Best for: Anyone looking for an entertaining read that also might help you embrace your unconventional life choices. In a nutshell: Author Sarah Knight (who has written two other sort-of-self-help books) offers some updates to the social contract to help people get more out of life with a little less worry. Worth quoting: “The friends who don’t judge you for choosing what’s best for you are the ones you’ll want to keep closer than anyone.” “You’re not ‘unsuccessful’ if you never dialed up a particular […]
Geopolitics 101
Best for: Anyone interested in a basic understanding of how the earth has influenced politics across the world. In a nutshell: Author Tim Marshall breaks the world into ten regions and gives an overview of how different geographic and cultural components (rivers, deserts, mountains, harbors, tribes) have affected different political decisions. Worth quoting: “The better your relationship with Russia, the less you pay for energy; for example, Finland get a better deal than the Baltic States.” “China has locked itself into the global economy. If […]
Compelling Story – Now I Need to See the Film
Best for: Those interested in fiction told from multiple viewpoints. In a nutshell: Post-WWII Mississippi. A white family takes over a farm that includes Black tenant farmers. Worth quoting: “I simply got up and went on. I bathed my sour body, combed my hair, put on a clean dress and took up my roles of wife and mother again, though without really inhabiting them. After a time I realized that inhabiting them wasn’t required. As long as I did what was expected of me — […]
That Timeline Would Have Been Better
Best for: Anyone who is a fan of Secretary Clinton; anyone who isn’t a fan of Secretary Clinton; anyone interested in learning more about how we can prevent something like Trump from happening again. In a nutshell: First major-party woman nominee for President of the US loses to an ignorant charlatan and seeks to figure out why. Worth quoting: “Throughout the 2016 campaign, my staff would come to me wide-eyed. ‘You’ll never believe what Trump said today. It was vile.’ I always believed it. Not […]