All Book Reviews
‘The Outlier’ paints a complex portrait of Jimmy CarterKai Bird’s “The Outlier: The Unfinished Presidency of Jimmy Carter” shows the president’s fierce intelligence, stubbornness, and decency.
Billie Jean King goes ‘All In’ on tennis and women’s equalityTennis legend Billie Jean King’s activism brought greater respect and higher pay to women’s sports, but she felt forced to hide her sexuality.
Napoleon plundered Europe’s art to bring prestige home to France“Plunder” digs deep into Napoleon’s theft of artworks across conquered Europe in his effort to enrich the Louvre and solidify French dominance.
Three amazing sports books showcase triumphs and progressTop sports books of summer focus on the Tour de France, women surfers, and the 1969 NBA finals in glorious detail, bringing the events to life.
A shepherd’s guide to feeding the planet and saving the EarthSheep farmer James Rebanks reimagines how to feed the planet and save the Earth in “Pastoral Song: A Farmer’s Journey.”
‘Lieutenant Dangerous’ uses wry humor to point out the absurdity of Vietnam WarIn his memoir about being drafted into the Vietnam War, Jeff Danziger lays bare the futility and waste, as well as his own naiveté.
‘How the Word Is Passed’: The stories we tell about racePoet, scholar, and writer Clint Smith delves into the past – both personal and collective – to unravel the tangled history of race in America.
‘The God Beat’: Journalists reflect on questions of meaning and transcendenceThis timely collection of essays explores how journalists wrestle with faith, doubt, solidarity, and protest.
Paging through summer: Cool reads for hot daysThe 10 best books of July provide cool reads for hot days. From novels to a biography, these titles offer made-in-the-shade reading enjoyment.
The popular books that brought Americans together in a common cultureThe canon of popular American literature not only unified the culture, it helped create the national narrative of individualism and self-reliance.
‘Facing the Mountain’ tells of heroic Japanese Americans who fought for the USDespite discrimination and internment, Japanese Americans joined the U.S. military during World War II and fought with honor and distinction.
‘The Holly’ digs deep into one man’s complicated efforts to end gang violence“The Holly” shows how, faced with a system stacked against him, Terrance Roberts tried to stop gang violence in Denver.
‘Black Snake’ tells the saga of Dakota Access Pipeline protests“Black Snake: Standing Rock, the Dakota Access Pipeline, and Environmental Justice” goes to the heart of the fight for Indigenous rights.
It’s the little things that make this family story come to lifeIn “Margreete’s Harbor,” Eleanor Morse shows a Maine family in the 1950s and ‘60s navigating the joys and struggles of everyday life.
Two books to make you think differently about the ocean and the beach“The Brilliant Abyss” and “The Lure of the Beach” urge action to safeguard the world’s oceans and coastlines – along with the animal life found there.
Isaac Newton’s forgotten years as a cosmopolitan LondonerNewton is often remembered as an isolated thinker. But in actuality, he lived a larger life in the heart of Britain’s biggest city.
‘The Other Black Girl’ picks apart tokenism in white work spacesNella is delighted when another Black woman is hired in her office. But things go downhill, and she must confront a very particular kind of racism.
‘America on Fire’: How police oppression fuels protests by Black citizensHistorian Elizabeth Hinton analyzes the cycle of police aggression and Black community protests since the 1960s in "America on Fire."
J.P. Morgan’s librarian hid her race. A novel imagines the toll on her.“The Personal Librarian,” based on a true story, explores the life of a Black collector who hid her race while amassing rare books for J.P. Morgan.
There’s no place like home – if you can afford Bay Area pricesA woman leaves her philandering husband in France and returns to San Francisco to relaunch her career in ‘Lorna Mott Comes Home’ by Diane Johnson.
