Book #197 of 2025: The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann An interesting nonfiction account of a 1740s maritime disaster, in which the British vessel HMS Wager was shipwrecked in the South Pacific, near modern Chile. The incident occurred during the so-called “War of Jenkins’ Ear” conflict with Spain — …
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Book #178 of 2025: 107 Days by Kamala Harris Plenty of books have been written about modern politics, but the most obvious comparison point for this particular one is probably Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign memoir What Happened, produced in the wake of her loss to Donald Trump in the 2016 election for president. Kamala Harris …
Book #168 of 2025: Forbidden: A 3,000-Year History of Jews and the Pig by Jordan D. Rosenblum This 2024 title is a fascinating account of how abstaining from pig meat became emblematic of Judaism, in a way that indexes Jewish / non-Jewish identity far beyond any other kosher practice. Author Jordan D. Rosenblum, a religious …
Book #166 of 2025: Come My Boys: Memoirs Of Thirty-Four Years On The American Stage And A Lifetime In Theta Delta Chi by Norman Hackett I have the dubious honor of being the first person on Goodreads to ever review this title, which was printed in 1960 for a very specific audience. Norman Hackett was …
Book #157 of 2025: Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers by Caroline Fraser Interesting and well-written, and yet beholden to a bizarre structure that ultimately weakens the work. Essentially there are four threads that author Caroline Fraser develops here, interweaving them as she goes: 1) a true-crime history of American serial …
Book #150 of 2025: A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through? by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith This 2023 title is an informative popular science book, with a handful of caveats. My first issue is that it’s really two works in one, and that …
Book #143 of 2025: The Aviator and the Showman: Amelia Earhart, George Putnam, and the Marriage that Made an American Icon by Laurie Gwen Shapiro These days, Amelia Earhart is probably best remembered for two things: her status as a pioneering female pilot, including her being the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, …
Book #142 of 2025: This Is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared: The Days of Awe as a Journey of Transformation by Rabbi Alan Lew The Jewish High Holy Days are approaching, which means my library’s circulation figures for this self-help title are seeing their usual annual bump. This year I remembered to place my …
Book #141 of 2025: Exterminate! Regenerate!: The Story of Doctor Who by John Higgs I’ve read — and, okay, written — quite a lot about Doctor Who, so please believe me when I say that this new history from author John Higgs is truly remarkable within that space. It’s an engaging account of how the …
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Book #139 of 2025: Disney Adults: Exploring (And Falling in Love With) a Magical Subculture by AJ Wolfe An insider’s look at the phenomenon of Disney obsessives, and particularly those fixated on the company’s domestic theme parks in Florida and California. Like many of the people whom author AJ Wolfe has spotlighted or interviewed for …
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