nonfiction

I placed a hold on this book because of rave reviews without realizing the author , Jarrett J. Kroscozka, was known for his juvenile graphic novels about a Lunch Lady who fights crime and children's books Good Night, Monkey Boy and Peanut Butter and Jellyfish .  Hey, Kiddo How I Lost My Mother, Found My Father and Dealt with Family Addiction  is an honest and powerful depiction of his family and all its complications. When asked to draw a picture of his family in preschool, Jarrett was confused. Not only was his mom incarcerated for heroin related charges, but he had never met his father

Knit Yourself Calm is perfect for beginning knitters. It has clear instructions with a concise list of all the materials you need.

Betsan Corkhill, a healthcare professional that has been working with people and helping them relieve stress through knitting and crocheting since 2005, writes the forward. 

The first pattern, introduced by knitter Lynne Rowe who is also interested in the therapy of knitting and crocheting, is simple and useful as a washcloth. Like several of the projects, this one is quick and easy, making it portable enough to take with you when you have to go wait somewhere

Dear Ijeawele begins with a young, new mother's question: "How might I raise my daughter to be a feminist?" This slim book is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's letter of response, acting as an encouraging and thoughtful manifesto for feminism, in fifteen funny, compassionate, and observant suggestions for loving empowerment.

Oh, I love this book, this essay, this letter. So well articulated, Adichie's work is quick and easy to read and underline. 

I am in my twenties, and it's not that I am planning on raising a girl any time soon, but it is that I am continually raising myself as a female within

Where the Crawdads Sing, an enthralling, magical novel by Delia Owens, is set in rural North Carolina in the 1950s and 60s. Kya is known locally as the “marsh girl,” abandoned by her family to grow up in the marshlands with little more than her fierce determination and equally fierce intelligence. Ostracized from society and spending her time living off the land - and dodging truancy officers - she tentatively makes contact with the outside world and develops a relationships with two boys. When one of the boys is found dead under mysterious circumstances in the marshes, the community turns its

In Paris in the late 1800s, with hypnotism as a popular form of entertainment, a strange murder case captivated the world. Gabrielle Bompard claims to have been hypnotized on numerous occasions since childhood, and everyone from her lovers to her family doctor concur that she is very susceptible to suggestion. When she is captured after having worked with Michel Eyraud, kills a man, and then lives on the run, her defense is that she can not be held responsible for her part in the crime, because, not only was the murder Eyraud's idea, but he had a hypnotic power over her, and she was not a

This is an absolutely fascinating book.

Walker starts with a question: What makes great sports teams great? He came up with a criteria and looked at the history of athletic teams--national and international, men's and women's, all varieties, so long as they were a cooperative venture--and identified the most dominant dynasties of their eras. He found 122 teams that met the basic criteria, then identified 16 that stood out as the best of the best. He dubbed the 16 as Tier One and the remaining 106 as Tier Two.

Then he looked at the 16 teams to see if he could identify anything they had in common as a shared secret of their success. He noticed that the span of success for one team coincided with the membership of a particular player. Then he looked at the others. [They] weren't the only team whose Tier One performance corresponded in some way to the arrival and departure of one particular player. In fact, they all did. And with an eerie regularity that person was, or would eventually become, the captain. The more he looked, the more he found similarities between all of those figures, until he eventually had to conclude that the most crucial ingredient in a team that achieves and sustains historic greatness is the character of the player who leads it.

What labels define you? Which boxes contain you? No middle ground. No grey. Keep it simple. Describe yourself with categories. Binaries. Either-ors. Extremes.

Once you tell me, do I know you?

Or do you want to say, "Wait, that's not really me. I'm much more complicated and nuanced than that. Those are mere ideas. I'm a person."?

This is the story of two teens who didn't fit nicely into categories. For a short while in 2013-4, they were media sensations. The media loves extremes. All the outsiders kept their definitions of the two simple, imposed their preferred categories, saw only ideas

This isn't going to be a review, so much as an essay on my journey into the world of Dungeons & Dragons and general Role Playing Games (RPG) starting in my late 20's, so strap on your sword and buckler and get ready for an adventure!

Like a lot of you, I "knew" about D&D through the zeitgeist.  Seen it mocked in movies, sitcoms and sketch comedy. Had friends that played in quasi-secret for fear of shaming in high school and college. Even sold the books when I worked in a bookstore without ever opening one. I "knew" what it was, and my opinion was set. And it should be obvious at this point

In 78 short pages, Klein explains the challenges facing Puerto Ricans before, during, and after Hurricane Maria. We know from spotty news coverage that many are still without power and water, but Klein presents the even bigger threat posed by billionaires that want to turn Puerto Rico into a tax haven paradise. Complete with surfing and support from local government officials.

