Phyllis

I couldn't get a physical, electronic, or audiobook from any local libraries, so I decided to use up an Audible credit.

The narrator was quite effective at voicing different characters and suited the story. That's about where the positive vibes ended for me, though.

Bleakkkk.

I mean, I expected some level of darkness to this book. But, it was billed as wickedly funny. Honestly, I still haven't come across anything funny and I have a darkish sense of humor.

After hearing great things about Barbara Comyns, I was excited to try out a novella of hers, but I'm at the point where I don't want to know what happens next.

I've been looking for audiobooks to accompany the last few fall walks of the year or to the gym when it's too cold/blustery/rainy outside. Nothing too light his week, I chose another of Liane Moriarty's books because I've found her books kind of fun to read, even if the ending seemed rushed.

And “The Husband's Secret” is no exception. There is some nice character building, but the ending felt off again. Too rushed and not fitting the characters, or maybe too convenient (for the author).

“Dreadful's” premise is great and the first few chapters delivered. Waking up with amnesia and finding you don't like the fashion or decorating choices of your Dark Wizard Dread Lord Gavrax former self was fun.

The goblins were probably my favorite, although I also enjoyed the village Mayor and her enterprising populace (garlic, anyone?).

Unfortunately, we spend too much time navel gazing with Gav and listening to him ask a princess he's kidnapped and locked up in a dungeon whether she'd like him if.... More than once. More than twice.

Also, I would have really enjoyed Gav staying at his castle and continuing to work to make it better instead of just hitting the road with no plan and a teenage princess in tow who suddenly has all kind of agency vs a princess who, days before, is so precious that her father sent brigades of heroes and a White Wizard to save.

I heard an interview with the author, C.L. Miller on NPR's Book a Day podcast. The set up sounded great including an Agatha-Christie-style murder mystery and reveal based in the world of antiques. The author's mother was an expert in antique valuation, so I thought I was in for a real treat.

Sadly, the writing was very stilted and the characters were flat. I kept hoping the book would improve because the authors enthusiasm and ideas were so good, but she just wasn't able to execute.

The fact that it took me almost two full months whilst semi-employed says a lot about my feelings on this book. I have not read anything else by bell hooks at this point and I'll try earlier works based on comments made by other reviewers. However, were her reputation based on this book, I would be surprised.

The book consists of well-intended essays about how love (or the lack of love) affects various areas of our lives. I say well-intended because her style feels like an academic paper that doesn't really connect with her topic; at least 80% is esoteric. Mind you, some gems can be found if you have the patience to spelling for them.

I am certain bell hooks feels very passionate about the subject and provides some personal vignettes to make her pint, yet I just felt at arms length, as opposed to drawn in.

At some point in the last year, I started Nick Cutter's “The Troop” on audiobook and enjoyed the equivalent of the first few chapters enough to move to checking out the physical copy.

From the first chapter, we find out that there's a man on the loose who has an insatiable hunger beyond anything the typical human experiences. We also meet Scoutmaster Tim, and a troop of 5 14 year-old boys who are already on an island near Prince Edward Island in Canada. The ever-dwindling man shows up on the island and things go sideways pretty quickly.

Now, this is all a good premise for a pretty scary tale and I'm a sucker for coming of age stories. However, Nick Cutter just went too far! And that's saying something when the first blurb on the cover is a strong recommendation from Stephen King.

I found it hard to believe that Scoutmaster/Doctor Tim would make so many bad decisions before he was infected. Would you bring a clearly ill and possibly deranged adult male into a cabin where your 5 young charges are staying?

The devolution of Shelley was ludicrous and seemed like an excuse to throw in tons of very disturbing animal abuse (I had to skim these because they were so graphic). It also didn't make sense that not one person ever figured out that Shel was so supremely evil and shouldn't have been in the Scouts (or just about anywhere).

The news articles, interviews, and other bumpers between chapters actually took away from the momentum of the story and shared information that want really necessary.

In fact, most of the characters fell into stereotypes and weren't very well fleshed out. And the ending, well, it was too much and not enough. I'm not sure I'll be reading any more of this author's books, although I still have one of his other books (not under this pen name) on my to-read list.

Erika Swyler is a talented writer and has a poetic take in “Light From Other Stars” on loss and grief, searching for a sense of belonging, friendship, and exploration. And it's partially set in 1986, which is a year I remember well and fondly. Yet, I found the book difficult to get through (and I've been on a reading kick the past 2 months). Not because the aforementioned topics are weighty and tough, but because the action seemed to move through sand, although much of it mixed a lot faster.

