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Open Letters Review

Open Letters Review

An Arts & Literature Review

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January 16, 2025

Cold Kitchen by Caroline Eden

January 16, 2025/ Steve Donoghue
Cold Kitchen by Caroline Eden

A memoir of food and foreign reporting

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January 16, 2025/ Steve Donoghue/
Cold Kitchen, Caroline Eden, culinary writing, nonfiction, food writing
March 20, 2024

The Great Wave by Michiko Kakutani

March 20, 2024/ Douglas Girardot
The Great Wave by Michiko Kakutani

The former New York Times book critic examines the intersections of modern technology, politics, and society

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March 20, 2024/ Douglas Girardot/
Michiko Kakutani, The Great Wave: The Era of Radical Disruption and the Rise of the Outsider, nonfiction
March 05, 2024

Saturated Facts by Dr. Idrees Mughal

March 05, 2024/ Joe Spivey
Saturated Facts by Dr. Idrees Mughal

A new book attempts to demystify diet

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March 05, 2024/ Joe Spivey/
Dr. Idrees Mughal, Saturated Facts, Diet, Nutrition, nonfiction
November 12, 2023

The Handover by David Runciman

November 12, 2023/ Steve Donoghue
The Handover by David Runciman

A professor muses on the promise and peril of outsourcing autonomy to AI.

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November 12, 2023/ Steve Donoghue/
Politics & Economics
The Handover, David Runciman, nonfiction, AI, Steve Donoghue, 2023
October 02, 2022

Feral City by Jeremiah Moss

October 02, 2022/ Micah Cummins
Feral City by Jeremiah Moss

A memoir of being gay in a New York City changed by COVID-19.

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October 02, 2022/ Micah Cummins/
History
Feral City, Jeremiah Moss, nonfiction, memoir, New York City, COVID-19, Micah Cummins
April 30, 2020

Capital and Ideology by Thomas Piketty

April 30, 2020/ David Murphy
Capital and Ideology by Thomas Piketty

Is famous economist Thomas Piketty right about inequality? David Murphy dissects.

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April 30, 2020/ David Murphy/
Politics & Economics
Thomas Piketty, politics, nonfiction, Economics, capitalism, David Murphy, translations
January 15, 2020

Labyrinth of Ice by Buddy Levy

January 15, 2020/ Peggy Kurkowski
Labyrinth of Ice by Buddy Levy

A new book tells the riveting story of an 1881 Far North expedition that went horribly awry.

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January 15, 2020/ Peggy Kurkowski/
Environment/Geology
Buddy Levy, St. Martin's Press, Peggy Kurkowski, nonfiction, exploration, extreme cliimates, Action/Adventure
January 07, 2020

Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibañez

January 07, 2020/ Olive Fellows
Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibañez

Isabel Ibañez’s debut YA fantasy novel draws on the riches of Bolivian culture to tell its story royal intrigue and revenge.

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January 07, 2020/ Olive Fellows/
Fiction-Young Adult, Fiction-Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Isabel Ibanez, nonfiction, fantasy, Page Street, Young Adult Fiction, Olive Fellows
December 20, 2019

The Worst Books of 2019: Nonfiction!

December 20, 2019/ Steve Donoghue
The Worst Books of 2019: Nonfiction!

In which Stevereads repeatedly asks “How on Earth does this charlatan keep getting book contracts?”

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December 20, 2019/ Steve Donoghue/
Stevereads
Worst of 2019, stevereads, nonfiction, Worst of Lists, Steve Donoghue
October 24, 2019

Unbound by Heather Boushey 

October 24, 2019/ David Murphy
Unbound by Heather Boushey 

The author assumes a degree of ignorance on the part of the reader, taking them on a journey that was only ever going to go in one direction.


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October 24, 2019/ David Murphy/
Politics & Economics
Heather Boushey, Belknap Press, Harvard University Press, nonfiction, Economics, David Murphy
October 21, 2019

Dogs by Mark Alizart

October 21, 2019/ Steve Donoghue
Dogs by Mark Alizart

Monoglot dog lovers can now spend an hour basking in Alizart’s singularly Gallic combination of eloquence and hooey.

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October 21, 2019/ Steve Donoghue/
Nonfiction Translations, Animals & Nature
dogs, Mark Alizart, Robin McKay, French translation, nonfiction, Steve Donoghue
October 12, 2019

The Successor by Willemijn Van Dijk

October 12, 2019/ Steve Donoghue
The Successor by Willemijn Van Dijk

An account of Tiberius’ life before his reign that is about as full as it can be given the sources we have.

