Prairie Fox Reads

Academic Review:   The Band of Moonlit Waters   by Brad Bussie Rating:   ★★★½☆ (3.5 out of 5 stars) Disclaimer:   I was provided a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review purposes. This provision has in no way affected the objectivity, analysis, or content of this review. Part I: Publication and Context Bibliographic Details Title:   The Band of Moonlit Waters Author:   Brad Bussie Publication Date:   April 25, 2021 Publisher:   Brad Bussie Books Format:   Paperback (301 pages) ISBN / ASIN:   9798985465402 / B09SXJVYDC Genre:   Science Fiction / Epic Fantasy / Action-Adventure Publication Context and Comparative Lens Published in the spring of 2021,   The Band of Moonlit Waters   emerges in a cultural moment intensely preoccupied with existential threats, systemic collapse, and the fragility of human continuity. By utilizing the “last surviving colony ship” trope, Bussie taps into contemporary anxieti...

  Compassion, Consequences, and the City: A Review of San Fransicko A city reveals its values not only through the help it offers people in crisis, but also through what it is willing to leave them enduring in public. A tent beneath an overpass, a person unconscious on a sidewalk, an open-air drug market, or a family priced out of its neighborhood can each be interpreted as evidence of institutional failure. The disagreement begins when we try to identify which institution failed, why it failed, and what should happen next. Michael Shellenberger enters that disagreement with San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities , a forceful examination of homelessness, addiction, untreated mental illness, and public disorder in San Francisco and other West Coast cities. Published in 2021, the book argues that these crises cannot be explained principally by inadequate housing or insufficient social spending. Instead, Shellenberger attributes much of the deterioration to a progressive ideology...

  Book Review:   Plagues Upon the Earth: Disease and the Course of Human History By Kyle Harper Estimated Rating:   ★★★★☆ (4.20 out of 5 stars) Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts, critiques, and analyses presented below are entirely my own. Publication and Context Title:   Plagues Upon the Earth: Disease and the Course of Human History Author:   Kyle Harper Series:   The Princeton Economic History of the Western World (#85) First Published:   October 12, 2021 Publisher:   Princeton University Press Page Count:   688 pages Format:   Kindle Edition (ASIN: B094DX4ZFP / ISBN: 9780691224725) Genres:   History / Science / Nonfiction / Medicine / Biology Awards:   PROSE Award for History of Science Medicine and Technology (2022) Contextual Backdrop: Published in late 2021,   Plagues Upon the Earth   arrived at a moment when the global population was intimately, pain...