Nice shout out to Peaches ‘n Cream Barbie, one of my favorites in 1986.

The “Roadside History of Illinois” by Stan Banash is a nice travel companion to my home state. I picked it up from the library for a family trip to Springfield. The section regarding the Springfield area was helpful and well-written, much like the rest of the book. Stan Banash has a flair for providing interesting tidbits about various points in Illinois organized in manageable short driving trips.

The beginning of the book starts off with a brief chronological history of the state, followed by state facts and a compendium of important firsts. There's also a delightful introduction by the great Dee Brown, who the author must have met while working on a few compilations of Dee's.

From there, the book is broken up into a few regions and then key sites or towns wi the in that region. This book doesn't contain addresses or contact information for these points of interest, which would likely become more and more out of date as time goes on.

For many years, I thought “Dracula” was in my read pile, whereas, it was not! One of the great things about the Great Books book club I am in is reading titles I might not normally pick up OR picking up a title I thought I had!

One of the things that is striking about “Dracula” in book form, versus the various film and stage versions we have seen, is the multitude of unreliable narrators. Every single voice, save, perhaps, the newspaper articles describing the crash of the Demeter at Whitby, is by someone who may or may not be telling the truth because they are being influenced (knowingly, in the case of Mina, or unknowingly, in the case of Lucy). “We want no proofs, we ask none to believe us!” exclaims Van Helsing in Jonathan Harker's postscript seven years after the novels main events. Yet, Mina and Jonathan's son, Quincey, is being told the stories and may the very person who has to believe his parents and parents' friends.

It is also the epistolary form, presented in journal entries, excerpts from diaries kept on phonograph, ship's logs, telegrams, and patient records that we are fed the story of Dracula's ultimate demise. While epistolary novels were nothing new by the late 1800's, the style fits the story particularly well, allowing Bram Stoker to switch points of view and build suspense in a way modern day television and movies do. It also provides a great deal of printed evidence used to analyze and organize the confusing events up to and following Lucy's untimely death.

Here, again,h is a surprise for those familiar with the screen and stage adaptations of “Dracula.” Time and again, technology, logic, and Western innovation are used to trump the Old World, the supernatural, and Eastern Europe. Shorthand, the typewriter, the phonograph, blood transfusions, and investigative techniques one expects from Scotland yard undo Dracula's attempt to take over and dominate London, as well as cutting him off from his ancestral home. Mina Harker, in particular, is lauded by other characters in the book for her incredible use of logic, organization, and mastery of productivity enhancers (shorthand, typewriting). It is only when she is suspected of being pregnant (aka newly married) or a two-way conduit to Dracula that the men keep her out of the investigation.

Fear of contagion must certainly echo the quick-spreading cholera epidemic Bram Stoker's mother described, as well as other plagues that science had not yet found a way to shield humanity from. Once infected, very little but death awaited cholera victims, much like those that either had too much blood drawn from them by vampires or who had drunk the blood of a vampire. Where does contagion come from? It must certainly be foreign and unclean, which may explain why Dracula is from Eastern Europe, an area of Europe that contemporary England found quaint, superstitious, and backwards.

The erotic and sexual overtones to Dracula come through loud and clear, from taking on new vampires both as partners sharing experiences at night in a passionate haze to creating progeny. Related is the idea that Dracula is a rich, willful member of the aristocracy; the extremely wealthy certainly had their way with local peasant women and drained the life out of the people working their lands, although not as literally as sucking blood from their necks.

One of the plot points that irked me was Dracula's behavior on the voyage from Varna to Whitby. If Dracula could endanger his continued existence by the ship crashing during the voyage, why would he kill every member of the Demeter days before landfall? During his trip back to Varna and during other travels, Dracula was able to limit his feasting. While the ship's log and related newspaper articles were thrilling to read, the behavior seemed out of character for a 400-year old who was well-read and a meticulous planner.

After both the group discussion yesterday and a wealth of supplementary materials in the Penguin Classics edition, I find myself quite happy to have finally read Bram Stoker's excellent work and hope others will, as well.

Here are the discussion questions another book club member pulled together:
1. Dracula has become a famous (or should I say infamous) character over the years. Before you read the book, what expectations did you have for Dracula? What have you seen in movies, TV shows, etc. that caused you to think the book would be this way?

