This is not a new release but if you have wondered about Ukraine, its history starting with WW II and the struggle over who shall own and control this part of the world, this book is for you. I read this book years ago and since then it has been updated with a new afterword. Snyder is the premier authority regarding this never ending conflict and provides insightful background to the current conflict. A must read for those looking for answers and reasons behind this struggle. I highly recommend this book.
Indelible City: Dispossession and Defiance in Hong Kong by Louisa Lim is a deeply personal reflection on the contested yet collective history, memory, and identity of Hong Kong from the ancient times through the Umbrella Movement of 2019. It is a deliberate reexamination of what it means to be a Hong Konger whether it be under British rule or China’s “One Country, Two Systems” policy. Lim created a meticulously researched and profoundly eye-opening piece of literature which is thoroughly engaging and necessary for our contemporary moment.
If you wanna be angry and raise your blood pressure to prehypertension levels, read this book. All of the heinous practices in the pharmaceutical industry can be traced back to Arthur Sackler, and down through his demonic progeny. I'm certain you don't know just how deep this stuff goes.
If you are interested in the concept of material things having spirit, read this book! Tiya Miles does a gorgeous job of describing how a mother's love was passed down through generations of enslaved women via a fabric sack. This book also addresses the archival erasure which prevents us from ever truly knowing some families' stories. Miles uses her expertise as a historian and an empath to speculate on the ways in which the inherited sack might have carried a mother's hopes of giving her daughter a chance at survival and resistance during a period of American history where, for Black women, such things were against the odds.
Green does something very special here. Rather than situate the victims in the story of the killer, he focuses on the victims themselves. They're people, not simply a statistic. Green adeptly illustrates that, which makes the book even more of a page turner. I read it over one night, I couldn't put it down!
I preordered this book after falling in love with the Seattle Pinball Museum and it did not disappoint! This full-color history of pinball with tips and tricks is as informative as it is surprisingly inspiring.
As children, it is so difficult to understand the decisions our parents make, or how they love us. Koh’s rediscovery and subsequent translation of her mother’s letters is the rediscovery of a mother’s love. The interspersed memories provide a hard-hitting perspective, but it is balanced by such lyrical delivery.
If you care about exercise as much as I do, which isn't much, you should still read this book. This is not a comprehensive dive into the history of exercise. And while he does explore major players and events on the fitness timeline, this is really more of a memoir/travelogue/delightful anthropological study. Bill Hayes has this amazing ability to truly connect with the people he meets. His compassion and kindness towards humankind are on full display, and lest you fear sentimentality, his dry wit and humor are here too. Complete with cameos from Oliver Sacks and RBG, this book is informative, funny, warm, and surprisingly poignant. I would read Bill Hayes write about anything...yes, even exercise.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland meets Vesper Flights in this whimsically melodic collection of animal based essays. Amy Leach and her ensemble will undoubtedly win you over with bouts of incredulous laughter and many moments of awe. If everyone should lend them an ear, we'd all care a little more and learn a lot too.
Reading this book feels like strolling through an intimate and fascinating museum installation. Within are the accounts of prosecutions lobbed at both animals and inanimate objects throughout history, displaying the unreasoned masculine insistence to construct an 'ordered' world. A beautifully designed book.
