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Nonfiction book reviews and recommendations

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Book Recommendation: All the Beauty in the World by Patrick Bringley

This is a really interesting book about a security guard. Yup, you read that right. It's hard to explain how @patrickbringley did it, but here it is.

After losing his older brother to cancer, Bringley needed space to grieve and found it in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Long silences, minimal conversation, anonymity. Surrounded by works that encompass beauty, tragedy, grief, joy, hope, devastation - oftentimes in one piece of art.

You will find yourself unexpectedly laughing and frantically searching for sticky tabs. You will nod as you read descriptions of aching feet and laugh guiltily at the author's people-watching observations. At some point, you will likely contemplate becoming a guard in the Met yourself.

Fewer than 200 pages, it's perfect for a summer afternoon.

#nonfiction #bookrecommendations #bookstagram #bookrecs #reading by @leapfrog225

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3 months ago

True Color: The Strange and Spectacular Quest to Define Color--from Azure to Zinc Pink. Based on the title, I expected in-depth discourse on the challenges of developing color definitions. However, most of the book is devoted to the politics and egos of dictionary academics and consultants. There are also highly technical discussions of different color systems. Interesting, to some, but not what I come for. The best part of the book is the Epilogue which discussed how the perception of color differs across cultures.

A disappointing read since the book did not do what the title promises.

What I got out of the book:
• Dictionaries are observers, rather than originators, of language (also discussed in Stamper’s first book, Word by Word).
• The need to define color arose out of advances in other areas, like chemistry and fashion.
• It’s hard to define color. One way to do it is relative to another color (similar to lime green, but more yellow).
• Long entries, though technically accurate, quickly become too wordy to be useful. Short definitions may be insufficient.
• Women’s contributions in this area were often attributed to their husbands, if at all. This was typical for the time period.

#nonfiction #reading #bookreview #2026reads #bookrec by @leapfrog225

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3 months ago

All the books I read in May (plus a couple that are not shown). Thank you @kalenereads for hosting this birthday bingo challenge! You kept us motivated all month long!

Happy birthday!

#mayreads #bookchallenge #bookrecs #nonfiction #readingchallenge by @leapfrog225

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4 months ago

Incredibly grateful for this delightful stack of bookmail from the tagged authors, publishers and Instagramers.

I think I have every genre presented here!

Thriller: The Patriot's Daughter by @brittanybutlerbooks publisher @crookedlanebooks books
Key ideas: Russia, cybersecurity, disinformation, CIA, deception

Horror: Hunger and Thirst by @writerclairefuller publisher @zandoprojects
Key ideas: gothic horror, psychological, coming-of-age, childhood trauma, art

History/Travel: Meet me in Atlantis by Mark Adams publisher @duttonbooks giveaway hosted by @blackrosebookshop
Key ideas: ancient Greece, Atlantis, myth, Plato, philosophy

Memoir: The Angry Skies by Blake Kerr publisher @eastendpress giveaway hosted by @kirkus_reviews
Key ideas: medicine, gangs, Cambodia, genocide

Young Adult: Winter White by @anniecardi publisher @unionsqandco
Key ideas: coming-of-age, generational trauma, violence, retelling

Fantasy: Mad Sisters of Esi by @tashanmehta publisher @dawbooks
Key ideas: storytelling, myth, folklore, bond of sisters, reality

Crime Fiction: Names Have Been Changed by @yumei.balasingamchow publisher @tinyrepbooks
Key ideas: dislocation, identity, crime

Rom-Com: Hating Sam Slater by @author.carol.ericson
Key ideas: celebrity, spice, enemies to lovers

Biography: Francisco de Saavedra's American Revolutionary War by James Giesler, giveaway hosted by @kirkus_reviews
Key ideas: Battle of Yorktown, Spain, war, independence

Literary Fiction: Dandelion is Dead by @rosiestorey publisher @berkleypub
Key ideas: love after loss, lying in relationships, single fatherhood

STEM: Sisters in Science by @liviebug26 publisher @parkrowbooks
Key ideas: Holocaust, sëxism, sisterhood, scientific breakthroughs

Thriller: The Storm by @ladyhawkins publisher @stmartinspress giveaway hosted by @readyourworriesaway and @reading.is.your.destiny
Key ideas: Southern culture, gothic mystery, hurricanes

So many books!!! by @leapfrog225

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5 months ago

Thank you @jennyfioreads and @fiction_and_fitness for hosting a really fun April readathon! I read so many books and enjoyed challenging myself to meet the prompts!

