Review 672: Black-Owned

Black-Owned: The Revolutionary Life of the Black Bookstore by Char Adams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



A history of black-owned bookstores, starting with the very beginning in the 1830s with David Ruggles and his pushcart selling books at a time when many blacks were enslaved and forbidden to read. Then the turbulent 60's and 70's, and through the decades to today. There are only a few people and stores profiled. The book could not be comprehensive for all stores that existed at one time

In the late 60s there weren’t many black-owned stores, and the FBI kept tabs on those that did exist. Unfortunately, they were also targeted. Drum and Spear was one such store and worker Ralph Featherstone was killed in a car bomb likely planted by the FBI. Another store, Liberation, had been sent a package of dynamite that killed a bookstore employee and injured the owner Una Mulzac.

Later, in the aughts Karibu Bookstore was profiled as the chain of stores didn’t last long. Among other problems, it also was up against what all bookstores have a problem with, the big box stores and the online giant amazon.

More recently black-owned bookstores had a surge of sales for a while when the Black Lives Matter protests and movement was started. That surge has since eased off back to the usual level of bookselling and activity.

Listed in the back of the book are over 50 black-owned bookstores by state and around 40 online stores that were once brick and mortar stores. This type of list can only be a snapshot in time. Likely more stable is the list of 10 books black booksellers want everyone to read.

Review 641: The Genome Defense

The Genome Defense: Inside the Epic Legal Battle to Determine Who Owns Your DNA by Jorge L. Contreras

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was a bit outside my comfort zone. The subtitle did say what the book was about, the legal battle, so this was very law focused. The law suite was brought on by the ACLU against the company Myriad who had a patent for a genetic test. This was the BRCA test for breast cancer. Can companies patent DNA or test for DNA? There's a bit of science involved in the book, but it's mostly the nitty gritty of a lawsuit. The author did try to make it readable, and it wasn't boring, but still my eyes glazed over more than once.

Review 520: Big Box USA

Big Box USA: The Environmental Impact of America’s Biggest Retail Stores by Bart Elmore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A fascinating look at the big box store model and the environment. It began with Walmart and the rest followed the model. One section of the book is devoted to the big box stores that are outdoor retailers, such as REI, Cabela’s and Bass Pro Shops. I wrote a longer review which will be published in a forthcoming issue of the Electronic Green Journal.

Feb.2024 Edit: The issue has published. My review can be found here: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8009q137

Electronic Green Journal: Issue no.51 (2025)

Review 388: Immortality, Inc.

Immortality, Inc.: Renegade Science, Silicon Valley Billions, and the Quest to Live Forever by Chip Walter
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

First off, I really disliked the writing style and tone of this book. It felt hokey and the analogies were of putting, sometimes didn't make sense. I had hoped there would be more science covered, but instead it was more a biography of the people who decided to try to hack death.

There is a lot of space devoted to how the companies were formed, the meetings and all sorts of boring details. Maybe it's interesting for some people, but I really didn't get much out of this book. Plus, whatever science was in here is now dated. Likely current state of some of these companies too. Science and tech start-ups move fast!

It was hard to keep straight the multitude of companies and connections and the little graph in the beginning of how these key people are connected didn't include all the company names. So that wasn't helpful.

There are better books out there, even on this topic, skip this one.

Review 276: A Wild Idea

A Wild Idea: The True Story of Douglas Tompkins—The Greatest Conservationist by Jonathan Franklin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It’s hard not to like what Doug Tompkins has accomplished and his vision for an improved planet. Yet I don’t think I like the man, or at least the way he was portrayed here in this book. Tompkins comes off as arrogant, dismissive and perhaps a narcissist. He had two kids and was barely a father to them, yet it’s said in the book several times how much he loved them, and yes acknowledged he likely did not do enough to express that love to his kids. Really, who leaves his newborn baby and wife when they just started up a company, to go adventuring for six months? And this is way before cell phones!

Tompkins was smart, no doubt about that. He would dive deep into a topic until he knew it very well. He did this with design and ecology, among other topics. He started several very successful businesses: The North Face and Esprit. The Patagonia company is detailed in the book as well, as it was founded by a fellow climbing and adventure buddy.

Tompkins was an all or nothing guy. Once he decided to turn his attention to environmental causes, he sold out of his clothing company. He used that money to fund others, occasionally, but mostly he created his own non-profit and bought a lot of land in the interest of creating a huge park in the Patagonia region. Tompkins wanted to preserve the land. He clashed with the locals and government officials, even though his intentions were noble. It was his way or no way. He led a full life, that’s for certain, but perhaps it was at the cost of those close to him.

Thanks to HarperOne and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book. Although I had access to the eBook I ended up listening to the audio book version.

Review 271: Railroaded: The Transcontinentals and the Making of Modern America

Railroaded: The Transcontinentals and the Making of Modern America by Richard White
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

So happy to have finally finished this long, complicated book. I nearly quit reading several times, and did take a long pause here and there through the months, but glad to have persevered and finished reading it.

My rating reflects the convoluted writing style and poor organization of the book. While the topics and major points are made and deserve a full five stars.

This includes: the railroad building that occurred with a fever in the late 1800's were too soon, ahead of demand, extremely poorly done with extensive corruption, and decimated the environment along with the Native Peoples. The extent of the corruption mixed with politics and the economy is amazing. It brought several economic depressions, wiped out the huge buffalo herds and in the end, actually did some social good as well. Railroads were going to be a necessity, but it could have been done in a wholly different manner and the repercussions of this railroad building is still evident today.

I may write more fully my thoughts on this long book, but for now, my initial thoughts on completion just moments ago, will have to leave it here.

June 1, 2021 – Started Reading

June 2, 2021 – 

page 58

 

 8.24% "this will likely take a while....yet not as long as it looks, appendix begins at page 562."

June 4, 2021 – 

page 75

 

 10.65%

June 9, 2021 – 

page 126

 

 17.9%

June 14, 2021 – 

page 151

 

 21.45%

June 17, 2021 – 

page 188

 

 26.7% "on pause for a bit..."

August 2, 2021 – 

page 194

 

 27.56% "picked this back up. started to read it again, albeit slowly"

August 5, 2021 – 

page 220

 

 31.25%

August 6, 2021 – 

page 230

 

 32.67%

August 23, 2021 – 

page 256

 

 36.36%

August 27, 2021 – 

page 302

 

 42.9%

September 1, 2021 – 

page 343

 

 48.72%

September 20, 2021 – 

page 349

 

 49.57%

September 23, 2021 – 

page 441

 

 62.64%

October 19, 2021 – 

page 471

 

 66.9%

October 25, 2021 – 

page 481

 

 68.32%

October 27, 2021 – 

page 517

 

 73.44%

November 1, 2021 – 

page 555

 

 78.84%

November 2, 2021 – 

page 570

 

 80.97%

November 4, 2021 – 

page 591

 

 83.95%

November 8, 2021 – 

page 623

 

 88.49%

November 10, 2021 – 

page 658

 

 93.47% "hoping to finish tomorrow"

November 11, 2021 – Finished Reading