Born Equal: Remaking America's Consitution, 1840-1920 (Akhil Reed Amar)

In Born Equal: Remaking America's Constitution, 1840-1920, constitutional scholar Akhil Reed Amar delivers his analysis of how the United States Constitution has evolved toward greater equality. In the second of his planned three part series on the Constitution, Amar focuses on the march towards greater representative government through a number of amendments related to equal rights and voting rights.

Born Equal starts with the lurches towards Civil War, with sectional conflict around slavery and territorial expansion towards the west driving increased hostility between northerners and southerners. After the Civil War, Amar goes in depth into the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments and talks about their impact on American life, albeit briefly in the 19th Century due to state and judicial reversals in various cases. His other major focus was on the march towards women’s suffrage, starting in the 1840’s and continuing through the 19th Amendment's adoption in 1920.

Focusing on several key political characters, Amar offers his strong views on their contributions to American history.  He pulls no punches in this book, speaking very highly of Abraham Lincoln and panning many others for not living up to the ideals of the Constitution as he believes the American founders would have wanted it.

His first book, The Words That Made Us, was a more balanced view of constitutional history and our nation’s beginning. Amar’s passion and opinions in Born Equal are more pronounced by comparison. He also breezily glides through the adoption of amendments that bring about federal income tax (16th Amendment), direct representation of senators (17th), and prohibition (18th) without offering substantial commentary on the history of how those amendments came about and impacts on the country. Despite these weak spots, Born Equal is still a good book; however, it felt editorially brief in some areas that have had significant impact on American life to this day.

MY RATING: 4

In Covid's Wake: How Our Politics Failed Us (Stephen Macedo and Frances Lee)

In Covid’s Wake: How Our Politics Failed Us by Stephen Macedo and Frances Lee offers a relatively strong rebuke of the political handling of the COVID-19 outbreak. The authors challenge prevailing narratives of crisis leadership and call into account the many costs borne by society when political expediency outpaced evidence. Drawing on both prior pandemic plans versus the reality of what leaders executed during the initial year of the pandemic, they ask sharp questions: Were dissenting voices heard fairly? Were the harms of shutdowns and school closures balanced against benefits? Did basic rights of citizens receive due attention? 

The authors used a balanced approach to systemically pick apart narratives and talking points from health experts and political leaders throughout much of the political spectrum. What emerges is a picture of expert advice becoming politicized, of public policies that privileged those who could work from home while leaving essential workers vulnerable, and of commitments to civil liberty that were too often sidelined. The sharpest critiques were focused on schools and early childhood education, pointing out the disparate impact towards lower income families and the impacts of masking on childhood social and educational development. 

While the book could be considered an exercise of armchair quarterbacking, the authors do offer a strong case that many policies were adopted without sufficient scrutiny of tradeoffs or long-term consequences. At times, the tone leans toward indictment rather than exploration, and some readers might feel the analysis does not give enough credit to those who were acting without full information or under severe uncertainty. However, this book offers a strong incitement of our hyperpartisan and siloed country that increasingly lacks unity and can trend far too heavily towards dogmatic and too far from nuanced balance in decision making. Politics quickly drove decision-making around how COVID originated, how quickly businesses reopened, or how long schools required masking, and the authors offer a pretty clear case that “following the science” was arguably as political as it was scientific.

In Covid’s Wake is an essential book for anyone wanting to understand not just what was done during the pandemic but how we might do better next time.

MY RATING: 4.5

There's Got to Be a Better Way (Nelson P. Repenning and Donald C. Kieffer)

In There’s Got to Be a Better Way: How to Deliver Results and Get Rid of the Stuff That Gets in the Way of Real Work, authors Nelson P. Repenning and Donald C. Kieffer provide business leaders with a practical guide to improve how work gets done within organizations. The authors introduce a concept that they refer to as Dynamic Work Design, which aims to help individuals and teams escape the frustrating cycle of constant problem solving and reactive behavior. Instead of chasing one crisis after another, this approach creates a system that supports sustainable improvement.

Repenning, a professor at MIT, and Kieffer, a former operations executive, bring together critical thinking and real world application. The book outlines a number of key principles of Dynamic Work Design, including designing work so that problems become visible, and creating routines that support daily accountability and long term improvement.

Rather than promoting a one size fits all solution, the authors emphasize designing work intentionally to fit the specific context of an organization. They explain why many popular improvement methods often fail; not because the tools are ineffective, but because the structure of the work itself prevents lasting change.

The writing is clear and approachable, supported by relevant examples from various industries that the authors have either consulted or worked for. This book is ideal for leaders, managers, and professionals who feel stuck in a cycle of busy but unproductive work. There’s Got to Be a Better Way delivers on its title, showing that meaningful and lasting change is not only possible, but achievable with the right approach.

MY RATING: 4

Lineage: Genealogy and the Power of Connection in Early America (Karin Wulf)

In Lineage: Genealogy and the Power of Connection in Early America, author Karin Wulf studies how genealogy shaped power, identity, and community in the 17th and 18th Centuries. Moving beyond the assumption that genealogy is only about family pride or personal heritage, Wulf reveals that lineage served as a critical social, religious, and political tool in early America. Her work explores how people used ancestry to claim rights, secure property, assert authority, and reinforce boundaries of race, gender, and class.

