(June 2017) This book is a great reminder of how life is not a perfect arc. The greatest takeaway for me is that we must embrace paradox. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” The opening line of A Tale of Two Cities was written by Charles Dickens in 1859….
(April 2017) I loved this book for so many reasons. Daisy Hernandez is an American, born here to a Columbian mother and Cuban father. This book is called a memoir, but it’s so much more than that. It’s the chance to see the arc of a life in this country through a different lens. Hernandez…
The most fundamental way to reduce the volatility that Americans face is through improvements in job quality . . . the Great Job Shift has resulted not only in lower wages but also unpredictable scheduling, inadequate hours, and less job security. Alongside those challenges are diminishing opportunities for training and advancement, and an erosion of…
(Feb. 2017) This book is so many things. At its most basic, In the Darkroom is an exploration of identity. It’s also an intimate account of a daughter’s reconnection to her parent after decades of estrangement. That reconnection came in the form of an email from her father Steven Faludi that was signed, “Love from…
(Feb. 2017) I will never hear the phrase “jobs and the economy” again without thinking of this book. The steady advancement of technology into every aspect of our lives is slowly replacing much of our current labor force. There is no politician, no public policy, no regulatory voodoo or tax magic that is going “bring…
Most significantly, generalists—such as planners and, one hopes, mayors—ask the big-picture questions that are so often forgotten among the day-to-day shuffle of city governance. Questions like: What kind of city will help us thrive economically? What kind of city will keep our citizens not just safe, but healthy? What kind of city will be sustainable…
(Feb. 2017) I loved spending time with Michael Eric Dyson – in my car and in my kitchen. Hearing him read his own words felt very intimate to me. He subtitles this book a sermon but I felt it was a conversation. I was not being lectured to or preached at. He refers to the…
More than sixty million Americans have no FICO score at all because credit bureaus use data they cannot provide. And if you don’t have a credit score, it can be very hard to get a loan, rent an apartment, or convince an employer to hire you. Driving home on Tuesday, I heard an interview on…
(Jan. 2017) Trainwreck: The Women We Love to Hate, Mock, and Fear… and Why is a fascinating book. It gives context – historical context – to well known “trainwrecks” from Mary Wollstonecraft, Charlotte Bronte & Sylvia Plath, to Billie Holliday and Marilyn Monroe, right up to Amy Winehouse, Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan. Here’s the…
This book is about finding a way forward through reconciliation. Kristen Green writes a compelling book about a tragic and terrible part of Virginia’s history. There are many Virginians who don’t know the story of what happened in Prince Edward County or that plaintiffs from Moton High School were part of the Brown v. Board…
I wouldn’t have believed this young man of 31 could have such wisdom to impart to the world. But he does. It’s a book for this time we live in, for this contentious political atmosphere, for this generation struggling to find their path forward into the future. J.D. Vance’s memoir makes a lot more sense…
(Aug. 2016) I decided to read this book after I saw that the author, Karen Branan, would be at Fall For the Book at George Mason University in September. It is a great follow up to two previous books I recently finished – The Warmth of Other Suns and Just Mercy. The author was born…
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