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Cover of THE RAVEN BOYS

THE RAVEN BOYS

by Academy. While he can’t always escape the perception of being a condescending rich boy, Gansey, influenced by a near\u002Ddeath experience seven years earlier, throws himself fully into finding the sleeping king, Owain Glendower. Searching for ley lines that will lead them to Glendower, Gansey, Blue, and the others get swept up in a race to activate the lines before those with dark motives can seize the ancient magic for themselves. Though some of the illustrations don’t convey the full gravitas of some moments in the original, others adroitly capture the humor, dread, and camaraderie that made the novel so intriguing and endearing. Newcomers to the story may not catch the significance of certain developments, but other elements, like the town of Henrietta and Gansey’s journal, gain extra life and added dimensions thanks to Milledge’s expressive and nostalgic artwork, which is enhanced by Ko’s luminous colors. Blue has brown skin and dark curly hair, and the boys present as white. "⭐ 4.4/5(4,326)

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Cover of THE REAGAN FILES 2025

THE REAGAN FILES 2025

by offering transcripts of declassified conversations between Reagan and his closest confidants during his first term. Topics on well\u002Dknown aspects of his foreign policy are certainly present, such as Reagan’s staunch opposition to the Soviet Union or his policies toward the Middle East, but the conversations also provide readers glimpses into lesser\u002Dknown areas, including his approach to allies, if occasional economic rivals, in the Caribbean, Japan, and South Korea. Based largely on declassified materials from the National Security Council and National Security Planning Group, the transcripts provide an intimate look inside Reagan’s administration. In one conversation, for instance, the president describes Lebanon as “the strangest place in the world” because he couldn’t reconcile the nation’s rising terrorist threats with its cosmopolitan hotels, television shows, and sophisticated restaurants. With a law degree from the University of Wisconsin and a former researcher for Reagan biographer Richard Reeves, Saltoun\u002DEbin is intimately familiar with the archival material hosted at the Reagan Presidential Library. Not only has he written multiple volumes on the former president himself, he also led the way in digitizing his archival materials at TheReaganFiles.com. This is a carefully curated and abridged version of select documents, accompanied by the learned commentary and historical analysis of a leading Reagan researcher. This edition could have used some tighter editorial trimming\u003B many of the conversations consume multiple pages. Nevertheless, the book’s emphasis on engaging both scholars and lay readers is effectively supported by a glossary and ample historical contextualization."

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Cover of The Reluctant Womb

The Reluctant Womb

by her friend Frank, Thea joins him doing volunteer work in San Francisco, and Chris heads off to do volunteer work in Jamaica, where she falls in love with a local Black leader named Winston. Over the next school year, Cilla faces a pregnancy scare, Chris finds herself pregnant and decides on an illegal abortion, and Thea becomes pregnant and chooses to have the baby and put her up for adoption. Blair’s narrative is an exploration of the emotional, psychological, societal, and familial complexities and challenges regarding abortion, adoption, and interracial dating, the aftereffects of which linger throughout her characters’ adult years. The author captures the angst and ethos of campus life in the early, pre–Roe v. Wade 1960s and bakes in a primer on the period’s history, referencing the Cuban Missile Crisis, the blatant racism, the misogyny of the medical profession, and the burgeoning Civil Rights movement (“A meeting of Students for a Democratic Society. She wondered what kind of group it was. For Democrats? If she’d been old enough to vote in the 1960 election, she’d have voted for Kennedy. Maybe she’d look into it”). This homage to loving friendships also touches on the issues of mental illness and bisexuality. Blair’s prose is conversational and accessible, vividly evoking a time when social values were on the cusp of great change."⭐ 4.2/5(6)

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Cover of THE ROAD THAT MADE AMERICA

THE ROAD THAT MADE AMERICA

by his passion for the GWR naturally, having been inducted by a scholarly father in the pleasures of visiting historical places. An aficionado of Revolutionary War history, Dodson hits on plenty of battles along his path, which stretches from Pennsylvania and down the Shenandoah Valley into the Carolinas and Georgia. Like so many historic roads, the GWR began as a Native trail, but it soon came to serve as a conduit for moving new waves of immigrants out of crowded cities like Philadelphia into unsettled places. On that score, Dodson serves up an apposite quote from Benjamin Franklin, who, in an intemperate moment, railed, “Why should Pennsylvania, funded by the English, become a colony of aliens, who will shortly be so numerous as to Germanize us, instead of us Anglifying them?” Many of Dodson’s historical subjects are those Germans, many others Scots\u002DIrish, while his modern interlocutors come from all over, with one generous\u002Dminded local historian remarking, “The good news…is that many of the migrants we see coming here from Central and South America are hardworking folks eager to make a living.” Dodson touches on other current controversies, including efforts to remove Confederate statues from Southern historical sites and, of more specialist interest, the exact routes of the GWR’s numerous spurs. He writes with a light hand, talking with everyone who comes across his path and capturing some apt ideas, including one observation that in the colonial American melting pot, “the English built the houses, the Germans built the barns, and the Scots\u002DIrish built the stills.” "⭐ 3.8/5(82)

