Category Archives: Nonfiction

Twelve Years a Slave

Posted on February 17, 2019 by

Solomon Northup was a free black man who lived his whole life in New York until, in 1841, he took a job as a traveling musician. This job landed him in Washington, DC, where, despite possessing papers showing he was … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics, Memoir, Nonfiction | 2 Comments

Grandma Gatewood’s Walk

Posted on January 22, 2019 by

Every once in a while, I like to introduce a little bookish chaos into my life, and one fun way to do so is by ordering a Bas Bleu surprise package. So many of the books in their catalog look … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Nonfiction, Travel/ Exploration | 4 Comments

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup

Posted on December 16, 2018 by

Theranos was founded by 19-year-old Stanford dropout Elizabeth Holmes in 2003. The company’s big idea was to do blood tests using only a tiny drop of blood—a simple finger-prick. The blood-testing machines could even live in people’s home, with the … Continue reading →

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Educated

Posted on December 12, 2018 by

Tara Westover grew up in the mountains of Idaho. Suspicious of the government and committed to an extreme version of the Mormon faith, her parents home-schooled Tara and her siblings, although there was little structure or actual education to their … Continue reading →

Posted in Memoir, Nonfiction | 9 Comments

The Gastronomical Me

Posted on November 23, 2018 by

I love good food and good writing, but I’m not one to seek out good food writing. It’s not that I dislike food writing — I often do enjoy it — it’s just not at the top of my list. … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, Nonfiction | 3 Comments

One Person, No Vote

Posted on November 2, 2018 by

Carol Anderson’s previous book, White Rage, is one of the most important books I’ve read in recent years. It lays out clearly and methodically how white people have pushed back against every advance black Americans have made since the Civil War. … Continue reading →

Posted in Nonfiction | 9 Comments

A Human Being Died That Night: A South African Woman Confronts the Legacy of Apartheid

Posted on October 7, 2018 by

Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela is a psychologist who served on South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Part of her work, which involved trying to understand acts of evil committed during apartheid, led her to interview Eugene de Kock, one of the government’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Nonfiction | 2 Comments

Landmarks

Posted on August 6, 2018 by

Robert Macfarlane is one of my very favorite nature writers. He writes in a wonderful, engaging combination of personal essay, cultural history, and nature writing. Whether it’s about our weird relationships with peaks and summits, or the old paths and … Continue reading →

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Victoria and Abdul: The True Story of the Queen’s Closest Confidant

Posted on July 21, 2018 by

When I first saw the trailer for the movie Victoria and Abdul last year, I’ll admit that I rolled my eyes a little. It looked too cutesy, and perhaps too guilty of romanticizing British colonialism. But when I heard that there … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Nonfiction | Leave a comment

The Cooking Gene

Posted on July 4, 2018 by

Subtitled “A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South,” this book by Michael Twitty is part memoir and part history in which Twitty traces his own genetic heritage through food. Born in Washington, DC, Twitty shunned the … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, History, Nonfiction | 3 Comments