I've been meaning to read this for years. I finally picked up a copy for a decent price last year, and read it as a refresher before embarking on some map creation. It seems a bit strange, reading a technology-related book from 2014 in 2026, but Ian Muehlenhaus did a good job of keeping most...
Attensity! is a perfectly fine book, a call to action as relevant now as it was when social media and the larger advertising-backed internet began their decline (years ago, at this point). It's also a fairly shallow read: it names the problem, points to examples, and offers surface-level solutions. Attention, as it's most often measured, is framed around productivity and around commercial and…
Historical nonfiction like A Flower Traveled in My Blood can feel uncomfortably voyeuristic. I wasn't aware of the military dictatorship in Argentina — Chile under Pinochet, yes, but Argentina no. For as much human kindness and empathy as there is, humanity can demonstrate a near limitless appetite for violence and cruelty. Both cruelty and violence were in ample supply in Argentina during the…
In "Chaos in the Green Zone," author Tom Mowle, describes being plucked from his faculty job at the Air Force Academy and arriving overseas to witness the absurdity of U.S. intervention in the second Iraq war.
Former Air Force Academy instructor turned military strategist Tom Mowle had written about the second Iraq war for an academic audience. Crafting a narrative account was different.
The staff from Poor Richard's Books in Colorado Springs recommends the story of a grizzly bear, an examination of sticks and a flower bible.
Overt religiosity aside, there's some real value in the guidance in what is, by any measure, a brief book. Be impeccable with your word Don’t take anything personally Don’t make assumptions Always do your best Pretty straightforward, right? The author waxes poetic and spiritual about living in hell which, sure, hell is other people. What the other describes and prescribes is a way of navigating…
some machines are happier than humans - bora chung
I'm nostalgic for the 90s and alternative music but I wasn't there for any of it. I was 4 and a half years old when Nevermind was released and was introduced to Nirvana by my dad playing MTV Unplugged in New York on repeat in the tape deck of his manual, hatchback Honda Civic. I wasn't a part of it, but I was alive during it and hold dear memories of that time. The music remains core to my…
Old Firehouse Books in Fort Collins suggest stories of illicit love turned permanent, efforts to reinvigorate the prairie and one woman's resilience
The staff from The Bookies Bookstore in Denver recommends meditations on dogs, a deadly tourist trap and teenagers in political power.
...I have no fear, 'cause London is drownin' and I, I live by the river... You can't write a book called London Falling and convince me it's wholly unrelated to London Calling . Perhaps it is, perhaps it's a coincidence. I have a hard time believing it was unintentional even if it was unacknowledged. It's the same city and probably the same river. Patrick Radden Keefe, like few others, manages to…
Explore Books in Aspen this month recommends a difficult memoir, a novel exploring relationships and a meditation on art.
The mass media serve as a system for communicating messages and symbols to the general populace. It is their function to amuse, entertain, and inform, and to inculcate individuals with the values, beliefs, and codes of behavior that will integrate them into the institutional structures of the larger society. In a world of concentrated wealth and major conflicts of class interest, to fulfill this…
What’s on your mind at the start of this month? Maybe you’re asking big questions about technology or have the state of the nation on your mind. You could be in search of a thrilling, escapist tale set in another time and place or are looking to explore everyday life far from where you live. […]
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Murder the Truth is another entry in a line of books illustrating the ways in which immense wealth has warped the foundations of American society. We all watch in horror as things bend, fold in and wonder when, just when, it all snaps. The influence that wealth provides manifests itself in myriad different ways but, in this case, it's used in the pursuit of attacking journalists and burying the…
In this excerpt from "A Tree with My Name on It," Victress Hitchcock describes the tour of the ranch near the Wet Mountains that led her to cast doubt aside and "do something different."
A historic ranch inspired Victress Hitchcock's memoir, "A Tree with My Name on It."
I like the Sex Pistols ’ music but was only vaguely aware of their history, so England’s Dreaming made for an interesting and, at times, conflicting read. I find it easy to get caught up in an ideal of punk I manufacture in my head based on the lyrics and stances of bands I appreciate. I’m conflicted after having read this. A lot of what you’ve heard of the Pistols and their penchant for…
For Jacqueline St. Joan, the memoir "Your Verdict" was 35 years in the making, and served as a backdrop for much of her other writing as she honed her craft.
The Bookies Bookstore in Denver recommends the story of a bird expert, a paean to "disruptive" kids and a rollicking fantasy.
Explore Books in Aspen suggests an Indian love story, an exploration of our relationship with Iran and a seminal Indigenous voice.
We are — somehow, mysteriously — already into the second quarter of the year. Following last month’s array of new books dedicated to baseball, April’s new releases are a more wide-ranging bunch. True, there is a book about sports, but that’s to be expected in a year that brings both the Olympics and the World […]
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El Paso is a heartfelt, beautifully written tale that manages to connect the city's history to that of her family's, other migrant families and the dynamics of immigration woven deeply into the fabric of the United States. I knew so little of this history and it was refreshing to learn about it — I knew El Paso in the abstract. The name, Beto O'Rourke, At the Drive-In , the shooting at the…
Derek Lowstuter crafted "Fiddler on the Roof of Africa," his account of two years volunteering in Ethiopia, as part memoir, part love letter and part insider critique.
Derek Lowstuter's account of his Peace Corps experience in "Fiddler on the Roof of Africa" describes both a transformative, and sometimes traumatic, two years in Ethiopia.
Out West Books in Grand Junction recommends both fiction and nonfiction tales of adventure and achievement at high altitude.
More Everything Forever is an essential read for the modern, tech-empowered dystopia we find ourselves in. Adam Becker methodically examines and destroys the pseudo-religious nonsense of modern tech founders. Mars is a hellhole coated in poison dust that will kill anyone that lands there. Trillions of people living in capsules above the earth is a fantasy. LLMs are synthetic text extruding…
Gilded Rage is well written and covers a lot of what one might already know from paying more than passing attention to the tech industry and political landscape of the United States in recent years. It features all of the characters we (unfortunately) know and expect to make an appearance goes into modest detail on their malign impact on politics and society. It also, quite fairly, devotes time…
In "Roam," Hillary Rosner looks at how human structures can impede the migration that climate change has made essential to species' survival.