Social justice book reviews
In 2025, I officially ended my blog after over 9 years, 300 posts, and nearly 100 book reviews. It would take me months to finish a book, and even when I did, I rarely felt like I had anything worthwhile to say about it. Kill Anything That Moves is not one of those books. I couldn’t look away or put it down even when I wanted to — like the handful of times it made me physically nauseous. So today I feel obligated to tell you about it.
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Last month was the nine-year anniversary of my first post on this blog. An anxious college student dared to share with the world that she was an atheist while sitting in her top bunk in her junior dorm room at Grove City College, one month before her 21st birthday. It’s hard to believe, having turned 30 this week, that that person was me. It sometimes feels like everything in my life has changed since then, as it does for most people in their twenties, but I have had the privilege of documenting this decade on my blog every step of the way.
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The leaves have fallen, and where I live, we’ve seen our first dusting of snow. For me, that means it’s time for me to usher in the beginning of the end of Nonfiction November and kick off week 4!
Here’s your prompt:
Read moreNonfiction books are one of the best tools for seeing the world through someone else’s eyes. They allow us to get an idea of the experiences of people of all different ages, races, genders, abilities, religions, socioeconomic backgrounds, or even just different opinions than ours. Is there a book you read this year from a diverse author, or a book that opened your eyes to a perspective that you hadn’t considered? How did it challenge you to think differently?
Fall is my favorite time of year. As I write this I’m bundled up in a sweatshirt, listening to the rain outside, while my house smells like apples. It’s a bittersweet time as I say goodbye to the scary fun of Halloween, but I’m reassured because November has something just for itself: Nonfiction November! For me, Christmas is only welcome once I’ve done my annual nonfiction roundup.
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It must have been the third or fourth rave review of Vijay Prashad’s work that pushed Washington Bullets to the top of my TBR. Specifically, a fellow reviewer had called Washington Bullets a “critical (yet still accessible) intro” to US imperialism. I had already been primed on the topic by works like Inventing Reality and Manufacturing Consent as well as myriad YouTube channels and podcasts, but the story of US imperialism is so winding and chasmic that it seems no amount of sources could cover it all.
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After spending an afternoon last week protesting Donald Trump’s second inauguration in a wind chill of zero degrees Fahrenheit, I find myself thinking back to Pride last summer.
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I can’t believe I am already hosting my third Nonfiction November! This week, I want to know what books really opened your mind this year. Here’s the prompt!
Read moreOne of the greatest things about reading nonfiction is the way it can open your eyes to the world around you—no plane ticket required. What nonfiction book or books have impacted the way you see the world in a powerful way? Is there one book that made you rethink everything? Is there a book that, if everyone read it, you think the world would be a better place?
This week in Nonfiction November, we are pairing books together! Here’s the prompt from Liz:
Read moreThis week, pair up a nonfiction book with a fiction title (or whatever you want to pair up). Maybe it’s a historical novel and the real history in a nonfiction version, or a memoir and a novel, or a fiction book you’ve read and you would like recommendations for background reading. Or (because I’m doing this myself) two books on two different areas have chimed and have a link. You can be as creative as you like! (Liz)
Week 2’s prompt for Nonfiction November, Choosing Nonfiction, is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. Our host, Frances of Volatile Rune, asks us:
Read moreWhat are you looking for when you pick up a nonfiction book? Do you have a particular topic you’re attracted to? Do you have a particular writing style that works best? When you look at a nonfiction book, does the title or cover influence you? If so, share a title or cover which you find striking.