A round-up from the reviews this weekend, of books that appeal.

I have a review copy of Will Hutton’s [amazon_link id=”1408705311″ target=”_blank” ]How Good Can We Be?[/amazon_link] It came with firm instructions not to break the 12 Feb embargo, but it was reviewed in the FT this weekend, so I’ll read & review it soon. Also in the FT were reviews of the fabulous-sounding [amazon_link id=”0674047036″ target=”_blank” ]Stuff and Money in the Time of the French Revolution[/amazon_link] by Rebecca Spang and also [amazon_link id=”0385529988″ target=”_blank” ]Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America[/amazon_link] by Jill Leovy.

[amazon_image id=”1408705311″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]How Good We Can Be: Ending the Mercenary Society and Building a Great Country[/amazon_image]  [amazon_image id=”0674047036″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Stuff and Money in the Time of the French Revolution[/amazon_image]  [amazon_image id=”0385529988″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America[/amazon_image]

On which subject, the new (to the UK) book by Bryan Stevenson, [amazon_link id=”1922247855″ target=”_blank” ]Just Mercy[/amazon_link], sounds from the profile of Stevenson in The Observer to be essential. There is an extract here. My eyes were first opened to this issue by a long Adam Gopnik essay in the New Yorker in 2012. But even that clear-eyed view underplays the racism of the American police and ‘justice’ system.

[amazon_image id=”B00PBVBL8S” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Just Mercy: a story of justice and redemption[/amazon_image]

There have been a few reviews now – including this by John Naughton – of Andrew Keen’s [amazon_link id=”B00Q1UFD3M” target=”_blank” ]The Internet Is Not the Answer[/amazon_link], and I mustn’t let reading those be an excuse for not reading the book.

[amazon_image id=”B00Q1UFD3M” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]The Internet is Not the Answer[/amazon_image]

I’ve just ordered for my wannabe graphic artist son [amazon_link id=”1596435739″ target=”_blank” ]The Sculptor[/amazon_link] by Scott McCloud.

[amazon_image id=”1596435739″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]The Sculptor[/amazon_image]