All the Beauty in the World by Patrick Brinkley

Reviewed by Jonas Amir Smith

“Patrick Bringley’s All the Beauty in the World feels like getting a backstage pass to one of the coolest and most famous museums in the world, The Met.

Bringley leaves his, what some might call comfortable or cushy, job at The New Yorker to become a regular old guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art after his brother’s death.

Bringley shares a super personal and genuine look into his life among the art. Throughtout the book I realized how it’s so much more that guarding paintings, or making sure people don’t take photos / touch the artwork. It’s about finding a new way to cope with loss and discovering unexpected beauty in the day-to-day, and while it might not work for everybody, you see first hand how it works for him.

Through Bringley’s eyes, you get to experience the quiet magic of the Met. From the grandeur of the ancient sculptures to the secret corners most visitors miss, his stories are like snaphots of moments that make you think and feel, whether he is describing what seems to be a simple and slow day of watching over a gallery, or the constant reflection on how art connects us all.

The book blends the richness of this colorful world with deep, relatable life lessons. I think the reason why I connected with this book a lot is because it tells the story that many of us have felt where we have wandered through a museum and felt a kind of peaceful awe. It is a heartfelt tribute to finding peace, comfort and inspiration in the most unexpected places.”

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Crooked Plow by Itamar Vieira Junior

Brilliantly and thoughtfully reviewed by our very own Catalina. It is clear that the book made a lasting impression.

Happy Reading!

“In Crooked Plow, Itamar Vieira Junior delivers a powerful narrative that intertwines the wisdom of farmers deeply connected to their land with a stark portrayal of ongoing structural violence and injustice.

Set in rural Brazil, the story follows a community of tenant farmers whose lives are shaped by exploitation and the remnants of slavery under new guises.

Vieira Junior’s prose is evocative, capturing the essence of survival amidst a hostile landscape plagued by drought and violence. We witness the resilience and indignation of a community tethered to the land yet yearning for freedom and justice.

Over generations, the workers’ consciousness and desire for freedom grow, shaping new relations within the community and creating new conflicts between owners and tenants.

The author skillfully navigates themes of labor, ownership, and the enduring legacy of oppression. It reminds us that some injustices ‘travel across time.’

All in all, the storytelling in this book gripped me so intensely I couldn’t put it down. I was captivated by the author’s exploration of human resilience and the intricate dynamics of justice, vividly portraying life under the oppressive yoke of exploitative landowners.

Beyond its literary brilliance, this book is a powerful catalyst for reflection on crucial contemporary issues: justice, power dynamics, and the essence of true freedom.”

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Goodbye, Eastern Europe by Jacob Mikanowski

Wonderfully reviewed by our own Catalina ⭐️

“Goodbye, Eastern Europe is a journey into a region often overlooked in historical narratives. While much of our understanding of Eastern Europe is confined to the tumultuous events of the 20th century and the collapse of empires, Mikanowski skillfully unveils the rich tapestry of its pre-modern history, a region of ‘maximum diversity in minimum space’.

Drawing from new archaeological discoveries and historical records, the author reveals a region that was once a melting pot of cultures and faiths, attracting misfits and heretics expelled from Western Europe or driven West by the eastern Hordes. Prior to the influence of nationalism, communities of different backgrounds coexisted side by side, albeit not without challenges.The two World Wars were catastrophic on the Eastern Front, not only in terms of casualties but also in terms of deteriorating any possibility of coexistence in diversity, whether linguistic or religious.

Mikanowski invites us to reflect on the “ramshackle utopia” of coexistence, suggesting it offers hope for the future. By intertwining history and personal experience, the book challenges misconceptions about Eastern Europe, urging us to remember its promise amid the tragedy of its demise.”

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Book of the Week - Percy Jackson and the Olympians – The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Some books continue to enthrall kids through their teens and into early adulthood, AND as new ‘crops’ of readers come up they gravitate to some of the same exciting stories. One such adventure is Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series.

So we are thrilled to have Dani, our student helper, write this delightful review.

Happy Reading!

‘I came to the Percy Jackson fandom late but like many Percy Jackson fans, I was excited when they announced they would be making a new adaptation, a show. So, when the episodes started coming out I decided to reread the first book.

Percy Jackson is your average 12-year-old boy. Yeah, he’s what you’d call a troubled kid and he has ADHD and dyslexia. But still just a kid, right? Well, not really.

When things go south with his math teacher, Mrs. Dodds, things take a drastic turn. Suddenly his life is flipped upside down and he has to come to terms with the fact that he is a half-blood. Another word for demigod, a person who is half human and half god. That’s right. The Greek gods are real and one of them is his dad.

Not only that, he also has to deal with being accused of stealing the most powerful weapon in existence—Zeus’ masterbolt.

I loved this book the first time I read it a couple of years ago and I still love it. It is a middle-grade book but it was still more than enjoyable for me to read. I’m 21.

There are deeper topics which an older reader can really appreciate and the humor really shines through. There were moments when I actually laughed out loud.

When it comes to my rating I’ve decided to give it four out of five stars simply because there were a few changes in the show that I actually preferred over what happened in the book. Otherwise, I really love this book and will gladly reread it many more times.’

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