Gwynne’s Grammar: The Ultimate Introduction to Grammar and the Writing of Good English, N.M. Gwynne The Only Grant-Writing Book You’ll Ever Need 5th ed., Ellen Karsh & Arlen Sue Fox Grammar as blood sport By Diane Hill (January 29, 2020) Gwynne’s Grammar: The Ultimate Introduction to Grammar and the Writing of Good English, N.M. Gwynne, Vintage, November 26, 2019, 288 pp., $21.00 I…
By Gail Picco (January 28, 2020) Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen by Dan Heath, Avid Reader Press, March 3, 2020, 320 pp., $36.97 In my line of work, as a fundraiser and charity strategist, I spend a fair amount of time planning how to respond when things go wrong or when objections are raised. Because as campaign-tested professionals know,…
By Roger Ali (January 23, 2020) Diversity, Inc.: The Failed Promise of a Billion-Dollar Business, Pamela Newkirk, Bold Type Books, October 22, 2019, 272 pp., $30.28 Diversity, Inc. by award-winning journalist Pamela Newkirk shines a bright light on the diversity industry, gives examples of successes and asks tough questions about what has been effective and why progress has been slow. She has devoted…
by Gail Picco (January 21, 2020) No one is too small to make a difference by Greta Thunberg, Penguin UK, July 30, 2019, 80 pp., $7.45 When you see climate scientist, Greta Thunberg, on TV, it is striking how diminutive she is, a child really, one seemingly sent by Mother Nature herself to tell the world our time is practically up. A child…
By Gail Picco (January 14, 2020) The Reality Game: How the Next Wave of Technology Will Break the Truth, Samuel Woolley, Public Affairs, January 7, 2020, 272 pp., $35.00 A friend told me the other day that if I wanted to see something good happen in 2020, I should plant a flower. Saying Happy New Year this year feels a little less in…
Dearest Readers, We’re taking a short break (December 23, 2019 to January 14, 2020) to catch up on our reading. See you in the New Year with reviews of brand new books! All my very best, Gail Gail Picco, Editor
The wild ride from from beauty blogger to activist By Nicole Salmon (December 20, 2019) Well, that Escalated Quickly Memoirs and Mistakes of an Accidental Activist, Franchesca Ramsey, Grand Central Publishing, May 22, 2018, 256pp., $18.19 How does one go from being a beauty blogger to a YouTuber—when being a YouTuber wasn’t really the thing we know today—to being a social justice advocate? Apparently, quite accidentally, according…
Rage, Rebellion and Resistance 50 Years After Stonewall By Krishan Mehta, PhD (December 18, 2019) Stonewall: The Definitive Story of the LGBTQ Rights Uprising That Changed America, Martin Duberman, Blume, June 4, 2019 (2nd edition), 432 pp., $23.76 History has shown us the transformative power of organizing and activism. The salt march of 1930 led to India’s independence, the march on Washington in…
By Katherine Verhagen Rodis (December 13, 2019) The Undying: Pain, vulnerability, mortality, medicine, art, time, dreams, data, exhaustion, cancer, and care, Anne Boyer, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, September 17, 2019, 320 pp, $34.99 “I do not want to tell the story of cancer in the way that I have been taught to tell it.” (Anne Boyer) Boyer takes you on an intimate…
By Cindy Wagman (December 5, 2019) Why We’re Wrong About Nearly Everything: A Theory of Human Misunderstanding by Bobby Duffy, Basic Books, November 26, 2019, 304 pp., $29.21 Guess what? We know nothing! Well, not quite nothing, but when it comes to our understanding of numerical information, we are so far off from reality that it might as well be make-believe. And…