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True Story

New Releases: Whitney Houston, King Tut, and TB

We did it. We made it through January. What a terrible month. January has decided to round things out in Chicago by having a constant drip on my bedroom air conditioner, DESPITE it being 20 degrees out, meaning the drip has solidified into a solid sheet of ice. Winter: so fun.

However, I am happy to talk about the facts and opinions that are being published this week in the world of nonfiction. You might think there’s a publishing lull in January/February, but there is not! So many things are coming out now, in particular this year. So scan those bookstore new release shelves, and definitely check out the below:

Tell Everyone On This Train I Love Them cover

Tell Everyone on This Train I Love Them by Maeve Higgins

Irish comedian Higgins, author of Maeve in America, writes about the Alamo, monuments, Tom Hardy, Paper Source, “love for the glamorous older women of Brighton Beach with tattooed eyeliner and gold jewelry, love for everybody on this train.” I am very in the mood for this sort of book, so I am delighted this is out with its extremely fun cover.

Phantom Plague cover

The Phantom Plague: How Tuberculosis Shaped History by Vidya Krishnan

The publisher calls it the “definitive social history of tuberculosis.” Krishnan looks at the slums of nineteenth century New York to current-day Mumbai and how, while tuberculosis has been seen as a disease of the past, “the cure was never available to black and brown nations.” I love social histories, I love when investigative journalists really INVESTIGATE something, and Krishnan does that here.

Treasured cover

Treasured: How Tutankhamun Shaped a Century by Christina Riggs

Did you know the first modern Egyptian revolution was in 1919, leading to the United Kingdom’s recognition of Egyptian independence in 1922? And that King Tutankhamun was excavated IN 1922! British archaeologist Howard Carter received the Order of the Nile, third class, from King Fuad I of Egypt. Fascinating. Anyway, this is a history of King Tut and his tomb from the last century. Super cool.

Didn't We Almost Have It All cover

Didn’t We Almost Have It All: In Defense of Whitney Houston by Gerrick Kennedy

I LOVE WHITNEY HOUSTON. What an amazing singer. This explores “Whitney’s life as both a woman in the spotlight and someone who often had to hide who she was.” I can’t believe this month will be a decade since she died (she was 48). Let’s all read this bio and listen to “Didn’t We Almost Have It All.” And then we can watch the Brandy Cinderella since Brandy also contributed the foreword to this book.

Make sure to get your own Read Harder Book Journal from Book Riot to track your reading for the year!


For more nonfiction reads, check out the For Real podcast which I co-host with the excellent Kim here at Book Riot. If you have any questions/comments/book suggestions, you can find me on social media @itsalicetime. Until next time, enjoy those facts, fellow nerds.

Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!