2. What are the elements of vampire folklore? For example, what, according to the novel, attracts or repels a vampire? How do you kill a vampire for good? Although Stoker did not invent the mythology of the vampire, his novel firmly established the conventions of vampire fiction. Choose another novel that deals with vampires and compare it with Dracula. (Consider, for example, one of Anne Rice's vampire books or Stepanie Meyer's Twilight series.) In what ways are the novels similar? Different?

3. Like so many novels of this time period, Dracula plays into stereotypical gender roles. Were you at all bothered by the heroine-in-distress part of the plot? Did any of the characters complicate or challenge these “normal” gender roles?

a )Discuss the significance that many of the male protagonists are doctors (Dr. Seward) or men of science (Dr. Van Helsing). Why is this important to the story?

b) Discuss the roles of Lucy Westenra and Mina Harker in the novel. How are the two women similar? Different? What accounts for their differences? To what extent does the novel depend on both of these women to propel the narrative forward?

4. The vampires in Dracula seek beauty and youth as principal objects of conquest. Why do they fixate on these two ideals? Are these twin obsessions specific to the time and place of the novel, or do we still grapple with their hold over us today? Does the author provide any positive examples of aging? In the novel, how do youth and naiveté take a back seat to knowledge and experience?

5. Discuss the role of sexuality in Dracula. What does the novel suggest about sexual behavior in Victorian England?
a)Count Dracula's thirst for blood is closely tied to sexual desire. How does Mina Harker thwart his physical — and psychological — advances? How does Lucy Westenra's vulnerability affect his bodily appetites? How does Jonathan Harker fend off the female vampires who nearly prove his undoing? What conclusions does the book draw about the link between seduction and evil? Sexual purity and innocence? What are the contrasts between love and lust in Dracula? How does passion complicate efforts to hasten Count Dracula's demise?

6. Dracula pits science and reason against superstition and the occult. Are these opposing philosophies ever reconciled? Does the truth of one argue against the existence of the other? How do the two doctors, John Seward and Abraham Van Helsing, approach the matter differently? Is Seward's skepticism ever completely overcome? How does R.M. Renfield contribute to Seward's education? What is the significance of Seward's diagnosis that Renfield tries “to absorb as many lives as he can”?

7. Do you think Dracula is a religious novel? What is the significance of the role played by holy objects in warding off the vampire's damnation? Does the author mean to satirize the piety and superstition of Transylvania town folk, or to strengthen the power of their beliefs?

8. Dracula relies on journal fragments, letters, and newspaper clippings to tell its story. Why might Stoker have chosen to narrate the story in this way? Do letters and journal entries make the story seem more authentic or believable to you?

9. Stoker includes an interesting note at the very end of the book that asks his reader about truth. Although the characters have repeatedly written of the validity of this tale through facts and accurate accounts of events, the reader is now asked to take everything on good faith. Why do you think Stoker chose to end this way? How does this choice affect your trust of the characters and your experience with the book?

This is the fictional version of “The Secret.” Which, truly, is also fiction. Saying that anything you want can be achieved by simply believing it is dangerous and wrong.

The first half of the book leading up to the desert was much better because it depicted a boy striking out into new lands and doing well by working hard. Once we get to the desert section, I found the book ridiculous.

Welp, at least this short title got me one more book closer to my annual reading goal!

Scott Sherman's passionate interview on Fresh Air compelled me to pick up this book; for that reason alone, I encourage readers to listen to the interview as a companion piece. I've been interested in the history of both libraries and books for years, so the history of the New York Public Library (currently the fourth largest library in the world) and the recent rollercoaster ride to change the main branch on 42nd street were not a tough sell.

As the CFO of one of the smallest colleges in the U.S., I was particularly interested in the financial ups and mostly downs of the NYPL since its founding, but was still impressed that the library functioned with a relatively small endowment given its size and complexity. The balancing act of selling off or holding valuable assets while maintaining (never mind improving) services can be tremendously difficult and may seem barbaric to outsiders. Perhaps, the “small” endowment is one of the things that crippled the library system, although it isn't clear that there were opportunities to significantly increase it during the first 50 years of so of operation, which would theoretically have created a massive endowment today.

However, the NYPL's managment made a number of clear missteps with the plan to “democratize” the main branch by moving it's over 3 million item collection to Princeton, blowing over $18 million in the process. Having experienced both the lack of quality consultancy and bloated price tag of McKinsey and Booz Allen during my corporate days, as well as having worked in companies where upper management was paid tremendous salaries and lower levels were told to watch out with buying office supplies, I felt nearly nauseous to hear the NYPL follow that path as one of the great research libraries. Also, the inability to either monetize assets like the custodian's apartments in several of the branch libraries or use them for public good made no sense.

