An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook’s Battle for Domination
by Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang

I’m no longer on Facebook, but I can’t deny that what happens on the inside of Facebook is a subject of daily intrigue. And nobody is better equipped to tell that story than Sheera (former BuzzFeed News colleague) and Cecilia (former Washington Post colleague), both of whose reporting I deeply admire. Every review I’ve seen tells me this is one of the must-read books this year.

The Cruelty Is the Point: The Past, Present, and Future of Trump’s America
by Adam Serwer

Adam’s essays in the Atlantic during the Trump years were instrumental in my understanding of what felt like a perilous time in America and, as a consequence, around the world. As someone now committed to the idea of calling America home, I am looking forward to learning the history of America’s cruelty and what it will mean for my and our future.

Mango and Peppercorns: A Memoir of Food, an Unlikely Family, and the American Dream
by Katherine Manning, Lyn Nguyen, and Tung Nguyen

One of the things that happened to me during the pandemic is that I ran out of ideas for meals to prepare. Deconstructing dinners by looking at chefs on Instagram was getting boring (and kind of expensive). So I started looking for cookbooks and fell in love with some great ones on Southeast Asian cuisine, including this one, which does a stellar job combining personal story with recipes and explains how acceptance of each other’s differences led to a memorable friendship and one of the most celebrated restaurants in the country.

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