About Book Marks
Recent Reviews
Colm Toíbín
Positive New York Journal of Books Sprawling ... For non-Catholics this collection of essays is a bit dense with dogma and may be a drudge report of Church dysfunction, but to the faithful, the lapsed, and the strident anti-Catholic public this collection of essays offers a greater understanding of history and how parishioner activism has changed the Church, if only a scintilla.
Katherine Angel
Positive New York Journal of Books Katherine Angel’s astute observations on the impact of the #MeToo movement, the retrenchment of feminism by younger women, and our current state of gender relations is compelling...Perhaps Angel’s most interesting notations are the way Black women approach feminism versus middle-class baby boomer white women, shining light on the differences in their work and home lives, with Black women less enthused about workplace satisfaction...Patriarchy, the rule of men experienced a resurgence in popularity with the Trump Administration and the heterosexual family, still appear to be held in thrall...As the noose tightens on female necks, with the loss of reproductive autonomy, and lack of societal support for basic childcare, men are on the march...One wishes the book were longer, especially as it lights the dark corners of fear, anxiety, depression, and frustration experienced by mothers who still provide most of the childcare...The black hole of the child’s needs sucking the lifeforce from the mother, leaving father to float outside the atmosphere coming in for occasional touchdowns.
Reshma Saujani
Positive The New York Journal of Books Saujani cleanly clears up any of the rubbish left laying around regarding the lack of social supports for families in this country. With a rapier she slices through the layers of misconceptions about the true burdens of raising families for women ... maybe if we take even some of these steps America will make mothering more popular and the nation can prevent the cratering of its population replacement rate.
Jonathan W. White
Rave New York Journal of Books ... a more complete picture of Lincoln ... In the current climate of reassessing how America tells its history, A House Built by Slaves illustrates how Lincoln walked among his people as a common, flawed man ... White masterfully shows the African American communities’ efforts to influence Lincoln in obtaining full rights for their people, and his choice to use their language of the day makes for a good read. Historians and Lincoln fans will enjoy this accurate retelling of the epoch where America almost came apart at the seams.
Elie Mystal
Rave New York Journal of Books It is impossible to enjoy reading the constitution more than through the searing perspective of the brilliant Twainesque humor of Elie Mystal ... There is literally something for every literate person in this treatise ... any sentient analysis of the shredding of the constitution with rulings by Supreme Court Justices, which can only be viewed as racist, homophobic, or misogynistic is depressing. But Mystal finds ways to cram humor into his riveting recount of the origins and bastardization of the US Constitution ... His discussion of cruelty and the death penalty is replete with beautiful verse ... Mystal’s examples of equal protection and due process provide hope ... If you are a sentient being with the capability of empathy and a strong gut, you will enjoy Mystal’s take down of the constitution.
Karen Crouse
Rave The New York Journal of Books Karen Crouse introduces us to the Norman Rockwellian town of Norwich, Vermont, and its denizens of hard work, modesty, social equity, and homespun support for its children. Lap this book like the elixir it is to the Trumpian era ignorance of community responsibility for all children, not just the landed gentry ... Crouse turns on its head the philosophy that children are driven to be winners by programmatic dictates and domineering parents, teachers, and coaches ... The Norwichian way trends against the hyper-controlled obsessed parenting of the day and encourages parents to let their children understand the toughness required in the real world. The book is rife with examples of children with learning challenges excelling in this philosophy.