This is a merciless account of mass injustice and inhumanity told with a massive amount of grace. Bryan Stevenson works in the trenches with people who are wrongfully convicted, sentenced to death row, or facing life imprisonment. Many of them children. An eye-opening, heart-rending, must-read book that shows the policies that led us here and the work being done to challenge this inhuman system.

There's also a version that had been adapted for YA readers that is excellent — for YA and adults.

An excellent introduction to native plants and how and why to incorporate them into your landscape. The book is well-organized, with intuitive icons and design elements throughout. The photos are high quality and vivid, though I could have used more discrete shots of flowers/leaves/etc. since I'm not great at IDing plants. I was happy to see that it covers more than just flowers. Though the perennials section is by far the largest (nearly half the book), it also includes trees, shrubs, and ground cover. My favorite feature, however, is simply the writing — all this useful information is delivered in a clear, personable tone and style that is often missing in guides like these. It made it a pleasure to read and a handy resource to own.

My thanks to #NetGalley and #TimberPress for a digital ARC of #TheMidwestNativePlantPrimer, which I plan to purchase for my home library.

So much more than I was expecting! From his earliest memories of wandering with his Granddaddy Saul and his talking, singing cane; through his uneasy early life as an "uptight, born-again Christian, Midwestern-Southerner, church-singing, sharecropper's son" who was struggling to reconcile all of that with his sexuality; to his sacrificial, ground-breaking role as Officer Clemmons and his discovery, years into the relationship, of what a dear and constant mentor he had found in Fred Rogers; to his award-winning musical endeavors... All told with a charmingly real and lively tone. Thank you, François Clemmons, for using your voice in this way.

"I have never wanted to only tell powerfully evocative stories. I have wanted to tell evocative stories that become a problem for power. For that, I draw upon data and research."

An excellent, wide-ranging, academic but accessible collection of essays that provides some of the context missing from so much that is currently being written and consumed. Laced with witty humor, it's a pleasure to read, but also a dead-serious and important voice to listen to right now.

This is a book that takes a little bit of courage to read but is worth it. Why courage? Because even if you're not a parent (I'm not), you'll need to keep an open mind and be honest with yourself as you consider your relationships, assumptions, empathy levels, and communication styles. The author does go our of her way to be reassuring and nonjudgmental. If you can hold on to that reassurance and keep an open mind, I think just about anyone can find something beneficial in this guide to more connected, empathetic, and peaceful family relationships.

Content note: Some examples did give me an "unacknowledged privilege" vibe (talk of au pairs and of new parents seeking significant financial help from family members, etc.). The author lives in London and is a psychotherapist, so what seems like an economically privileged perspective could be partly cultural and partly colored by clientele that seeks professional psychotherapy.

This is the first I've read of Samantha Irby's writing and it was a little hit or miss for me. But the hits were literally spit-take funny (cracker crumbs everywhere) and the misses were largely a matter of unshared context (I'm sure the mix tape section is fun and fascinating if you're more of a music person than I am) and some good, old-fashioned uptight squeamishness on my part.

Some of the hits: Her reluctance, as a 40-year-old, to leave her house and follow through with plans that seemed reasonable when she made them is basically me at any age. The "Guide to Simple Home Repairs" is a hilarious list of home maintenance questions laced throughout the narrative of Irby's various living arrangements through the years. Her time in Hollywood pitching her own show and writing for Lindy West's "Shrill" is a perfect outsider-insider account.

Overall, it's both refreshingly and brutally honest and very, very funny.

Content Notes: Strong language and very frank discussions of, well, anything. No topic is off limits. The publisher describes it as "smart, edgy, hilarious, unabashedly raunchy" and that isn't just marketing talk.

My thanks to #NetGalley and Vintage/Knopf Doubleday for a digital ARC of #WowNoThankYou.