nonfiction Archives | Page 3 of 12 | The 3 R's: Reading, 'Riting, and Randomness

August 4, 2015 book reviews, reading

(Audio)Book Talk: LEAVING BEFORE THE RAINS COME by Alexandra Fuller

Leaving Before the Rains Come Alexandra Fuller Audiobook read by the author Penguin Press (January 2015), Hardcover (ISBN 1594205868 / 9781594205866) Nonfiction: memoir, 272 pages Source: Purchased audiobook (Recorded Books, Jan. 2015, ISBN 9781490654881, ASIN B00QVWQVSQ) ——————————————————————————————————————— As a daughter of White colonists in southern Africa during a time when those colonies were at war for the independence of their native Black populations, Alexandra Fuller’s youth would have been unsettled enough by virtue of the […]

July 7, 2015 book reviews, reading

(Audio)Book Talk: MY SALINGER YEAR by Joanna Rakoff (read by the author)

My Salinger Year Joanna Rakoff (Twitter) (Facebook) Audiobook read by the author Knopf (June 2014), Hardcover (ISBN 0307958000 / 9780307958006) Nonfiction: memoir, 272 pages Source: Purchased audiobook (Audible Studios, June 2014, ASIN B00KAGAMTI) —————————————————————————————————————— When Joanna Rakoff left graduate school in London and returned home to New York City, she was rather at loose ends. As an aspiring poet, a job somewhere in the publishing industry seemed like a good idea for the time being, […]

June 18, 2015 book reviews, reading

Book Talk: THE ODD WOMAN AND THE CITY by Vivian Gornick (via Shelf Awareness)

The Odd Woman and the City: A Memoir Vivian Gornick Farrar, Straus and Giroux (May 19, 2015), Hardcover (ISBN 0374298602 / 9780374298609) Nonfiction: memoir, 192 pages A version of this review was previously published in Shelf Awareness for Readers (June 9, 2015). Shelf Awareness provided me with a publisher-furnished galley to facilitate the review, and compensated me for the review they received and posted. —————————————————————————————————————– At times The Odd Woman and the City, Vivian Gornick’s collection of […]

June 9, 2015 book reviews, reading

(Audio)Book Talk: BORN WITH TEETH by Kate Mulgrew, read by the author

Born With Teeth: A Memoir Kate Mulgrew Audiobook read by the author Little, Brown and Company (April 14, 2015), Hardcover (ISBN 0316334316 / 9780316334310) Nonfiction: memoir, 320 pages Source: Purchased audiobook (Hachette Audio, April 2015, ISBN 9781478903277; Audible ASIN B00U1OQ8YW) —————————————————————————————————————– Kate Mulgrew’s first ambition was to be a poet. When she was selected to recite some pieces in a school program, her mother suggested learning one well-known poem and including that with the […]

May 19, 2015 book reviews, reading

A Reader’s Journal: BEING MORTAL, by Atul Gawande

Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End Atul Gawande (Facebook) (Twitter) Audiobook read by Robert Petkoff Metropolitan Books (2014), Hardcover (ISBN 0805095152 / 9780805095159) Nonfiction, 304 pages Source: Purchased audiobook (Macmillan Audio, October 2014, ISBN 9781427244246; Audible ASIN B00NPAJ32S) My father just turned 86 years old. My mother-in-law will be 77 this summer. Both have outlived spouses after decades-long marriages. Both are still able to live on their own, both still work part-time, […]

April 14, 2015 book reviews, reading

A Reader’s Journal: SCREENING ROOM: FAMILY PICTURES, by Alan Lightman

Screening Room: Family Pictures Alan Lightman Audiobook read by Bronson Pinchot Pantheon (2015), Hardcover (ISBN 0307379396 / 9780307379399) Nonfiction: memoir, 272 pages Source: Purchased audiobook (Blackstone Audio, February 2015, ISBN 9781481504881; Audible ASIN B00STZ9WLQ) “I will always live here, but I cannot live here,” Alan Lightman reflects near the end of Screening Room: Family Pictures, having just spent nearly a month back in Memphis, Tennesssee—the longest visit he’s made to his hometown since going north […]

April 2, 2015 book reviews, reading

A Reader’s Journal: THE EMPEROR OF ALL MALADIES: A BIOGRAPHY OF CANCER, by Siddhartha Mukherjee

The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer Siddhartha Mukherjee, M.D., Ph.D. Audiobook read by Stephen Hoye Scribner (2011), Trade paper (ISBN 1439170916 / 9781439170915) Nonfiction: science/medicine, 608 pages Source: Purchased audiobook (Tantor Media, November 2010; Audible ASIN B004CJR4L8) A PBS documentary based on the book was released March 30, 2015 ——————————————————————————————————————– In January of this year, my husband Paul was diagnosed with a melanoma. The growth was surgically removed and biopsied, as was […]

March 31, 2015 book reviews, reading

Book Talk: AMERICAN GHOST, by Hannah Nordhaus (via Shelf Awareness)

