PAYETTE People have been busy reading. Below is a roundup of the non-fiction books we are enjoying, followed by a list of our favorite local bookstores where you can find these great books! And in case you missed it, be sure to check out Part 1: Fiction!
Our Own Worst Enemy: the Assault From Within on Modern Democracy by Tom Nichols – A contrarian yet highly engaging account of the spread of illiberal and anti-democratic sentiment throughout our culture that places responsibility on the citizens themselves.
Someone’s Daughter; a Memoir by Ashley Ford – This book steps into the world of growing up a poor Black girl in Indiana with a family fragmented by incarceration, exploring how isolating and complex such a childhood can be.
The Last Stargazers: the Enduring Story of Astronomy’s Vanishing Explorers by Emily Levesque – The author takes readers inside the most powerful telescopes in the world and introduces them to the people who run them. She also explores the future of one of the most ancient and inspiring scientific disciplines as we gain the ability to see farther beyond our planet than ever before while relying increasingly on code and computers to study the stars.
The Sixth Extinction: an Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert – A major book about the future of the world, blending intellectual and natural history and field reporting into a powerful account of the mass extinction unfolding before our eyes.
The Drunken Botanist: the Plants that Create the World’s Great Drinks by Amy Stuart – This book explores the dizzying array of herbs, flowers, trees, fruits, and fungi that humans have, through ingenuity, inspiration, and sheer desperation, contrived to transform into alcohol.
The Great Bridge: the Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge by David McCullough – The dramatic and enthralling story of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, the world’s longest suspension bridge at the time, a tale of greed, corruption, and obstruction but also of optimism, heroism, and determination.
How to Speak Machine: Computational Thinking for the Rest of Us by John Maeda – The author offers a set of simple laws that govern not only the computers of today, but the unimaginable machines of the future.
The Design of Everyday Things by Donald A. Norman – This all-inclusive reference on the cognitive aspects of design contains examples of both good and bad design and simple rules that designers can use to improve the usability of objects as diverse as cars, computers, doors, and telephones.
Crying in H Mart: a Memoir by Michelle Zauner – An unflinching, powerful memoir about growing up Korean American, losing her mother, and forging her own identity.
Caste: the Origins of Our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson – Books An eye opening story of people and history, and a reexamination of what lies under the surface of ordinary lives and of American life today.
PAYETTE People’s Favorite Local Bookstores
The Book Rack, Arlington MA
Frugal Bookstore, Roxbury MA
Papercuts, Boston, MA
Porter Square Books, Somerville MA
Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, MA
Trident Booksellers, Boston, MA
Harvard Bookstore, Cambridge MA
Whitelam Books, Reading MA
Books on the Square, Providence RI
The 2025 OpenLAB Boston studio work will be exhibited at Virginia Tech Monday, March 2nd through Wednesday, March 4th.
Please join us for the following events on Monday, March 2nd:
11:00am - Lecture with Parke MacDowell
1:00pm Lobby talk with Kevin Sullivan
This year’s studio identifies seven sites along the frayed edges of Boston’s Greenway. The Greenway is a one-mile-long linear park running through the heart of the city, reconnecting downtown Boston with its waterfront. Many of the parcels along its edges remain undeveloped and present mute, blank facades to the public realm. Addressing and repairing these edges through acts of infilling, layering, grafting, framing, and placemaking is the core focus of the studio—SUTURE.