My feelings about Sarah Vowell are well documented on Minnesota Reads. Admittedly, I am a fanboy and love how she weaves history, pop culture, and humor together into books that both educate and entertain. It's…
Posts Published by Ben Kimball
This Is Not Florida
If I were a better book reviewer, I would have read and reviewed Jay Weiner's This Is Not Florida: How Al Franken Won the Minnesota Senate Recount during Minnesota's latest recount between gubernatorial candidates Mark…
I Curse the River of Time
Finding fiction that I like can be a great challenge for me, so I tend to research potential candidates to make the process efficient. I tend to stick with ideas that resonate somehow with my…
Pax Romana
I am no expert in graphic novels. I typically read graphic novels only at the recommendation of others. Jonathan Hickman's Pax Romana came to me thanks in part to my interest in the Catholic Church….
An American Type
An American Type is a posthumous work by Henry Roth. Edited by The New Yorker magazine fiction editor Willing Davidson, An American Type is an autobiographical novel and a continuation of Roth's previous novels, a…
The Ethical Slut
Dossie Easton and Janet W. Hardy’s The Ethical Slut is the practical guide for someone who wants to engage in polyamory or open relationships. Easton and Hardy provide valuable practical advice on negotiating boundaries &…
North Country
Being the only non-Minnesotan in my family, I had to take a history course in college to learn about the state I moved to some sixteen years ago. So in 2004, my second course at…
Healing Through the Dark Emotions
Digging through the self-help and psychology sections of Half-Price Books can be a tedious affair. I have found that Shambhala Publications rarely goes wrong with a book, and Miriam Greenspan's Healing Through the Dark Emotions…
How Pleasure Works
Whenever I read psychology books, I am wary of putting in the effort only to just waste my time. For every quality data-driven and well-argued psychology book, there are possibly ten other failures that pander…
The Illustrated Alchemist
My tolerance for junk theology and philosophy is very low. Though I have seen many quality self-help books based on sound principles, there are just as many bogus get rich quick scams disguised as self-help….
The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ
Though Philip Pullman's The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ is not the razor blade & glue job offered by Thomas Jefferson in The Jefferson Bible, it does offer a fresh new look at…