Jenny loves to share what she’s reading! Below, find reviews of her favorite reads.
Correction: Parole, Prison, and the Possibility of Change
Consider this:
The U.S. incarcerates 1.8 million people, the highest per capita in the world.
The U.S. spends twice as much on crime and punishment as it does on social services.
By contrast, countries like Finland focus on rehabilitation, education, job training, and personal growth. Their incarceration rates are among the lowest in the world.
In Correction: Parole, Prison, and the Possibility of Change, Chicago author Ben Austen reveals the devastating truth about America’s … [Read more...] about Correction: Parole, Prison, and the Possibility of Change
Dream State
This past Thursday, my husband, son, and I drove home from the Big Ten basketball tournament in Indianapolis where we had been cheering on our Northwestern Wildcats. My sister had treated us to incredible third-row seats, so we could hear the players talking to each other and see beads of sweat flying from their hair. The energy was electric.
And yet, as I looked around, I couldn’t help but notice the sheer amount of plastic cups and wasted food strewn under and around our seats. That’s … [Read more...] about Dream State
The Potlikker Papers
What can food tell us about the history of the South and the rise of southern cuisine? In John T. Edge’s book The Potlikker Papers, he writes that “During the antebellum era, slaveholders ate the greens from the pot, setting aside the potlikker for enslaved cooks and their families, unaware that the broth, not the greens, was nutrient rich.”
Using food as the centerpiece, Edge describes how stories about food illumine history. “On the long march to equality, struggles over food reflected and … [Read more...] about The Potlikker Papers
Shred Sisters
I read Shred Sisters by Betsy Lerner in two days. I couldn’t put it down. Great writing is such a treat, and when you get a book like this in your hands, you know the author is on a different level.
I bought Shred Sisters after reading about it in the NY Times because I was so interested in why the author wrote it. Lerner is in her 60s and has had an impressive career in publishing. She loves non-fiction and wrote a memoir a number of years ago.
It wasn’t until a lockdown during the … [Read more...] about Shred Sisters