In The Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
Incredible good read that parallels our time in the US today.
Wow. I just finished In The Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson and it at times felt like a parallel world of what is currently happening in the United States. I’ve never read Larson’s other books before but I have heard great things about how he manages to weave true stories of history with great storytelling.
In The Garden of Beasts is a slow-boil recollection of one American family’s journey as ambassadors in Germany during the rise of the Hitler regime. It recounts the horror of realizing that the general public did not really see Hitler as that bad of a guy, but rather just a sorta-crazy person who can’t possibly ever take control. Hitler’s rise to power was not immediate and in fact was often dismissed by people as sensational news (sounds like what the US is doing now). As a reader, I couldn’t help but see the events of history mirroring what is happening today in the US.
Dora, Yerkwood, Walker County, Alabama
The incredible book Dora, Yerkwood, Walker County, Alabama by Fumi Nagasaka is currently on sale at Amazon for $44. The book follows some incredible characters down in rural Alabama during the 2016 US Presidential election and shortly after. It’s a road-trip sort of book with amazing portraits of the people in that community. Pick it up today!
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents
An incredible book about the problems in the United States.
I just finished this book called Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson. It is a heavy topic, one that deals with race, cultures, customs, and laws that permeate every single facet of American life today. I knew reading the promo for this book that I’d find some connection to how modern politics have played out in the real world (the 2nd rise of Trumpism), but I had no idea that it would be so clearly paralleled with the rise of Hitler and the Nazis.
Reading this book will forever change the way you look at people here in the United States, and more importantly, hopefully better understand the root of the problems we have as a society. As resources become scarce (eggs?!) and divisions become more extreme (cars?! bikes?!), it’s important to understand how it’s not always a race issue but rather a caste issue.
I know it’s early in the year, but I can tell already this will be one of my favorite books of 2025. Go pick it up!
How humans use a ping-pong table
The everyday uses of the same object.
TTP is a fantastic book by Hayahisa Tomiyasu photographing the various ways people make use of a humble ping-pong table outside of his dorm room window in the German city of Leipzig.
The camera, seemingly fixed on a tripod, shows the table being used as a prop, as a seat, as a meeting place, and even a tanning bed among other creative uses.
“The You You Are” book from Severance is now actually available to buy
Dr. Ricken’s “The You You Are” from Severance is now available to read for real!
The formerly fictional book from the Apple TV show Severance, “The You You Are” is now a real thing and you can buy a copy on Apple Books.
Unlike the TV show however, it looks like the book is only 39 pages, so Dr. Ricken’s wise words seems to be quite abridged in this real life version.
It’s also available as an audiobook.
Both the book and the audiobook are free.
BOOK CLUB: Filterworld by Kyle Chayka
Ever wonder why everything is the same everywhere you go?
I just finished reading the book Filterworld by Kyle Chayka. I first heard about it last year on a lengthy Verge interview he did about how culture around the world is flattening and all becoming the same no matter where you go or where you’re from.
I’ve been intrigued by this idea for several years now as I’ve noticed every city slowly becoming the same, with the same types of stores, the same kind of dress, and the same Instagrammable aesthetic. It’s obviously a generalization of sorts but I know I’ve felt a little of this here and there with how every social media platform (which is a huge part of any piece of the internet these days) is algorithmically serving content. With globalization and the interconnectedness of supply chains, that algorithm is what makes somebody halfway around the world buy the same thing I might buy in my own city. And in the same way, how those same tastes change so much more quickly once it has saturated its intended market or demographic.
There are a lot of examples in the book of flattening culture but in the end, a bright light is shone on true curators of art and culture which I found really satisfying. It’s not all lost if we can filter out the noise of the algorithm’s feed.
Pick up the book here or visit your local library for a copy.