A well-researched, user-friendly introduction to the importance of affordable housing.
Bertoldi makes the case for the broader social value of affordable housing in this debut nonfiction book.
“To have the American dream come true,” Jeffrey Whiting writes in the book’s foreword, “there must be help along the way.” As co-founders of CREA, a limited liability company that claims to have benefitted around 230,000 people in need of affordable housing, Whiting and Bertoldi have long advocated that housing not only provides a better life for families but is an essential engine of a thriving economy. Seeking to “destigmatize” and “depoliticize” the topic, Bertoldi begins the book with a series of chapters that introduce readers to the current housing crisis’ impact on local and national economies and the basics of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), hoping to “remove the mystery” surrounding a misunderstood industry often greeted by a NIMBY (“Not in My Backyard”) mindset. The book’s middle chapters note the ways in which affordable housing benefits all Americans (including those who have already secured reliable housing) by highlighting its impact on healthcare (“home and health go hand in hand”), business (more than 40% of the consumer price index “is driven by housing costs”), and important ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) standards for increasingly socially conscious corporations. The book concludes with nonpartisan, workable solutions that the author believes policymakers, investors, and voters across ideological lines could support. With an MBA in finance from Boston University and decades of experience with LIHTC, Bertoldi does an admirable job of acquainting neophytes with the basics of the housing industry while also backing his claims with a wealth of data and dozens of footnotes for those who need to see the underlying research. This emphasis on accessibility is further reflected by the book’s concise writing style, which delivers an engaging narrative in less than 130 total pages and is accompanied by an ample assortment of charts, graphs, and other visual aids.
A well-researched, user-friendly introduction to the importance of affordable housing.Pub Date: Jan. 9, 2024
ISBN: 9798887500911
Page Count: 208
Publisher: ForbesBooks
Review Posted Online: Oct. 8, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A short, smart analysis of perhaps the most famous passage in American history reveals its potency and unfulfilled promise.
Words that made a nation.
Isaacson is known for expansive biographies of great thinkers (and Elon Musk), but here he pens a succinct, stimulating commentary on the Founding Fathers’ ode to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” His close reading of the Declaration of Independence’s second sentence, published to mark the 250th anniversary of the document’s adoption, doesn’t downplay its “moral contradiction.” Thomas Jefferson enslaved hundreds of people yet called slavery “a cruel war against human nature” in his first draft of the Declaration. All but 15 of the document’s 56 signers owned enslaved people. While the sentence in question asserted “all men are created equal” and possess “unalienable rights,” the Founders “consciously and intentionally” excluded women, Native Americans, and enslaved people. And yet the sentence is powerful, Isaacson writes, because it names a young nation’s “aspirations.” He mounts a solid defense of what ought to be shared goals, among them economic fairness, “moral compassion,” and a willingness to compromise. “Democracy depends on this,” he writes. Isaacson is excellent when explaining how Enlightenment intellectuals abroad influenced the founders. Benjamin Franklin, one of the Declaration’s “five-person drafting committee,” stayed in David Hume’s home for a month in the early 1770s, “discussing ideas of natural rights” with the Scottish philosopher. Also strong is Isaacson’s discussion of the “edits and tweaks” made to Jefferson’s draft. As recommended by Franklin and others, the changes were substantial, leaving Jefferson “distraught.” Franklin, who emerges as the book’s hero, helped establish municipal services, founded a library, and encouraged religious diversity—the kind of civic-mindedness that we could use more of today, Isaacson reminds us.
A short, smart analysis of perhaps the most famous passage in American history reveals its potency and unfulfilled promise.Pub Date: Nov. 18, 2025
ISBN: 9781982181314
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A familiar format, but a timely reminder that cities are made up of individuals, each with their own stories.
Portraits in a post-pandemic world.
After the Covid-19 lockdowns left New York City’s streets empty, many claimed that the city was “gone forever.” It was those words that inspired Stanton, whose previous collections include Humans of New York (2013), Humans of New York: Stories (2015), and Humans (2020), to return to the well once more for a new love letter to the city’s humanity and diversity. Beautifully laid out in hardcover with crisp, bright images, each portrait of a New Yorker is accompanied by sparse but potent quotes from Stanton’s interviews with his subjects. Early in the book, the author sequences three portraits—a couple laughing, then looking serious, then the woman with tears in her eyes—as they recount the arc of their relationship, transforming each emotional beat of their story into an affecting visual narrative. In another, an unhoused man sits on the street, his husky eating out of his hand. The caption: “I’m a late bloomer.” Though the pandemic isn’t mentioned often, Stanton focuses much of the book on optimistic stories of the post-pandemic era. Among the most notable profiles is Myles Smutney, founder of the Free Store Project, whose story of reclaiming boarded‑up buildings during the lockdowns speaks to the city’s resilience. In reusing the same formula from his previous books, the author confirms his thesis: New York isn’t going anywhere. As he writes in his lyrical prologue, “Just as one might dive among coral reefs to marvel at nature, one can come to New York City to marvel at humanity.” The book’s optimism paints New York as a city where diverse lives converge in moments of beauty, joy, and collective hope.
A familiar format, but a timely reminder that cities are made up of individuals, each with their own stories.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781250277589
Page Count: 480
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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