Evicted by Matthew Desmond, which won last year's Pulitzer. I find it pretty shocking, and I feel bad that I find it so shocking.

Are you intentionally paraphrasing Ebenezer Scrooge?

Yeah, I heard there were diminishing returns, so like the Matrix sequels, I decided to stay away.

I recently watched the Lost City of Z and wanted to learn more about pre-European civilization in the Americas. 1491 looked like a good introduction, so I just started that. I'm liking it so far—it's just the kind of nonfiction I love. It's about history as well as the history of discovering the history (which is…

What was your beef with Southern Reach? I only read the first installment, but I thought it was great. Very moody and unsettling.

This may not be the most obvious place to plug a quasi "religious" podcast, but On Being with Krista Tippett has been excellent the past few weeks. A couple weeks ago, she interviewed an anthropologist who studies sex and human relationships, and it was excellent. She talked about the development of (and…

I am so not looking forward to first post-break up encounter. My long-term bf told me he didn't want to get married and dumped me just about a month ago, which has left me feeling so unlovable, un-sexy, un-everything. And I totally share your feelings—what if it's never good again? Although, given the state of…

All that thought and care=major disappointment when Satan sits out multiple cantos (books?) and everything else is less engaging

I haven't read that series yet! I imagine it'll track the West Virginia story in one way—multi-level public and private malfeasance/indifference leads to catastrophe for the people least able to defend themselves.

"Which way I fly is Hell; myself am Hell" has got to be one of the greatest lines ever written. It says in one line everything there is to say about self-dissatisfaction.

I wanted to pick up Exit West by Mohsin Hamed from the library, but I ended up with his earlier novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist. I am enjoying it so far—it really is difficult to get your brain into to pre-9/11 space and that aspect has been enjoyable thus far..

SPICE WORLD. Sorry, Mom.

I read this too! The feuds were great, but the story about how a feud between Sartre and another existentialist resulted in a broken promise to write Sartre's obituary was pretty sad. The part I found the most illuminating was the discussion of the Second Sex and why it didn't become an Origin of Species type…

I finished At the Existentialist Cafe, which was a nicely done intellectual biography of Sartre, de Beauvoir, Camus, Heidegger and the like. It was necessarily superficial about each thinker's work, but it was excellent in describing their interpersonal relationships and situating them in their time period. …

I absolutely get what the author was going for, but just like operas, the endless plot twists and machinations eventually just weigh everything down. I didn't hate this book, it just wore me out.

(vague thematic spoilers?) As a thoroughly lapsed Catholic who really disliked the book, I answer a resounding yes to your question. But my perspective was based on my own view that recanting or not recanting was pointless. It's really hard to understand the dilemma in the book when you're not religious. I am not…

I loved The Underground Railroad, which thoroughly deserves all the awards it has received. I read it with increasing dread, which never stopped me from compulsively turning pages. But my goodness, I was so glad to finish Queen of the Night. By the time they got to the Paris siege, I was so exhausted. I liked the…

I think that aspect just worked for me. The idea that Jim couldn't escape until he'd written a journal or some other nonsense is so funny. He's such a jerk.

I really, really, really hated Silence. I didn't get anything out of it other than misery porn.

My overlooked classics this year were Treasure Island and Huck Finn. Treasure Island definitely is a book for children but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Huck Finn was simply incredible. Best book I have read in years. It's hard to pick a favorite moment, but Tom's escape plan for Jim is wonderful. And the Shakespeare…