Reviews and Comments

Joel A

Teaman2000@bookrastinating.com

Joined 3 years, 5 months ago

Newsie IRL, lifelong reader, tea drinker.

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Claude S. Fischer: America Calling (Paperback, 1994, University of California Press)

Review of 'America Calling' on 'Goodreads'

Fascinating to read this book in the present moment and think about the rapid adoption of the Internet, and compare how it was different (faster, government regulation) and the same (starting first as a luxury and business tool but quickly becoming mundane; raising promise and fear of destruction of local communities and businesses).

Alexis Okeowo: A moonless, starless sky (2017)

Presents accounts of everyday men and women living amidst war and extremism.

Review of 'A moonless, starless sky' on 'Goodreads'

It’s fine to build a book out of a collection of New Yorker articles, but splitting them in half serves no purpose. And the author’s appearances in the text were inconsistent and rarely served a purpose. Still, the stories themselves were very interesting, especially the one about Mauritania, which has been less told.

Elinor Lipman: On Turpentine Lane (2017, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Review of 'On Turpentine Lane' on 'Goodreads'

The characters all seem familiar and the plot line is a bit clunky, but in a good way (if you liked Lipman's earlier books, you'll like this one).