“A lovely collection of blog posts about all the hidden stuff in your city. Why lampposts are shaped the way they are. Why manhole covers are round. What the markings on sidewalks mean. It’s a great reader – every ‘chapter’ is really just a blog post or podcast episode, so you can read 4-5 of them…”
“I bailed out on this book at exactly the halfway point (50% on the nose, according to my Kindle). I had such high hopes, but the book was essentially just a recitation of the lives of the people who lived at 740 Park Ave. Chapter after chapter was a dissection of these people’s lives, to the point…”
“Absolutely stunning novel. I had heard of the book for years. My mother was born in Ethiopia in the 1940s (my grandparents were missionaries from New Zealand), and several people had told me that the story in the novel resembled my mother’s experience there as a child. The book was purchased for me…”
“Apparently, no one knew who actually owned The Empire State Building for a period of years, back in the 90s. A Japanese billionaire had bought it at a cheap price, because it was saddled with a really crappy 114-year lease. But he had actually directed his daughter to buy it (he had never even been…”
“Michael Lewis could write about anything and it would be interesting. In this book, he tackles High Frequency Trading, and reveals just how absurd and unethical it is. Essentially, trading houses are using technical and ultra-fast communications to bet against their own customers. The entire thing…”
“A stunning memoir of a dysfunctional childhood. Jeannette’s parents weren’t actively abusive, but they were passively abusive in the sense that they had no personal responsibility, and they never gave any regard to holding down jobs and providing basic care to their children. In retrospect (and in…”
“This a classic art coffee table book. It’s huge – 11 x 14, I think, and it weighs maybe 10 pounds? It’s the kind of book you set on your coffee table just to look at. (True story: when I first picked it up at a used bookstore in Minneapolis, I aggravated a back injury, forcing me to withdraw from…”
“ Incredible oral history of Saturday Night Live. There’s no actual narrative to this book – the entire thing is just a series of anecdotes told by cast members, writers, occasional hosts, and others. I loved the format, disagreements and all. 750 pages, and would have gladly read 750 more. ”
“This is an extremely short book (like, 100 small pages with lots and lots of pictures). Start to finish, it might take you 30 minutes. It’s more of a handbook of the different physical markers you can find of the internet in NYC. It has a directory of manhole covers, for instance, and descriptions…”
“ Didn’t love it. Was confused for most of it. Lots of characters and some of the summation at the end didn’t make sense. Additionally, a lot of political moralizing. ”
“I read this book for the pure titillation level, because I’m fascinated by high society in general and New York culture in particular. And the book delivered on that level – there are some horrifying anecdotes where of a woman trying to fit into Upper East Side mommies. Women who use Birkin bags as…”
The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design
