Spring Break ended yesterday. A few books I finished over break (and the past month or so).

Empire of Cotton – Sven Beckert One of the best global history books I’ve read in awhile. An insightful look into the origins of the modern capitalist system and a reminder that the more you read about the Civil War the more important you realize it is to the way the world looks today.

A Manual for Cleaning Women – Lucia Berlin Once a year I come across one of those books or authors whom I’m shocked I made it to [x] age without reading, hearing about, etc… It’s only March and Lucia Berlin has that honor. Are these memoirs? Short stories? Incredible insight into the difficult lives of women in America in the second half of the 20th century.

Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America – Jill Levy Leovy’s book is brilliantly reported and makes a compelling case around the failures of the American criminal justice system in our cities. When she sticks to L.A. the book is amazing. Some of the generalizations around U.S. history and the Great Migration oversimplify a complicated topic.