About Book Marks
Recent Reviews
George Black
Positive Los Angeles Review of Books Penetrating ... Reading Black’s well-documented, vivid descriptions of the war and its aftermath stirred the same grim memories I had walking through Project RENEW’s Mine Action Visitor Center ... His meticulously researched book would have been improved by the inclusion of a glossary to allow readers to decode the arcane terminology of war.
Kerri K. Greenidge
Rave Los Angeles Review of Books Remarkable ... Excavating voluminous archives of slave records, correspondence, articles from the Black and mainstream presses, and speeches, Greenidge, a Tufts University professor, delves into the complexity of the Grimke family with a fresh and illuminating perspective ... A sweeping family saga.
A K Blakemore
Rave Los Angeles Review of Books \"In Blakemore’s capable hands and vivid imagination, the women, silenced for generations, come alive ... Blakemore expertly wields the colorful language of Oliver Cromwell’s time: her barbs are as sharp and her observations as salty as William Shakespeare’s—but with a feminist twist ... A. K. Blakemore has written a spellbinding novel about the unprecedented persecution of women during the \'Witch Craze\' in 17th-century England. But she has done more than that ... Blakemore has given voice to women whose stories have only been told by others and thus provides a very different view of history than what is written in the official narrative. \
Jasmin Darznik
Positive Los Angeles Review of Books ... a believable portrait of Lange as an impressionable 23-year-old from Hoboken, New Jersey, arriving in San Francisco in 1918, lame from a childhood bout with polio and almost penniless ... The strength of The Bohemians is not only the deep sense of Lange’s development as a socially aware artist, but also how Darznik interweaves the political tenor of the time, most importantly anti-Asian prejudice and laws and the encroaching Depression ... she has also illuminated some pivotal moments in California’s history that fold into our present.
Martha S. Jones
Rave The New York Journal of Books Jones’ book is a welcome addition to the spate of books on woman suffrage that have been published this year in honor of the Centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment. Through her rigorous scholarship and out-of-the-box perspective, she sheds new and important light on the crucial role of Black women in winning and ensuring the right to vote ... Jones’ scholarship addresses a gaping hole in suffrage literature. She shares the experiences of many women who played a key role in American history. Though some are familiar, she sheds new light on their work. ... As a historian whose earlier books have won praise and prizes from academic and professional organizations, Jones brings her research chops to this narrative. Yet her writing style is fluid and accessible for all readers as she vividly unfolds this hidden history ... Vanguard serves both as a tocsin and an inspiring map forward if we are to protect voting rights for all.
Rachel Louise Snyder
Rave The Los Angeles Review of Books ... powerful ... Using her journalism chops, Snyder presents an array of almost unbearable personal stories to illustrate her key points and drive home the shocking statistics ... Snyder’s in-depth reporting and vivid writing imbue the book with drama and tension ... Snyder’s description of police officers trying to defuse a hostage situation is so tense that you forget she is reporting on a training session. In a stark prison ward, she captures the raw emotions of men in an anti-violence workshop ... Snyder skillfully takes on the challenging task of depicting the humanity of the perpetrators without diminishing their crimes ... Snyder’s comprehensive examination of this crucial issue clearly illustrates that domestic violence is pervasive in US society and intersects with nearly every social issue we face from mental health to homelessness, from poverty to sexual assault, from gender equality to prison reform. Her book is a welcome addition to the efforts that bring this brutal crime out from behind closed doors and provide hope for the future.
Bernice Yeung
Rave San Francisco Chronicle Bernice Yeung relates stories like Hernandez’s with candor and compassion in her new book, In a Day’s Work. She balances them with comprehensive research on labor law, rape and sexual assault legislation, and the additional burdens borne by undocumented women workers ... Though these stories are heartbreaking, the book ends on a hopeful note ... Yeung’s book provides crucial information and insight about this \'long-held open secret,\' making it a must-read for union organizers, advocates, policy makers and legislators — and all of us.
Mary Jo McConahay
Rave Los Angeles Review of Books \"McConahay’s extensive reporting background serves her well. She has sought out people from all over the globe — many whose stories have never before been told and whose time for telling them is running out ... McConahay’s vivid descriptions of Latin America... are beautifully complemented with several dozen photos, many from private family collections. The Tango War has the heft of comprehensive history and the drama of a spy novel. McConahay offers plenty of intrigue ... At first it seems like a very slow start, but as this skilled storyteller unfolds the impeccably researched history, the reader begins to understand how these resources and industries were key to Axis and Allies interest in the distant continent ... In this exceptional history, [McConahay] plumbs these intricate moves and rhythms of the Tango War.\
Rebecca Solnit
Rave The San Francisco Chronicle In this collection, she takes on issues as diverse—and to Solnit—as interconnected, as climate change, feminism, homelessness, the death penalty and the brutal founding of the state of California. The essays are witty, well researched, and pack a powerful political punch ... Preaching to the choir is not such a bad thing, she argues, in an eponymous essay. And though you may assume you are in that choir—sharing her premises and reading the same newspapers—her unique reflections provide fresh insight ... It is, in fact, her fierce exhortation of hope that binds together these essays ... A few of the essays, especially those about the 2016 election, seem dated, as so much has happened since. When you come across one of those, do not be deterred—they are mere bumps in the road of this otherwise refreshing and insightful collection.
Alice Arlen and Michael J. Arlen
Positive San Francisco Chronicle \"Patterson’s dramatic history is matched by the authors’ sparkling storytelling ... Some of the meanderings into the minutiae of high society, including a litany of all the presidents the Patterson family knew personally, starting with Lincoln, seem extraneous. The story starts to crackle when the authors focus on Patterson’s journalism career ... The heyday of print journalism may be long gone, but thanks to this rollicking biography, the path-breaking Alicia Patterson will continue to inspire another generation of newshounds.\
Adam Hochschild
Rave The Los Angeles Review of Books [Hochschild's] vivid descriptions capture both the highest moments of Spain’s Civil War — like the euphoria of liberated Barcelona — and the very lowest ones — like the despair of young soldiers in the trenches, infested with lice, surrounded by dead bodies, and soaked with rain and mud, trying to fight while sustained by a meager gruel of potatoes and dried beans ... Hochschild tells the story of this heady time with moving, well-paced prose exploring both international policy and intensely personal experiences ... Yet Hochschild goes further than merely telling the story. The book is enriched by his stepping aside and sharing the front line reports from the many writers who were in Spain ... [an] exceptional narrative of this often overlooked moment in history.