This is one of the best books I’ve read this year. A discussion of extinct and endangered foods and how their preciousness came to be. Some of the foods covered have left our table due to predation and over harvesting. Others have fallen out of rotation merely because they don’t fit in with our notion of modern logistics. I’d recommend this if you’re interested in natural sciences like evolutionary biology or botany. The chapters on fruits in particular were fascinating! My favorite books are one where I feel compelled to have my phone open next to me so I can further research and Lost Feast fits the bill in spades.

More of a 2.5 star. I wish goodreads did half stars. This is an unusual book following the diaspora of the Hittites (by focusing on one soldier in particular) during the time of the Book of Judges. It’s written for a YA audience, which is an interesting choice to say the least. It’s a mishmash of cultures, complex theologies, and even more complex names. I don’t think the story was particularly well written, but I did enjoy a look at a culture that isn’t particularly well represented in historical fiction. There is zero character development going on here.

What a devastating story. I did not know much of anything about the Cambodian genocide before reading this. My kids are older than the author, I cannot imagine them enduring what she did. They don’t even want to do laundry. The human spirit is so tough.

Maybe I am just obtuse but I felt like the connection between smallpox and anthrax was extremely scant in this book. The 2001 anthrax were used as the opener for this book, but it's clear Preston really wanted to write a book about smallpox. Don't get me wrong, it's fascinating and terrifying. Intertwining the two seemed a bit shoe-horned. It's a quick read and some of the same figures from The Hot Zone make an appearance.

This is a really charming book about a little known criminal case in Bergen country, NJ just after the turn of the 20th century. It was recommended on a podcast, though I’ve now forgotten which. The main character, Constance Kopp, was a real person and the retelling of the case is largely factual. This has the same, civilian turn deputy feel as The Alienist, and I’d recommend it if you enjoyed that. It’s got a bit of cheeky humor too. 3.5 stars.

I'd never heard a word about this book despite it winning the Pulitzer in the mid-90s.

It was on James Mustich's list, and I hadn't read one of those titles in a moment, so I gave it a go.

The first chapter is so off-putting in its description of Mercy Goodwill I nearly gave up. But I didn't, and I'm glad I stuck with it because this is a wonderful piece of fiction. It's episodic in that it describes the course of one woman's life but includes her fore-bearers and descendants. At its core, this is an engaging book about a woman who lead a dull life. If you enjoy gardening (I do, with mixed results), you will like all the wonderful descriptions of flowers in this book. Gardening is a big theme, as is stonework.

There's a recollection by the main character at the end of her life that is more stream of consciousness than anything else and listed is every house she ever lived in. That passage reminded me so much of my grandmother. I digitized all of our family photos years ago and stacked in a box I found a sheath of photos, all of houses. Not children or family in front of houses, merely the houses themselves. On the back, the address was rarely written but the photos were numbered. Every house she'd ever lived in. My mom told me once that they'd moved 18 times over the course of her childhood because my grandfather liked to save money by buying and selling property and carrying the title for the new owner. What did my grandmother think about moving that often? Did her opinion carry much weight? Just another photograph in a box.

Great little forgotten Newbery winner about a girl on a farm in Wisconsin during the 1930s. It’s very simple and kind. Charlotte’s Web meets Anne of Green Gables.

What a wonderful book! Each short chapter is about a different species of tree, how it looks, its range, uses, etc. I’d recommend it if you’re interested in botany or conservation. There are beautiful illustrations as well!

I struggled with this one for weeks. It’s remarkably dull. Will pick up a different Madison biography at some point in time.

I had no idea just how crazy L. Ron Hubbard was. Highly recommend if you like reading “can’t look away, train-wreck style” non fiction. There are many horrific passages but the one about the young woman who was groomed to be Tom Cruise’s girlfriend pre Katie Holmes was so sad.