Looking forward to joining your next one!

#reading #nonfiction #recommendations #spring #readinggoals by @leapfrog225

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5 months ago

Book Recommendation:

This was my "green cover" read for an April challenge I'm participating in hosted by @fiction_and_fitness

The $64 Tomato by William Alexander is a great book to get you in the mood for #spring gardening! The author discusses his decades-long garden project and the pests, people and perspiration he battled to plant and maintain it. You will learn about sustainability, green insecticide, and more than you want to know about groundhogs. Plus, he is hysterically funny.

It's like a memoir about gardening.

#gardening #memoir #nonfiction #sustainable by @leapfrog225

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6 months ago

BOOK REVIEW:

I zipped through Thanks for Waiting last Saturday. In her memoir, Doree Shafrir contends with being a late bloomer. It took her time to find herself in career, dating and motherhood. She worked in jobs she didn't like and for employers she didn't respect. Well into her thirties, she was still getting entangled in dead-end and toxic relationships. She didn't attempt to have a child until her late 30s/early 40s, and when she did, she struggled to get pregnant.

Thanks for Waiting presents the idealized version many of us have about what it means to be an adult, and then attempts to dismantle those preconceived notions. There are many paths in life; we all "arrive" differently.

The book was narrow in scope and not as deep as I was expecting it to be. Why was Shafrir continuously drawn to unavailable men? Why did she allow herself to be played by her coworkers? She says she was okay with her sister marrying before her and becoming a young lawyer, but she continuously brings it up and doesn't seem at peace with it at all.

I understand that Shafrir felt like she didn't come into herself until she was in her forties, but I see a woman who worked a few good jobs, built a network of connections, enjoyed life and then created her own business on top of the confidence and experience of her thirties. I don't consider that to be "late blooming."

Dating-wise, I guess it depends who your friends are and what circles you move in. Some people are lucky enough to meet their SO easily, and plenty of others struggle through terrible dates, the apps, and dry spells. I guess I find the term "late bloomer" to be offensive and not necessarily accurate to describe life's typical challenges.

That being said, Thanks for Waiting was an easy-breezy read that I read quickly. It was exactly what I needed after plodding through a pretty dry text. I appreciate Shafrir's honesty and encouragement of women overall.

#memoir #nonfiction #bookrecommendations #bookreview #dating by @leapfrog225

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6 months ago

Thank you @kensingtonbooks for this gifted copy of Tod Robberson's new release, Globemaster Down!

During the Cold War, a U.S. plane en route to Britain disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean. Survivors were never found. The plane was thought to be carrying atomic węapons.

In this book, Pulitzer prize-winning Robberson delves into this 75 year old mystery. Intriguing!

Coffee sponsored by @lostwithoutcoffee. I finally got a coffee grinder and got to try the dark roast blend they kindly sent a few weeks ago. It is delicious! I need to pace myself with this one, or I will finish the bag way too quickly and get a serious case of coffee jitters. Try it, and let @lostwithoutcoffee will spoil you!

#nonfiction #bookrecommendations #coffee #pulitzer #bookmail by @leapfrog225

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7 months ago

Book Recommendation: Nightmare Obscura by Michelle Carr.

I listened to the audiobook. The narrator had a podcasty voice which I normally don't like, but it somehow worked for this book.

Michelle Carr explains how trauma impacts your sleeping life. If you suffer from nightmares, sleep terrors, or other sleep disturbances, you will find Nightmare Obscura to be revelatory and validating. Plus, the overall tone is one of hope and possibility. Persistent nightmares often cause subjects to despair, as in cases of long-term PTSD, depression, and su!ç!dal thinking. Dr. Carr offers relief, sometimes in relatively simple solutions.