Wulf includes substantial discussion of how colonial and early American laws tied identity to family lines. This was especially evident in the institution of slavery, where descent through the mother legally determined enslavement. Wulf shows that this practice turned genealogy into a mechanism of control, making it central to the development of racial hierarchies, especially in the South.

The author balances her analysis of early American leaders such as George Washington, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin with a focus on the more ordinary practices of family record keeping. She draws from diaries, legal documents, and many family Bibles to show how people recorded and preserved their connections, often in ways that shaped their futures and those of their descendants. Wulf closes her book with the development of the Mormon faith and its extensive use of genealogy and the eventual development of apps and websites that help us track long lost family members.

While the book is dense in places and the visual reproductions of documents can be hard to read, Lineage is a valuable contribution to the history of early America and of the subject of genealogy. 

MY RATING: 4

That Book Is Dangerous!: How Moral Panic, Social Media, and the Culture Wars Are Remaking Publishing (Adam Szetela)

Adam Szetela’s That Book Is Dangerous! How Moral Panic, Social Media, and the Culture Wars Are Remaking Publishing is an investigation of how the publishing industry is being transformed by a mix of progressive intentions and pressure that predominantly comes from social media. Through dozens of anonymous interviews with editors, authors, agents, and even sensitivity readers, Szetela pulls back the curtain on the inner workings of the Big Five publishing houses.

The core argument is striking. While many on the left focus on conservative efforts to ban books and control curricula, Szetela shows that a different form of censorship is happening within progressive circles. Sensitivity reads are now standard practice, morality clauses are being added to contracts, and editorial decisions are increasingly shaped by the fear of online backlash from platforms like Goodreads, X, TikTok, and public petitions.

One of the most memorable lines in the book suggests that “the left is standing in a circular firing squad.” This metaphor captures the paradox that Szetela explores throughout the book: that movements meant to encourage inclusion and diversity have at times undermined free expression and narrowed the range of voices that are heard. In some instances, what is considered acceptable is defined by a very narrow subset of voices to the detriment of a number of writers.

The book is strongest when it shares firsthand accounts from those inside the industry. From the censorship of Toni Morrison to the rise of niche sensitivity reviewers, these stories bring the issues into sharp focus. That Book Is Dangerous! is a thought provoking and necessary contribution to the ongoing conversation about free speech, censorship, and literature.

MY RATING: 4.5

Midnight on the Potomac: The Last Year of the Civil War, the Lincoln Assassination, and the Rebirth of America (Scott Ellsworth)

In Midnight on the Potomac: The Last Year of the Civil War, the Lincoln Assassination, and the Rebirth of America, author Scott Ellsworth provides a dramatic retelling of the events of 1864 and early 1865. With page-turning narrative energy, Ellsworth brings the final stretch of the Civil War to life. This period includes the rise of Ulysses S. Grant’s fame as head of the Union army, Sherman’s march through Georgia, and the eventual assasination of Abraham Lincoln.

This period of time was arguably one of the most pivotal in our country’s history. The Civil War was wearing down morale in the North and mounting casualties made Lincoln’s reelection odds in 1864 seem slim. However, Sherman’s capture of Atlanta in September 1864 provided a turning point that, combined with strong support among voting Union soldiers, helped Lincoln win a hard-fought election that Fall.

In addition to major leaders and headliners of the time, the author includes overlooked voices such as runaway slaves, a female war correspondent named Lois Adams, and other lesser-known participants who provide added context and insight to the events of this timeframe. Ellsworth also provides added insight into the shifting methods of how war was conducted by the South, changing from mostly conventional field battle into more rogue and guerrilla tactics in an attempt to prolong the war. Those rogue tactics gradually wrap in a headlining actor of the day, who becomes a part of the plot to take down Lincoln.

Midnight on the Potomac is a very solid and exciting historical book that highlights the relatively precarious state of the Union effort in 1864 and how a few key events changed the course of the war and American history. It’s a captivating read that will keep you glued to its pages.

MY RATING: 4.5

The Heart of It's a Wonderful Life (Jimmy Hawkins)

One of my favorite holiday traditions is watching It's a Wonderful Life on Christmas Eve. There's something about watching George Bailey running down the streets of Bedford Falls yelling "Merry Christmas!" that brings tears to my eyes every time. In The Heart of It's a Wonderful Life, Jimmy Hawkins (who played Tommy Bailey) helps readers explore the messages of the beloved movie.

Each short chapter starts with an excerpt of the dialogue from a scene. Then Hawkins offers his take on what that excerpt means and how we can apply it to our own lives. He also provides never-before-heard facts about the cast and crew, including some very poignant remembrances of Jimmy Stewart.

While it could have used much more detail, The Heart of It's a Wonderful Life is a lovely reminder of the themes from a movie that never gets old. 

MY RATING: 4