Devil in the Grove, Gilbert King

 

Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland boys, and the dawn of a new America by Gilbert King

Started: 3/29/2022
Completed: 4/5/2022
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Pulitzer?

Review:

This is a great book, rich in detail.  It is interesting to hear one of the cases that helped define Thurgood Marshall's career.  This particular story is horrible.  That makes sense, because injustice is all about the horrible, but it was interesting to see the environment in which Marshall operated.  The incredible insults in the court room, hanging judges, and a sheriff so corrupt it seems storybook.  While it is hard to imagine a legal adventure story--this is it.

Weapons of Math Destruction

Weapons of Math Destruction:  How big data increases inequality and threatens democracy by Cathy O'Neil.  This book has been on my list for years.

Started: 11/29/2019

Completed: 1/1/2020

Recommendation: Recommended

Recommended By:  Nobody

Review:

The particular examples in this book are not going to age well.  Already, some are out of date--that is the side effect of writing about Information Technology in the Digital Age.  The general concepts, however, are quite solid.  The path forward laid out in the Afterword remains a good path forward even 4 years after the book was written.  Well worth the read.