The struggle between going digital and maintaining physical inventory was also interesting. Disclaimer: for over 15 years, I worked at three separate educational publishing companies, so this paragraph contains strong, personal opinions. In 1999, a consultant expensively claimed that 2000 would be the year of the eBook! It wasn't. The last company I worked for insisted that digital was a superior learning method (vs. standard textbooks and classrooms), but efficacy studies have not proven that argument (some studies provided evidence to the contrary!). Particularly for reference books, digitizing is rather dangerous. How long will that file be accessible and by whom given the proliferation of eReaders? Will the physical copy of the material be maintained in the event that the digital file is lost, corrupted, or inaccessible? Frankly, eReaders are not democratic and don't provide those at the lowest income levels of our society with resources. Publishers generally believe there is more money to be made with eBook subscriptions on their device than with print texts.

Although the book would be even more interesting if we could hear directly from the NYPL's board and executive staff, the author tries to present their point of view with excerpts from public meetings and interviews, although there is clear bias in that presentation. He makes it clear that he was not granted interviews or provided information under the Freedom of Information Act, so at least, attempts were made. Also, I would have enjoyed a few diagrams of the NYPL's interior to show the how the stacks were integral support to the Rose Reading Room, as well as pictures of the key players. Overall, the book was well-written and I look forward to more from Mr. Sherman.

As of December 2017, I have read Joseph Heller's “Catch-22” 4 or 5 times with the first read during the mid-nineties. I remember finding the book a laugh riot during that first pass, whereas I pick up a lot more darkness in this reading; the book is still absolutely hilarious and does not get old after multiple readings.

My Great Books discussion group had an excellent, thought-provoking discussion about this book
(see the questions at the bottom of this review). For example, we drew parallels to Mark Twain's “Huckleberry Finn,” in which the author ratchets up the nonsense to move the story from humor to tragedy. One of the group's members asked what the reciprocal obligation of taking the benefits from an organization without standing up against the negative actions that organization takes, and this was a question we really couldn't answer, despite several members having actively protested in the 60s or recently. That question is one of the central conflicts at “Catch-22”'s core and is even more applicable today when the individual is surrounded by faceless, logicless bureaucracies in the form of corporations, think tanks, and government.

Below are the discussion questions that I pulled from other, existing discussion questions lists, including the publisher.

1. One of the most challenging aspects of the novel is piecing together the order in which events occur. How does Heller manipulate time, fragment the action, and confuse cause and effect? Does this form fit the function?
2. Heller's dialogue style is reminiscent of Abbott and Costello's “Who's on First?” comic routine of the 1940s. How does Heller use this back-and-forth disorderly logic to develop character?
3. Heller is sometimes criticized for his failure to develop female characters. Do you agree or disagree with this assessment and why?
4. Chief White Halfoat is illiterate, yet he is assigned to military intelligence. Does Milo Minderbinder, head of the M&M Syndicate, represent the individual's triumph over bureaucracy, or is he a symbol of what is wrong with capitalism? Would you include one of the major themes of the novel as the struggle between the individual and an institution?
5. Chapters tend to be named for individuals in the story; however, titles are deceptive because they tend to be about other characters. Why might Heller have named chapters after one character but have written them about another?
6. How does the Chaplain's religious faith develop and change as the story progresses? What does his timidity say about the power of moral absolutes in the world of the military? What is the significance of his sensation of déjà vu in relation to religious faith?
7. Is Catch-22 a comedy, tragedy, story of morality, or an allegory?
8. What does Catch-22 say about war? How does Catch-22 compare to other war stories you have read or seen, particularly those about World War II? How does it compare to other satires?
9. Does there seem to be any system of justice in the novel? Are “good” characters rewarded while “evil” ones are punished? Can we clearly say who is “good” or “evil”? If not, is there such thing as justice at all?
10. Circumstances surrounding Snowden's death are revealed slowly. What does his death mean to Yossarian? To others?
11. What are some of the examples of Catch-22s found in the novel? What is the true meaning of the title? Ironically, at the end of the novel, Yossarian has the opportunity to go home a hero and has the system in a Catch-22. Do you think the ending is a victory or a defeat?