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October 12, 2019/ Steve Donoghue/
Biography/Memoir, Nonfiction Translations
Willemijn Van Dijk, Kathleen Brandt-Carey, Baylor University Press, Dutch translation, nonfiction, biography, Roman history, Steve Donoghue, translations
September 19, 2019

Saving Jemima: Life and Love with a Hard-Luck Jay By Julie Zickefoose

September 19, 2019/ Olive Fellows
Saving Jemima: Life and Love with a Hard-Luck Jay By Julie Zickefoose

We don’t simply get to know Jemima; we get to be Jemima as we are welcomed into Julie’s family home.

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September 19, 2019/ Olive Fellows/
Animals & Nature
Julie Zickafoose, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, birds, nature, nonfiction, Olive Fellows
April 30, 2019

Chaucer: A European Life by Marion Turner

April 30, 2019/ Steve Donoghue
Chaucer: A European Life by Marion Turner

Turner reminds her readers that the father of English literature was a traveling man.

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April 30, 2019/ Steve Donoghue/
Classic Literature, Biography/Memoir
Chaucer, Marion Turner, Princeton University Press, nonfiction, Steve Donoghue
April 15, 2019

The Pandemic Century by Mark Honigsbaum

April 15, 2019/ Steve Donoghue
The Pandemic Century by Mark Honigsbaum

The book is unfailingly fascinating reading, despite its appalling subject matter, with vividly drawn portraits of many of the people at the front lines.

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April 15, 2019/ Steve Donoghue/
History, Science/Technology
Mark Honigsbaum, WW Norton, pandemic, apocalypse, nonfiction, science, medicine, History
March 05, 2019

Devices and Desires by Kate Hubbard

March 05, 2019/ Steve Donoghue
Devices and Desires by Kate Hubbard

A big, bouncily-written biography of Bess, the Countess of Shrewsbury—a fascinating figure from the era.

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March 05, 2019/ Steve Donoghue/
History
Kate Hubbard, Harper Collins, English history, Bess of Hardwick, Queen Elizabeth I, English Monarchy, nonfiction, The Tudors, Steve Donoghue
December 14, 2018

The Best Books of 2018: Nonfiction!

December 14, 2018/ Steve Donoghue
The Best Books of 2018: Nonfiction!

It's not surprising that certain themes have surfaced again and again, considering the boiling news atmosphere in which these authors are stewing every day.

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December 14, 2018/ Steve Donoghue/
Stevereads
Best of 2018, nonfiction, Stevereads, Best of Lists, Steve Donoghue
December 12, 2018

The Worst Books of 2018: Nonfiction!

December 12, 2018/ Steve Donoghue
The Worst Books of 2018: Nonfiction!

2018 a particularly demoralizing year for nonfiction, and here are the worst offenders.

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December 12, 2018/ Steve Donoghue/
Stevereads
Worst of 2018, Stevereads, nonfiction, Worst of Lists, Steve Donoghue
November 05, 2018

Don’t Quit Your Day Job by Michael Fedo

November 05, 2018/ Steve Donoghue
Don’t Quit Your Day Job by Michael Fedo

Smart, determined would-be writers will learn a great deal from this veteran’s favorite stories.

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November 05, 2018/ Steve Donoghue/
Books & Authors
Michael Fedo, Holy Cow! Press, nonfiction, writers, Steve Donoghue, writer's craft
September 14, 2018

Click Here to Kill Everybody by Bruce Schneier

September 14, 2018/ Steve Donoghue
Click Here to Kill Everybody by Bruce Schneier

This book advocates for common-sense precautions by companies, governments, and individuals so we can enjoy the benefits of technolgoy without falling prey to its vulnerabilities.

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September 14, 2018/ Steve Donoghue/
Science/Technology
Bruce Schneier, nonfiction, science, technology, the internet, computer hacking, internet security, government regulation, Steve Donoghue
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Editors:

Steve Donoghue
Sam Sacks
Britta Böhler
____________________

Eric Karl Anderson
Olive Fellows
Jack Hanson
Jennifer Helinek
Justin Hickey
Hannah Joyner
Zach Rabiroff
Jessica Tvordi

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