"Chasing Hope: A Reporter's Life" by NY Times columnist Nicholas Kristof is a large but rich memoir of an extraordinary career in journalism. Perhaps you remember Kristof’s coverage of the slaughter in Darfur, the bloody civil war and mass starvation in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) or the massacre in Hama during the …
Continue reading Story-teller journalist tells his own story
The Sisterhood of Ravensbrück by Lynne Olsen is an extraordinary telling of a little-told Nazi horror story, barely hinted at by the subtitle, “How an Intrepid Band of Frenchwomen Resisted the Nazis in Hitler's All-Female Concentration Camp.” This goes beyond any book you’ve read or movie you have seen. The S.S.-run Ravensbruck hard labor camp …
Continue reading Courage in the face of fascism: the warnings of history
Properties of Thirst by Marianne Wiggins is a mighty book, in length (544 pages) and in the majesty of the natural world that is its backdrop. The writing is often captivatingly poetic and deeply philosophical. Each of the major characters is sui generis and memorable. The sometimes stream-of-consciousness method giving voice to each of their …
Continue reading Specks of beauty amidst dark period in U.S. history
The Anatomy of Exile by Zeeva Bukai is a riveting novel about an Israeli-born woman, a Sabra named Tamar, married to a Syrian Jew, Salim, who has migrated to Israel. She has been raised with the noble founding values of Israel as an egalitarian society. His experience, however, is that of a Mizrahi, darker-skinned Jews …
Continue reading More than Romeo and Juliet: Israel meets Palestine
Help me out here. I’m struggling with conflicting messages about Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA and inspirational leader especially to young, college-age conservatives. In our ever-escalating culture of violence, his horrific assassination has become the latest prominent expression of solving political disagreements with the trigger or the blade. What perplexes me is the …
Continue reading Myth building around slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk
When I was a child, my mother took me on a "cruise" of the Charles River. What do I remember of it? The closer we got to Boston Harbor, the worse the smell. You could see the luminous blue/green oil slicks on the surface. Your stomach would churn from the sewage routinely dumped from the …
Continue reading Sewer to sparkle: the cleanup of Boston Harbor
After the Last Border by Jessica Goudeau should be required reading for people who fear or loathe strangers coming to the United States to avoid persecution, war and chaos in their home countries. The author tells of two such women, weaving between their alternating stories the history of immigration and refugee resettlement in this country. …
Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford is a quickly unspooling, cinematic mystery set in the fictional city of Cahokia, during the 1920’s. (The real Cahokia had vanished by 1200 C.E., leaving behind only mounds of grass-covered dirt in Illinois, near the meeting of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers.) The population of author Spufford’s Cahokia is divided …
The Mountains Sing , a first novel by Vietnamese poet and author Nguyen Phan Que Mai, is a saga about the Tran family, against the backdrop of 20th century Vietnamese history, is told from two perspectives. First is that of grandmother Dieu Lan, telling her family story to her granddaughter Hu’o’ng, nicknamed Guava. Dieu Lan, …
Continue reading A Vietnamese novelist captures troubled history
Every day, the 45th President of the United States finds a new low to which he can drag down the country, whether in eviscerating the rule of law, subverting our international relations, wantonly pandering conflicts of interest, or rapaciously using his presidency for unbridled personal gain. Every day, the headlines pummel us into submission, as …
Marjorie Arons-Barron 