About Book Marks
Recent Reviews
Al Sharpton
Positive Booklist Written during the 2020 pandemic, a crisis that has laid bare the consequences of these inequities in our society, Sharpton’s urgent call for necessary societal changes includes chapters on racial justice, gender equality, LGBTQ rights, voter rights, police reform, immigration reform, and environmental justice. His gratitude to those who taught him and the debt he feels continue to sustain his faith and commitment to his mission. By sharing his own personal struggles and experiences, Sharpton offers inspirational lessons for today’s social justice activists and supporters of a just world—and for tomorrow’s.
Shalom Auslander
Positive Booklist In his latest novel, Auslander...uses his signature dark humor to brilliantly satirize tribalism in America with the story of the Seltzers, a dysfunctional group of 12 siblings attending to the death and disposal of their mother. What makes them unique is the fact that they are Cannibals ... Graphic situations abound; even the characters are revolted, while, through their often ludicrous stories, Auslander explores the sense of otherness and the value of diversity. This could be a portrait of any ethnic group that has been consumed by America, though, in this case, it’s unclear who is devouring whom.
Yishai Sarid, Trans by Yardenne Greenspan
Positive Booklist Sarid sensitively evinces the mental fatigue that comes from repeated exposure to atrocities, even for a young Holocaust historian like the unnamed guide ... Sarid examines how our understanding of the Holocaust and, implicitly, other periods of strife is dependent on those who interpret history for us. Through the eyes of the narrator, we learn much about humanity’s endurance as well as the inhumanity and moral ambiguities in historical narratives. Sarid effectively challenges us to bear witness alongside the characters in this thought-provoking book.
Eric A. Posner
Positive Booklist Posner takes readers through a fascinating political history focused on the men (yes, no women so far) who best illustrate the manipulative power of the populist demagogue ... By reading Posner’s survey, readers will see more clearly and starkly the historical context of Trump’s rise to political power and how he appeals and holds on to his base.
Mikhal Dekel
Rave Booklist The backstory about how Dekel, now a professor of comparative literature in the U.S., began researching this project with an Iranian colleague, adds an interesting personal aspect to this work of excellent scholarship and a harrowing history illuminating both the specifics of the past and the universal aspects of the refugee experience.
Timuel D. Black
Positive Booklist His vivid memories of Chicago since the 1920s recount the rich history of the generation of African Americans whose families were part of the Great Migration from the rural south to the urban north ... He continues to be an inspiration and mentor to multiple generations of Chicagoans, and now his story can inspire others.
Max Boot
Positive Booklist He lays out his beliefs and asks which party represents him. His conclusion is none as currently constituted, but he hopes a new center right will emerge from the ashes of today’s Republican Party. Readers across the political spectrum will appreciate Boot’s thoughtful personal and political analysis.
Michael Eric Dyson
Positive Booklist Dyson continues his illumination of complex issues of race in his latest compelling book ... After providing the backstories and historical context of the participants, Dyson offers contemporary examples of public figures who struggle for equality. The result is a moving ode to the potentiality of American social progress.
James Pogue
Positive Booklist Pogue’s personal anecdotes and brief history of western land-use conflicts add flavor and context to his chronicle of the standoff ... Pogue was able to portray the central characters with more dimension than found in news accounts.
Rachel Slade
Positive Booklist With skillful narrative prose and sensitivity, Slade takes readers on the final voyage of the El Faro ... Interwoven with the point-by-point time line are insightful backstories of America’s shipping industry, the El Faro’s 41 years in service, and, most affectingly, her crew.
Cass R. Sunstein
Positive Booklist Online Through these carefully sourced essays, readers will gain a framework in which to evaluate the hyperbolic rhetoric disseminated on so many platforms.
Jeff Goodell
Positive Booklist ...[an] engaging book ... Goodell circles the globe, interviewing scientists and those responsible for keeping people and their homes above water, observing how cities and nations, many already dealing with more frequent flooding and seawater contamination of freshwater sources, are able to adapt varies widely because of differing economic and political conditions. For some, it will mean building vast seawalls to shore up existing development, for others it will mean elevating infrastructure or abandoning low-lying regions and islands within a few generations.
David Callahan
Rave Booklist He makes a strong case for greater oversight as megawealthy individuals, driven by the tech billionaires and committed to the 'Giving Pledge,' attempt to redistribute much of their wealth during their lifetimes ... Not only focused on gloom-and-doom, Callahan includes many positive examples in this fascinating look into perhaps one of the least understood trends in the public square.