This cogent survey by former Navy submarine captain Marquet (Turn the Ship Around) and organizational psychologist Gillespie offers business leaders advice on making informed decisions. The authors argue that “self immersion,” in which someone protects their ego and reputation, is a typical default in high-pressure, emotionally charged scenarios, but that people must instead operate from the perspective of “the distanced self” in order to make clear-sighted choices. They support their case with real-world examples, detailing several instances of self immersion that led to disastrous decision-making, such as when the captain and crew of Asiana Flight 214 made a series of poor choices leading to a crash that killed three passengers and injured dozens more in 2013. Elsewhere, they detail how an FBI negotiator used “temporal distancing” to talk down kidnappers and terrorists so they weren’t caught up in the the moment (“Imagine that ten years from now... we’re both happy. Now, let’s work our way back from there”). The authors include plenty of helpful exercises and reflection questions along the way. Readers looking for a new approach to decision-making will be challenged and inspired. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 05/30/2025 | Details & Permalink

“Working women’s well-being is declining faster than men’s, regardless of whether they have children,” asserts Dunbar, founder of Conscious Company magazine, in her solid debut manual. Leaning on her own career experience, in which she felt like she was “doing everything right” but still wasn’t happy, as well as lessons she’s learned from other business leaders, Dunbar identifies how the current business advice for women leads to increased stress and burnout without offering a path to success. Her assessment of why this is touches on how working parents are often excluded from leadership roles, objectification and sexual harassment in the workplace, and the idea of shareholder supremacy, which inherently puts compassion and empathy as leadership traits on the back burner. Dunbar recommends that businesses pivot to a more holistic approach to leadership, in which teams make decisions together, and ultimately she calls for an end to workplace norms that aren’t working for everyone. Readers will be encouraged by her compassionate tone: “Your value is not contingent on how much you do. You’re inherently worthy as you are. Full stop.” The result is a persuasive call for reform. Agent: Jessica Faust, BookEnds Literary. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 05/30/2025 | Details & Permalink

In this eye-opening debut study, sociologist Becker offers a cultural and political analysis of hysterectomy. As one of the most frequently performed surgeries worldwide, modern technology has made the operation minimally invasive and lower risk than ever before. Yet hysterectomies are still treated as a last resort—with many patients reporting that physicians refuse to perform the surgery without first trying to preserve a patient’s fertility—and as taboo, with earlier books on the subject given titles like Am I Still a Woman? At the same time, according to Becker, hysterectomy is used to punish and control people of color—she cites instances of nonconsensual hysterectomies ranging from 19th-century experiments on enslaved women to the forced sterilization of detained immigrants in ICE camps as recently as 2020. Conducting more than 100 interviews with patients who had the procedure, she finds similar disparities, with patients of color frequently reporting they were told hysterectomy was their only treatment option as teenagers, while white women nearing 40 were told they were too young to make a decision limiting their future fertility; meanwhile, trans men who presented in more traditionally masculine ways reported more ease in acquiring hysterectomies than their nonbinary peers. This exploration of the uterus as “a cultural battleground” is a must-read for healthcare professionals. (July)

Reviewed on 05/30/2025 | Details & Permalink

Historian Darnton (The Revolutionary Temper) delivers a fascinating examination of the rise of the writer-as-public-figure in revolutionary France. He vividly depicts a revolutionary milieu in which, for every towering figure like Voltaire or Diderot who owed their career to a “system of patronage,” there were innumerable “scribblers... churning out hack work and living miserably in garrets.” While the writers who “made it to the top” advocated “moderate change,” those at the bottom “vented their frustrated ambitions” in the mostly “illegal works” they wrote to eke out a living. These consisted mainly of “libels, pornography, and seditious political tracts,” in which their authors honed a language that “resonated” among the “Jacobins and sans-culottes.” Most of the writers were anti-satire—they “hated satire the way they hated high society”—and instead embraced a radically earnest journalistic style. Darnton posits that, with their “mastery over... media” at a time when “public opinion began to determine affairs of state,” these “Rousseau du ruisseau,” or the “Rousseaus of the gutter,” were a crucial but unacknowledged force. The French Revolution, he convincingly argues, was not simply the result of the powerful ideas of a handful of well-connected public intellectuals but the cultural work of a new class of precariously employed writers-for-hire. It’s a fresh and vital history, as well as an appealing romanticization of the freelancer’s lot. (May)

Reviewed on 05/30/2025 | Details & Permalink

We Can Do Hard Things podcasters Glennon Doyle (Love Warrior), her wife Abby (Forward), and her sister Amanda present an insightful if haphazard “personal survival guide.” As each of the authors floundered in the wake of a crisis—Glennon and Amanda had been diagnosed with anorexia and breast cancer, respectively, while Abby was mourning her brother’s death—they searched for answers to some of life’s most fundamental questions. Interspersing other writers’ and thinkers’ wisdom with their own, they tackle such questions as “why am I like this” (societal pressures, desires to please parents, and intergenerational trauma can shape people in limiting ways); how to know if one has “lost themselves” (signs include burying feelings and viewing life as a giant to-do list); and how to “return to” oneself by allowing for a wide spectrum of emotions—including freely crying and laughing—or making time for “mini-feeling sessions.” There’s plenty of wisdom to be found from podcast guests like Ketanji Brown Jackson, Roxane Gay, and Gloria Steinem, but the patchwork structure leads to repetition of concepts and takeaways. Still, the authors’ fans will get what they came for. (May)