American Ghost: A Family’s Haunted Past in the Desert Southwest Hannah Nordhaus (Facebook) (Twitter) Harper (March 10, 2015), Hardcover (ISBN 0062249215 / 9780062249210) Nonfiction: history/biography, 336 pages A version of this review was previously published in Shelf Awareness for Readers (March 24, 2015). Shelf Awareness provided me with a publisher-furnished galley to facilitate the review, and compensated me for the review they received and posted. For decades, stories have circulated that the historic La Posada […]

March 19, 2015 book reviews, reading

Shelf Awareness Book Talk: LIFE FROM SCRATCH, by Sasha Martin

Life From Scratch: A Memoir of Food, Family, and Forgiveness Sasha Martin (Facebook) (Twitter) National Geographic (March 3, 2015), Hardcover, ISBN 1426213743 / 9781426213748) Nonfiction; memoir/food (with recipes), 336 pages A version of this review was previously published in Shelf Awareness for Readers (March 6, 2015). Shelf Awareness provided me with a publisher-furnished galley to facilitate the review, and compensated me for the review they received and posted. ———————————————————————————————————— Flavors, fragrances, and the experience […]

January 22, 2015 reading

(Audio)Book Talk: UNBROKEN, by Laura Hillenbrand (read by Edward Herrmann)

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption Laura Hillenbrand (Facebook) Audiobook read by Edward Herrmann Random House (November 2010), Hardcover (ISBN 1400064163 / 9781400064168) Nonfiction: biography/history, 496 pages Source: Purchased audiobook (Random House Audio, November 2010, ISBN 9780739319703; Audible ASIN B004CJN7TG) ———————————————————————————————————— Laura Hillenbrand’s Seabiscuit was, and remains, one of my favorite books from the decade before I blogged: “I never went through that pre-teen horse-loving phase so many girls do, […]

January 20, 2015 reading

Book Talk: SAVAGE PARK, by Amy Fusselman (via Shelf Awareness)

Savage Park: A Meditation on Play, Space, and Risk for Americans Who Are Nervous, Distracted, and Afraid to Die Amy Fusselman (Twitter) Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (January 13, 2015), Hardcover (ISBN 0544303008 / 9780544303003) Nonfiction: social science/memoir, 144 pages A version of this review was previously published in Shelf Awareness for Readers (January 16, 2015). Shelf Awareness provided me with a publisher-furnished galley to facilitate the review, and compensated me for the review they received and […]

December 31, 2014 reading

(Audio)Book Talk: AS YOU WISH by Cary Elwes (read by the author)

As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride Cary Elwes (with Joe Layden); foreword by Rob Reiner Audiobook read by the author, with guests Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest, Carol Kane, Norman Lear, Chris Sarandon, Andy Scheinman, Wallace Shawn, and Robin Wright Touchstone (October 2014), Hardcover (ISBN 1476764026 / 9781476764023) Nonfiction: popular culture/memoir, 272 pages Source: Purchased audiobook (Simon and Schuster Audio, October 2014, ISBN 9781442383456; Audible ASIN B00NLKFVRS) My Favorite Movie […]

December 18, 2014 reading

(Audio)Book Talk: YES PLEASE, by Amy Poehler

Yes Please Amy Poehler Audiobook read by the author (with guests Kathleen Turner, Patrick Stewart, Carol Burnett, Seth Meyers, Michael Schur, and Bill and Eileen Poehler) Dey Street Books (October 2014), Hardcover (ISBN 0062268341 / 9780062268341) Nonfiction: memoir/essays, 352 pages Source: Purchased audiobook (Harper Audio, October 2014, ISBN 9780062350886; Audible ASIN B00MP22QRQ) The past few years have produced a bumper crop of notable memoir/essay collections by women already known for writing and performing comedy, and […]

December 16, 2014 reading

Book Talk: THE ART OF ASKING, by Amanda Palmer (via Shelf Awareness)

The Art of Asking: or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help Amanda Palmer (Twitter) (Facebook) Grand Central Publishing (November 2014), Hardcover (ISBN 1455581089 / 9781455581085) Nonfiction: Memoir/autobiography, 352 pages A version of this review was previously published in Shelf Awareness for Readers (December 9, 2014). Shelf Awareness provided me with a publisher-furnished galley to facilitate the review, and compensated me for the review they received and posted. “It is a fear […]

December 9, 2014 reading

(E)Book Talk: MARY AND LOU AND RHODA AND TED, by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong

Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted: And all the Brilliant Minds Who Made The Mary Tyler Moore Show a Classic Jennifer K. Armstrong (Twitter) Simon & Schuster (2013), Hardcover (ISBN 1451659202 / 9781451659207) Nonfiction: popular culture, 336 pages Source: Purchased e-book (iBooks edition) Kids, there was a time when people had to watch television shows at the time the TV stations (of which there were as few as three and as many as eight, […]

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