Tag: America
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Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling by Jason de León
Soldiers and Kings is an eye opening look into human smuggling (not trafficking) in Mexico. It blew up everything I thought I knew about the migrant crisis in Central America
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Catalina by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
Catalina is radiant and irresistible. I could read a thousand pages narrated by this character.
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When the Clock Broke by John Ganz
When The Clock Broke is an engaging and enlightening bit of history. It does a great job of showing how little has changed in the past 3 decades.
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Surviving Autocracy by Masha Gessen
Surviving Autocracy was finished in early 2020. In it, Masha Gessen presents the reality of the terrifying moment, and perhaps a preview of the near future.
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The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Shattering, beautiful and essential
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The Trees by Percival Everett
What if Mel Brooks and Jordan Peele wrote an Elmore Leonard novel? This is unbelievably good.
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Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Essential reading. Even if you have no interest in American history or the Civil War.
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James by Percival Everett
Everett’s interpretation of the slave character from Huckleberry Finn is subversive, funny, thrilling and thought-provoking.
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A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines
Gaines’ 1993 story of a Black man’s execution in the 1940s is urgent, upsetting and unforgettable.
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Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America by Heather Cox Richardson
This is an excellent progressive history of the United States, and contextualizes a lot of our modern moment for people who feel like America has gone crazy since about 2016. Problem is, I’m a history and politics nerd, so for me there wasn’t a lot to chew on here. That’s my problem though, not the…