Rebecca Solnit’s new collection of essays will inspire, wreck, and revitalize you. From satirical takes on Donald Trump (the stuff that has to be laughed at, or you’d cry) to somber pieces on the consequences of gentrification, police shootings, and wrongful convictions, there is an essay in Call Them By Their True Names (Haymarket, $15.95) for everyone and every mood. Instead of coming away with unadulterated rage and a sense of injustice, you genuinely think, what I do matters—and I have to do more. Notable essays include “Preaching to the Choir,” “Monument Wars,” and “In Praise of Indirect Consequences,” as they encourage us to not despair—which you can find yourself doing just by reading the news—but to appreciate the small gains for the foundation they could someday be. Find comfort in Solnit’s words, and let them rouse you to care and to action.
