lifepluspreston's reviews
735 reviews

The Hate Next Door: Undercover within the New Face of White Supremacy by Matson Browning, Matson Browning

4.0

The Hate Next Door by Matson and Tawni Browning--Here, Browning focuses on the white supremacy that lies, not dormant, but present, in unsuspecting American communities. They bring their collective experience going undercover in white supremacist community to bear in this book chock-full of anecdotes that would seem impossible if they didn't come from highly credible sources. From everyday Americans to churches to houses of faith, Browning draws a frightening picture of organizations, some firm and structured, others loose and decentralized, operating across the United States. Thumbs up.

Everyday Utopia by Kristen R. Ghodsee

4.0

Everyday Utopia by Kristen Ghodsee--This is a fun, thought-provoking book about our ever-so-human attempts to create utopia and our ever-so-human failures at every turn. Ghodsee reviews two thousand years of communes, collaborative schools, rural and urban experiments, all trying to get at a "better" way of living. While the book is well-researched, much time is spent amplifying the successes of these experiments when it's possible a more edifying book would detail why these attempts didn't work out. Ghodsee is sometimes militantly evangelical in her approach, and she appears convinced that the glorification of the family unit is the primary thing that keeps us one step away from utopia. To that end, she brings up philosophers, revolutionaries, and, yes, cult leaders who have also decried the family unit. I think there's certainly something to what she's saying--what does it mean for the American political system to be focused on winning "middle class/working class families" (even if only in word, not in deed) rather than uplifting everyone through a communal approach? For me, though, I think this book convinced me that a society-level communal utopia isn't possible to strive for. Put another way, maybe the real utopia is the friends we made along the way. Thumbs up.

Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty

4.0

Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty--This really is an elevation of the locked room mystery.  First, most importantly, I had a great bowl of tortellini while reading this book, and that memory will stick with me for awhile. I also got eliminated from an online reality game while reading it, and so the high-stakes nature of a battle for survival in space was really salient. This book was extremely reminiscent of the excellent books by Stuart Turton, including The Last Murder at the End of the World. The pace is great, featuring people who, for various reasons, don't know why death has occurred, and the information is teased out at just the right moments. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of reading this. Thumbs up.

Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino

4.0

Beautyland by Marie Helene-Bertino--This book taps into a surprisingly human feeling, that of feeling alien. It's also about memory and how the stories we tell ourselves end up defining us. I think the way the story is crafted is beautiful and some paragraphs, focused on viewing humanity from the outside looking in, remain extremely memorable. This is wonderful slow-burn science fiction. Thumbs up.

Model Home by Rivers Solomon

4.0

Model Home by Rivers Solomon--I don't believe I can describe this book as anything other than an ordeal. Off the top, I want to make clear, this book features sexual assault/child predation as a key element. With that said, this is a powerful book from the very first page. The writing is lyrical, nearly poetic, while the story itself is wrestling with a lot of different themes. Race, class, sexuality and gender, the duty of a parent to their children and vice-versa, it's all up for grabs in this book. While these subjects are certainly entwined, they each get space to breath, space to get close and personal. Often uncomfortably close, after all, this book is an ordeal. I will not forget this book any time soon. The only thing that keeps it from being rated higher for me is that the audience of people I can wholeheartedly recommend it to is small. Nevertheless, thumbs up.

The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande

4.0

The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande--Truly I cannot think of two works by the same author that hit such different notes tonally. Being Mortal by Gawande was an emotionally resonant book about aging and the ways we as a society and medical profession fail the oldest among us. This book, by contrast, is a manual for the private sector masquerading as a more general self-help book. That's not to say that it's not worthwhile, the anecdotes, largely from the medical and airline industries, demonstrate the author's idea that well-designed checklists save lives. Maybe I need to be less haphazard when packing for work trips. Thumbs up.

Pathfinders: Extraordinary Stories of People Like You on the Quest for Financial Independence—And How to Join Them by JL Collins

4.0

Pathfinders by JL Collins--I wasn't expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did. It's a no-frills collection of anecdotes from folks that have followed Collins' Simple Path to Wealth. There's plenty of success stories in here, but what I really appreciated is that it's not just folks that have followed his plan to a t. Instead, there's a diversity of thought and experiences, folks who retired early and others who plan to work until they're 70+. What unites them all is the idea that financial independence doesn't have to be a distant goal and it doesn't have to be complex. A final great feature is the author's interstitials with common sense advice. Thumbs up.

The Trap by Catherine Ryan Howard

4.0

The Trap by Catherine Ryan Howard--Relatively unique among thrillers I've read lately, this book is dripping with tension. The stories of a woman whose sister is missing, a civilian employee of the Irish police department, and the killer himself narrating his own journey all coalesce in this story that has a twist fitting delightfully in place. For those looking for satisfying, well-resolved endings, you might be disappointed, but I really enjoyed this book. Thumbs up.

Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Loves to Walk Outside by Nick Offerman

4.0

Where the Deer and the Antelope Play by Nick Offerman--I came expecting a typical celebrity memoir and instead encountered a rousing discussion of Aldo Leopold's land ethic. Leopold has been one of my niche interest areas for awhile, and seeing him covered in this form is refreshing. Offerman is down to earth, engaging in a full-throated defense of conservation. Thumbs up.

Five Survive by Holly Jackson

4.0

Five Survive by Holly Jackson--This book begins with, among other things, a diagram mapping the interior of an RV. The proverbial and literal ride is thrilling, keeping the reader guessing from page to page. This book does a really good job of presenting a group under stress, albeit in increasingly ridiculous circumstances. Thumbs up.