This is a lovely short book that follows up on the author's wildly successful book, Braiding Sweetgrass.  I have heard the criticism that despite the
indigenousness of the author that the books are written for a white audience and this may be true, but as the white audience I have to say that I loved both of them.  This one in particular talks about an ecology economy and the meaningfulness of a gift economy and of investing in community.  Whether this is because you want the benefits that come from gifting, in terms of the emotional connections, the furthering of your values, or even indirect marketing of your business, an economy that incorporates gift giving and receiving should not be underestimated. 
There were a couple of themes that particularly resonated for me.  First, wealth is not what you have, but what you give away and, second, if there isn't enough of what you want, then want something else.  Aren’t those just lovely ideas that you want to file away and remember? 

Recommend.

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The title of this book was really misleading, although the photos on the cover might have given me a hint that it wasn't going to be a romance novel.  A memoir written by a well-known presidential historian, the center of the memoir is her husband, who was a speech writer for JFK, Lyndon B Johnson, and Bobby Kennedy.  The audio version includes audio clips from some of the speeches she talks about. Perhaps the title refers to the triumph of love over hate in the American political landscape or to the love that they had for the country, because romantic love was not at the center of the story, at least not until the very end when they are working together on this project.  I wish the book had told us more about their interpersonal dynamics, a 1960's power couple at a time when two careers and children was uncommon, probably especially so in the highly charged DC world.  I would have been really interested to have had that explored more.

As a history of the Democratic party, it was a detailed historians account--at times deeply interesting and at times fairly mundane and boring.  What I liked the most, though, was the reminder that this moment in time, when it feels like the country has reached the end of its capacity to endure the political divides that it is based on, is not unique.  It is not even the moment in time in which the demise of the country appears the most imminent.  Hearing the first hand account of the turmoil, of the violence, of the divisions in the country, especially during the five year span of time in which MLK and the Kennedy brothers were assassinated, provided some solace for me, knowing that the country has been here before and has returned from the brink of implosion many times, that it is still possible that it could right itself.  

I don't know that I have ever heard or read many of the speeches from that era, but they were not only actually inspiring, but still relevant.  It is hard to remember sometimes how far we have come and that this was accomplished not only with protests in the streets and with education in classrooms, but also with leaders in the system with a vision and willingness to show up to do the hard work of leadership.

The hesitation that I have in making a recommendation on this one is just that there really were sections that were dull, including a few that I fell asleep to multiple times before finally just skipping, something I rarely do.

Recommended, but a soft recommend.  

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After watching the new Bob Dylan bio-pic (A Complete Unknown) a few weeks ago, I realized that I didn't know as much about Pete Seeger's experience with the House Un-American Activities Committee during the McCarthy Era, so I went looking for a biography that might provide a deep dive into this topic.  Alas, this was the only thing I could find on an available audio version.  It wasn't bad, it just wasn't as in depth as I would have liked.  I was hoping for something more like the recent CIA and FBI books I have read.  Seeger is such an inspiring example of lifelong activism and commitment to his values and I really wish there had been more that just a quick overview.
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Not not recommended.

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As a general rule, when reading a microhistory, I either really love it or really hate it, but in this case I came out of the book with mixed feelings.  Perhaps it was because a lot of this book is about art history and, not being very interested in that topic, I was often bored and found it difficult to even listen for the larger themes in those sections because they were so detailed about things I just don't care much about.  Yet, there were other parts that I did find really fascinating, including the history of BMI and the focus on weight as part of health having been started by the health insurance industry glomping onto bad data and then pushing this idea that to be thin was to be healthier than to be plump.  I also thought the shift in Christian thought towards austerity and self-denial went hand-in-hand with the idea that it was unChristian to be "fat" because it was associated with gluttony and indulgence was interesting.  Finally, while I had heard about the racist history of fat shaming, I was surprised that for quite a while, "doctors" and purported "scientists" had strong opinions that considered the Irish to be much closer "racially" to Black people than white people with respect to the heathenism they associated with larger bodies.  I was also not expecting the discussion about pastors pushing "diets" to lose weight and, in particular, how messaging from the Seventh Day Adventist church leaders played a roll in these cultural shifts.  I didn't know that the vegetarian, high water diet came from a religious judgment about weight rather than a place of health.  The book is full of side-facts and small details that I found interesting--like that Kellogg and Post cereals both came about as part of the movement that valued slim builds and saw vegetarian diets that included a lot of milk as the answer.  So, overall, lots of obscure and fascinating tidbits, but not enough to hold my attention for the whole book. I suspect people who are more versed in art history would like this a lot more than I did.

Not not recommended.

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This memoir written by the founder of the #MeToo movement focuses on what it is like to have done the work of helping survivors without attention or gratitude and certainly not without credit and glory.  I loved how she recounts her unwillingness to say "me, to" in so many contexts over the course of her life and the impact that had not only her, but on the people in her life, including the survivors she was working with.  It is my favorite kind of memoir about domestic violence in that it is not graphic, but instead gets its intensity and strength from a deep reflection on what it means to be a survivor and how healing can happen for someone.
Recommend

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 This book about domestic and sexual violence, writing by an American attorney, provides a detailed narrative that compiles information, data, and theory from a variety of disciplines and expertly describes how we disbelieve and blame victims of intimate violence, both in and out of the court system.  It does not read like a text book or legal brief, but rather provides case examples written in a succinct and captivating narrative.  The content is not more explicit than it needs to be and just does an excellent job of bringing together a lot of information in a good read.