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Cover of THE ROAD TO YESTERDAY

THE ROAD TO YESTERDAY

by Black and Frangello, the memoir does make it feel like it’s Donovan’s voice that is being heard—she has such a seamless, conversational, and introspective way of recounting her story that the fact that she didn’t directly put pen to paper is quickly forgotten. Though the epilogue could perhaps have been split into multiple chapters, it looks forward to the future with Donovan’s established frankness as she admits to mistakes while also fully demonstrating that her “desire is to shine a light in the darkness for others.” "⭐ 4.6/5(28)

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Cover of THE ROMA

THE ROMA

by the almost universal hatred that greeted the Roma, who maintained their own culture and traveled in caravans at a time when almost no one traveled. They were attacked, expelled, imprisoned, and even enslaved. The first enslaved people taken to America—by Columbus—were Roma. During World War II, from several hundred thousand to a million Roma were murdered or transported to extermination camps, including Auschwitz. Today most Roma are settled, but they do not have it easy. Their children in Sweden were not permitted in public schools until 1959. Although caravans are uncommon, stronger British trespassing laws were directed at them in 2022. Traveling widely, Potter is perhaps too focused on recording unpleasant encounters, but she is not shy about pointing out Romani celebrities and cultural achievements. Spanish flamenco is one, as are, despite the names, Franz Liszt’s Hungarian rhapsodies and Johannes Brahms’ Hungarian dances."⭐ 4.1/5(94)

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Cover of THE SACRED STRUGGLE

THE SACRED STRUGGLE

by rabbis Danziger and David, an array of Jewish thinkers and spiritual leaders explores how trauma—individual and communal—interacts with Jewish culture, teaching, and belief. The October 7, 2023, terror attacks in Israel are strongly present throughout in essays that highlight the pain of victimization, anger toward leadership, and a rise in antisemitism. In one essay, arguably the collection’s best, rabbi Wendy Zierler puts the tragedy into a context of classic Israeli songs, drawing parallels to the Kaddish prayer while illustrating how one has a capacity not only to mourn but “to bring people back.” Other entries address other crises, such as the 9/11 attacks, Hurricane Katrina, the Tree of Life and Parkland mass shootings, and the isolating agony of Covid\u002D19\u003B the Yom Kippur War and the Holocaust are also addressed. Editor and avid runner David recounts his first time participating in the Boston Marathon, which coincided with the horrific 2013 bombing. Just as affecting are essays of private struggle, including Danziger’s candid reflection on living with chronic cancer, and rabbi Debra R. Hachen’s account of caring for a spouse with Alzheimer’s disease while questioning whether she could meet what the role required. Although a shared faith binds these essays together, their tone shifts dramatically—some are passionate or outraged, others more measured and thoughtful, and still others take a scholarly tone. Nearly every essay is anchored by ritual or communal liturgy, which offer comfort or give shape to unresolved pain. Most resist easy answers and frame trauma not as something people “get over,” but rather “integrate…into our life view.” What emerges isn’t a theology of trauma, but a testimony to how Jewish practice, language, and leadership can respond to crises without closure. Though aimed at Jewish readers, the collection’s emotional honesty will resonate with anyone interested in how tradition can help one face what can’t necessarily be fixed."⭐ 5.0/5(2)

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Cover of THE SECOND CRUSADE

THE SECOND CRUSADE

by defeat. If none of his interviewees can help Dietrich win new battles, then what has he learned? It’s an intriguing premise for a novel. However, this narrative fails to contextualize it in a compelling way. Written in stark, straightforward prose, it reads like a moral fable that lacks the nuances that might make it more engaging. Moral tales set in the distant past often have thinly disguised messages that are relevant to the present, but it’s never clear whether the absence of deeply felt morals here is intended. Is this a story about a hero’s spiritual journey, an antiwar tale, or a simple bildungsroman? There’s too little here that makes the tale worth telling, and a hurried and convenient conclusion doesn’t help matters. "⭐ 4.0/5(1)

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