We're truly into the thaw here in Boston, and the visible, sparkling water made a great backdrop this weekend while I listened to books for my #AcademicRunPlaylist!

First was "The Science of Sleep" by Wallace Mendelson. While I read this cover to cover, it's better to view this as a reference book. Each chapter reviews different aspects of sleep, then running through facts about those aspects mechanically with little connection between the sections. There are better books on sleep out there, but I could imagine if you want a scientifically-inclined practical reference this book would fit the bill https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo27346926.html

Next was "Hawaiian Blood" by J. Kēhaulani Kauanui. This book is an incredible dive into the history of sovereignty, land ownership, and what it means to be an indigenous Hawaiian. Kauanui examines these issues from multiple angles, looking at the historic evolution of the archipelago, legal machinations in Hawaii and the US, and indigenous movements and perspectives. It concludes with a scratching indictment of US jurisprudence in this space, as well as laying out the choices before Hawaiians. Highly recommend https://www.dukeupress.edu/hawaiian-blood

Next was "Our Dollar, Your Problem" by Kenneth Rogoff. This is an essential dive into the nature of US dollar dominance and global currency flows more broadly. Rogoff provides extremely insightful analysis of both the history of global reserve currencies and the causes and implications for nations that gain that title. Highly recommend https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300275315/our-dollar-your-problem/

Last was "This Time is Different" by Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff. While this book was written too soon after the 2007 financial crisis to appropriately dig into its causes and effects, it is a great research-backed examination of the nature of modern financial market collapses. The focus here is at the country level, which obviously has limitations given the small number of countries and their radically different nature - that the authors ignore colonialism's impact on default is particularly egregious - but the authors should be credited for casting a wide analytical net and looking for similarities across developing and developed countries. This book is a bit technical but should provide enough background for folks without macroeconomic background, and that rigor pays off in deeper understanding of the various mechanisms at play. Highly recommend https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691152646/this-time-is-different