I first read Truman Capote‘s “In Cold Blood“ in the late ‘90s when I lived alone in a little house in South Carolina. I remember being scared to pieces and mostly remembered the gruesome murder. What I forgot is a much larger chunk of the book, which reenacts the movements of the killers before during and after the Clutter family was killed.

Longer review to come.

The title and subtitle caught my eye on a recent tour of Monticello. And, despite a decent knowledge of U.S. history, I did not remember learning about the turning-point dinner hosted by Jefferson and attended by Madison and Hamilton. I held off on picking up the book until my book club could begin Ellis' “Founding Brothers,” which includes the dinner as one of six portraits of the interrelationships between the Founding Fathers.

The chapter describing said dinner moved quickly, but, was placed in the middle of a book filled with interesting, but not necessarily related, historical issues and events. For example, there are sections covering Jefferson's Vice Presidency and Presidency, which were interesting, but not tied back to the pivotal dinner. There are several pages devoted to Benjamin Banneker, about whom the author wrote a separate book. This very interesting figure simply did not fit into the great compromise forged at a very private dinner.

So, this is an okay attempt at bringing a dusty footnote to early U.S. history to light.

I forgot what a cracking good book this is! During the summer after 6th or 7th grade, I read quite a few Agatha Christie books. I used to ride back and forth to the library on my very own to check them out and return them. Of course, even then I was full of OCD and had to start at the beginning of the series and much preferred the Miss Marple books to those with Hercule Poirot.

To my shame, I don't remember the story AT ALL. It's been 35 years, but you'd think I'd remember a bit of this book.

But, that made this time through a lot more fun. There are quite a few characters and side stories in “Murder at the Vicarage.” To Agatha Christie's credit, I didn't find myself getting confused about who was who. I will confess I got a bit mixed up with the timeline, and quite enjoyed the different maps and eventual timeline recap by the Vicar. It may be time to restart the Miss Marple series and check out the 1986 and 2004 adaptations.

Also, as more of a note to myself than anything, I must also read the play “Witness for the Prosecution.” I've just seen the 1947 movie version and it was absolutely amazing. I understand the play and movie deviate somewhat, but again, Agatha Christie's craft shone through.

Unfortunately, a very dull sophomoric novel.

The concept and title are great. Beyond that, the connections the author tries to draw between “The Princess Bride” and Buddhism are tenuous at best. Really this is a book wanting to explain Buddhism and relationships, throwing in “TPB” references every few pages.

Although I am not well-versed in soap-crafting books, I truly enjoyed this one. From an aesthetic perspective, each soap recipe is well-laid out with lots of pictures and helpful safety tips. Ms. Faiola displays a number of different techniques that are excellent for a beginner such as myself. One of my favorites was the lovely clay bar, which I still haven't used because it's so pretty!

This is definitely the weakest of the series thus far-I found the conclusion rather ridiculous and probably wouldn't continue if I hadn't started with the most recent book in the series.

For the last few weeks, I've been reading “Slider” along with my boyfriend's 9-year-old (the book is something her 4th grade class is reading).

I can't recommend this book to anyone. It tries too hard to be a morality tale, a coming-of-age story, an overcoming-personal-obstacles story, a how-to on win-competitive eating contests, a how-to-steal-from-your-parents story, a younger-sibling-has-autism book, plus a bit of education on why it's okay to cross union picket lines. Oh and what-happens-when-your-two-best-friends-are-kinda-dating book.

The characters are not well-drawn or believable.

And what 14-year-old is allowed to go to his big sister's boyfriend's frat party with zero supervision (not even his sister)? Really????!!!

Anyway, a big Do Not Read recommendation from me.

As inspiration for weekly art with the kids (or art by myself at the forest preserve's beer garden while everyone else is fishing, or in the playground, or at the volleyball pit, etc.), I picked up this book from the library.

As advertised, the book does offer 20 ways to draw a tree. The illustrations are relatively simple and good practice in drawing or painting a similar version. One day, I painted 15 of the 20 flowers, for example, with different watercolors.

This is a nice book to pick up if you want sketchbook ideas or are practicing drawing or painting skills.

I received “Tequila Mockingbird” from my cousin, who knows something about cocktails and accompanying snacks. She also knows that I am a book nerd.

I've been tempted to have a cocktail party for my book club as we have read 24 of the books in this great little tome. I've read almost all of them, so maybe I need to have cocktail parties for myself! With that said, I haven't yet made any of the cocktails, but will.

