Jocelyn's Reviews

Faye builds an incredibly vivid, diverse, vibrant world of Prohibition Era America. Alice “Nobody” James picks her way between danger and friendship, prejudice and love, with intrigue before and behind her. Pick this one up for the history, the mystery, the slang and the love stories. Stay for a wonderful, wild ride, and characters you can’t help but adore. - Jocelyn

Reading this book is like standing near the sea at night, a familiar place somehow full of mystery and possibility. Stiefvater writes beautifully to create a modern fairy tale world, with human problems for which there are no magic answers. Sean and Puck each race against time, poverty and heartbreak to find their fortunes. I hungrily devoured this. - Jocelyn

In your teens you’re becoming the person you’ll be. In your twenties you’re figuring out who you want to be. In your thirties, you start realizing you have to live with who you are and the choices you’ve made. This is a brilliant fable for that age when you know if you could go back with what you know now, you could live the life you were meant to live. - Jocelyn

I fell in love with this book for the wonderfully written, humorous, heart-breaking story of Doughty herself. If you’re a fan of weird science or the macabre, chances are you’ve heard of this – the entertainingly honest memoir of a modern-day mortician. If, like me, you put off picking it up, take my word for it and hesitate no longer. I was fascinated by the humanizing facts of death. - Jocelyn

Vogler travels the world for the finest spirits and dives into the history and make-up of our modern alcohol industry to uncover what can be found in the authentically produced. Along the way he shares funny and touching stories about his adventures, family, and friends. Part travelogue, part memoir, part food writing, part activism, this book is all beautiful, and entertaining. - Jocelyn

Believe the hype – this book is for you, whether master chef or master microwaver. More than recipes (though we’ve got that too) Nosrat shares with you the secret: cooking is salt, fat, acid, and heat. Easily explaining science and taste behind each component, I now understand my recipes. More importantly, I can cook, to the point of fixing – or inventing – a delicious dish. - Jocelyn

Mary Gabriel set out to illuminate the lives and legacies of five female American artists who changed history while being overlooked by it, and through these women brings viscerally to life a New York–centered world of the last century. The relationships, famous names, wars, social movements, and above all, the art in Ninth Street Women will leave you inspired, looking up paintings, and holding onto the names Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, Helen Frankenthaler, and Mary Gabriel. - Jocelyn

Mathematics professor Dr. Hannah Fry has tackled with numbers Santa Claus and love, so it might seem a retreat to safety for her to write about algorithms…if the algorithms weren’t covering everything crucial about being a modern human, from our everyday interactions to our social justice systems. With intelligence and charm, Fry gives a tour through algorithms and lays out a better understanding of the possibilities before us. - Jocelyn

You may know Michael Lewis from his best-selling books on the insider worlds of baseball (Moneyball), football (The Blind Side), the housing market (The Big Short), and the human psyche (The Undoing Project). Now his journalistic sights are on the US government and the current administration. Shying away from personalities and conspiracies, Lewis focuses on the agencies that make the country function—and exactly how and why they are (or aren’t) working. - Jocelyn

James Mustich, professional bibliophile, has spent over a decade compiling this book for book lovers. Much more than an Internet listicle, each of its entries (which include both the expected and the surprising) is accompanied by an essay, a cover, and a categorization, and includes supplementary facts and photos, information about preferred editions, and (yet more) recommended reading. We can’t seem to get enough of lists of the things we love, but they are so much nicer when they’re done well. - Jocelyn