic. You come away from the book really liking her, which is not always the case with memoir. She’s smart and strong and a formidable writer. I loved it.
I absolutely could not put this book down once I started it. I carried it from room to room. I read it in the car while my husband was driving, which is pretty rude. I read it on a boat! Like while someone was water skiing! Seriously! It’s just the nuttiest story, and Carreyrou does a great job of bringing all of the craziness to life.
You may have heard about Elizabeth Holmes, the 19 year old Stanford dropout who started a blood testing company with a novel idea—test people for diseases with just a drop of blood, instead of a whole needle-full, and get their results in mere moments. It sounded great, and lots of venture capitalists and companies agreed.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t make the tech work. The team behind Theranos made so many bad decisions, compounded by wild hubris and a psychotic need for complete control. And greed. And blind ambition. It’s nuts they got as far as they did.
I AM OBSESSED WITH THIS BOOK. I could not put it down. It was actually a problem.
So, I was ages 6-16 during the 90s—old enough to know what was going on but not old enough to really get it. I knew about Nicole Brown, Monica Lewinsky, Lorena Bobbit, Murphy Brown, and Britney Spears. I knew the names and a rough idea of why people were talking shit about them but HOLY CRAP THE 90s WERE CRUEL TO WOMEN. These women were called bitches and no one saw a problem with it. Yarrow pulls all of these pieces of 90s cultural ephemera together into a cogent argument— “empowerment” was on the rise but so was the commodification of “girl power.” Women were making strides in business and politics but sexism was still rampant. The appearance was of progress but the reality was the same old shit. And the media had a lot to do with it. This book is so fascinating, entertaining, and compelling as hell.
So You Want to Talk about Race by Ijeoma Oluo
OKAY, WHITE PEOPLE. PICK UP THIS BOOK. BUY IT. READ IT. BE BETTER. Oluo has done us a HUGE service by writing this book. She addresses all the ways white people are getting race wrong, all the ways we are still talking and thinking about it wrong—affirmative action, white privilege, intersectionality, police brutality, microaggressions, and more. She explains what it is, how we can talk about it, why it’s important, and how we can be better. She gives examples of racist encounters from her own life—so not only is this a guidebook, it’s also a very personal look at Oluo’s life. (She’s amazing by the way.) Even for someone who thinks they are a great ally—you will come away with notes on how you can do better.
My biggest takeaway—when you get something wrong, apologize and do better next time. Don’t be defensive.
Well this book is 100% certifiably NUTS. It’s also an absolute must read if you are fascinated by conspiracy theories and the people who believe them/make them up. The subtitle makes it sounds like it’s a grand history about Truth in America, but it’s totally not. It’s just one nut’s story. It does say a lot about America and why some people believe what they believe, despite how ludicrous it is (I’m looking at you, Flat Earthers) and that makes it very relevant for today, “fake news” and Fox news and all.
William Cooper is probably not someone you have heard of, though if you have? WEIRD BUT OKAY. He published a book with an obscure press called Behold a Pale Horse in 1991 that has gone on to sell 100s of thousands of copies—right wing nuts, rappers, and prison inmates are the most rabid fans. Which yup, that’s an odd group of people. Cooper had a crazy life and he believed some DEEPLY INSANE THINGS. This book is X Files come to life. I could not put it down or stop talking about it. (Ask my husband.)
How to Write an Autobiographical Novel: Essays by Alexander Chee
This essay collection absolutely blew me away. I loved every minute of it. It’s the perfect thing for writers or aspiring writers, or readers who love to know how the sausage is made, how stories are pulled from a life, how that life remains intact and protected despite it. Chee is both a phenomenal writer, and I assume from this book, a gifted writing teacher.
Through his essays, he takes us from his life growing up in rural Maine to college where he impulsively applied to be in Annie Dillard’s writing class, and what he learned when he got in. It’s about his life as a gay man, in San Francisco during the early 90s when AIDs was like a crashing wave. (His piece “After Peter” is one of the collection’s strongest and absolutely wrecked me.) He writes about his time at Iowa, learning how to craft stories, and his experiences as a cater waiter, most notably and wildly for the Buckleys. I loved his pieces about his rose garden and learning to read tarot. Uggghhhh it’s just sooooo goooooooooood. Read it.
This book could not be lovelier. “Wait, isn’t it about a library fire,” you ask. “Like, just tons of books going up in smoke? Wait, are you one of those sickos who burns books? Why do you work at a bookstore? Wait...why...do...you...work...here. What is going on. Where is the fire exit.”
OKAY YES TECHNICALLY IT IS ABOUT A GREAT BIG AWFUL LIBRARY FIRE. But really, it’s about books and the people who love them. It’s about the goodness and needfulness of libraries. It’s about how the Los Angeles library system came into being, the leaders who made it what it is today (many were wonderful strong women), and the resiliency that was required to bring it back from the worst library fire in American history. And because it’s Susan Orlean, it’s fascinating— full of history you didn’t know you needed and written in the style of your coolest best friend telling you an unforgettable story about a strange thing that happened, oh, and also, about herself.
