Park up and prepare for our April book of the month

It’s not exactly a secret that America is addicted to cars. There are more than 4 million miles of road woven across the country, and—depending on your perspective—they either knit it together, or slice it into pieces. 

But did you realize how addicted it is to parking? According to our next book, we actually devote more time and space to storing our cars than we do to driving them. And, it argues, maybe we’d be better off if we saw that for what it is, understood why it was, thought differently about it, and made alternative choices.

That’s the basic thrust of Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains The World by Henry Grabar. I was transfixed by it: it’s our pick of the month for April 2025, and I’m excited to share it with you.

Henry’s a staff writer at Slate who covers urban policy, and the book trembles with the kind of obsessive nerdery you might expect. But it also fills its pages with a cast of memorable characters: wily parking garage owners, obsessive developers wrestling with the system, money-mad politicians and planners who are frankly out of their tree. It was called “wry and revelatory” by the New York Times when it came out in 2023, and made several book-of-the-year lists.

Grabar’s basic proposition is laid out through surprising data, well-told stories and funny scenes. I don’t know that I agree with every argument he puts down in its pages, but as somebody who walks, cycles and buses… and actually enjoys driving, I appreciated the provocations inside. This is a book that’s incisive, serious and a little bit silly, which is a pretty good combination to me.

If you’re a paid-up member of the club, a copy of Paved Paradise is heading your way right now, and I hope you get a lot out of reading it.

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I’m also excited to let you know that you are invited to join us for a live discussion with Henry on Tuesday April 22 at 7pm Eastern/4pm Pacific. We’ll have an interview and an open Q&A, and March’s live chat was great, and I hope we can get stuck into this month’s book with equal gusto.

If you’re not already a card-carrying clubber, then what a great time it is to sign up and get some quality non-fiction to your door every month.