At some point in our lives, most people begin to dream of finding their forever home. We think about what it might look and feel like, how we will arrange the space, how we’ll entertain loved ones, and how we will create a safe haven from which to launch ourselves out in the world when […]
Summary: Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation is a masterful and urgently important work of nonfiction. It tells the story of how, starting in the early 2010s, the “phone-based childhood” began to radically transform the lives of young people around the world. Haidt calls this “The Great Rewiring of Childhood”––an event which he identifies as the primary cause […]
Summary: Sogyal Rinpoche’s The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying presents a Tibetan Buddhist’s views on life, death, and the ways these states are interconnected in Buddhist philosophy. Sogyal Rinpoche describes his vision of how to live well, how to prepare for one’s inevitable death, and how to undertake the spiritual process of rebirth. The book also provides guidance […]
Summary: Bruce D. Perry and Maia Szalavitz’s The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog is a harrowing yet hopeful examination of childhood trauma and its consequences. Presented as a series of real-life clinical narratives backed by scientific research, Perry and Szalavitz tell the story of how Perry learned to care for some of the least fortunate […]
Summary: Joe Abercrombie’s Last Argument of Kings is the third and final book in The First Law Trilogy. As the Union’s war in the north continues to rage, Logen Ninefingers is reunited with the Dogman and his other companions, who have joined forces with Collem West. Meanwhile, intrigue in Adua heats up as a new king is crowned and […]
Summary: Stories of Your Life and Others is the first collection of short stories by Ted Chiang, a man who will surely be remembered as one of this era’s finest writers. Ranging from reimagined biblical fables to ethical examinations of near-future technology, Stories contains a batch of bizarre narratives brimming with emotional poignancy and intellectual depth. With […]
Summary: Lisa Damour’s The Emotional Lives of Teenagers provides a handy crash course for parents and mental health professionals who are seeking to understand and support the teenagers in their lives. Drawing from her career in clinical psychology and contemporary research, Damour lays out the reasons why adolescence is a particularly challenging and special time in a young […]
Summary: Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall is a fascinating, impressive, and frustrating work of historical fiction. Mantel provides an intimate and meticulous examination of Thomas Cromwell‘s rise to power, showing how he gained favor and influence as an advisor to England’s King Henry VIII during the 1520s and 1530s. The text is packed with vivid historical details and offers […]
Summary: Children of Memory is the third volume in Adrian Tchaikovsky’s “Children of Time” series. Tchaikovsky continues to build on the evolutionary concepts and thought experiments from the previous two books, this time taking the story in a mysterious and surprising new direction. When an eclectic crew of interstellar adventurers discovers Imir––a partially-terraformed planet colonized by refugees […]
Summary: Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a poignant and powerful piece of modern literature. The novel tells the story of Sam and Sadie, two adolescents who strike up an unlikely friendship based on a shared love of video games. As young adults, Sam and Sadie both become video game designers and discover a knack […]