Meanwhile, native Puerto Ricans remain committed to a self-sufficient island that produces its own food and solar power on a micro-grid system that protects from outages. They are building resilience and hope for

Red Land Black Land is a historical exploration of ancient Egyptian civilizations that discusses religion, rulers, and artifacts, but also focuses on the daily lives and experiences of ancient Egyptians – peasants and pharaohs alike. Some of the topics I found most interesting centered on the smaller details of life, like how people viewed pets, how clothing was made, what foods were popular, and what people did in their spare time. 

Mertz uses a conversational tone for this title, making it feel far from a textbook and much more like an interesting story being told by a friend. It's easy to

Birds inhabit every corner of our planet and represent freedom to many people throughout the world.  In this impressive book, photographer Joel Sartore shares images of captive birds from his work with the National Geographic Society on the Photo Ark project—an undertaking to document every living species in the world’s wildlife sanctuaries and zoos.  His photographs inspire wonder as you flip through these pages.  The accompanying text by Noah Strycker offers fascinating information about the world of birds.  The diversity---10,500 species of birds at last count; the speed of some birds---the

We've all heard the phrase, "I'll sleep when I'm dead," but Why We Sleep shines much-needed light on not only the benefits of slumber, but also the dire--and sometimes fatal--consequences of avoiding it.

As with many who have read this book, I first heard Dr. Walker on the wonderful, multi-faceted, Joe Rogan Experience podcast. If Walker's revelatory words in that interview were such to pique my curiosity, his book was enough to make me a determined, devoted acolyte. Why We Sleep contains information on scientific studies, personal experiences, and keen observation on our current society's

"You’ll be silent forever, and I’ll be gone in the dark."

Michelle McNamara’s book investigating the Golden State Killer is a truly masterful work. The author explains her obsession with this case and her hopes of discovering the identity of the killer. She presents a staggering amount of research and information in such an engaging and organized way, while her clarity of writing and ever-present empathy enhance the reading experience.

Foolishly, I was not prepared to read about the truly haunting crimes that the Golden State Killer committed in the 1970s and 1980s. The author never divulges

Hillbilly Elegy is unlike anything I've ever listened to. J.D. Vance grew up in the rust belt of America and was the first from his nuclear family to graduate from college. He speaks about growing up there and tells you extensively about the journey his family (grandparents and mother) made before today. 

He details some gritty stuff like an alcoholic grandfather and an abusive mom. I congratulate Vance for working so hard to create something for himself despite coming from a family that was torn apart by some challenging circumstances and, at the same time, held together by a grandparents'

As a raggedy child of the 1970s in the liberal northwest, author Claire Dederer found herself steering life by way of drifting, a method using random hazard and profound reflection as the tools for guidance. In Love and Trouble she writes about her life at middle age and compares it with herself as a young woman with the repeated observation that she is reverting back to the craptastic – her word – girl she was. She had a few vices, and she wants them back.

Her writing is clear and precise, and she’s candid and funny. Most remarkably, she avoids sugar coating age. If you’re looking for a

Filmmakers Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker travel to Chemnitz, Germany because a mystery surrounds Petra’s father’s death. Just before ending his life, he sends his daughter a sweet note with no indication of his plans other than his disappointment with East Germany and the surveillance practices of the Stasi. What Epperlein and Tucker uncover is that place in the mind we all go, or would go, when very few around us are trustworthy and nowhere is safe from the gaze of surveillance, neither your home nor anywhere you visit. Every encounter is overlaid with the possibility that nothing is as

Do not let the unattractive cover of Cool Bacon Recipes fool you into not checking this book out for your child. Because if you like bacon, check out these easy recipes. This book did not have very many recipes, but what it did have looked appetizing. The explanation of utensils and terms is perfect for 3rd - 6th graders with the guidance of an adult. And the step by step pictures are always a plus!

America's Forgotten Pandemic is truly terrifying. The influenza pandemic of 1918 killed more people than the bubonic plague; in the U.S., 670,000 people died in 15 months. When you read of the great numbers of people dying, whole families succumbing, shortages of coffins, it’s nearly unbelievable.

All of this is set against the backdrop of the Great War in which people and cities did not want to appear unpatriotic. Americans turned out in scores for Liberty Loan parades. Young men were crammed into training camps and then troop transports, allowing the disease to spread like wildfire. This

After writing about the struggles of Gen X and Millennials in 2006's Generation Me, and the rise of society-wide obsession with self in 2009's Narcissism Epidemic, Dr. Twenge then set her sights on a new, decidedly different, group of young people.

A fitting moniker for those born from the mid-1990s to 2000s, "iGen"-- a term coined by the author, herself -- refers to a generation which has never known a world without the personal technology that has rapidly become a large part of our lives. A researcher with over two decades of experience, Twenge's work in iGen seeks to not only examine and

This is a superb collection of Mary Oliver's poetry. I believe there is a poem for every person in this volume. Interestingly, from Oliver's books I like least (Thirst and Felicity, for example), the chosen poems for this collection are strong and really resonate with me. I plan on reading those collections again, thanks to Devotions. On the flip side, my favorite books by Mary Oliver (Owls and Other Fantasies and Blue Iris) are represented by my least favorite poems. I still found an abundance of magic and beauty in this collection, a staggering amount really, and I feel most pleasantly

​They Left Us Everything is an emotional journey through Plum Johnson's grief and search for self after losing her parents and childhood home. After almost twenty years spent caring for her aging parents, Alex and Virginia, Plum is both liberated and burdened by their deaths, which happen just a mere three years apart. Though Plum loses them, and the loss is enormous, she finds them again through their belongings as she clears out their house, her childhood home, and prepares to sell it.

