Category Archives: Non-Fiction

May 14, 2023 · 10:36 am

You Can’t Touch My Hair by Phoebe Robinson

You Can’t Touch My Hair by Phoebe Robinson

Phoebe Robinson is hilarious. While she is very funny in her essays in You Can’t Touch My Hair, she is also very real. She doesn’t shy away from difficult topics (racism, vaginas, and so much more). She gets her point across with humor but also honesty that will have Black women nodding their heads and white women sometimes nodding and sometimes checking themselves. I very highly recommend this book to all women.

5 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2023: 56
Pages Read in 2023: 17,896

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May 12, 2023 · 9:49 am

Untold Stories of Nurses: The COVID-19 Pandemic by Kate Kalagher

Untold Stories of Nurses: The COVID-19 Pandemic by Kate Kalagher

The stories in this book and the way they are told are excellent. I really enjoyed them and wish there had been more (it’s a very short book). I really liked that they came from all over the world. The problem with the book is that is desperately needs an editor. There were so many times the wrong word was used (elicit instead of illicit for example), or the wrong ending was used (-ing when it should have been -ed or no ending at all), words that were missing completely, or words written twice in a row accidentally, along with a few typos. The most annoying thing, though, was instead of putting quotations in quotes they were in italics. That drove me completely crazy. This book would’ve been a solid 4 stars without all those editing issues. I do wish the author had been more consistent in adding short updates to the ends of the nurses’ stories and also that there had been at least a few paragraphs at the end to complete/sum up the book rather than just ending at the end of a story. If you don’t mind reading a poorly edited book, the stories really are good and any nurse would appreciate them.

2 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2023: 55
Pages Read in 2023: 17,655

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Filed under Non-Fiction, Reason: Asked by the Author, Reason: B&N Book Challenge, Reason: Flourish & Blotts Reading Challenge

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April 26, 2023 · 12:33 pm

Poverty, By America by Matthew Desmond

Poverty, By America by Matthew Desmond

In Poverty, By America Matthew Desmond explains in easy to understand language how so many of America’s policies keep people in poverty, how and why money earmarked for the poor doesn’t reach them, and why having so many living in poverty is a problem for all of us. He gives some ideas on how to work toward the goal of abolishing poverty which is very motivating, though there are so many changes that need to be made and so many ways to go about it that it is kind of paralyzing as well. Fully half of the book is notes and index. The research that went into writing it is impressive. I very highly recommend this book to every American in their late teens and up.

4 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2023: 48
Pages Read in 2023: 15,883

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April 19, 2023 · 8:18 pm

Quackery by Lydia Kang and Nate Pedersen

Quackery by Lydia Kang and Nate Pedersen

The humor and sarcasm surrounding all the facts in Quackery is what makes it such an enjoyable book. A couple of the later chapters were mostly missing that humor and I found that part rather dreadful to read. The humor came back before the end of the book, though. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys learning about the history of medicine.

4 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2023: 45
Pages Read in 2023: 15,011

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March 20, 2023 · 7:37 pm

Blood, Bullets, and Bones by Bridget Heos

Blood, Bullets, and Bones by Bridget Heos

Blood, Bullets, and Bones is a fascinating trek through the history of forensic science. So many cases are described to show how forensic science was used to prove someone’s guilt or innocence including discussion of incorrect convictions and the limitations of various methods. The writing is incredibly engaging and had my 14 and 16 year olds and myself all absolutely enthralled. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in true crime and how crimes are solved.

5 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2023: 36
Pages Read in 2023: 11,757

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Filed under Non-Fiction, Reason: Bedtime Story for the Boys, Reason: Flourish & Blotts Reading Challenge, Reason: Literati

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February 20, 2023 · 9:51 pm

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

Just Mercy is a must read. The work Bryan Stevenson has done getting innocent people out of jail and getting sentencing guidelines for juveniles changed is so important. The book follows the complete story of a Black man falsely accused of killing a white woman, a case with so many holes in the prosecution it’s shocking he was sentenced to death row. Other stories of innocent people as well as those given sentences that were way too harsh for the crime committed are also told along with facts and information about incarceration in America. Stevenson is an amazing writer. The subject matter could easily have been dry and boring, but he makes the stories come to life in a way that makes you want to keep reading because you are totally invested. We have a long way to go in this country to get to a fair prison system, but people like Bryan Stevenson are working hard to get us there. I very highly recommend this book to late teens and up.

5 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2023: 27
Pages Read in 2023: 8184

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December 9, 2022 · 7:25 am

1789: Twelve Authors Explore a Year of Rebellion, Revolution, & Change

1789: Twelve Authors Explore a Year of Rebellion, Revolution, & Change

1789 covers a diverse number of topics with the unifying theme of it mainly happening in the year of 1789. Each essay was relatively short (10-12 pages usually). Everything was very western focused (Europe/USA) so it’s not a worldwide snapshot of the year. I found each one fascinating and sometimes found myself wondering just why when told to write an essay about 1789 the author chose that particular topic. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves history.

5 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2022: 108
Pages Read in 2022: 37,902
Graphic Novels: 3

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Filed under History, Non-Fiction, Reason: Grim Readers, Reason: Literati

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November 1, 2022 · 8:20 am

Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy by Karen Abbott

Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy by Karen Abbott

Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy is impeccably researched. The notes, bibliography, and index are massive (making up more than the last third of the book). At times it reads like a historical fiction novel even though only actual quotes are used, but other times it reads like a textbook. The author skips around between the four woman profiled, Emma Thompson, Rose Greenhow, Elizabeth Van Lew, and Belle Boyd, and sometimes it is hard to remember which is which and what was happening to them the last time they were discussed. I recommend this book to adults interested in the Civil War.

3 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2022: 97
Pages Read in 2022: 34,367
Graphic Novels: 3

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October 1, 2022 · 7:56 am

Tales of the Revolution by Seth Godin

Tales of the Revolution by Seth Godin

First of all, Tales of the Revolution isn’t by Seth Godin. He didn’t write any of it, or even edit it. Instead, he just copy and pasted people’s entries, complete with typos. There were a lot of typos. Very few of the entries made sense. They were full of buzzwords and lacked any substance or even explanation of what the people were actually doing to “poke the box” (for that matter I wouldn’t classify most of them as poking the box at all). I found it interesting that in the eleven years since these “amazing” and “revolutionary” ideas were submitted only a few are still in existence. A few, like Teachers Pay Teachers, are still thriving. Some of the submissions were nothing more than living life and doing what many other people do (such as the one who reviews books she reads). At least the book was short. I didn’t find it inspiring or even very interesting. But there was a lot of Seth Godin love in the entries so I guess he did. I don’t recommend this book.

2 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2022: 87
Pages Read in 2022: 30,774
Graphic Novels: 2

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September 11, 2022 · 5:17 pm

Eat the Rich by PJ O’Rourke

Eat the Rich by PJ O’Rourke

Some parts of Eat the Rich are amusing. Some parts are educational. And some parts are just plain ridiculous and not good satire at all. Pretty much every chapter just went on way too long like the author didn’t quite know how to finish it out. I did find a comment about capitalism increasing violence and hopefully that violence would be aimed at Donald Trump to be funny mainly because the book was published way back in 1998. At the end he tried to make an argument that wealth distribution violates the tenth commandment (because it’s obviously due to people coveting the rich peoples’ money). He also made a weird argument for evading taxes not being so bad since that money just goes into the economy instead of to the government. I don’t recommend this book unless you just want to see what certain countries were like to visit in the late 90s and what their economies were like at the time.

2 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2022: 79
Pages Read in 2022: 28,500
Graphic Novels: 1

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