Nonfiction November is finally here! I love Nonfiction November because I get to share my love of nonfiction with the rest of the book blogging community and somehow end up with even more books on my never-ending to-read and to-buy lists.
Read more
nonfiction books
It’s Almost Nonfiction November, the Best Time of Year
I am so beyond excited to announce that in a few short weeks, Nonfiction November will be back, and with a brand new host: me!
I participated in Nonfiction November last year in my own quirky way by completing all of the though-provoking prompts in a single post, but in 2022 I’m doing it the way it’s meant to be done, one week at a time. And more than that, I’m hosting week 4!
Read more
Was Science Really Born in Ancient Greece?
There is no question more tempting to the historian of science than the age-old “When did science begin?” The most popular answer to this question has to be “Ancient Greece!” It was Carl Sagan’s answer, and it was Simon Singh’s. This week, I found that it was also Andrew Gregory’s answer.
Read more
Book Review: Bodies on the Line by Lauren Rankin
If there is one good thing that has come out of the fight for abortion rights this year, it is that there are so many great books coming out which tell the story from every angle. Published in April 2022, Lauren Rankin’s Bodies on the Line: At the Front Lines of the Fight to Protect Abortion in America is the go-to book to learn about the unsung heroes of the abortion access movement: clinic escorts.
Read more
Book Review: Wrath of Angels by James Risen and Judy Thomas
In the last month, we have heard countless Republicans and anti-abortion advocates trying to use the recent uptick in vandalism against crisis pregnancy centers as proof that the pro-abortion side is the side of violence. James Risen and Judy Thomas’s 1998 book Wrath of Angels: The American Abortion War blows that entire argument out of the water.
Read more
Book Review: Carl Sagan: A Life by Keay Davidson
Read moreAll his life, Carl Sagan was troubled by grand dichotomies—between reason and irrationalism, between wonder and skepticism. The dichotomies clashed within him.
. . . In the final analysis, he was the dichotomy: the prophet and the hard-boiled skeptic, the boyish fantasist and the ultrarigorous analyst, the warm companion and the brusque colleague, the oracle whose smooth exterior concealed inner fissures, which, in the end, only one woman would heal.
Keay Davidson, Carl Sagan: A life, p. 1
Book Review: Big Bang by Simon Singh
I have made a horrible mistake.
I allowed Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe by Simon Singh to sit on my bookshelf for three and a half years, unread. After finally reading this thrilling, enlightening, and entertaining book, I now know that all these years I was missing something great. And holographic.
Read more
Book Comparison: Two Brief Introductions to Human Evolution
Imagine that you’re standing in a bookstore or library. You want to learn about human evolution, but you don’t know where to start. You don’t want anything complicated; you just want to know the basics and to find out if it’s an interesting topic. You’re down to two books: either Bernard Wood’s Human Evolution: A Very Short Introduction (or A Brief Insight) or Silvana Condemi and François Savatier’s A Pocket History of Human Evolution: How We Became Sapiens. Which do you choose?
Read more
My 2022 Nonfiction Bookshelf Update
While my book collection has been constantly changing, it has been a while since I’ve posted an update on it. This is the perfect time to share my bookshelf with you since I actually just got a brand new one! Plus, there’s an exciting surprise at the end of this post.
I Did All of the Nonfiction November Prompts at Once
Even though Nonfiction November has been around for eight years and I have been writing nonfiction book reviews for four, I’ve never thought to participate in this nonfiction-loving event until now. It’s structured with five prompts: one per week, each hosted by a different book blogger. Because I post no more and no fewer than one post a week, and don’t want to miss out on posting my usual content in November, I decided to do them all at once! Or maybe it’s because I am simply a rebel. I think it’s a little bit of both.