Never in my life have I made grabby hands as ferocious as the ones I made when I saw Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction. This book describes the life and work of women in speculative fiction starting with Margaret Cavendish and ending with Jewelle Gomez (and shorter mentions of many others). This is out just in time for you to make your Halloween reading list and since it mentions … Continue reading Monster She Wrote by Lisa Kröger and Melanie Anderson →
The Jane Austen Handbook: Proper Life Skills From Regency England is a guide to Regency life and manners, pitched to the reader who wants something non-academic and focused on the socio-economic class that Austen wrote about most frequently. This is history-lite but it’s fun and interesting. If you’ve read Jane Austen’s novels and want something to fill out the world for you, this is a good starter book. It’s light, with lovely illustrations. I was … Continue reading The Jane Austen Handbook by Margaret C. Sullivan →
In Waiting for Tom Hanks, the heroine refers to Save the Cat, a famous book on screenwriting. I checked out a battered copy from the library and concluded that this guide to screenwriting is dated, obsessed with blockbusters and making sales, and irritating. I also found that when I tried applying ideas from the book to stories that I like, they fit perfectly. I recommend this book for people interested in story structure in any … Continue reading Save the Cat by Blake Snyder →
Kitschy Crafts: A Celebration of Overlooked 20th Century Crafts is fun on multiple levels. This book is short but full of photos and projects, including instructions. It covers such delights as pin-beaded fruit, latch hook wall hangings, and crocheted toilet paper covers. Why, yes, it does include macrame. It also includes staples like needlework and embroidery, as well as things I never knew existed. Resin grapes? Really? This book defines “kitsch” as “any decoration that takes … Continue reading Kitschy Crafts by Jo Packham and Matt Shay →
TW/CW for this review: discussions of murder, child abuse, sexual abuse. Amanda and I once discussed the cold cases we’d most like answers to. For me, it might be the murders of Abby and Andrew Borden in 1892. The case is perplexing, the trial of their daughter, Lizzie, was a highly publicized mess, and to this day the entire thing seeps its way into popular culture. If you’re looking for a book that offers any … Continue reading The Trial of Lizzie Borden by Cara Robertson →
TW/CW: In this book there are discussions about and accounts of depression, anxiety, obsessive behavior, suicidal ideation, child death, and mental illness. I heard about this book on the Friendshipping podcast, and since I had the “Oops, Too Many Credits” problem at Audible, I bought the audiobook. Regarding the audio version, I have only a few comments. The narrator, Brittany Pressley, is solid, and because this is first person narrative memoir, the number of “character” voices … Continue reading Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb →
Elyse and I had to jointly review Burnout because we had so much to say about it. This book is nonfiction about the science behind stress, what it is, and how we deal (or don’t deal) with it effectively. Between the science and the practical applications, it’s incredibly informative, useful, soothing, and empowering. Sarah: Burnout seared my brain with essential information about how my brain and body work, and what specific things I can do to … Continue reading Burnout: The Secret to Solving the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski →
After reading The Ravenmaster, I decided to make corvids (ravens, crows, jays, magpies, and some others) my new animal obsession. Gifts of the Crow: How Perception, Emotion, and Thought Allow Smart Birds to Behave Like Humans is a great introduction to the behaviors of crows and ravens, specifically. It’s approachable, easy to read, and comes with lovely illustrations. It also has a lot of scientific content and it discusses the difference between anecdote and scientific observation. … Continue reading Gifts of the Crow by John Marzluff →
The best thing about The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London is that it makes you want to read more. This memoir by Christopher Skaife, Yeoman Warder of Her Majesty’s Royal Palace and Fortress The Tower of London, details Skaife’s day-to-day life with the ravens of the Tower. It’s a serious responsibility, since legend states that if the ravens abandon the Tower, then the kingdom will fall. Skaife’s narration is … Continue reading The Ravenmaster by Christopher Skaife →
This is the type of writing that gives me what I think of as “complete cellular-level stillness.” You know that feeling when you’re listening to, reading, or watching something completely extraordinary, and your entire body goes still? Maybe you have scalp tingles or you’re covered in goosebumps, but you are entirely focused on not missing a thing because it’s freaking incredible? That’s my experience with this book of essays. I’ve interviewed Dr. Cottom (Podcast Episode … Continue reading Thick: And Other Essays by Tressie McMillan Cottom →
Bad Blood will officially be known as the slump-breaker. Sometimes, I need a break in my romance reading. If I read too many books—back to back—in the same genre, I hit a wall. After my lovely roommate patiently listened to my whining about having nothing to read, despite owning 500+ books, she suggested Bad Blood. She knew I had wanted to read it and a coworker had just lent her a copy. I devoured it. … Continue reading Bad Blood by John Carreyrou →
