Category Archives: Non-fiction

Sure, I’ll Be Your Black Friend: Notes from the Other Side of the Fist Bump by Ben Phillippe  

29 Monday Nov 2021

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I loved Phillippe’s memoir and description of growing up in Canada and eventually moving the to US.  Biting humor and moving.

“Flat-out funny…This is a great next-book for fans of What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker and We Are Never Meeting in Real Life, but if a reader hasn’t turned to either of those yet, Philippe’s disarming, illuminating, and hilarious chronicle is a great place to start.” — Booklist

“I still mute Ben’s texts, but I inhaled his hilarious book, which is so full of razor-sharp wit and punches to the gut that it almost made me sick. In a good way!” — Samantha Irby, New York Times bestselling author of Wow, No Thank You

“Philippe has created a funny, and at times harrowing, memoir of his experience as a Black man. Fans of similar memoirs, such as Damon Young’s What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker, will enjoy the irreverence and recognize themselves in these pages.” — Library Journal

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Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest by Suzanne Simard 

08 Monday Nov 2021

Posted by in 20th century, Biography, nature, Non-fiction

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“Simard writes of her own life, born and raised into a logging world in the rainforests of British Columbia, of her days as a child spent cataloging the trees from the forest and how she came to love and respect them—embarking on a journey of discovery, and struggle. She’s been compared to Rachel Carson, hailed as a scientist who conveys complex, technical ideas in a way that is dazzling and profound. Her TED talks have been viewed by more than 10 million people worldwide.” (Amazon)

“Galvanizing . . . As Simard elucidates her revolutionary experiments, replete with
gorgeous descriptions and moments of fear and wonder, a vision of the forest as an ‘intelligent, perceptive and responsive,’ comes into focus . . . A masterwork of planetary significance.” —Booklist (starred review)
 
“Simard artfully blends science with memoir in her eye-opening debut on the ‘startling secrets’ of trees . . As moving as it is educational, this groundbreaking work entrances.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Simard has spent decades with her hands in the soil, designing experiments and piecing together the remarkable mysteries of forest ecology . . . elegantly detailed . . . deeply personal . . . A testament to Simard’s skill as a science communicator. Her research is clearly defined, the steps of her experiments articulated, her astonishing results explained and the implications laid bare: We ignore the complexity of forests at our peril.”—The New York Times

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A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa

30 Saturday Oct 2021

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A contemporary Irish woman sets out to learn more about Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill, an 18th century female Irish poet, and her famous lament for her husband. In her reading and travels around Ireland, she finds connections between her own life as a poet and mother to this woman born hundreds of years earlier. This is an unusual book, and I loved the beautiful writing and pieces of Irish poetry and history.

“A powerful, bewitching blend of memoir and literary investigation … Ní Ghríofa is deeply attuned to the gaps, silences and mysteries in women’s lives, and the book reveals, perhaps above all else, how we absorb what we love―a child, a lover, a poem―and how it changes us from the inside out.”―Nina Maclaughlin, New York Times

 “A Ghost in the Throat moves between past and present with hallucinogenic intensity as the narrator uncovers the details of the dead woman’s life, each revelation deepening her own sense of herself as a writer and a woman and creating in the process a brave and beautiful work of art.”―Republic of Consciousness Prize

“A fascinating hybrid work in which the voices of two Irish female poets ring out across centuries. ‘When we first met, I was a child, and she had been dead for centuries,’ writes Ní Ghríofa in her first work of prose―and what a debut it is. Earning well-deserved accolades abroad, the book merges memoir, history, biography, autofiction, and literary analysis… Lyrical prose passages and moving introspection abound in this unique and beautiful book.”―Kirkus (starred review)

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Tangled Up in Blue: Policing the American City by Rosa Brooks

05 Tuesday Oct 2021

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Rosa Brooks is a law professor at Georgetown University and founder of Georgetown’s Innovative Policing Program. From 2016 to 2020, she served as a reserve police officer with the Washington, DC, Metropolitan Police Department. This is a fascinating glimpse of what modern policing (and training) is like from the point of view of a liberal feminist

“Brooks has an anthropologist’s ear for the language of policing, jumping from the reports full of passive-voice bureaucratese to the darkly humorous, profanity-laden shoptalk. She zips from hilarious descriptions . . . to bone-dry observations. . . . [Brooks’s] style recalls the work of immersion journalists like George Plimpton, Ted Conover and Barbara Ehrenreich—who happens to be Brooks’s mother. Brooks makes this part of the story, nesting in a book on policing a beautifully written mini-memoir about growing up the daughter of a famous activist and writer, who disdains the police but also values a certain toughness.” —New York Times Book Review