Highly recommend

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An interesting summary of the data on racism in the health care system, the book wasn't a page turner, but was well-enough written to hold my attention.  The information, while important, is primarily a compilation of things I had read in articles and heard in the news.  The firsthand accounts were fresh though and while I can see the book being part of a medical or social work education, as far as being a leisure read, I felt like it lacked the kind of themed threat that bring these types of books out of the classroom and into the types of reading I most enjoy where learning in woven into good storytelling.

Not recommended.

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This was not a light read by any means.  An historical fiction novel about uninformed, forced sterilization of young Black women in Alabama.  Set in 1973, the year of Roe v. Wade, this story about the other side of choice in reproductive freedom tells the story of a nurse turned social worker whose part in a reproductive health clinic that she thought was empowering women and girls to make choices to delay parenthood haunts her throughout her life.  It is a powerful narrative of activism, guilt, and loss.  I particularly love the portrayal of the protagonist as she struggles with her own choices and relationships with her privilege against the backdrop of her patients lack of choice.  Poignant and weighty.  

​Recommend.




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Written by a physician at the center of the work to bring the concept of ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) to the forefront of medical care, there was a lot of really interesting material in this book.  I liked many of the parts where she talks about how she talks to patients and other medical providers about ACEs and the importance of understanding their role in long term health outcomes, but I have to say that I did not love her writing style.  I feel bad even saying that, to some extent, since I imagine she is a fabulous physician and it is clear from the subtext in the book that she has done amazing work, not only for individual patients and their families, but also for the community where she works.  Beyond that, her work has impact widespread policy changes and helped normalized ACE screening across settings.  The other issue I had with the book is that I think it is already due for an update, as the work being done on ACEs since 2018, has expanded the knowledge based in such a way that some of what is here feels outdated.  

I am torn about a recommendation, because there is so much in this book I want everyone to know about, but the writing and the age of the book make me hesitant to recommend it.  Additionally, I did not love the author as narrator here, although in fairness, it is rare that I like the author of a book as the narrator.  

Finally, although I do not mean to pile on to make it seem like I liked it less than I did, I found the book in general to be fairly depressing.  I know the idea is to raise awareness about the important of ACES screening, and she did provide examples of specific interventions for individual patients of hers, but the overall tone felt pretty dismal for folks with high ACE scores.  I wish there had been more of an emphasis on systemic approaches to reducing ACE scores in the first place.  I wished for that even though that was clearly outside the range of what could be expected from her given all that she had already been doing.

Ultimately, this is going to be not not recommended.

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Warning: The first book will suck you in and then leave you hanging at the end, such that not reading the next three in the series, the prequel, and the parallel book with the backstory for one of the characters feel inevitable. 

Second warning: Despite being drawn in and reading not just the four books released in the series, but the other 2 related books, you will still be left hanging as the fifth book in the series is not slated to be released until January 2025!  You will wonder, is this another Outlander series where I will be living in an alternative world for months on end and left without a conclusion for years at a time?

So, here I am.  This not-so-young adult fiction set in a world of magical fantasy where factions of humans and other creatures, big surprise, do not get along.  What I love about this series is, unlike many fantasy worlds, none of the factions are all good or all bad.  Sort of like real life where every country and culture has some--or a lot--of problematic aspect, but also those same problematic people have some wonderful customs, values, and people.  The story is all about how we collectively villainize people collectively across borders, but also how we oppress people in our communities who do not comply with societal expectations.  Just when I got comfortable hating a particular group, the point of view would shift and it was revealed that all was not what was presented.  There are multiple unreliable narrators here, reminding the reader of the complexity of cross-cultural understanding. 

I loved the character growth and revelations, as the depth of many of the characters and their secrets are slowly divulged.  I also particularly love that even though there are strings of romance that are both sweet and a little titillating, these are not simplistic young adult romances of my youth.  For characters to have multiple love interests, be unclear who they love, what they want, and whether that should even be important in the context of a world at war is so unusual in a novel, let alone one in this genre. 

Be aware, this is a war novel, with a lot of pain and violence.  There is sexual and domestic violence, torture, and brutal combat scenes.  This was sometimes too detailed and went on for too long for my taste, but on the other hand much of it is steeped in the magic of the world and these scenes provide additional information about what is possible in ways that foreshadow other uses of the magic, so I can't say that it is entirely gratuitous.
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Recommend. 

P.S.  I am aware now of the backlash against this book as being written by a white (straight?) author about discrimination since there is a lot of very offensive language and themes that mirrors language used by Nazi and KKK groups.  I have to wonder if folks who had that criticism read the series because one of the things I liked about the book was how it starts each thread of the a person's story with how they were raised, including their xenophobic and patriotic indoctrination, and shows how they do or do not grow over time as they are exposed to various hardships in their life.  Some become entrenched in bigotry, while others resist the extremism and embrace love.  I don't know how you tell this type of story without writing about what that looks like. 

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