Spark Book Reviews

Book Reviews

Book Reviews by the Portage District Library staff

This Time Tomorrow

Emma Straub

This Time Tomorrow is a thoughtful and sensitive story about connection, especially between a father and daughter. On the morning of her 40th birthday, Alice wakes up in her childhood home to fi nd that it’s her 16th birthday. She gets to relive this special day and spend time with her dad, young and spry again, but can she change the course of their future? Can she prevent his body from shutting down in 24 years? This Time Tomorrow explores the relationship between father and daughter and the butterfl y effect of our actions. It’s gentle and sweet, even with its sadder themes.

The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing and the Future of the Human Race

Walter Isaacson

In his new offering, Isaacson tells the story of the discovery and development of CRISPR gene-editing technology from the vantage of Jennifer Doudna, the UC Berkeley biochemist. Doudna shared the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with French researcher Emmanuelle Charpentier for their work on the structure and function of this molecular system. But Isaacson also pays tribute to the many others who, in their own way, contributed to the understanding and development of gene editing. He doesn’t stop there. Isaacson also discusses a host of unresolved moral and ethical issues that Doudna’s scientifi c work has raised. The Code Breaker is highly accessible to non-scientists. As with artifi cial intelligence, facial recognition, and other digital technologies, the public should draw ethical lines. That’s the best way to ensure that the world maximizes the potential for these remarkable innovations to improve the human condition.

Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution

R. F. Kuang

This historical fantasy follows Robin Swift. Robin enrolls in Oxford University’s Babel, the Royal Institute of Translation, to train in multiple languages and silver working, a form of magic that uses silver bars to translate lost meanings. While taking classes and being recruited into the secret Hermes Society, Robin starts to question loyalty, British imperialism, identity, and the necessity of violence in revolution. Known for The Poppy War Trilogy, R. F. Kuang’s epic stand-alone Babel is genuine in its prose, character, and careful plotting; Robin’s coming-of-age will satisfy typical fantasy readers and political theorists alike.