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California Review of Books publishes concise reviews in a wide range of genres. Our hearts are in California, but our interests extend everywhere. https://calirb.com/
calirb.com/the-secret-w...
The Secret War Against Hate: American Resistance to Antisemitism and White Supremacy by Steven J. Ross
Review by Brian Tanguay
"It’s a fascinating and yet relatively obscure history that was overshadowed by the Cold War and fears of communism."
Departure(s) by Julian Barnes
Review by Walter Cummins
"Yet it may be a novel in disguise, all the thoughts serving as grounding for the sections that tell a human story that can be considered the plot."
calirb.com/departures-b...
When People Were Things: Harriet Beecher Stowe, Abraham Lincoln, and The Emancipation Proclamation by Lisa Waller Rogers
Review by Brian Tanguay
"The Fugitive Slave Act had quickly become a unifying issue for abolitionists of all persuasions."
calirb.com/when-people-...
The Lies of the Artists: Essays on Italian Art, 1450-1750 by Ingrid D. Rowland
Review by David Starkey
"Instead, she shows us how skillful each artist is by carefully describing their practice."
calirb.com/the-lies-of-...
Railsong: A Novel by Rahul Bhattacharya
Review by Brian Tanguay
The Chitol family is forced to flee and go into hiding until the crisis boils over. The family name is on a list of suspected agitators.
calirb.com/railsong-a-n...
The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller
Review by Walter Cummins
"As the story develops, this is clearly the winter of their discontent, as it is for the people around them."
calirb.com/the-land-in-...
A Long Game: Notes on Writing Fiction by Elizabeth McCracken
Review by Walter Cummins
"McCracken is very aware of the possibility. That may be one explanation for the attraction of this book."
calirb.com/a-long-game-...
When Caesar Was King: How Sid Caesar Reinvented Comedy by David Margolick
Review by Walter Cummins
"As a king, Sid Caesar enjoyed a brief reign, then lay deposed for the majority of his life, sentenced to a figurative exile."
calirb.com/when-caesar-...
I Could Be Famous: Stories by Sydney Rende
Review by Brian Tanguay
Rende has a knack for conveying ribald humor. She writes her characters into uncomfortable and terribly awkward situations.
calirb.com/i-could-be-f...
What Is Free Speech? The History Of A Dangerous Idea by Fara Dabhoiwala
Review by Brian Tanguay
"Dabhoiwala asserts that the incentives of private media ownership are never aligned with the public good."
calirb.com/what-is-free...
I Found Myself… The Last Dreams by Naguib Mahfouz
Review by David Starkey
"The impossible happens matter-of-factly, mingling with the mundane."
calirb.com/i-found-myse...
Tonight in Jungleland: The Making of Born to Run by Peter Ames Carlin
Review by David Starkey
"The result was an album that rightly finds its place at or near the top of just about any Greatest Albums of All Time list."
calirb.com/tonight-in-j...
The Notebooks of Sonny Rollins by Sonny Rollins, Edited by Sam V.H. Reese
Review by Walter Cummins
"He shares a belief in the inseparability of spirituality and music with John Coltrane..."
calirb.com/the-notebook...
A Desert Between Two Seas by A. Muia
Review by Paul Willis
"It is the original sin of the stories that works its effects through generations for more than a century."
calirb.com/a-desert-bet...
The Future of Truth by Werner Herzog
Review by George Yatchisin
"As a visionary it’s his job to show us the big T Truth, damn the nigglingly fact-checkers."
calirb.com/the-future-o...
Hitler and My Mother-in-Law by Terese Svoboda
Review by Walter Cummins
"One that dominates is knowing the truth of what actually happened and what’s emerged from rumor, assumption, and claims by the subject."
calirb.com/hitler-and-m...
Impasse: Climate Change and the Limits of Progress by Roy Scranton
Review by Walter Cummins
Roy Scranton declares that the big moral question for humanity is “how to live in a fragmenting, increasingly incomprehensible world of accelerating catastrophe.”
calirb.com/impasse-clim...
Repetition: A Novel by Vigdis Hjorth, Translated by Charlotte Barslund
Review By Brian Tanguay
"Hjorth gives readers moments which are deep, complex, and infinite."
calirb.com/repetition-a...
A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar
Review by Walter Cummins
"Characters make mistakes with disorienting consequences, but while inconvenienced, nobody gets seriously hurt."
calirb.com/a-guardian-a...
10 Best Books of 2025
The Editors
"As always when creating year-end lists, we could have easily generated another one that included dozens of additional outstanding books."
calirb.com/10-best-book...
Savings And Trust: The Rise and Betrayal of the Freedman’s Bank by Justene Hill Edwards
Review by Brian Tanguay
"If the historian happens to be a skilled writer and an adept storyteller, the end product is often revelatory."
calirb.com/savings-and-...
The Best Poetry Books of 2025
Reviews by David Starkey
"As always, my reviews are intentionally short. Ideally, each one contains just enough information–an appreciative observation, say, or a couple of striking quotations..."
calirb.com/the-best-poe...
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai
Review by Walter Cummins
"The title characters are torn by the emptiness of depressing loneliness, but a version of loneliness haunts every major character."
calirb.com/the-loneline...
“A Wooded Shore” by Thomas McGuane
Review by David Starkey
“...McGuane is more sympathetic to his characters, and he loves describing the details of whatever location they find themselves in, so the prose feels fuller, richer, more engaged.”
calirb.com/a-wooded-sho...
“1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History – And How It Shattered a Nation” by Andrew Ross Sorkin
Review by Mark Mansour
“...“1929” delivers a highly readable experience—a history that resonates far beyond its era.”
calirb.com/1929-inside-...
“Shadow Ticket” by Thomas Pynchon
Review by Walter Cummins
“Like the sentences, the novel offers an intense rhythm of revelation that is an end in itself, more important than plot.”
calirb.com/shadow-ticke...
“The Hounding” by Xenobe Purvis
Review by George Yatchisin
“There’s a general air of seduction and the power of the unanswerable…”
calirb.com/the-hounding...
“A Case of Life and Limb: The Trials of Gabriel Ward” by Sally Smith
Review by Brian Tanguay
“In the second installment of Sally Smith’s captivating series, The Trials of Gabriel Ward, Sir Gabriel Ward, King’s Counsel, is once again confronted with a grisly crime…”
calirb.com/a-case-of-li...
“Front Street: Resistance and Rebirth in the Tent Cities of Techlandia” by Brian Barth
Review by Brian Tanguay
“...he alters the nature of the conversation.”
calirb.com/front-street...
“Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity” by Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson
Review by Walter Cummins
"Acemoglu and Johnson present plans to enable the benefits of new technologies to spread to all workers and improve their lives"
calirb.com/power-and-pr...
