Category Archives: Reviews

Books: The New York Times Book Review – Jan 1, 2023

The New York Times Book Review – January 1, 2023:

What a 1985 Novel Can Tell Us About Life in the 2020s: Almost Everything

Don DeLillo’s book “White Noise,” newly adapted for the screen by Noah Baumbach, precisely diagnosed the modern condition, Dana Spiotta writes.

Read Your Way Through Tangier

Tangier’s many facets have long inspired writers. Here, the Moroccan-born novelist Laila Lalami introduces readers to the books and writers that, to her, best capture the city.

The Sound of Sonny

Aidan Levy has written a revealing, comprehensive biography of the improviser-hero Sonny Rollins.

Culture: The New Review Magazine – January 1, 2023

Image

The New Review Magazine – January 1, 2023 issue:

Director Sam Mendes answers questions from readers and famous fans including @Aiannucci, @DMiliband, olivia colman, judi dench…..

+ Classical music diet – By @FionaMaddocks + Arts & books for 2023 + Q&S Actor Siobhan Finneran @michaelhogan

Previews: New York Times Magazine – January 1, 2023

Photograph by Rafael Pavarotti for The New York Times.

The New York Times Magazine – January 1, 2023 Issue:

Inside the Jan. 6 Committee

Power struggles, resignations and made-for-TV moments — the untold story of the most important congressional investigation in generations.

What Does It Take to Become the No. 1 Lumberjack?

For Jason Lentz, being a world-class competitive lumberjack was fated in his family tree.

Sam Bankman-Fried’s Power Was Contingent on Belief

Operating in shadows, he was a hero; in the light, he quickly became a villain.

Books: New York Review Of Books – Jan 19, 2023

January 19, 2023 issue cover

The New York Review of Books – January 19, 2023 issue:

Alphabet Politics

What prompted the development of systems of writing?

The Greatest Invention: A History of the World in Nine Mysterious Scripts by Silvia Ferrara, translated from the Italian by Todd Portnowitz

Inventing the Alphabet: The Origins of Letters from Antiquity to the Present by Johanna Drucker


The Instrumentalist

At the heart of Todd Field’s new film is a conductor who cannot see beyond her generation’s field of vision.

Tár a film written and directed by Todd Field


Dress Rehearsal

Trump’s attempt almost two years ago to undermine the 2020 election reads today like a blueprint drawn for a future autocrat.

Feinting Spells

The thesis of an exhibition on the inspiration a subset of Cubism took from trompe l’oeil is convincingly built with objects made across four centuries.

Cubism and the Trompe l’Oeil Tradition – an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, October 20, 2022–January 22, 2023


Ukraine’s Volunteers

Even more impressive than Ukraine’s will to fight is the vast network of citizens who are supporting the armed forces and helping those in need of food and supplies.


Previews: New Scientist Magazine – Dec 31, 2022

ISSUE 3419 | MAGAZINE COVER DATE: 28 December 2022 | New Scientist

New Scientist Magazine – December 31, 2022:

Largest ever animal may have been Triassic ichthyosaur super-predator

New fossil discoveries show predatory marine reptiles from 200 million years ago may have been bigger than today’s blue whales – and that they evolved astonishingly rapidly

In 2023, we have many opportunities to build a better future

The coming year will be a turning point for the Amazon rainforest, artificial intelligence and even our diets. Let’s choose a more hopeful direction for humanity

Achieving nuclear fusion would be building on the shoulders of giants

It took generations of work by engineers and scientists to reach this month’s nuclear fusion milestone, but there are big challenges ahead

Photography: National Geographic – January 2023

Picture of an older man skydiving surrounded by a yellow border and the words "Living longer–and better. How science could change the way we age."
At 69, skydiving instructor Arnold Camfferman stays active, one of the keys to longevity. As the world grows older, research into the field is soaring.

National Geographic Magazine – January 2023 issue:

• ​Can aging be cured? Scientists are giving it a try.
• A detailed look at how we age—at the cellular level
• We rallied to save manatees once. Can we do it again?
• How manatees eat 100 pounds of food a day
• This ancient Himalayan kingdom has been isolated from the world—until now
• Inside a 15th-century kingdom’s treasure-filled temple
• Bolivian skateboarders use Indigenous attire to battle discrimination

Global Review: Five Top Stories To Watch In 2023

The Economist – From India becoming the world’s most populous country, to an illegal drug that might be approved as a medicine, The Economist offers its annual look at the year ahead.

Video timeline: 00:00 – The World Ahead 2023 00:35 – India’s population potential 04:30 – Psychedelic medicines 08:06 – Japan’s markets mayhem? 12:45 – Repairing the world 15:50 – The coronation’s colonial concerns

Architecture/Renovation: The National Library (BNF) Of France In Paris (Dec ’22)

Interior of the renovated National Library of France
It was originally designed by architect Henri Labrouste. Photo by Marchand Meffre

Dezeen (December 26, 2022) – French practice Bruno Gaudin Architectes has completed a 15-year project to  renovate  and open up the historic rue de Richelieu site of the National Library of France in Paris, incorporating new public routes and spaces.

Interior of multi-level library with central reading space
It took 15 years to renovate and open up the historic building

Completed in the late 19th century by architect Henri Labrouste, the library is considered a masterpiece of the Beaux Arts style, with vast, skylit reading rooms framed by slender steel columns and highly decorative arches.

READ MORE

Books: Literary Review Of Canada – January 2023

January–February 2023 | Literary Review of Canada

Literary Review of Canada: January–February 2023:

What the Blazes?

Dark Days at Noon: The Future of Fire

Dark Days at Noon

By Edward Struzik

The catastrophic runaway wildfires advancing through North America and other parts of the world are not unprecedented. Fires loomed large once human activity began to warm the climate in the 1820s, leading to an aggressive firefighting strategy that has left many of the continent’s forests too old and vulnerable to the fires that many tree species need to regenerate.

FEATURED ARTICLES

Books: The New York Times Book Review – Dec 25, 2022

Image

The New York Times Book Review @nytimesbooks (December 25, 2022):

Courtly Love Can Be Deadly

In the historian Sarah Gristwood’s “The Tudors in Love,” for both monarchs and courtiers the stakes are higher than romance.

Newly Published, From Worker Justice to Sound Waves

A selection of recently published books.

AUDIOBOOKS

The Power of a Good Narrative, in Your Ear or Otherwise

CREDITLIBBY VANDERPLOEG

From Bloomsbury to the Billboard Hot 100, these audiobooks will hook you based on story alone.