If you have any book nerds in your life, this is a great gift for them.

First of all, this book should have been the end of the Maisie Dobbs series instead of jettisoning our heroine off to various international locales (who also jettisoned her entire life's work, employees, boyfriend (as boring as he is), friends, family, and responsibilities). The end of this book spends a lot of time doing a “final accounting” of Maisie's life during the first 10 books and would have appeared to be a series end to the average reader. While I totally respect that Jacqueline Winspear probably didn't want to walk away from the publisher's promise of more money for continuing this series, I also wish this was the bow on the box.

I mean, is the current-as-of-book-10 Maisie Dobbs the same as the character we met in the first book? This one chastises her Dad to hurry up and get married so she can attend before shipping off to wherever! There is also about 5 minutes spent on her beloved Dad's wedding and far more time spent on getting onto the ship at the end of the book!

This particular mystery was kind of interesting, but I also felt it dragged on way too long. I knew who the killer was about 30% of the way in.

I've complained during the past few installments' reviews about the insufferable boring James Compton. And my complaints do not stop because he's become even more milquetoast and bland. Just chuck him already, Maisie!

Will I keep on with Maisie? Well, I have to because we have the same last name (no relation haha)! I also want to see if she gets any less flaky and remembers that she is a strong/smart person.

Many reviewers in the 3-star range have made comments that are similar to my overall opinion, so I shall be short on those points. What will not be in short shrift are disclaimers and extremely personal opinions.

I usually don't do this, but I'm going to break down each star of my rating (just like the Chicago flag, except the book gets 3 instead of 4 on the flag, har har). The book gets a star just for its excellent title. I also award a star for the approach that Thomas Dyja took in painting and weaving together semi-biographical portraits of Chicago's cultural icons in the mid-twentieth century. The third star is for the incredible amount of research and detail I have rarely seen in other places.

The book doesn't get it's fourth star because it never seems to pull all of the disjointed vignettes together or truly support the original thesis. For example, how did Mies van der Rohe's artitecture implemented at IIT influence the rest of the country? Do we really get a picture of Chicago as the centerpiece of the nation in the 1950's? I suspect the book would have been better if some of the portraits were truncated and more ties created between different sections without being bashed over the head.

Also, the book doesn't explain that some of these cultural shifts were built on the Chicago before, filled with corruption, energy, grit, and patchworks of immigrants. Glossing over these and other historical/cultural pillars weakened Dyja's attempt at making a case about the mid-century triumph of Chicago.

Now, onto the disclaimers. First, I love Chicago, so I getting new information about the city/area is right up my alley. Second, I currently work at Shimer College (a tenant of the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT)), which is situated near 34th and State. That's the previous address of the Mecca Apartments, to which the book pays a good bit of attention. It's unusual to find so much detail behind the personalities, culture shifts, racial and economic tensions, and politics behind the building of your workplace and I am glad that I now know it. Shimer College is one of the few colleges whose entire curriculum is structured around the Great Books curriculum (and I'm in a Great Books Book Club, which well predates employment at Shimer). Thus, the sections about Robert Maynard Hutchins and Mortimer Adler were quite interesting to me; while I certainly knew something about both men, I liked getting an alternate viewpoint. Specifically, though, the author has very negative opinions about all these items, which had some validity, but never seemed to draw out the greatness of any of these items. How can we say that Mies' buildings and the Great Books phenomena were influential when the picture painted in this book is largely negative? At least, that is the impression I took away.

I do think this book does a good job of delving into the structural racism that Chicago built against the Great Migration. Even 60+ years later, policies surrounding redlining, restrictive covenants, Federal Housing Authority and Chicago Housing Authority districting and policies, slum lords who charged exhorbitant rents for properties they did not maintain, violent outbreaks by whites that typically weren't punished, lack of public transportation comparative to white sections of the city, etc. have created a segregated city that provides few opportunities to those in most of the South Side. These structures have lead to the economic and cultural decline of the city.

Lastly, I recommend listening to the audio book version as much of the specific things that I really enjoyed may be easier to stomach with that delivery system.

The podcast By The Book lived this book a few years ago. I really enjoyed the podcastor‘s descriptions of ways that they changed every day habits to reduce waste. While I am sort of a green person myself, I also found good tips to reduce waste in my every day life. This is the kind of book you dip in and out of to focus on a few areas of improvement. If you try to do every single suggestion the author makes, you will drive yourself insane!