“Delivers a nuanced and revealing chronicle of her experiences training to be a reserve police officer in Washington, D.C. . . . [Brooks] vividly sketches her patrol partners and the D.C. residents they encounter, and highlights problems caused by mass incarceration, racial discrimination, and lawmakers turning ‘trivial forms of misbehavior’ into jailable offenses. . . . This immersive, illuminating, and timely account takes a meaningful step toward bridging the gap between what American society asks of police and what they’re trained to deliver.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

 “A thoughtful book that offers abundant material to rile up—and edify—Blue Lives Matter and Defund the Police advocates alike.” —Kirkus

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I Miss You When I Blink: Essays by Mary Laura Philpott

10 Friday Sep 2021

Posted by in 20th century, anecdotes, Biography, Humor, Non-fiction

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“Mary Laura Philpott is relentlessly funny, self-effacing and charming as she tells the story of living as a triple-A-plus perfectionist. Everything in her life is done on time and exactly right, until, of course, it all starts to fall apart. In her willingness to tell her own story, she taps into a universal truth for so many women: We plan to do it all until we find we can’t do anything anymore. I Miss You When I Blink made me laugh, it made me cry. I miss it already.”  — Ann Patchett, author of This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage and Commonwealth

“At once a love letter to type-A people everywhere and a gentle reminder that it’s okay (necessary, even) to change, this full-hearted book is a warm embrace of a life lived imperfectly.” ― Esquire

“Mary Laura Philpott is the friend you call when you want to cry but need to laugh. What a treat to spend time with her distinctive voice as she plumbs life’s quotidian moments to unearth deeper, universal truths. Wry, intelligent, and searingly honest, this book is a joy.”  — Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, author of The Nest

“Mary Laura Philpott is a writer, artist, and creator of singular spark and delight. I adore her, and I love her work. Thank God she has finally written a memoir! By offering these dispatches from her own life experience, she leaves us thinking about ourselves—where we’ve been, where we’re going, and who we really want to be.” — Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love and Big Magic

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Why Peacocks?: An Unlikely Search for Meaning in the World’s Most Magnificent Bird by Sean Flynn

28 Wednesday Jul 2021

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What a sparkler of a book!  This book is a memoir about a family of 2 journalist parents, their 2 sons, their move from city life to North Carolina suburbs and their accidental pet choices.   It is woven with wit and wonder, reflecting on the mysterious allure of peacocks. I enjoyed every minute reading this book.

“[Flynn’s] writing is often witty, sometimes glorious, and his tales wry and charming…Something magical happens to this hard-bitten reporter as he gets to know his peacocks…a fine starting point to finding meaning in a world both cruel and beautiful.” –Sy Montgomery for the New York Times Book Review

“Wry and moving.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A truly wise and tender sparkler of a book. Weaving memoir, history, reportage, and mythology, Sean Flynn tells not just a quirky story about iridescent birds but a more profound one about family and parenthood, the innocence of childhood and our own mortality. I read it in one gulp, moved and humored and carried away by Flynn’s heart and artistry as a master storyteller.” —Michael Paterniti, author of the New York Times bestseller The Telling Room: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge and the World’s Greatest Piece of Cheese

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My Broken Language: a Memoir by Quiara Alegría Hudes

07 Wednesday Jul 2021

Posted by in 20th century, Biography, Non-fiction, United States

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Lin-Manual Miranda (creator of Hamilton) wrote the music and lyrics for the musical In the Heights, soon to be released as a movie June, 2021.  This is the fabulous book that inspired Miranda. The author’s energized use of English, Spanglish, Spanish and music colors a rich world journey from the North Philly Heights to Yale.  I loved the whole experience of reading each page of this book.

“Quiara Alegría Hudes is a bona fide storyteller about the people she loves—especially the women in her family who cook, talk, light candles, and conjure the spirits. Enormously empathetic and funny, My Broken Language is rich with unflinching observations that bring us in close, close, without cloaking the details. The language throughout is gorgeous and so moving. I love this book.”—Angie Cruz, author of Dominicana

“Every line of this book is poetry. From North Philly to all of us, Hudes showers us with aché, teaching us what it looks like to find languages of survival in a country with a ‘panoply of invisibilities.’ Hudes paints unforgettable moments on every page for mothers and daughters and all spiritually curious and existential human beings. This story is about Latinas. But it is also about all of us.”—Maria Hinojosa, Emmy Award–winning journalist and author of Once I Was You: A Memoir of Love and Hate in a Torn America

