Gowanus: Brooklyn's Curious Canal

By Joseph Alexiou

I heard about this while attending the installation of Mucky's Return (a sculpture of dolphin that was found in the canal). The author gave an interesting speech about Mucky and other unfortunate marine mammals who were found stranded in the polluted waters of the canal. The book is not about them (a point of disappointment to me). It is about the history of the place that now includes the canal, from the days of the American Revolution to current times. It is interesting, but perhaps a bit too detailed for me, whereby the bigger story kind of got lost. It reads like a research paper, but a very long one. [non-fiction, 398 pp.]

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Immune

A Journey into the Mysterious System That Keeps You Alive

By Philipp Dettmer 

The immune system is very complex. I remember how confused I was when I attended immunology class in college and vet school. But this book is doing a decent job simplifying but still describing important aspects. I am by no means an expert in this field, and I felt like I got a good basis to understand what are the different parts of the immune system are, what they do, and how they interact. It also goes into what happens when the immune system turns on the body and possible reasons why. 

Fun(?) fact: Measles is no joke - the virus attacks memory cells, those immune cells that provide long-term immunity to diseases you've survived. Vaccinate your kids! Jeez. [non-fiction, 341pp.]

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American Oasis

By Kyle Paoletta

The interesting history of cities in the American southwest, what they did wrong, what they did right, and how we can apply from these lesson to cities around the country. I thought the most. Probably what struck me the most was the repeating history of abuse and oppression by the government of various non-white groups of people. [non-fiction, 326pp., including notes, bibliography, and index]

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As I Lay Dying

By William Faulkner

I can hardly understand anything. [Fiction, 267 pp. only got to 105 before giving up]

 

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Democracy Awakening

By Heather Cox Richardson

It's such an interesting historical review of American politics, I really should get a copy of this book. [non fiction, unfortunately, 286pp.]

 

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All the Beauty in the World

The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me

By Patrick Bringley

For some reason, it took me a bit to get into the book. Since I have been reading multiple books at the same time, I had not managed to finish it before I had to return it back to the library, since it's was on hold. Also, doesn't help it's a relatively new book and is only being lend for 2 weeks instead of three. Anyway, after getting it again, I got more into it, and it was quite interesting to see the museum workings from the inside, and appreciate works of art through the eyes of someone who gets to really spend time with them. [Non fiction; 226 pp.]

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Sarah's Love (Hebrew)

By Yoel Druker

Disclaimer: The author is my cousin's husband. 

This was a the kind of book that rather than making me fall asleep at night, kept me reading for much longer than I wanted. Its poetic language was a bit weird to me at first, almost felt archaic, but as I kept reading, it became the norm somehow. The events in the story kept surprising me, and it took me a little bit to appreciate the ending. Overall, it is a beautifully-written book with an unusual take on the ages-long conflict in Israel/Palestine. [Fiction; 291 pp.]

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