The inaugural winner of the Yale Nonfiction Book Prize, this debut collection from Gleason contains enlightening and beautifully written essays on illness and medicine. The title entry recounts his time as a medical interpreter at a free clinic who became a patient himself when a blood clot was discovered in his left shoulder. His experiences highlight the challenge of expressing one’s pain and the tendency of doctors to treat diseases and symptoms rather than the person as a whole. “Blood in the Water” is structured as letters written to Gaëtan Dugas, the man who was mistakenly identified as “Patient Zero” of the AIDS epidemic in North America, as Gleason awaits results after an inconclusive HIV test, wishing for “illness unbounded from guilt and history.” In “Gilead,” he discusses his attempts to get on a pre-exposure prophylactic, or PrEP, while in a relationship with an HIV-positive partner. He explains the science and business of PrEP while also showing how “you can lose someone, not by hurting them or forcing them away, but simply by holding them at arm’s length.” Other essays discuss public shootings, prison, opioids, organ donation, and a doctor accused of killing his patients. Each sparkles with clarity and precision, rendering complicated concepts accessible and stimulating. This is a triumph. (Jan.)

Reviewed on 01/02/2026 | Details & Permalink

Leonardi (The Digital Mindset), a technology management professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, delivers a helpful guide to managing the overwhelm created by digital technologies. The platforms that permeate daily life—social media, email, Zoom, ChatGPT, streaming services—are draining users of their energy, desire to do things, and ability to focus, Leonardi contends. Acknowledging that people can’t simply stop using their devices, he argues that they can learn to use them in ways that help them lead happier, more efficient lives. Leonardi unpacks how digital devices cause burnout by fragmenting people’s attention, forcing them to constantly think about how they are perceived, and triggering strong emotions. To build resilience, Leonardi advises readers to cut in half the number of digital tools they use, resist the urge to respond to messages immediately, and establish one’s intention before picking up a device. In the workplace, he encourages managers to stop implementing new digital technologies, and at home, he urges parents to ditch their devices when in front of their kids. While Leonardi’s ideas aren’t particularly innovative, he offers a nuanced perspective of technology use that acknowledges the demands of modern life while providing practical tools for reducing fatigue. Readers will be inspired to reassess their relationship with screens. (Oct.)

Reviewed on 01/02/2026 | Details & Permalink

Reproductive healthcare specialist Quimby debuts with a passionate explainer on contraception, arguing that “everyone, everywhere should have the right to make decisions that impact their families.” She traces the development of birth control, noting ancient Egyptians used a paste made of sour milk and crocodile poop to prevent pregnancy and that today there are more than 15 FDA-approved birth control methods for women but only two for men (condoms and vasectomy). Birth control is ubiquitous—most people will use more than one method in their lifetimes, she explains—but it’s also at risk: The same “right to privacy” that was narrowed in 2022 when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade has historically provided the legal support for the right to birth control. Many people face barriers to access, like cost, a lack of insurance coverage, and state policies that create burdensome requirements. Instead of getting frustrated and demoralized, Quimby encourages readers to become well-informed advocates. She outlines the various types of contraception, explaining how they work (Plan B, for example, prevents pregnancy by delaying ovulation), and how to access them (one FDA-approved pill, Opill, is now available without a prescription). Comprehensive and accessible, this effectively demonstrates birth control’s vital role in the U.S. Readers will be educated and energized. (Oct.)

