Each month my goal is to read a minimum of five books on a variety of topics from different genres. Here are the books I read in March 2024. If you click on the title, you’ll go to the longer post on MORE TO COME. Enjoy.

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Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility (2023) edited by Rebecca Solnit and Thelma Young Lutunatabua is a project “to try and return hope and power” to our path forward in the climate crisis through both facts and perspectives. As Solnit writes in her first essay for this collection, “difficult is not the same as impossible.” Lutunatabua also reminds us that “nothing is inevitable.” The twenty-six essays are by climate scientists, indigenous writers, activists, religious leaders, historians, and futurists. Movements rarely “win” in the complete sense, Solnit writes, but “naming and reviewing the movement’s progress helps build momentum for the next win and the win after that.”

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Why Louisiana Ain’t Mississippi . . . or Any Place Else! (2022) by Jay Dardenne with photography by Carol M. Highsmith is a companion book to a Louisiana Public Broadcasting documentary and a beautifully illustrated guide to a fascinating piece of America. Dardenne is a long-time politico who provides an updated look at Louisiana’s demographics, history, economy, and politics in a short but insightful introduction. The bulk of the book is composed of Highsmith’s wonderful photographs taken throughout the state, capturing the flavor of this place which calls us back again and again. Carol answered my questions and shared some of her favorite photographs in the latest of my author interviews on MORE TO COME.

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American Oligarchy (2024) by the editors of Mother Jones provides a single-issue focus on the rise and ramifications of the American Oligarchy, pulling back the curtains that have been hiding their rampant pilfering of our country’s wealth. More than two dozen journalists contributed 17 stories to Mother Jones’ 50-page special magazine—the second time in its 48-year history it committed an entire issue to one topic. This is an eye-opening read, as we learn how it’s not only about the spoils but also about “what everyone else is losing in the process.” At its most basic, a small number of people have enormous power and wealth, “and they create a system which is designed to protect their interest.”

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Now and Forever: Windows by Kerry James Marshall at Washington National Cathedral with Original Poem by Elizabeth Alexander (2023) by Washington National Cathedral tells the story of the decision in 2017 to permanently remove windows that honored Confederate Generals and replace them with two new windows at the nation’s best-known house of worship. This richly illustrated and easily accessible guide helps the reader—and ultimately those who view the new windows by acclaimed American artist Kerry James Marshall and accompanying poem by Elizabeth Alexander—put these works in context.

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The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920) by Agatha Christie was her first novel, the result of a dare from her sister. Arthur Hastings, sent back to England from the First World War due to injury, is invited to spend his sick leave at the beautiful Styles Court by his old friend John Cavendish. Not too long after Hasting’s arrival, John’s stepmother, Mrs. Inglethorp, is found poisoned. Suspicion falls on the family and another of Hasting’s old friends, Hercule Poirot, is invited to investigate. When some small, misplaced detail comes to mind, Poirot finally solves the crime which has baffled Scotland Yard.

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What’s on the nightstand for April (subject to change at the whims of the reader):

• The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History by Ned Blackhawk
• How to Be: Life Lessons from the Early Greeks by Adam Nicholson
• To Free the Captives: A Plea for the American Soul by Tracy K. Smith
• Felicity by Mary Oliver
• Willful Behavior by Donna Leon

Keep reading!

More to come…

DJB

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NOTE: Click to see the books I read in February of 2024 and to see the books I read in 2023. Also check out Ten tips for reading five books a month.

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Photo by congerdesign from Pixabay