Color of Law

All my life I had just assumed that the racial segregation we see in inner city communities was a "natural" occurrence. What a naive schmuck I was. The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America has opened my eyes to how it was mostly government policy that has created what we now call ghettos/slums etc.

Nothing To Envy

What a book! Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea is a fantastic work that allows the reader to understand life in North Korea to the extent that it's possible.

The Sympathizer

I am a huge fan of Viet Thanh Nguyen's book The Sympathizer: A Novel (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction).

Leonardo Da Vinci

I've never really understood the fine arts:

What does the subject's smile convey?
What do the background plants represent?

I've never been able to answer questions like these, and have often wondered if the whole industry isn't made of the same squishy, stinky stuff that drives the wine-tasting industry). But after reading Isaacson's biography of Leonardo da Vinci, I now realize that doesn't mean I can't have an appreciation for a true artist.