by Barbara the Bibliophage | Feb 23, 2021 | RESIST: Politics
The Death of Truth: Notes on Falsehood in the Age of Trump from Michiko Kakutani sat on my shelf for years, since being published to great acclaim in 2018. Other books related to the political situation during the Trump Administration felt more relevant. After reading...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jan 29, 2021 | RESIST: Politics
Doris Kearns Goodwin creates a behemoth of early twentieth century history in The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism. I confess to knowing very little beyond the basics about Roosevelt. Before reading this book, I...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jan 20, 2021 | RESIST: Politics
John O. Brennan does everything you’d expect in his 2019 memoir Undaunted: My Fight Against America’s Enemies, at Home and Abroad. He lived a CIA life. But this isn’t all clandestine stuff, like watching a season of Homeland. While there are some parallels, Brennan...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Dec 11, 2020 | RESIST: Social Justice
Despite finishing Separated by Jacob Soboroff over a week ago, reviewing it is a struggle for me. It’s a complex book, so I worry I won’t do it justice. At the same time, at the center of it is the human ability to be cruel. And in this case children, even babies,...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Dec 2, 2020 | RESIST: Politics
I spent 30 hours listening to Barack Obama in November. Hint: It was the audiobook of his recently released memoir, A Promised Land. I consider it time well spent, as well as an enjoyable listen. And even though I was alive and politically aware during the events of...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Nov 18, 2020 | RESIST: Politics
Watching real-life strongman moves while reading Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present from Ruth Ben-Ghiat is both surreal and chilling. But given that the book’s publication date was also the U.S. Election Day, comparisons are inevitable. At least to one of the...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Oct 3, 2020 | RESIST: Politics
Rage by Bob Woodward is the combination of rage-inducing, all the rage, and full of rage. Woodward’s on every interview show (at least on the channels I watch). He’s getting his message out and selling books, for gosh sakes. Plus of course, time is short before...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Sep 6, 2020 | RESIST: Politics
Nick Capodice and Hannah McCarthy host a show and podcast called Civics 101 on New Hampshire Public Radio. This experience makes them uniquely qualified to write A User’s Guide to Democracy: How America Works. It’s a 21st century primer on everything about U.S....
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Sep 3, 2020 | RESIST: Politics
What does it say about my reading habits that when I needed something easy, I picked up the 2017 book Unbelievable: My Front Row Seat to the Craziest Campaign in American History by Katy Tur? And that subtitle? It’s not holding up over time, if the state of the 2020...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Sep 1, 2020 | LEARN: Chronic Illness, RESIST: Politics
Our Malady: Lessons in Liberty from a Hospital Diary by Timothy Snyder is just under 200 pages. While it’s not long, it covers topics we all face daily whether we know it or not—our health and freedom. A Yale professor, historian, and writer, Snyder was not well at...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Aug 18, 2020 | RESIST: Politics
Stacy Abrams knows voting rights. Starting in college, she worked on voter registration drives. And this led her to more civic service, including serving for ten years in the Georgia State House of Representatives. You may be more familiar with her because of her 2018...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jul 30, 2020 | RESIST: Politics
Jesse Wegman demystifies the Electoral College in his new book, Let the People Pick the President: The Case for Abolishing the Electoral College. No, really. He lays out all the myths I thought were true and some I didn’t. Then Wegman puts every one of them in...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jul 23, 2020 | RESIST: Politics
Jason Stanley breaks down How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them in this short, but intense book. We throw the term fascism around a lot these days. Better understand what it is before using it in a sentence. Or so I told myself when starting this book....
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jul 18, 2020 | RELAX: Memoir, RESIST: Politics
If you’ve been present for the last five years, you know that Donald Trump (herein mostly referred to as 45*) is all about winning. But sometimes his wins aren’t especially positive. Like the story Mary Trump tells in her new book, Too Much and Never Enough: How My...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jun 29, 2020 | RESIST: Social Justice
Mychal Denzel Smith crafted a group of stunning essays in his new book, Stakes is High: Life After the American Dream. These essays are so spot on and relevant to current events as to be fully prescient. When in fact, they’re discussing complex conditions that have...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jun 16, 2020 | RESIST: Politics
Jonathan Karl offers new insights into the current White House in his book, Front Row at the Trump Show. And of course, that means insights on two other important subjects: the President himself, and the concept of the free press. Karl is a long-time journalist, who’s...
Recent Comments