Tag Archives: Non-Fiction General

Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright

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Synopsis:
A history and exposé of Scientology.

Review:
Cults and Hollywood–two of my favorite non-fiction topics in one. I was so happy to pay any price to read Going Clear and I was not disappointed. Meticulously researched, extensively detailed, and thoroughly suspensful, I wish it had been twice as long. Crash writer/director Paul Haggis’s story weaves throughout the history of Scientology and it’s an amazing journey that really sheds light on the appeal of Scientology. Tom Cruise and John Travolta are discussed in detail, and I learned more about Sea Org (the elite arm of the religion) than I ever dared to dream I would. I am so sad that I finished reading this book.

Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History by Florence Williams

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Synopsis:
A journalistic survey of the breast, covering evolutionary biology, immunology, culture, politics, and so much more.

Review:
I am an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant and a La Leche League Leader, so I’m very interested in all things mammary. I loved Breasts as I’d hoped I would. A lot of material was familiar to me, but it was presented in such a way where I was able to make new connections and ponder more deeply on the things I already know. Great book, a must read for any woman, lactating or not!

Too Much Magic: Wishful Thinking, Technology, and the Fate of the Nation by James Howard Kunstler

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Synopsis:
Kunstler’s latest jeremiad about how America is unprepared for what will happen when we run out of oil.

Review:
It took me forever to finish Too Much Magic because I get so anxious thinking about all of this stuff. I am definitely mindful that I want my girls to learn traditional skills like cooking, sewing, knitting, building, and the like because I just don’t know what kind of future they will inherit. I am definitely a little obsessed with Kunstler and I’m not sure that’s a good thing…

Many thanks to Grove/Atlantic, Inc. for the review copy.

Mindset for Moms by Jamie C. Martin

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Synopsis:
A collection of bite-sized ideas for moms to stay calm and care for their families and themselves.

Review:
I picked up Mindset for Moms because Jamie C. Martin is a contributor to Tsh Oxenreider‘s Simple Mom family of blogs. I’ve heard her on the Simple Mom podcast and I really like her ideas and philosophy of life. This book had some nice ideas that stayed pretty basic, and sometimes that’s just want you need to change your perspective. This is a book I’ll definitely gift to my mom friends to give them a lift when they need it.

Your Custom Homestead: Awakening a Fresh Vision of Homesteading by Jill Winger

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Synopsis:
A step-by-step guide to making your homesteading dreams come true, no matter how big or small.

Review:
I live in an apartment in New York City and so I might seem like the last person to be drawn to a book called Your Custom Homestead. But actually it was perfect for me. Sure, I’m never going to have acres and goats, but I’ve got big dreams for my balcony garden and know that someday I will own chickens. Jill’s ideas and suggestions are helpful for crafting an individual vision of what homesteading is. Basically, homesteading is about self-sufficiency, learning to make do for yourself so that you don’t need to depend on technology to live the good life. I already cook a lot from scratch (my chicken stock is the elixir of life), and my next project is to learn canning–hopefully with veggies from my balcony garden! And as a homeschooling mom I plan to teach my girls all kinds of real life skills so that they can make things, fix things, and create things. This book will continue to be a great source of inspiration.

One Bite at a Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler by Tsh Oxenreider

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Synopsis:
Simplicity guru Tsh Oxenreider helps you transform your life one step at a time.

Review:
I love Tsh. Love her. I am inspired every time I read her blog or listen to her podcast. Her book Organized Simplicity just makes the kind of life I want seem so effortless. Here, in One Bite at a Time, Tsh breaks it down into easy pieces. What I love about this book is that it’s a great reference. I am already pretty organized, my home is pretty clutter-free, and I’m pretty efficient. I now have some ideas for where I want to go next and when I’m ready to take those steps I can refer back to the book for ideas and inspiration.

The Secret Lives of Hoarders: True Stories of Tackling Extreme Clutter by Matt Paxton and Phaedra Hise

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Synopsis:
A&E’s “Extreme Cleaning Expert” Matt Paxton shares all he’s learned in the years he’s been working with hoarders.

Review:
I puffy heart Matt Paxton. Not only does he tackle cleaning jobs nobody else can handle, he genuinely cares about the people he works with. I loved The Secret Lives of Hoarders and hope he writes another one! Oh, and check out his podcast, Five Decisions Away. It’s only just started but already I love it.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

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Synopsis:
How the cells from the cancerous cervix of an impoverished black woman from Baltimore came to be the foundation for basically all scientific research with cells in the world.

Review:
I was very excited to learn that my public library was going to begin lending Kindle books. The list was pretty dismal, but I had heard good things about The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks so I decided to give it a try.

Henrietta Lacks was born and raised and ultimately died in poverty. A black woman who married her first cousin and had her first child by him when she was only 14, she died of an unusually aggressive form of cervical cancer that ultimately took over her whole body. While she was being treated at Johns Hopkins, researchers took samples of her cells, as they did with many patients, in the hopes of creating a line of cells that would be immortal–that is, continue to grow and divide infinitely. It had never been done before, but it happened with Henrietta’s cells, dubbed HeLa.

Henrietta didn’t know her cells were taken, nor did her family. Most researchers didn’t give a thought to the real woman behind the cells that offered countless possibilities for scientific inquiry. There were no laws or regulations to cover this kind of usage, and when her family found out, they were angry. But they didn’t find out for decades.

This is a fascinating hybrid of science and biography. Fortunately for Skloot, the Lacks family is colorful beyond anything that could be made up, and the science is easy to make accessible. Great read and a nice non-fiction break.

Winged Wonders: A Celebration of Birds in Human History

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Synopsis:
A compendium of trivia, history, biology, and references to art, mythology, poetry, and literature for 19 different birds.

Review:
Winged Wonders is a real rara avis of a book. Basically, it’s a collection of all sorts of information related to a bunch of different birds, like the raven, the heron, the cuckoo, the falcon, and many more. There are poems, myths, historical references, and basic biological facts, all of them really compelling and quirky and fun.

What I really love about this book is how well it’s curated. Sure, you could Google any of these birds and learn a few things, but it takes real discipline and passion to put together a book that’s so readable, fascinating and valuable. I will definitely be keeping this one for the homeschooling library.

Many, many, many thanks to BlueBridge for the review copy.

The Cul-de-Sac Syndrome by John F. Wasik

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Synopsis:
Subtitled “Turning Around the Unsustainable American Dream,” this book analyzes the housing crisis and reflects upon ways that America can move forward with affordable, environmentally sustainable architecture.

Review:
The Cul-de-Sac Syndrome is a good companion piece to James Howard Kunstler’s A Geography of Nowhere. Author John F. Wasik offers a cogent overview of the current housing crisis along with an analysis of the unsustainability of the current fads in American housing. He explains trends in environmentally conscious architecture and building, and offers his ideas about what it will take to put the American dream back to rights.

I was most interested by his discussion of “spurbs,” housing clusters that are not connected to a metropolitan area, offer no public transportation, are not walkable, and are interspersed with strip malls and shopping centers. I grew up in a suburb of Baltimore and now I live in Queens, NY, so I’m not intimately familiar with these areas. They sound like nowhere I’d want to live. I love what I read about the New Urbanism, one of whose central tenets is “get people outside.” I love that I can walk everywhere–sure, it’s a 30 minute walk to the park but that’s great exercise, and it’s so fun to bump into people I know along the way.