Throughout the years, and in fact through the centuries, the stars of stage and screen have captured the public’s imagination. One such star was France’s own Sarah Bernhardt, who transcended the boundaries of the French language to become an international star. Sarah also transcended what was not a very promising beginning in life. Her mother […]
If ever the times cried out for a hero, it was the era of the Civil War. The American nation, not even 100 years old as an independent country, was threatened by dissolution owing to the seemingly insurmountable disagreements between free states of the North and the slave holding states of the South. Fortunately, there […]
Incendiary book explains climate change to tweens and teens and invites you to climate activism. I strongly recommend this book to Adults who want to learn what you need to so you can create some climate activism too! If you read only one climate book this year, this is the one! This book by Naomi […]
A riveting, grotesque and true story of a dark page in US history and abuse of indigenous peoples. Set deep in the Osage hills at the turn of the century in Indian Territory (Oklahoma prior to statehood), the narrative centers on one family of Osage, Molly Burkhart and her family, who keep dying of mysterious […]
Terrific simple introduction to climate change that explains clearly how we got to this point in various industries — Food (agriculture, meat production, fishing), Energy, and Earth (melting ice, rising waters, warming air). Hope Jahren (Lab Girl) is a scientist/professor and this is the content of her most frequently taught class; it’s fact based, non […]
A hopeful book about climate change: Bren Smith is a former fisherman and a failed (because of Hurricane Sandy) oysterman who invented a new kind of living from the sea, restorative ocean farmer. His crop of kelp and bivalves growing on ropes suspended in the water requires no inputs; it simultaneously draws down carbon, filters […]
This book is like a body positive dinner party your lovely fat self is invited to attend (and with any fat allies you wish to bring as your plus one). Expect laughs, advice, vulnerability, art and a lot of new mentor friends by the end of the night. Come as you are. Leave any negative […]
Gorgeous, elegiac book in which award-winning nature writer Sy Montgomery takes you on a dream safari with the world’s foremost expert on wildebeest, the keystone species for the whole Serengeti. The details of how the wildebeest shape and share the African plain are fascinating. Along the way, you also get to learn about many of […]
As one reviewer said, “Few books could be more vital in this particular moment.” Helen Thorpe spends a year in the classroom at South High School in Denver that welcomes immigrants who don’t speak any English. She gets to know all the refugees including immigrants from Iraq, Democratic Republic of Congo, El Salvador, Mozambique, Burundi […]
A terrific international review of cities becoming more cycling friendly; this book may have changed my life. There were several key insights for me: 1) Requiring helmets significantly reduces usage of bikes; people are robbed of the terrific health benefits of biking if usage is reduced; and helmet may or may not help most folks […]
