Book Review: &amp;quot;The Monk Woman’s Daughter&amp;quot;

Real Change
Book Review: "How to Murder Your Life"

by Katherine Luck | May 17th, 2017

If you're rich, White and addicted to drugs, you get to write a memoir

Who is Cat Marnell? Cat Marnell is a blogger who gained some notoriety back in 2011 for rambling, drug-fueled posts that chronicled her many addictions, her toxic relationships, and her habit of using Plan B emergency contraception as her primary form of...
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Book Review: "Thinking Machines: The Quest for Artificial Intelligence and Where It’s Taking Us Next”

by Joe Martin | May 10th, 2017

Luke Dormehl’s ‘Thinking Machines’ warns of a not-too-distant future when machines will do everything

This time is different. In the six decades since the first colloquium on artificial intelligence (AI) at Dartmouth College, periodic predictions about changes implied by AI often proved to be enthusiastic speculation, more science fiction than reality. No...
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Book Review: "How to Make White People Laugh"

by Mike Wold | May 3rd, 2017

Iranian-American author Negin Farsad uses comedy to tackle social justice issues

It may be possible to change the world one joke at a time. At least, that’s the thrust of the new book by Iranian-American comic Negin Farsad. Half comic autobiography, half serious examination of the ways that stereotypes play out, the narrative follows...
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Book Review: “All the Birds in the Sky”

by Mike Wold | April 19th, 2017

A bird in hand may save the world in this Charlie Jane Anders magical fantasy

When Patricia Delfine was 6 years old, she found a wounded bird. As a 6-year-old might, she started to take it home. The bird started talking to her and persuaded her instead to take it to the Parliament of Birds to be healed. There she was given a riddle...
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Book Review: "Solutionary Rail"

by Mary Paterson | April 12th, 2017

Local activist organization publishes proposal to electrify the rail system

An organization based on Vashon Island, Backbone Campaign, is taking its creative thinking in a new direction. They are leading a coalition project called “Solutionary Rail” to electrify our rail system and advance the practicality of alternative, green...
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Real Change
The business of homelessness

by Adam Sennot | April 5th, 2017

The legendary journalist uses his pen to help New York’s homeless people find larger profit margins

The first encounter was on a cold autumn afternoon in 1989. A woman carrying two bulky bags over her shoulders caught the attention of legendary journalist Gay Talese as she stood on the corner of Lexington Avenue and 59th Street in New York City. She...
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Real Change
Book Review: "Lab Girl"

by Joe Martin | March 29th, 2017

Geobiologist Hope Jahren's 'Lab Girl' is a memoir of self discovery

Scientist Hope Jahren is in her element when in the open air exploring, touching and tabulating the dynamic biological processes of trees, grasses and the resplendent diversity of the plant kingdom. She revels in digging into the earth to determine the...
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Book Review: "Trump: A Graphic Biography"

by Mike Wold | March 22nd, 2017

Ted Rall is an editorial cartoonist of long standing; Donald Trump has proven to be a prime subject for editorial cartoons. Readers might expect Rall’s graphic biography of Trump to be funny, incisive and over the top. Those readers are likely to be...
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Book Review: "Writing to Save a Life: The Louis Till File"

by Joe Martin | March 15th, 2017

John Edgar Wideman’s ‘Louis Till File’ explores the unjustice delivered to Emmett Till’s father

The tragic story of Emmett Till still shocks the conscience of our nation. It was the summer of 1955. Fourteen years of age, Emmett was a good natured Black adolescent from Chicago. He traveled by train to visit family in rural Mississippi. It was his first...
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Book Review: "The Monk Woman’s Daughter"

by Mike Wold | March 8th, 2017

Imagine an America rife with racism, anti-immigrant sentiment, religious profiling, fire-and-brimstone preachers and misogyny. Sound familiar? We’re talking about the 1850s, of course. You knew that. Even if you didn’t, that’s the context for Susan Storer...
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