Gonna start a collection of single-tweet reviews of books I've read in quarantine:

City of Quartz: First tried to read this years ago but couldn't get through the first chapter, which is still impenetrable. The book gets much easier after that, and despite its weird, slow structure it is essential reading for people interested in Los Angeles.

Holy Land: Interesting, if somewhat slight. It's structured as a series of a few hundred sections ranging in length from a sentence to a single page. It has a few really beautiful descriptions of suburban life, some interesting history, and can be finished in a day.

Barrel-Aged Stout and Selling Out: Absolute must-read for anyone interested in the beer industry. The writing is wonderful - captivating without being flowery. It's a long book but doesn't feel like it because the structure is so tight. Really great work from @hopnotes.

Cork Dork: Where Barrel-Aged Stout is great for beer geeks, this seems focused on those of us who are not wine people. The focus on the writer usually works, and it's quite a fun read. There is a lot to be learned here without it feeling at all like a textbook.

The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: This was was, sadly, a total mess. It tells some fascinating stories, but the writing is uneven and the editing is truly horrendous. There's about half a good book here that is ruined by the rest. Go watch The Search For General Tso instead.

Extra Virginity: You know in your heart whether or not you're interested in a whole book about olive oil. It's largely about fraud but contains a lot of history; which makes it at times a bit dry. I learned a lot reading it.

The Way We Eat Now: A very well written account of how global food systems have swung from scarcity to over-abundance. I appreciated how the author takes care to emphasize that eating poorly is a societal/economic failure, not a personal one.

Drive-Thru Dreams: A breezy, enjoyable read. More notable for its interesting trivia about fast food history than for its profundity, but it does come to some compelling conclusions about the role of fast food in American life.

City of Dreams: Absolutely fascinating history of how the Dodgers came to LA and what that meant for the city. The book gave me a much better understanding of the clearing of Chavez Ravine and helped me understand Latino support for the team. Thanks @ScavSheriff for the rec.

Stealing Home: Another book about Dodger Stadium, focusing on the family history of the Aréchigas (famously evicted to make way for the stadium) and Frank Wilkinson (the mastermind of the never-built public housing at Chavez Ravine). Beautifully researched and written.

Buttermilk Graffiti: Absolutely gorgeous work from @chefedwardlee. Rather than tackle a broad treatise on immigrant food in America, Lee focuses on small human stories. His personal history informs the stories without taking over. Spectacular, Chef.

Anything That Moves: An examination of contemporary foodie culture is an interesting pitch, but this book lacks any compelling thesis. Add in surprisingly racist treatment of immigrant food and it's hard to recommend, despite solid enough writing and some good stories.

Taco USA: A breezy but informative book about Mexican food in three US. I learned a lot both in terms of broad history and interesting anecdotes.

The Los Angeles Plaza: An extremely thorough history of La Placita. Highly recommended, but be warned that it's academic and pretty slow. It made me crave a tighter book on Olvera Street - especially its modern reclamation by Mexican-American Angelenos.

The Changs Next Door to the Díazes: This is a fascinating study into the racial dynamics of the West SGV, given the fact that the region is overwhelmingly Asian and Latinx. The book is very academic and feels a bit meandering at times.

Orange County: A Personal History -second Gustavo Arellano book and second @dextertheref rec. Half memoir/family history, half intro to Orange County; the memoir sections are stronger, but weaving them with Orange County chapters gives the book a great pace.

Whitewashed Adobe: Wonderfully researched and written history of ways in which Anglos dominated LA from the Mexican-American War to the Depression. Accounts of the Fiesta de Los Angeles and the Mission Play stand out, but the whole thing is extremely compelling.

Consider the Fork: I really like food historian Bee Wilson, but was disappointed by this. The stories are interesting and fairly well-told, but have an incredibly jarring focus on Britain and the US. Pass on this one and read her much better The Way We Eat Now instead.

A People's Guide to Los Angeles: A great introduction to LA's more underground history. It may be a little basic depending on your prior knowledge, but that's no knock against it. Interesting to see how much has changed just in the eight years since it was published.

City of Inmates: A gripping treatise on the history of incarceration in Los Angeles and it's role in Anglo settler colonialism. Wonderfully researched and written and an absolute must-read.

Eternity Street: I learned a lot about LA in the middle of the 19th century from this book about frontier violence, but after 500+ pages it started to get a little exhausting. You can only read about so many lynchings. I'd recommend it, but it could lose a good 100 pages.

Ecology of Fear: As I expect from Mike Davis, the structure is odd but it's still a wonderful read. Makes me want to dive into some LA disaster fiction.

Miracle Mile in Los Angeles: An almost impressively bad work of urban/architectural history. Don't waste your time.

Set the Night on Fire: Not sure what to think of Mike Davis' epic movement history of '60s LA. It's informative - overwhelmingly so - but didn't quite land for me. The stated goal was to tie together the various movements of the decade, and I don't think it always delivered.