Reviewed on 01/02/2026 | Details & Permalink

This scattershot business history from journalist Steinberger (The Wine Savant) profiles Palantir Technologies, a software company specializing in data analytics. Steinberger describes Palantir’s successes, which include software that tracked the spread of Covid-19 and a military intelligence platform that helped the Ukrainian army identify and target Russian troops, and probes claims that the company is a pillar of the surveillance state whose software is used by police departments to identify likely criminals and crime hotspots, raising issues of racial profiling. As Steinberger notes, opponents of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown also criticize Palantir’s contracts with ICE. CEO Alex Karp, a half-Black, half-Jewish billionaire with a law degree and a doctorate in social theory, emerges in this account as a knot of ideological contradictions. An avowed progressive who insists on high standards of ethics and data privacy, Karp is also a staunch supporter of Israel, Western civilization, and U.S. national-security priorities (he won’t do business with Russia or China) who has moved to the right, voicing opposition to open borders and DEI programs. Though Steinberger paints Karp as a colorful, eccentric figure, his discussion of Palantir’s technology is vague, and his claim that “Palantir was arguably the most interesting company in the world—and possibly also one of the most dangerous” feels overhyped and ill-supported. Readers will be left wanting. (Nov.)

Reviewed on 01/02/2026 | Details & Permalink

This shocking account from Nation correspondent Abramsky (Chaos Comes Calling) exposes the upheaval and devastation of the second Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency. Led by “the wealthiest man on earth,” Elon Musk, DOGE waged an “all-out assault” on the federal government—which is also “the largest employer in the country,” Abramsky notes. Through intimate profiles of 11 federal workers, Abramsky traces their experiences as they get fired—and sometimes, in response to court decisions, rehired, only to be fired again months later—and struggle to find a new job in a now-saturated job market. In so doing, Abramsky uncovers astonishing details of DOGE’s chaotic operation, including communications “riddled with errors” and improper severance paperwork that affected employees’ benefits, including their access to healthcare. Abramsky frames this as more than sheer ineptitude, but rather as all-out war on the federal service featuring incredible acts of malice, such as numerous employees being fired for “poor performance,” a designation that will likely hinder future federal employment. The subjects’ reveal the heavy emotional toll as they grieve for their upended professional lives—“You can compare it to a traumatic event in your life. Losing somebody,” says one former government scientist mourning a 20-year career. It’s an enraging view of the impact of DOGE’s chainsaw. (Jan.)

Reviewed on 12/12/2025 | Details & Permalink

America’s 26th president forged himself by pitching headlong into conflict, according to this perceptive biography. Historian Brown (A Hell of a Storm) recaps Roosevelt’s combative life starting with his boyhood as an asthmatic rich kid who felt compelled to embrace an ethos of aggressive manliness, taking up boxing and wrestling, and, after moving to the Dakota Territory, hunting, ranching, and other generally armed frontier exploits. His career as a Republican politician likewise thrived on showy belligerence, Brown contends, culminating in his Rough Riders’ charge up Cuba’s San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War (a conflict that he fomented as assistant secretary of the Navy). Roosevelt broke the pattern somewhat during his presidency, brokering peace in the Russo-Japanese War and in bitter coal-mine strikes, but returned to belligerence in his post-presidency, when he shattered the Republican Party by running again on the anti-monopoly Progressive ticket. Brown shows how all this push and shove positioned Roosevelt as a pivotal figure in America’s development; he linked the country’s corporate, industrial future with its past ideals of self-reliance, while also pioneering a new, powerful model of the presidency that overshadowed Congress, intervened in the economy, and pursued military adventurism abroad—setting the stage for everything from the New Deal and the Vietnam War to Donald Trump. It adds up to an elegant and immersive reevaluation of Roosevelt as kickstarter of the American Century. (Dec.)

Reviewed on 12/12/2025 | Details & Permalink

Journalist and novelist Harrigan (Sorrowful Mysteries) delivers a vivid collection of essays on time, identity, and memory. After decades of reporting on Texas, he realized “that all that cumulative witnessing amounted to a story of its own.” Some entries are directly autobiographical, such as “Off Course,” where he examines the life of his father, an Air Force pilot who died in a plane crash before Harrigan was born, and makes a pilgrimage to the crash site outside Seattle. In “The Art of Low Expectations,” he describes a hobby he took up during the pandemic, sculpting polymer clay, which taught him “how satisfying it is to be bad at something and not care at all.” Others focus on changing social and cultural mores, like “Twilight of the Bronze Age,” which explores the U.S.’s reckoning with Confederate monuments and his own realization that “there was a point at which standing up for history felt too much like standing in the way of it.” Harrigan’s lucid and genial prose is on full display whether he’s writing about watching the premiere of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre while on a double date with the actor who played the killer Leatherface or describing the evolution of the magazine industry through his years spent writing for Texas Monthly. The result is entertaining and thought-provoking. (Oct.)

