Theory & Practice: A Novel by Michelle de Kretser (Catapult). Reviewed by Carr Harkrader. “De Kretser isn’t widely known in the U.S., although her 2007 novel, The Lost Dog, was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. In Australia, her home and the setting for much of her fiction, she’s received national prizes and recognition for her works exploring identity, colonization, the toils and foils of being an artist, and the emotional tethers that hold — and tangle — people together. Theory & Practice expands on some of these themes and does so with an intriguing balance of aesthetic, critical, and psychological skill.”

Where the Bones Lie by Nick Kolakowski (Datura Books). Reviewed by Terry Zobeck. “Kolakowski mixes these standard ingredients into a satisfying blend that keeps the reader turning the pages. Mostly, this is due to the engaging lead characters, the pacing, and some snappy dialogue. Adding to the atmosphere are frequent references to the wildfires that threaten much of Southern California (and that play a major role in the story’s climax). Certainly, Kolakowski didn’t have time to revise the book in the two months prior to its publication to incorporate horrendous recent events, but it sure is timely. Where the Bones Lie ends with an indication that there may be further adventures for Dash Fuller. I certainly hope so.”

Making Sense of Slavery: America’s Long Reckoning, from the Founding Era to Today by Scott Spillman (Basic Books). Reviewed by Hannah Joyner. “Although Making Sense of Slavery lays out the historiography of slavery chronologically, studies from one generation often expanded upon — or explicitly contradicted — the ideas of previous historians. Not surprisingly, both Phillips’ assumptions of Black inferiority and Turner’s decentering of slavery in the American narrative resounded in historical studies for generations to come. But it was Du Bois’ statement that slaves’ lives were full of both profound suffering and hope that sparked one of the most central discussions of late-20th-century historiography. What was it like to live through the violent degradation of slavery? Was it dehumanizing? Or did Black cultural traditions help enslaved people maintain full humanity even in the face of subjugation?”

Rot: An Imperial History of the Irish Famine by Padraic X. Scanlan (Basic Books). Reviewed by Bob Duffy. “And the role of the English in these tragic events? Scanlan exhaustively charts the actions of two successive London governments in responding to the disaster, with both falling woefully short, as history testifies. But make no mistake: The response from London was not entirely callous. Some English administrators and politicians — and even some landlords — made heartfelt attempts to improve the lot of the Irish. But for the most part, the official response was a mix of blindly ineffective measures (including those infamous workhouses) and an underlying prejudice against Paddy’s seemingly inherently lazy and drunken habits and his very un-Protestant propensity for wanton procreation.”

One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad (Knopf). Reviewed by Sarah Trembath. “One Day is not for Zionists or die-hard conservatives who truly believe in the crushing; it is not a call to their consciences. They are already morally honest and can say, ‘At least there’s no contradiction between what I am, what I claim concerns me, and what I plan to do.’ El Akkad’s audience, then, is the liberal, the person who knows better than to tacitly condone mass atrocity but has ‘said nothing’ about all the U.S.-sponsored killing and the obvious propaganda about it.”

Taking Manhattan: The Extraordinary Events That Created New York and Shaped America by Russell Shorto (W.W. Norton & Company). Reviewed by Kitty Kelley. “Within his text, Shorto also instructs readers ‘to cast a cold eye on the mindset of our ancestors,’ particularly on the subject of religious tolerance, which was sorely lacking in the 1600s. He champions Dutch tolerance but chides Peter Stuyvesant, the Dutch director-general who barred Lutherans, Quakers, and Jews from settling in New Netherland, adding that ‘the attitude toward Native Americans and Africans argues pretty decisively against any broad underlying ethos of tolerance.’ Shorto further cautions against applying 21st-century acumen to 17th-century actions. ‘We don’t need to judge people of the past according to our standards so much as we need to recognize patterns and milestones in history.’”

Homestand: Small Town Baseball and the Fight for the Soul of America by Will Bardenwerper (Doubleday). Reviewed by Randy Cepuch. “Intrigued, Bardenwerper spent $99 to buy a Muckdogs 2022 season ticket (less than what one might spend to attend a single MLB game) and more or less moved from Pittsburgh to Batavia for the summer. The result is Homestand, a home run of a book. Like Dan Barry’s wonderful Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption, and Baseball’s Longest Game (featuring another Upstate New York team: the AAA-level Rochester Red Wings, which ran the Muckdogs’ operation from 2008 to 2017), it blends game details with insights into larger stories about struggling communities and a changing world.

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