Current Affairs Book Reviews (page 4)

TALKING BACK, TALKING BLACK by John McWhorter
CURRENT AFFAIRS
Released: Jan. 10, 2017

"A vibrant separation of an African-American vernacular tradition from the thickets of contemporary racial debate."
A compact, lively defense of the grammatical legitimacy of "Black English." Read full book review >
ECONOMISM by James Kwak
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS
Released: Jan. 10, 2017

"Do the better angels of our nature demand double-digit profit? For a soft-path, smart refutation, Kwak's book is just the ticket."
A spry manifesto that dismantles the many suppositions of modern economic theory. Read full book review >

CURRENT AFFAIRS
Released: Jan. 10, 2017

"A dramatic challenge to understand the shakiness of the foundations we take for granted and where energies committed to redress should be directed."
How conservative majorities in successive Supreme Courts have consistently acted in recent years to block citizens' access to redress of grievances through the courts. Read full book review >
THE UNBANKING OF AMERICA by Lisa Servon
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS
Released: Jan. 10, 2017

"Servon's approachable if somewhat academic study is an indictment of a financial structure bent on large returns at the expense of all else, but it also offers hope for ways around that ravenous system."
Banks seldom have much green money these days—and not many customers, either. Read full book review >
CURRENT AFFAIRS
Released: Jan. 10, 2017

"Though the story suffers somewhat in the telling, Starr is proud of his accomplishments, and he deserves to be."
One man's amazing accomplishment in founding a school amid a series of daunting challenges. Read full book review >

BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR
Released: Jan. 10, 2017

"Patterson is no Theodore White or Hunter S. Thompson, but he provides a readable, often astute record of a presidential campaign that future generations should ponder with astonishment—and disgust."
Patterson (Eden in Winter, 2014, etc.) takes a break from bestselling thrillers to ponder the solipsisms, slanders, slurs, and slogans of the last electoral cycle. Read full book review >
CURRENT AFFAIRS
Released: Jan. 10, 2017

"A comprehensive resource guide for individuals worried that certain rights may be in jeopardy, offering the encouragement to actively fight back with as much knowledge and authority as possible."
For the majority of the nation's citizens feeling shocked and bereaved by the election of Donald Trump, Stone (The Secrets of People who Never Get Sick, 2010, etc.) offers guidance for dealing with some of the key issues. Read full book review >
CURRENT AFFAIRS
Released: Jan. 8, 2017

"A concise primer to the science and politics of climate change."
An admirably evenhanded appraisal of the challenges posed by climate change and the political solutions available. Read full book review >
A CONSEQUENTIAL PRESIDENT by Michael D’Antonio
BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR
Released: Jan. 3, 2017

"Sometimes overly gushing and perhaps premature but bolstered with enough evidence."
An overview of President Barack Obama's two-term presidency: his successes, failures, and incompletions. Read full book review >
THE EGYPTIANS by Jack Shenker
CURRENT AFFAIRS
Released: Jan. 3, 2017

"A troubling yet highly engaging catch-up on the state of incomplete revolution in Egypt."
A sharp jab at the neoliberal economics adopted by Egypt over the last decades, which ultimately spurred grass-roots revolt. Read full book review >
RADICALIZATION by Farhad Khosrokhavar
CURRENT AFFAIRS
Released: Jan. 3, 2017

"A timely, systematic breakdown of thee reasons for radicalization."
A French scholar delineates the attractions of violent extremism, specifically jihadi Islam. Read full book review >
CURRENT AFFAIRS
Released: Jan. 3, 2017

"A worthy primer on the science of comprehending language at the visible, symbolic level of print, a place that requires plenty of brain power and years of practice to navigate."
Johnny can't read—and too often his teachers can only guess why. Read full book review >
Kirkus Interview
Yoojin Grace Wuertz
February 27, 2017

In Yoojin Grace Wuertz’s debut novel Everything Belongs to Us, the setting is Seoul in 1978. At South Korea’s top university, the nation’s best and brightest compete to join the professional elite of an authoritarian regime. Success could lead to a life of rarefied privilege and wealth; failure means being left irrevocably behind. For childhood friends Jisun and Namin, the stakes couldn’t be more different. Jisun, the daughter of a powerful business mogul, grew up on a mountainside estate with lush gardens and a dedicated chauffeur. Namin’s parents run a tented food cart from dawn to curfew; her sister works in a shoe factory. Now Jisun wants as little to do with her father’s world as possible, abandoning her schoolwork in favor of the underground activist movement, while Namin studies tirelessly in the service of one goal: to launch herself and her family out of poverty. But everything changes when Jisun and Namin meet an ambitious, charming student named Sunam, whose need to please his family has led him to a prestigious club: the Circle. Under the influence of his mentor, Juno, a manipulative social climber, Sunam becomes entangled with both women, as they all make choices that will change their lives forever. “Engrossing,” our reviewer writes in a starred review. “Wuertz is an important new voice in American fiction.” View video >
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