Reviewed on 12/12/2025 | Details & Permalink

“Creativity begins in chaos.... The challenge is to bring form and order to it,” contends The Secret Life of Bees author Kidd in this inspiring mix of memoir and writing guide. Kidd discovered her love of storytelling as a young girl, but in the “pre-feminist, pre-civil rights, religion-possessed South,” writing wasn’t seen as a viable career choice for women, she explains. She became a nurse, a wife, and a mother, but developed feelings of restlessness. She found solace in writing and declared to her family on her 30th birthday she was going to become a writer. She describes how her longing to write books people would connect with helped her push through years of rejection and bouts of self-doubt and reflects on inspiration she has drawn from writers, including Louisa May Alcott, Emily Dickinson, and Virginia Woolf, each of whom taught her “we all possess our own particular genius.” Kidd distills her belief that everyone has a creative well within them and unpacks her writing method: she finds outlining stories intuitive and necessary, structures plots with intensifying dramatic tension (a method known as Aristotle’s Incline), and imbues her stories with a strong sense of place. Both spiritual and practical, this takes the mystery out of building a creative life. Aspiring writers ought to take a look. (Oct.)

Reviewed on 12/12/2025 | Details & Permalink

This expert collection from literary scholars Hefner and Holcomb contains two decades of private correspondence from Claude McKay (1890–1948), the Jamaican American writer who was a key figure of the Harlem Renaissance. The author of poems such as “If We Must Die” and the novels Home to Harlem, Banjo, and Banana Bottom, McKay was a prolific letter writer: While living abroad between 1916 and 1934, he corresponded with luminaries such as Louise Bryant, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Langston Hughes. The letters follow his travels in and around Europe—from the Soviet Union and France to Spain and Morocco—highlighting his leftist politics, queer identity, and search for the meaning of “home” in a world marked by racism and colonialism. His “restless wandering” resembles the experience of the Lost Generation but without the “financial support they enjoyed and the privilege of their whiteness,” the editors write. Also revealed in the letters are McKay’s dedication to writing realistic Black stories and his views on the public discourse around Black art; at one point he calls the New Negro Renaissance “a hopeless mess.” Throughout, McKay’s finely honed intellect and deep humanity are on full display. This is a major addition to McKay scholarship. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 12/12/2025 | Details & Permalink

“Strong connections are vital for emotional health, not just for children but for parents as well,” contends pediatric psychologist Lockhart (You Are Not Alone) in this perceptive guide to parenting tweens and teens, ages nine to 19. Lockhart lays out the developmental stages of this age group, explaining parents can expect that in middle childhood (nine to 11), their kids will start to feel more independent, and in early adolescence (12 to 14), puberty generally kicks in. How parents respond to teens’ changing behaviors can determine whether they feel comfortable turning to parents in times of need. Lockhart encourages rewarding desired behaviors with praise and allowing teens to experience the consequences of their actions (if a teen loses their phone, instead of immediately coming to the rescue, letting them experience the inconvenience of not having it can teach them responsibility). Parenting can cause one’s own difficult childhood memories to resurface, Lockhart cautions, explaining that living “your life through your teen” can lead to cycles of guilt, frustration, and resentment. To avoid this, she encourages parents to heal their own past traumas and identify and attend to their own needs. Lockhart relays her advice through relatable examples and provides thoughtful exercises, including guided self-reflection practices. Parents will feel equipped to strengthen relationships with their teens. (Oct.)

Reviewed on 12/12/2025 | Details & Permalink