In packing her parent's belongings, she discovers who they really were, and also what it means to be Plum

This evocative collection of meditations emerged from a time of crisis in Solnit's life, and centers on her mother's descent into Alzheimer's and her own diagnosis of and treatment for potential cancer. Solnit's writing is fluid and meandering, flowing lyrically from thought to thought, topic to topic. Themes recur frequently and range widely: life in the arctic, decaying apricots, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Che Guevara, leprosy, The Arabian Nights, Buddhism, ice, mirrors, breath, wounds, knots, and more. Central to the entire enterprise is consideration of the nature and purpose of stories

When I started this book, my intention was to skip around and read only about the places that jumped out at me. It turns out that everything jumped out at me, and I was held captive by this giant book for several months. With pictures galore, an astonishing amount of research, and hours of happy reading, Atlas Obscura is a one-of-a-kind travel book that invites you to explore all the hidden wonders of the globe.

I'm quite fearful of South America after reading Atlas Obscura. With places like The North Yungas Death Road, The Island of the Dolls, and The Cave of Swallows (which should really be

Shirley Jackson is one of my favorite authors, and I really enjoyed this biography about her life. Even if you are unfamiliar with Jackson, however, you can appreciate this well-researched biography that chronicles the social and political background that shaped the author's writing, as well as the mindset of America during her adult life in the 1930s through the 1960s. Each chapter describes two to four years of her life, from her birth in California in 1916, through her move to New York, until finally her death in Vermont at the age of 48. Franklin's biography, though extensive and

The Story of Film is loaded with movie clips from all over the world, beginning at the first moment pictures moved and ending in the early 2000s. Director Mark Cousins invites us to consider how each of the films he mentions contribute to the language of movie-making. He’s a deep thinker who speaks clearly – a rare combination.    

Cousins is especially skilled at recognizing when one film begets another. The process of inspiration being a wonder to watch as Cousins lines up scenes to show us how filmmakers are receptive to the current of influence.  If you like film, particularly independent

Beginning when Gus and his twin brother were born and continuing to the present, Newman shares her sometimes funny, sometimes sad, and always insightful and upbeat recollections of their lives. She touches on many of the issues with autism, but To Siri With Love is not a "how to" book. It is a positive, yet honest look into one family's journey with autism, and among others, how technology, especially Siri, is helpful to Gus. Most helpful is Siri's ability to talk with Gus ad nauseam about whatever he is interested in at the time, be it trains and train schedules, erosion, or climate change

When it comes to nonfiction science books, I definitely have a "type." (I blame Mary Roach for this.) And when I heard that  I Contain Multitudes could teach me something about the world around me with engaging clarity and humor, I needed to read it. In it, Ed Yong explores the interconnected web of life that's built on microbes--long thought to be a threat to life, but now known to be a key part of it. Through this lens, we learn to look at ourselves not just as the static result of a specific set of DNA, but as evolving communities of interdependent organisms. Much has been written about

When Steve Jenkins agrees to adopt an abandoned micro pig from an old friend, he has no idea that his life is about to drastically change forever. Rather than maxing out at 70 pounds, the wee “micro pig” turns out to be a commercial sow who grows to a whopping 600 pounds. As Esther grows in size, Steve and his partner transform from bacon-eating and city-dwelling folks to buying and operating a farm to use as a sanctuary for animals in need of a safe home. Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary is located in Canada, and you can keep up with the farm on one of Esther the Wonder Pig’s many popular

Here’s a familiar situation that we’ve all been in -  you see someone you know that has recently lost a loved one, or is going through a serious illness, or recently got divorced and that little voice in your head says “do I say something or not . . .  I don’t know them that well . . . what do I say that won’t make matters worse . . . . " Well, here’s a practical and humorous guide encouraging us to go ahead, reach out and fumble; it’s better than not reaching out at all!

In short, colorful chapters, the authors share examples of their “Three Touchstones of Showing Up” – your kindness is your

We know the media story of the West African Ebola outbreak of 2014, but we don’t know the other story. Author, Dr. Steven Hatch focuses less on the virus itself, which was the subject of Hot Zone by Richard Preston, and instead focuses on stories of daily life under the stress of the epidemic. Less is mentioned about the specific symptoms, and more time is spent on the remarkable strength of those touched by the virus: those confirmed with it, those who help them, and everyone else affected by its contagion.

Inferno adds a steady voice to a subject that needs a calm and clear telling. That