About Book Marks
Recent Reviews
Dr. Jen Gunter
Rave New York Journal of Books The Menopause Manifesto presents a detailed and intelligent discussion of the biological processes that women experience during their lives. Women reading this book will be reminded they are more than the sum of their parts. The value women bring to the human species neither begins nor ends with their reproductive abilities ... One of the most interesting aspects of this book is Gunter’s obvious belief that women understand what is happening during menopause, want more information, and are ill-served by the medical profession ... Reading The Menopause Manifesto is empowering. It is invigorating and lets reader know that what is happening during menopause is normal, is not a disease, and need not be endured ... The Menopause Manifesto prepares women to make considerable noise to promote their own health.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg with Amanda L. Tyler
Positive New York Journal of Books This book...is both timely and a reminder of what the Notorious RBG brought to the table both as a lawyer and a Supreme Court Justice ... her briefs, decisions, and dissents clearly articulate her reasoning and her positions. One does not need a law degree to read and understand what she writes ... Notorious RBG is gone, but she will be remembered for using her prodigious talents provide a sound foundation upon which to build a better world.
Leslie Brody
Rave The New York Journal of Books ... a vivid and astonishing view of a remarkable and complicated woman ... Most requests for access to Fitzhugh’s papers are declined and this places biographers, such as Brody, at a distinct disadvantage. Brody has, in great part, overcome this deficiency through conversations with Fitzhugh’s contemporaries, friends, and family. That makes the biography more interesting and insightful ... Fortunately, Brody recognizes that any Fitzhugh biography must include her sexual orientation as an integral part of the story...The fact that Fitzhugh was a lesbian is woven through the story as an essential element and helps explain what and who she was and how it affected her work and her life ... One does not need to have read Harriet the Spy or heard of Louise Fitzhugh to appreciate this book. Biographies are intended to give readers insights into the lives of people, and Brody’s book does not disappoint.
Connie Schultz
Rave The New York Journal of Books Long known for her insightful and clever commentaries, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Connie Schultz has now joined the ranks of fiction writers. Her debut novel does not disappoint ... It is not necessary to have been born in a blue collar or middle-class family, or come from Northeast Ohio, to appreciate this story. The story reflects the tenacity of people who make the best of what they have and spare little time in maudlin remorse over what might have been ... The characters in this novel are not saints—they are flawed and redeemable, pathetic at times and honorable at others. In the end, they are everyone ... This book is a lazy summer day read, rocking on the porch with lemonade at hand and it is a book for cloudy, cold, winter afternoons with a cup of tea. Readers may recognize their own experiences or those of people they know ... Connie Schultz has a reputation for writing about everyday people and their lives. With this novel, she further cements her position as a writer of considerable talent and compassion.
Gilda R. Daniels
Rave The New York Journal of Books Daniels presents a well-researched, sober discussion of the efforts by politicians, special interest groups, judges, and sundry other forces to undermine the right to vote in the United States ... This is a particularly timely book given the partisanship that runs rampant in society today. However, this is not an easy book. Be prepared to be ashamed, infuriated, exasperated, shocked, surprised, and hopeful. It is that kind of book ... This book offers readers the opportunity to familiarize themselves with past and present efforts to interfere with elections and the voting process. Gilda Daniels has provided a cogent, well-written roadmap through those efforts to restrict voting rights in the United States ... This is a book intended for all American citizens concerned about the future of the republic, regardless of political beliefs. Only through free and fair elections, with robust protections for the right to vote, will this unique experiment continue to flourish ... Read Uncounted. And don’t forget to vote.
Gail Collins
Positive The New York Journal of Books ... comprehensive and timely ... The book starts off slowly, and can seem tedious, even monotonous, but things pick up with the Turn of the Century ... Collins provides women with a historical blueprint for things as they were, as they are, leaving only question of where older women are headed next.
Elizabeth Warren
Positive The New York Journal of Books Warren is vociferous in her denunciation of well-funded lobbyists, corporate CEOs, and Wall Street financiers deciding government policies on banking, trade agreements, tax reform, and the like. And she spares neither major party ... This Fight Is Our Fight provides an insider’s look at the machinations that are undermining the U.S. economy and political system. Warren spells out what is happening and what needs to be done to reverse the slide. Elizabeth Warren continues to be a forceful advocate for the needs of ordinary, hard-working Americans who are not wealthy and whose government appears to hold them in disfavor.
Rebecca Traister
Positive New York Journal of Books \"Rebecca Traister’s book is about the power of women’s anger. It is a historical look at women’s anger, the women who expressed it and those who paid the price for doing so. She writes of an anger that is \'hot, bubbling, wholly out of control.\' It is a challenge to social constructs ... Traister’s book provides a blueprint for women to follow in acknowledging the legitimacy of their anger. Following in the footsteps of women from Boudica to Elizabeth Cady Stanton to Schroeder to Flo Kennedy and Tarana Burke, women are in good company. At the end of the book, Traister writes, \'Being mad is correct; being mad is American; being mad can be joyful and productive and connective. Don’t ever let them talk you out of being mad again.\' Amen, sister!\
Ryan Berg
Rave The New York Journal of Books \"No House to Call My Home is a sobering look at the lives of a variety of LGBT kids in a version of foster care. They do not live with families but in group homes. The challenges they face may seem foreign to many readers. In fact, this is a difficult book to read ... The reader feels the emotional roller coaster that Berg experienced in his short career. At times it feels like wading through molasses; the daily grind sucking life, energy, and interest out of you. Readers will not \'like\' this book. But it is an important book to read. This book makes the reader think about many issues: foster care, the kids enmeshed in the system, homophobia, parents who hate their children because of who they are, racism, and abject poverty ... It’s hard to identify with the young people Berg talks about; at the same time it is impossible not to feel an affinity for their pain and their despair. That’s what makes this book easy to put down but impossible to ignore.\
Arlene Stein
Rave New York Journal of Books Stein’s research is comprehensive and expansive.... Stein provides readers with a well-researched, clearly written book on a difficult subject ... [Unbound] is a catalyst for a thoughtful discussion of these complicated and challenging issues. It can be the foundation from which these evolving changes progress.