Milo and the Calf

Tag: books

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    Review: Ide I.Q.

    I.Q. Joe Ide Cat nip for the crime novel fan. Fast paced P.I. story set in Los Angeles with a compelling protagonist, I.Q. A genius, a high school dropout, black, socially insecure and from Long Beach. He’s an unusual hero in a genre more often populated by misanthropic ex-cop white dudes.  You won’t be surprised…

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    Review: Gay’s Hunger A Memoir of (My) Body

    Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body Roxanne Gay A gut punch, a wake up call, a deeply effecting book about race, sexual assault, food, immigration, class, writing, love and America. Really a must read. I’m someone who cares deeply about health and fitness.  I struggle to make the right food choices, and hit the gym,…

  • Review: Ward’s Salvage the Bones

    Salvage the Bones Jesmyn Ward Stunning prose. A look into a world (rural, black, deep south) that is not often depicted in literature. Really, really good. Salvage the Bones tells the story of a young girl and her family and community as they prepare for, and endure, Hurricane Katrina. The sense of dread that permeates…

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    Review: Okorafor’s Who Fears Death

    Who Fears Death Nnedi Okorafor I’ve been reading science fiction and fantasy for most of my life. I devoured William Gibson in my teens, got deep into new wave in my twenties, and learned the classics in my thirties. I’m not an expert in the genre, by any means, but I’m also reasonably well read.…

  • Book Review: Lew’s This Is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared

    This Is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared: The Days of Awe as a Journey of Transformation Allan Lew A meditation on the Jewish High Holidays by one of the most important reform rabbis of the last fifty years. A deeply honest and moving book. The most spiritually moving piece of literature I have read,…

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    Jemisin’s The Obelisk Gate

    The Obelisk Gate N.K. Jemisin This is the follow up to Jemisin’s incredible, mind blowing, the Fifth Season and its good. Very good, even. Jemisin’s prose is top rate, and the story churns forward revealing more about our characters and the world they inhabit, while still keeping up the mystery and allure that made Fifth…

  • Nicolson’s Why Homer Matters

    Why Homer Matters: A History Adam Nicolson This one hit all my sweet spots. A book about Homer that is part travelogue / memoir, part meditation on deep engagement with a text, and part ancient history primer. A must read for the ancient history enthusiast. Nicolson’s easy erudition and his deep emotional connection to the…

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    Review: Lanier’s You Are Not A Gadget

    You Are Not A Gadget: A Manifesto Jaron Lanier Lock-in is apparently a concept well known among engineers, but I was unfamiliar with it until this book. It’s worth thinking about. Basically, the concept is that in large complex systems, simple, often arbitrary, decisions can have long lasting effects, which when compounded, can limit the…

  • Review: Flynn and Gerhardt’s The Silent Brotherhood: The Chilling Inside Story of America’s Violent, Anti-Government Militia Movement

    The Silent Brotherhood: The Chilling Inside Story of America’s Violent, Anti-Government Militia Movement Kevin Flynn Gary Gerhardt The first on the scene book about the “the Order”, a white supremacist criminal gang that robbed banks to fund the white power movement and was involved in the assassination of liberal radio DJ Alan Berg. Told is…

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    Review: LaValle’s The Changeling

    A book that starts out as a heartwarming tale of parenthood, turns real dark, real fast, and ends up a surreal exploration of a world of monsters, cults, and heartbroken parents in New York City. Kinda about parenthood, kinda about race and difference, kinda about the role of social media, and kinda about the immigrant…