When General Motors closed their plant in Janesville, Wisconsin, an entire town – its infrastructure and the lives of its inhabitants – was upended. Janesville is not alone in experiencing the vacuum a factory closing can have on the livelihood of a community, but Janesville had gone through this before and recovered, so why should…
Author: Grace Peterson
The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary
As much as I love words, I’ve never given much thought to their origins or their standardization, and I’ve never considered a time before a dictionary, before a comprehensive “rule book” of words. The Meaning of Everything is a story of just that: a story of the world before, and during the creation of, the…
Unmasked: My Life Solving America’s Cold Cases
In this memoir, Paul Holes details the nitty-gritty reality of solving cases, specifically those that have gone cold. With his hunt for the Golden State Killer taking center-stage, Holes takes the reader through his career solving various cases and the impact it had on his professional and personal life. I find crime-documentaries gripping and fascinating,…
The Sun is Also a Star
Natasha is running out of time. She’s trying to hold her family, and their life in the US, together, and she’s running out of time. Daniel is trying to keep his head down and be a dutiful son, easier said than done when you have the heart of a poet and the planned future of…
Dopesick
This account of the opioid crisis in the United States is eye-opening, heartbreaking, and has radically altered the way I see drug addiction. In a feat of investigative journalism, Macy takes the reader into the heart of Appalachia, where affluent and poor communities alike are struck by the impact of opiods. Digging into the science behind…
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland
During my time living in the UK, I’ve slowly picked up on the tension and tragedy of the Troubles. The Troubles is the religious and political conflict in Northern Ireland. To put it in incredibly simple terms, it’s a conflict between Protestants (wanting to remain with the UK) and the Catholics (who want a united…
Yale Needs Women
In honor of the Barbie movie coming out this last weekend, I wanted to share one of my favorite ‘how cool are women?’ reads. In this PhD-thesis-turned-book, Anne Gardiner Perkins skillfully uses countless interviews to bring to life the story of when Yale began admitting women and the numerous, unexpected logistics that would entail. I’ll…
One Italian Summer
I’d like to start by congratulating the designers who managed (in my opinion) to capture the feel of summer on the cover. Really, a job well done. Katy and her mom, Carol, have always been close. Carol is her go-to on everything from what to buy and which hotels to book. Carol has always been…
Heroes of the Frontier
For many, Alaska is the last frontier, but for Josie and her two kids it’s the first chance to be free, to explore, to heal. Escaping from a series of emotionally damaging events, Josie takes Paul (age 8) and Anna (age 5) on a spur of the moment adventure into Alaska in a recreational vehicle…
Storm in a Teacup
When looking at two eggs – shell and all – how can you tell which one is hard boiled and which isn’t? This, among other everyday phenomena, is a mystery that Helen Czerski unpacks in Storm in a Teacup, using the laws of physics to explain our daily life. If you’re thinking, “my brain hasn’t worked…