We welcome your reviews of books that • were published within the past three years • do not advocate for a political party or politician • do address issues supported by the League, and • intrigued you enough that you want to share them. Please submit your review at any time to Margan and Thad Zajdowicz (Margan.Zajdowicz [at] gmail.com).

This Is Not a Book Review

Good Reading or Listening, 2020–21

As a change of pace and to celebrate the end of 2020, I offer up some compelling intellectual material that was pertinent to 2020 and should segue well into 2021. My choices are not limited to books but are multimedia in scope.

Arguably the best book of 2020 was Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, by Pulitzer Prize–winning author Isabel Wilkerson. George Null reviewed this book for the September Voter and has led a stimulating discussion of racism and the role of caste in America based on this book for the lucky participants in the LWV-PA North Unit meetings.

Complementary to Caste are the books written by Ibram X. Kendi, especially Stamped from the Beginning and How to Be an Antiracist. These volumes are foundational to the modern examination of systemic racism and represent core readings if one wishes to develop an understanding of the origins and extent of systemic racism.

Dan Rather’s book What Unites Us: Reflections on Patriotism was published in 2017 but in 2020 seemed especially relevant and garnered much praise. Professor Marcielle Brandler was prescient; she wrote a review of this book for the September 2018 Voter. It would be worthwhile (if you haven’t already done so) to read this book as we transition to a new presidential administration and hopefully to a time of less acrimony and less political division.

During the pandemic, I came to admire Heather Cox Richardson, professor of history at Boston College. She has written several books; the one I recommend to you is How the South Won the Civil War, a book that will change your whole perspective on the Civil War and its legacy. During the pandemic, Dr. Richardson wrote the widely acclaimed Letters from an American, a daily newsletter on Substack that summarizes the most recent current events with a backdrop of history to explain how we got here. That online publication now has more than a half million readers. I have been known to awaken in the middle of the night just to read Dr. Richardson’s latest letter (she is based on the East Coast and writes them after her family goes to bed). Bill Moyers’ July 2020 interview of Dr. Richardson provides a good introduction.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention great reading to be found in good magazines. My current favorite is The Atlantic and especially science journalist Ed Yong’s magnum opus about the pandemic. He has done the herculean job of summarizing the most important pandemic issues. Other great writing on the pandemic can be found in The New Yorker magazine, especially a piece by Lawrence Wright entitled “The Plague Year.”

In the vein of multimedia, podcasts and Twitter have much to offer. My favorite podcast is In the Bubble with healthcare opinion leader and former acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Andy Slavitt. Heavily oriented toward healthcare with a distinct political slant, his interviews are both insightful and entertaining. As an added benefit, listening to a podcast while knitting is strangely stress relieving.

I have successfully curated a Twitter group of epidemiologists, public health experts, virologists, and infectious disease specialists. My favorite person to follow is Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the School of Public Health at Brown University. His tweets are substantive, accurate, relevant, and scientific. Additionally, he is invariably kind, friendly, and thoughtful. You can follow him on Twitter @ashishkjha.

And last but not least, everyone needs some escapism, especially right about now. I have developed an addiction to the mystery novels of Michael Connelly and confess to having blown through more than thirty of them—cheaper than seeing a psychiatrist and less hazardous than Ambien. I find reading them deep into the night allows one to reboot one’s brain and forget all about politics and the coronavirus just before falling asleep. They are set in Los Angeles, so, apart from being transported into the exciting and often harrowing life of Detective Hieronymous “Harry” Bosch, you learn many things about Metro Los Angeles cities and venues that may include finding your own neighborhood in the books.

Happy new year and happy reading or listening, as the case may be.

—Margan Zajdowicz, Co-editor, the Book Corner