1. “One True Story.” Columnist Alice Stephens’ call for us to embrace global cultures’ literature struck a chord with readers all month long.


2. Nick Wolven’s review of Not a Scientist: How Politicians Mistake, Misrepresent, and Utterly Mangle Science by Dave Levitan. “Levitan sees [Ronald] Reagan’s trope as a hallmark of science denialism, a rhetorical license for unrestrained flimflam. ‘I’m not a scientist,’ a politician begins, and goes on to butcher scientific knowledge in whatever way suits his purposes. Sometimes the speaker cites a scientific claim but muddles or distorts the facts. Sometimes the speaker presumes to speak for the scientific community, but only cites maverick or disreputable sources. And sometimes a speaker says things so nonsensical that concepts like truth or evidence hardly apply.”


3. Jennifer Bort Yacovissi’s review of Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama by David J. Garrow. “Perhaps there is little here that is entirely new or revelatory; after all, there truly are no skeletons in the Obama closet. Certainly, the voting public heard and read endless reporting on Obama’s background and life story — some of which was even true — during his candidacy and two terms as president, but Garrow goes much deeper, provides far more detail, and connects all the disparate pieces in the detailed step-by-step of what went into, as his subtitle says, The Making of Barack Obama.”


4. An interview with Laura McBride. Martha Anne Toll spoke to the novelist about ‘Round Midnight, character development, and the trick to interweaving multiple storylines.


5. “No, YOU’RE Stupid!” Using The Great Gatsby as an example, columnist E.A. Aymar defended the notion that it’s okay to celebrate the Western canon and branch out far beyond its boundaries.

Click here to get our free biweekly e-newsletter, and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest!