Booknotes 4.29

Men Explain Things to Me, by Rebecca Solnit, published 2014, nonfiction. Essays on domestic violence, mansplaining, rape culture, and sexual entitlement, among other things. A sad read because of all that, but important for the same reason. While reading it, I kept thinking how living the gospel is a solid antidote to this kind of awful behavior.

Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel, published 2009, historical fiction. I’d heard about this before but somehow had always thought it was about Oliver Cromwell. It’s not. (Sorry, Thomas Cromwell.) Earthy bits aside, I quite liked it — enough to start on the sequel right after I finished, in fact, which is rare for me. While it admittedly may not be the right book for Thomas More stans, it brought Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn and the 1530s alive for me. (Having said that: I see historical fiction as a way to play with history and not as something that necessarily needs to be factually true. If I want historical accuracy, I’ll read actual histories. And even then we’re still far from full accuracy, but it’s a close enough approximation.) The Cromwell parts reminded me of The Hands of the Emperor here and there, which was fun.

Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System—and Themselves, by Andrew Ross Sorkin, published 2009, nonfiction. I went into this not knowing much about the 2008 financial crisis; when it happened, I was tucked away working in an academic library, insulated from it all to the point that I don’t remember even being aware of it at the time. Fascinating book recounting a play by play of how things went down, and easy to inhale, even if like me you’re unfamiliar with much of the finance jargon.

The Orb of Cairado, by Katherine Addison, published 2025, fantasy. I’ve said this before, and it’s still true: man, I love the Goblin Emperor world. The names, the etiquette, the feel — my brain eats it up. (With…its brain mouth? Perhaps the metaphor needs work.) Very much enjoyed this novella. I wanted to read The Tomb of Dragons right away but I’m going to make myself wait a bit.