I take in a lot of crime-related media. Hours of podcasts, stacks of true-crime novels, loads of documentaries, and although maturity and a growing awareness of current events has curbed my appetite for police procedurals, I still watch a lot of crime TV. All of which is to say I feel that I’m somewhat ofContinue reading “‘Two Truths’ Questions Fact and Fiction”
Tag Archives: Nonfiction
‘Women’ is Enraging, but in a Good Way
I had a hard time writing this review. Not because I can’t think of much to say about Caroline Criado Perez’s Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Built for Men—just the opposite. As I’ve read it over the last couple of weeks, I’ve hardly been able to shut up about it. But it’s notContinue reading “‘Women’ is Enraging, but in a Good Way”
Macabre History is a Delight in ‘Monster’
When I told my husband the book I was reading was called Monster, She Wrote, he said, “You’re only reading that because it sounds like Murder, She Wrote,” and then proceeded to describe a whole horror-themed knockoff of the classic 1984-1996 series starring our absolute queen, Angela Lansbury. Which was completely insulting, because the Murder,Continue reading “Macabre History is a Delight in ‘Monster’”
‘Hours’ tries furiously to connect its two halves
Harper Lee is one of those rare writers who managed to cement herself in literary canon with a single novel and a smattering of short stories. A recluse even J.D. Salinger could be proud of, she kept to herself, privately enjoying her earnings from To Kill A Mockingbird, poking her head out just long enoughContinue reading “‘Hours’ tries furiously to connect its two halves”
‘Don’t Want to Die’ Isn’t Poor on Prose
If there’s one thing Michael Arceneaux isn’t, it’s coy. His second collection of essays, I Don’t Want to Die Poor, minces no words as he talks about the dire financial straits he found himself in after college and the various ways debt has made his life harder. Through that lens, he talks in about sexContinue reading “‘Don’t Want to Die’ Isn’t Poor on Prose”
More Nightmare than Dream in ‘House’
I’ve been recommending Carmen Maria Machado’s In the Dream House to people for months. To the classmate trying to find a way of writing a memoir of her time in the Air Force without resurrecting her past too much. To the colleague arguing that Choose Your Own Adventures weren’t an effective form of storytelling. To theContinue reading “More Nightmare than Dream in ‘House’”
Idea of ‘If Walls Could Talk’ Frames ‘Yellow’
It has always fascinated me how many stories four walls can hold. The mundane and the dramatic coexist on the same stage in a home. A house’s lifespan is not like that of the humans who live inside it; within its years of providing comfort and shelter, it can contain multitudes of stories. This isContinue reading “Idea of ‘If Walls Could Talk’ Frames ‘Yellow’”
‘Maybe You Should Talk to Someone’ Brings Therapy to Your Bookshelf
I don’t often cry at books. Sure, there was Tuck Everlasting. And Bridge to Terabithia, of course. And then who could forget The Art of Racing in the Rain or The Fault in Our Stars or A Thousand Splendid Suns or A Man Called Ove or… Hmm. Maybe I cry at books a little moreContinue reading “‘Maybe You Should Talk to Someone’ Brings Therapy to Your Bookshelf”
‘Butchering Art’ Makes Gore Fun
I love a good medical history. There’s just something about the collision of history and gore and progress that is fascinating. Deborah Blum’s The Poisoner’s Handbook is one of my favorite nonfictions ever (the PBS doc was fascinating, too) and I am very excited for The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth by Thomas Morris, whichContinue reading “‘Butchering Art’ Makes Gore Fun”
A Dark Secret on ‘Hidden Valley Road’
In the mid-20th century, the Galvins of Colorado Springs was the picture of the all-American family. Their patriarch was a war hero who helped establish the Air Force Academy; their matriarch was cultured and educated but embraced domesticity to raise their dozen children. The ten handsome sons all played sports or joined rock bands whileContinue reading “A Dark Secret on ‘Hidden Valley Road’”
Ring Reads 