The author is at the cutting edge of sleep science and dream engineering, leading and developing much of the research discussed. There are really cool things you can do with dreams (I won't spoil the fun - read the book!) Even just hearing various people describe how waking life interacts with their dreams was interesting.

The book is so well done. The information is organized and clearly presented. I like that the author advises how to use certain lab techniques at home (processing nightmares, inducing lucid dreams, etc.) You don't have to participate in a sleep study to gain from the research.

Because the book is information-dense, and much of it is emergent research, I might relisten to it at some point.

#nightmares #nonfiction #trauma #bookrecommendations #sleep by @leapfrog225

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7 months ago

🎉Congrats to @leapfrog225 Please DM me your mailing address. Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway and for the great romcom recs. I’m going to have to watch The Wedding Singer. Netflix, you out there? HATING SAM SLATER comes out this week on March 25th!
#giveawaywinner
#romcomreads
#enemiestolovers
#celebrityromance
#hatingsamslater taken in BOOKSTA by @leapfrog225

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7 months ago

Thank you @atriabooks for the #gifted copy.

Part memoir, part social justice manifesto, Amber Hussain recounts her experience with anorexia and a failed recovery at a treatment center. Tell Me How You Eat explores the ways that people eat, what it means, and how it connects to the world at large.

I found this book difficult to read. The author jumps between history, personal experience, and public protests. The personal narrative parts and some of the sections on history were written clearly and were easy to understand. The rest was not. There is a lot of theoretical gobbledygook. I found myself rereading sentences 5 or 6 times. I enjoy theory, but this was just not written clearly.

The author's overall message isn't obvious either. I couldn't understand what the point of the book is, and I'm still not sure I got it. The back of the book mentions something about the author searching for reasons to eat. She got turned off from eating at some point and is trying to understand herself, community and society in an effort to recover. At least... I think?

Some of the history was interesting, but the author mentions women eating pus one too many times. It really turned me off.

Finally, there is a thread of self-righteousness throughout the book. Hussain discusses issues with world hunger and the failure of protests to gain attention. She turns to socialist practices of feeding as a solution. She advocates for aggressive, confrontational movements that habitually steal from stores and public spaces. There is an undercurrent of blame and judgment - if you don't agree, you are obviously a rich, entitled, selfish person.

This book has potential, but failed to convey a coherent message. It needed simpler language and a clearer throughline.

#nonfiction #bookreview #anorexia #eatingdisorders by @leapfrog225

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7 months ago

BOOKMAIL!

Shoutout to @jules_stacksonstacks for this Valentine's-turned-wishlist-giveaway. The original package got lost in the mail, and @jules_stacksonstacks was kind enough to send a substitute. (I'm imagining some happy snowman absorbed in the Valentine's books with discarded candy wrappers scattered in the snow around him. ☃️)

The books:

Destiny of the Republic by @candicemillard: Candice Millard writes history books that are highly readable. She strings together events in the most brilliant way, while creating highly entertaining character sketches. This book is about the assassination of James Garfield. I read 3 other books by this author (River of the Gods, River of Doubt and Hero of the Empire). They were all great, so my expectations are high.

Fermat's Enigma by Simon Singh: Have you read The Code Book by this author? If not, then you should. It's a fantastic piece of narrative nonfiction, all about code making and code breaking, political intrigue, and life-or-death puzzles. This book is about Fermat's Last Theorem. I selected it for those times when I get in the mood of something mathy (weird, I know).

I've been working on building up my nonfiction library, so I am really happy to add these two to the collection. Hooray for bookmail!

Also: apple cider, made from scratch! Apparently, it's still fall.

If you want to try it: https://natashaskitchen.com/apple-cider/
(I used 1/4 cup of brown sugar and 7 cups of water, though I may decide to dilute it when serving. Also, I would use 2 cinnamon sticks, not 3.)

Happy reading! by @leapfrog225

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7 months ago