Reviewed on 05/30/2025 | Details & Permalink

Smith, director of Collection of Exhibits at the Hepworth Wakefield, assembles an uneven celebration of British modern artist Helen Chadwick (1953–1996). Chadwick was interested in the body from the start of her career, beginning with 1977’s In the Kitchen, a performance piece in which she dressed as household appliances to critique stereotypes of female domesticity (the work drew criticism from some 1970s-era feminists who accused her of promoting female objectification). She briefly moved away from centering her body in her art but resumed in the 1980s with installations like Ego Geometria Sum, consisting of 10 plywood geometrical forms on which she overlaid photocopied renderings of herself. Other art was more abstract, incorporating materials as diverse as rotting kitchen scraps and lasers. Later essays unpack in further detail the role of Chadwick’s body in her art; her Greek heritage; and the frequent use of flowers in her work (most notably Piss Flowers, an installation in which she and a partner created casts from the negative space made by urinating in snow, creating phallic and labial forms). Smith takes pains throughout to emphasize the level of craft Chadwick put into her art, as well as its feminist significance, though the failure to flesh out Chadwick as a person or unpack how or why her artistic development came about may leave readers wanting. The result is an imperfect ode to an important feminist artist. Photos. (July)

Reviewed on 05/30/2025 | Details & Permalink

Vogue contributor Kim debuts with a serviceable if somewhat clumsy ode to K-pop superstar Jeon Jungkook. At age 13, Jungkook entered the K-pop “idol system”—a rigorous and sometimes toxic talent training program—and became the youngest member of the band BTS, whose “raw visuals and insightful lyrics” and “authentic” appearance helped K-pop gain traction with Western audiences. Making his solo debut with Golden in 2023, he became the first K-pop soloist with three hit singles in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. Exploring the factors behind her subject’s success, Kim devotes considerable attention to his “innate musicality” and star power while also crediting the close relationship he built with fans through frequent livestreams (which became increasingly popular during the Covid-19 pandemic). The background provided on the K-pop system is lucid and thorough but Kim’s analyses of the artist himself too often lapse into a worshipful tone (“There is an unquantifiable magic at work, an ephemeral charm that belongs to Jungkook alone”). Still, the most committed K-pop fans will find enough here to appreciate. (June)

Reviewed on 05/30/2025 | Details & Permalink

Anonymous food blogger and British Vogue columnist Cheff debuts with a charming behind-the-scenes glimpse at the culinary world. After burning out at her nine-to-five, Cheff took a chance by applying to culinary school, and became hooked on restaurant work after a single shift. As in her columns, Cheff turns a wry eye toward the hazards of life in the kitchen, be they gender-based—including unwanted advances from male coworkers—or purely occupational: after being burned by hot oil and sliced by knives, Cheff quips, “My minor injuries may be ever-growing, but my arse, on the other hand, is looking excellent; twenty thousand steps a day will do that to you.” She also serves up spicy musings on her love life, recalling trysts both good and bad, including one memorable lover who got another woman pregnant while dating Cheff. Lively prose (“I don’t want my oyster to be the size of a little snot rocket; I want it to be a fleshy bulbous pearl swimming in an iridescent sea of salty juice”) and a devilish sense of humor make this a compulsively readable treat. It’s a refreshing forkful of food and sex. Agents: Abigail Koons and Kathryn Toolan, Park, Fine & Brower. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 05/30/2025 | Details & Permalink

Living a longer, more fulfilling life comes down to one’s “internal strength—the ability to grow, connect, adapt, and give,” according to this insightful debut. Burnight, a gerontologist, draws from her own research (and wisdom from her thriving 96-year-old-mother, Betty) to highlight four factors that help older people live better lives: openness to new experiences, strong social bonds, the ability to adapt to aging-related challenges, and a willingness to share one’s time, energy, or skills with others. Doing so can help readers combat fear-based “antiaging messaging” that growing older means a slow and inevitable decline, and reframe the aging process as a chance to capitalize on one’s accumulated knowledge and experience unique benefits (like caring less about others’ opinions). Burnight’s cheery tone and targeted tips for dealing with such issues as health setbacks (avoid comparisons to “your pre-setback self” and concentrate instead on small wins, like walking farther than yesterday) will go a long way in helping readers feel supported, and she remains clear-eyed throughout about the painful realities of changes like the loss of independence and the deaths of spouses and loved ones. The result is a pragmatic resource for those who feel anxious about aging. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 05/30/2025 | Details & Permalink

TikTok’s “Traveling Nanas” Hamby and Hazelip aim in their spirited debut guide to inspire readers to live more adventurously. The pair—who’d met as Christian missionaries and spent their friendship traveling together—decided in 2022 to celebrate their 80th birthdays with an 80-day trip around the world. The trek took them across seven continents and found them jumping off cliffs in Bali, learning to balance on a boat amid 40-foot waves in Antarctica’s “treacherous” Drake Passage, and even running into the FSB in Russia when a man was arrested on their train (“If you don’t hear from us in a few days, assume we’re in a Siberian prison,” they quipped in emails to their kids). They also stitch in touching recollections of how their friendship developed and was strengthened by travel, which they note also opens doors to connecting with strangers at a time of increasing isolation. The authors’ can-do attitude and sprightly prose inspire, even if more off-topic reminiscences, including adulatory asides about their husbands, can feel out of place. Still, this is sure to strike a chord with travelers old and young. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 05/30/2025 | Details & Permalink