In “Spoken Word: A Cultural History,” Joshua Bennett traces the roots, rise and influence of a movement that continues to reverberate. Read more
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Category: New Books
How America Manufactures Poverty
How is it that the United States, a country with a gross domestic product “larger than the combined economies of Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, India, France, and Italy,” has a higher relative poverty rate than those other advanced democracies? Why do one in eight Americans, and one in six children, live in poverty—a rate about the same as it was in 1970? Why do we put up with it? Read more
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I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai
This engrossing novel by the author of “The Great Believers” is many different books at once. It is a boarding school novel, offering an encapsulated view of a world within a world. It is a cold-case mystery in which readers learn new information along with the characters. It is an adult-revisiting-childhood story in which a narrator considers the past from a different viewpoint. It is also a perceptive commentary on contemporary society. These elements come together seamlessly in a fast-paced mystery. Read more
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‘Our Share of Night’ is a Masterpiece of Supernatural Horror
Mariana Enriquez’s novel, her first published in English, uses otherworldly elements to consider Argentina’s violent history. Read more
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Trust the Plan: The Rise of QAnon and the Conspiracy That Unhinged America
This is an absolutely fascinating and deeply troubling book. Rage-inducing and heartbreaking, it’s a rigorously researched, energetically written examination of a phenomenon laughed off for too long as fringe silliness. QAnon, Sommer suggests, is no mere conspiracy theory, nor is it simply a cult of Donald Trump worshippers. It is, in a very real sense, a part of the Trumpist Republican mechanism, a dangerous force that influences political ideology and social change—a force that cannot and should not be ignored. Read more
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Shielded: How the Police Became Untouchable
Rigorous research, in-depth analysis, and poignant case studies make this a must-read study of an urgent social issue. Read more
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Wonders and Rarities: The Marvelous Book that Traveled the World and Mapped the Cosmos
Biographies of Muslim books remain few and far between, though (even the Princeton series so far includes only the all-too-obvious Qur’an). So, in recounting the life of an Islamic text as its fortunes waxed and waned over centuries, Wonders and Rarities is something of a rarity itself. Read more
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Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects Our Minds and How to Build Immunity
Thoroughly researched and lucidly written, this is a standout guide to one of the world’s most pressing social issues. Read more
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Don’t Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones
Jones expertly blends snappy graveyard humor with nail-biting suspense, and he gives his characters distinctive personalities that distinguish them from the underdeveloped body fodder common to most slasher scenarios. This characteristically clever gore-fest proves Jennifer to be a horror heroine worthy of many more adventures. Read more
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When the Government Goes Top Secret, Who Can Write Its History?
In “The Declassification Engine,” Matthew Connelly traces the evolution of America’s obsession with secrecy and the alarming implications for our understanding of the past. Read more
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