All in Non-fiction
Caroline Fraser has written a fascinating biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Using precious little autobiographical information left by Wilder and supplementing it with a similarly small amount left by her daughter, Fraser adroitly weaves a compelling tale of Wilder’s life. She explains how Wilder came to write her beloved Little House on the Prairie series in the midst of the Great Depression when she herself was in her mid-sixties.
There is no doubt about it: I am a huge Anna Quindlen fan. She occupies a spot on my “must read” list. Every time I see that she’s published a new book, I scoop it up. (See reviews of Miller’s Valley, May 2017 and Alternate Side, June 2018.) Quindlen won the Pulitzer Prize and for a long time wrote a column for the New York Times.
H Is for Hawk appeared on many “best books of the year” lists for 2015 and it’s been on my “must read” list since then. I want to spare all of you any further delay: pick up this book today and read it. It is an absolute treasure! I can honestly state that I’ve never read anything quite like it.
Unbelievable was recommended to me by a friend and frankly, I wasn’t sure I wanted to read it. Don’t get me wrong. I happily spend many an evening glued to MSNBC, following Chris Hayes and Rachel Maddow. But, the idea of using my leisure time reading about Donald Trump’s successful presidential campaign run seemed potentially anxiety-producing, rather than pleasant. I decided to try it though, and I am delighted that I did.
If I weren’t a member of the Boston area Bates College Alumna Book Club, I might never have found One Goal, a true gem. Written by a Bates alumna, One Goal tells the story of the Lewiston High School men’s soccer team’s quest for a 2015 state championship with a team composed mainly of Somali immigrants that had settled in the Maine town.
Neither my mom nor I read, or review much non-fiction, and for me part of my avoidance is that when I read non-fiction, I feel like I’m going to be tested. I get stressed like I have to remember all the facts and figures being thrown at me. But this book is incredible, and never once did I feel lost in a sea of statistics.
In reading a first lady’s memoir you might expect descriptions, perhaps some even heartfelt, about what it was really like spending four, or maybe eight, years in the White House. Michelle Obama delivers that, hands down. But, in addition she offers her readers much, much more.
One gauge of a great book, I believe, is how long it stays with you after you’ve finished reading it. Another is how many excerpts you read out loud to your significant other. A third is how many times you talk about it with everyone you know who likes to read. A fourth is how many times you recommend it to your friends and family. By all these standards, Lab Girl is a great read.
I read this book before my daughter Charlotte was born, and it was and remains one of my top two favorite books on parenting. I know I enjoyed it in part because there is a narrative. Rather than being an endless list of charts and data, Druckerman tells her own story about raising her three children. But she is a journalist, and so she supplements her experience with interviews and data, and even a few charts!
We’re well into our second year of the L & L Review and up to this point I’ve never reviewed a book about history. Historical fiction, sure. But reading an entire book about history? Normally that would appeal to me about as much as reading an entire book about math. So how did I happen to find my way to Team of Rivals? It’s a selection for my Bates College Boston Alumna book club and is going to be discussed in November. Since it’s 800+ pages, I thought I better get to it.
Several people told me that I really needed to read Educated. When I finally began to read it, I wondered if it could possibly live up to all the hype. Well, add me to the book’s long list of admirers. Educated will draw you in and bowl you over. It is the true story of Tara Westover, the youngest child of seven, who was raised by survivalist parents in Idaho.
Anyone who has read Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In knows that she writes well and has a compelling story to tell. Anyone who has read Adam Grant’sOriginals or Give and Take knows that he also has an interesting set of beliefs and is able to articulate them clearly. When these two successful authors teamed up to write Option B, it’s no wonder the resulting book is a real knock-out.
I saw Andrew Forsthoefel speak at Wellesley College last year at one of their semi-annual Authors on Stage presentations – where three authors talk about their latest books – always a treat! He held me captivated as he explained the genesis of the idea of walking across the US (and then writing his book): a combination of graduating from college without being sure what direction he wanted to take in life and looking for more meaning in the life he led.
David Litt’s Thanks, Obama will charm and entertain you from start to finish. With his self-deprecating humor, Litt relates his amazing story of becoming one of the youngest White House speechwriters in history.
I don’t read a lot of memoirs, and although we have about a million cookbooks on our shelves, I don’t spend a lot of time reading them either. But Stir manages to combine the two genres effectively and engagingly to create this quick-read book about healing, home and how our food defines us.
As the subtitle suggests, this book is a bit of a paradox, but I can honestly say, I have NEVER laughed out loud as much as I did reading Furiously Happy. I can perhaps blame the intensity of my reaction on pregnancy hormones, but my husband Dan came in to the room several times to check if I was alright to find me crying I was laughing so hard.
I read this book for two reasons: it had been recommended to me by a friend and I loved The House of Sand and Fog, Dubus’ breakout novel. To say I enjoyed this memoir would be an exaggeration. But it has stayed with me far longer than most books. I have thought about it and talked to other people about it many times since I finished reading it. For me, that’s proof of its power and perhaps even its value.
My mom and I both read this book, and were both hesitant to review it. In the end I agreed to do it because this is an important book. That is my opinion, but obviously, also the opinion of the literary establishment.
Jaques springboards off her Guardian blog, ‘A Transgender Journey,’ and brings to life her journey from a shy, unhappy boy in rural England, to a successfully transitioned woman, writer and transgender advocate (all labels she has issues using herself).
