A great month because I didn’t read some trash book by Wally Lamb. (Sorry I’m still mad about it!)
How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States by Daniel Immerwahr
Simply put, World War II made the United States a planetary presence.
I will be eternally grateful to Natalia, a Pantsuit Politics listener, who gifted me a copy of this book. How to Hide an Empire is one of the best nonfiction books I’ve read in a long time. It is exceptionally well-written and well-researched. It is about this massive and, at times, incredibly tragic story of the United States and its expansion, and still the only word I can use to describe reading it is … fun?
This is a testament to Immeerwahr’s skill. It is also a good reminder that the best history teaches us about the past, expands our understanding of the present, and doesn’t take itself too seriously. I cannot recommend this book enough.
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
I could never work out whether we were to view religion as a life-insurance policy or a life sentence.
I have never been a re-reader (with the blessed exception of Jane Austen). It always seemed a little bit insane to revisit a book when there were so many other books to read. However, I’ve softened my stance with age. I reread Wolf Hall this year—a book I barely remember reading the first time. I have reread books for Well-Read Mom and found such insight and enjoyment from another trip through familiar pages. So, when
Ochuko Akpovbovbo of as seen on invited me along on one of her monthly long reads and mentioned that her next book was The Poisonwood Bible; I jumped at the chance.
I remember loving this book when Oprah selected it for her Book Club in 1998. Of course, after my terrible experience with Wally Lamb recently, whom I also remember loving back in the day, I did have a little panic attack. I can happily report that it was misplaced. This book was as excellent as I remember it being. I would also add that Kingsolver has obviously evolved as a writer in the decades since, and I found Demon Copperhead to be a stronger novel. There are some complex subjects that Kingsolver handles somewhat clumsily in Poisonwood, but nothing that takes away from the overall brilliance of this novel. I can’t wait to talk more with Ochuko.
Blazing Eye Sees All: Love Has Won, False Prophets, and the Fever Dream of the American New Age by Leah Sottile
The wrong of these things, as I see it, is not in the money the victims part with half so much as in the mental and spiritual poison they get. But that is precisely the thing the Constitution put beyond the reach of the prosecutor, for the price of freedom of religion or of speech or of the press is that we must put up with, and even pay for, a good deal of rubbish.
I learned about this book when Leah Sottile was a guest on Anne Helen Petersen’s podcast. I knew immediately I wanted to read it. I'm not obsessed with cults, but I have experienced enough of the New Age movement (Thanks, Oprah!) to see its appeal and the larger impact it has on American society.
This book is about much more than Love Has Won - the infamous cult captured in a Hulu documentary - and I found the larger history and the way the same cycles repeat themselves with one female cult leader after another completely enthralling. Plus, despite thinking I was familiar with this world, I realized there were many aspects I didn't understand. Sottile is a fair-minded and empathetic guide.
I am honored to be leading a Common Ground Pilgrimage to Sussex in May 2026. We will be staying at The Alfriston, a lovely and historic fourteenth century country manor converted into a stylish hotel with elegant rooms and picturesque grounds.
Over the course of five days and four nights, we will be embarking on scenic walks, engaging in lively discussions about the novel and its themes, and enjoying delicious meals in local country pubs. Throughout our time, we will also make space for journaling and quiet reflection. I hope you will join me!
The Optimist’s Daughter by Eudora Welty
For her life, any life, she had to believe, was nothing but the continuity of its love.
My journey through Southern literature continues with the famous Mississippian Eudora Welty and her Pulitzer Prize-winning novella about Laurel, who travels home after her father dies.
Welty’s writing is exquisite. Every single character so fully formed and so instantly recognizable (particularly if you are Southern) - that this novella feels like suspiciously eavesdropping most of the time. However, Welty never rests on observation alone and, like all the best novelists, uses the universally recognizable moments to illuminate something you always knew to be true but had never put words around before
The Hunt for the Red October by Tom Clancy
First we must accomplish the task at hand. An officer who looks too far ahead stumbles over his own boots.
When I posted that this was the next book in the First Books Book Club on Instagram, I got a flood of messages from people who loved this book. I found out my own husband had read it twice! So, I went in with high expectations and I struggled…
And I will talk about why and so much more - as well as our other modern spy novel The Peacock and The Sparrow - on Thursday, September 11th at 7pmCST/8PMEST on Zoom! Subscribers and customers who got the book from The Bookshelf will get the link emailed to them that week!
Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner
What is it people encounter in their stark and solitary four a.m. self? What is inside them? Not politics. There are no politics inside of people.
I am in a book club with two dear friends from college, and this was our latest selection. I didn’t realize that this spy novel aligned perfectly with The First Books Book Club’s current genre until I started reading!
The protagonist isn’t a classic spy - although I’m learning that is common in this genre - but she is a cool operator. I loved all the unexpected aspects of this novel (who knew I was going to learn so much about Neanderthals…) and Kushner is operating at the top of her game.
What did you read in August?
I read So Big by Edna Ferber - published in 1924. It's so grounding for me to absorb how much things have, and even more so have not, changed over the course of history. There's a whole chapter describing a college experience that runs so parallel to the narrative around academia now. I want to share it with all of my higher ed colleagues.
I also re-read Poisonwood Bible this summer, and I read How To Hide an Empire and loved it! The part about how we can afford to not maintain empires anymore because of synthetic materials blew my mind. Currently having a lot of fun reading Status and Culture by W. David Marx