“Joyful, righteous, indignant, self-assured, exuberant: These are all words that could describe Quiara Alegría Hudes’s My Broken Language. The celebrated playwright calls her language broken, but in this extraordinary memoir she actually remakes language so that it speaks to her world. . . . Hudes’s first name is an invented endearment, a form of the verb querer, which means “to love.” . . . There may be no better compliment to the author of this marvelous, one-of-a-kind memoir than to say she truly lives up to her name. With My Broken Language, she has invented a language of love and to-the-bone happiness to tell stories only a Perez woman could share.”—BookPage (starred review)

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What We Carry: a Memoir by Maya Shanbhag Lang

05 Friday Mar 2021

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If our family stories shape us, what happens when we learn those stories were never true? Who do we become when we shed our illusions about the past? (Amazon)

“A gorgeous memoir about mothers, daughters, and the tenacity of the love that grows between what is said and what is left unspoken.”—Mira Jacob, author of Good Talk

“A profoundly moving memoir about secrets and trauma . . . In exquisite prose, Maya Shanbhag Lang writes about her extraordinary mother and the cruel circumstances that complicate their relationship. At its heart, What We Carry is about one of the greatest gifts any parent can give a child: the power to save yourself.”—Will Schwalbe, New York Times bestselling author of The End of Your Life Book Club

 “Part self-discovery, part family history. . . [Lang’s] analysis of the shifting roles of mothers and daughters, particularly through the lens of immigration, help[s] to challenge her family’s mythology. . . . Readers interested in examining their own family stories . . . will connect deeply with Lang’s beautiful memoir.”—Library Journal (Starred Review)

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A Most Beautiful Thing : The True Story of America’s First All-Black High School Rowing Team by Arshay Cooper

11 Monday Jan 2021

Posted by in 20th century, Biography, History, memoir, Non-fiction

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This is the inspiring true story about the most unlikely band of brothers that form a family, and forever change a sport and their lives for the better.  How did they even make it to age 14 growing up in Chicago’s Westside in the 90’s?  Peppered with humor, guaranteed to inspire anyone ……even if you know nothing about the rowing sport….neither did Arshay!

Here’s all you need to know: “A Most Beautiful Thing” lives up to its name….Cooper masterly makes you feel a part of the team…. take their losses to heart. Be proud of the changes they’ve made… This is the feel-goodest of feel-good books, and you should have it now.” ―The Bookworm

“Arshay’s remarkable story reminds us of the life-changing power of will over hopelessness, of belief over despair, and shows us what it looks like when we stop listening to demons and start honoring our own potential. This is the story of rising from the ashes stronger, faster, and focused ― not in spite of the circumstances of birth but because of them. Arshay’s refusal to let his life story be written for him is a testament to the resilience and beauty of the human spirit, and his eagerness to succeed, on the water and in life, is an inspiration.”―Elizabeth Gilbert, New York Times bestselling author of Eat, Pray, Love 

“Uplifting and always enlightening…. [A Most Beautiful Thing] is a coming-of-age story told with the benefit of adult insights and mature hindsight…. This book is less about this specific sport than how that sport becomes transformative, empowering some kids, giving others a direction.”
―Chicago Tribune

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The Falcon Thief: A True Tale of Adventure, Treachery, and the Hunt for the Perfect Bird by Joshua Hammer

23 Monday Nov 2020

Posted by in 20th century, nature, Non-fiction, True crime

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“On May 3, 2010, an Irish national named Jeffrey Lendrum was apprehended at Britain’s Birmingham International Airport with a suspicious parcel strapped to his stomach. Inside were fourteen rare peregrine falcon eggs snatched from a remote cliffside in Wales.  So begins a tale almost too bizarre to believe…..” (Amazon)

“[A] well-written, engaging detective story that underscores the continuing need for conservation of rare bird species… A sleek, winning nonfiction thriller.”
— Kirkus (starred review) 

“Joshua Hammer has that rare eye for a thrilling story, and with The Falcon Thief he has found the perfect one— a tale brimming with eccentric characters, obsession, deception, and beauty. It has the grip of a novel, with the benefit of being all true.”
— David Grann, New York Times bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon and The Lost Citz of Z

“Middle Eastern Sheiks. 180 mph apex predators. An agile and fearless, globe-trotting obsessive dangling beneath helicopters and slipping through borders from Patagonia to the high Arctic. The Falcon Thief is more than just a ripping page turner; it is a cautionary tale about what happens when our most precious wildlife becomes status symbol in our diminishing natural world.”— Carl Hoffman, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Wild Men of Borneo and Savage Harvest

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