Category Archives: Book Notes

Caro Claire Burke, YESTERYEAR

Posted on Monday 17 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

(Knopf, April 2026, 391pp) I read the bestselling novel YESTERYEAR, by Caro Claire Burke, three weekends ago, on a trip to LA to spend time with family on the occasion of a 1st birthday and a new house, and it … Continue reading →

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Yuval Noah Harari: UNSTOPPABLE US, Vol. 3

Posted on Wednesday 12 August 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: “How Enemies Become Friends” (Bright Matter Books, February 2026, xxi + 181pp) Here is the third of Harari’s world’s-history-for-children books, taking a 30,000-foot view of the big changes over the millennia of human history. Each book has four chapters. … Continue reading →

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Ezra Klein & Derek Thompson: ABUNDANCE

Posted on Tuesday 21 July 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

(Avid Reader Press, March 2025, 288pp, including 66pp of acknowledgements, notes, and index.) This book takes the optimistic stance that we are capable of building what we need, and that we can solve many of the problems we perceive today. … Continue reading →

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Kurt Andersen: FANTASYLAND

Posted on Tuesday 14 July 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History (Random House, 2017, 462pp, including 22pp acknowledgements and index) Here is a book by a writer who doesn’t generally write this type of book. Andersen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Andersen) writes mostly novels and TV, and … Continue reading →

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Toby Ord, THE PRECIPICE

Posted on Monday 6 July 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity (Hachette, 2020, 468pp, including 225pp of resources, acknowledgements, appendices, further reading, notes, bibliography, and index.) Here is book about existential risks, a topic on which I have several books, though this one … Continue reading →

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William MacAskill, WHAT WE OWE THE FUTURE

Posted on Tuesday 23 June 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

(Basic Books, August 2022, 333pp, including 83pp of acknowledgements, appendices, figure credits and data sources, notes, and index) This book, which I read shortly after its publication in 2022, is by a young Oxford philosopher who is at the center … Continue reading →

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Neil deGrasse Tyson, TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER

Posted on Sunday 21 June 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: Perspectives on Your First Alien Encounter (Simon & Schuster/Simon Six, May 2026, 226pp, including 28pp of acknowledgements, notes, index, and image credits) This latest by Tyson is irreverent and casual, even lightweight, in the way Tyson’s books often are, … Continue reading →

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Dan Barker, CONTRADUCTION

Posted on Wednesday 13 May 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

(UK: Hypathia Press, 2024, 111pp, including References but no index) Dan Barker (Wikipedia) is an atheist writer who was once an evangelical Christian pastor. I read one of his earlier books, LIFE DRIVEN PURPOSE (review here), which challenged Rick Warren’s … Continue reading →

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Rutger Bregman: MORAL AMBITION

Posted on Thursday 7 May 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: Stop Wasting Your Talent and Start Making a Difference (2024 in Dutch; Little, Brown, 2025, 285pp, including 53pp of Thanks, Notes, and Index) Here’s the third book by Rutger Bregman, a Dutch historian and thinker. First was UTOPIA FOR … Continue reading →

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Michael Shermer: TRUTH

Posted on Sunday 3 May 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled “What It Is, How to Find It, and Why It Still Matters” (John Hopkins University Press, Jan. 2026, 370pp, including 50pp of acknowledgments, notes, and index) The title of this latest book by Michael Shermer, following CONSPIRACY (2022) (reviewed … Continue reading →

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