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True Story

New Releases: True Crime and Medieval Queens

Hello! I’m sitting here with a passed-out cat and reflecting on how I am reading too many books right now, but also how this week’s nonfiction releases make me want to add even more to the list. It’s both not fair and really great. Keep those books comin’, authors!

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

Scoundrel by Sarah Weinman

Scoundrel: How a Convicted Murderer Persuaded the Women Who Loved Him, the Conservative Establishment, and the Courts to Set Him Free by Sarah Weinman

Weinman, author of The Real Lolita, which was very good, returns for another true crime book. This is about Edgar Smith, a man who in the ’60s was put on death row for murder. National Review founder William F. Buckley championed his cause, eventually resulting in Smith’s release, and then — yep, he tried to murder someone else. The whole story is here in Weinman’s book, so check out how on earth this happened.

Lifting Every Voice cover

Lifting Every Voice: My Journey from Segregated Roanoke to the Corridors of Power by William B. Robertson

Robertson tells his story as the first Black man to run for the Virginia General Assembly, his work to integrate a white school, and his support of the Black Lives Matter movement in his eighties. Robertson passed away in 2021, and the University of Virginia Press is publishing his memoir.

The Dark Queens cover

The Dark Queens: The Bloody Rivalry that Forged the Medieval World by Shelley Puhak

Is Shelley Puhak a historian? No! She is a poet and a professor of creative writing. BUT. This is a really fun story about a time popular culture never talks about — sixth century Merovingian France! I’m talking about Brunhild, I’m talking about Fredegund, I’m talking about Chilperic unfortunately (Chilperic sucks). It’s a really fascinating time in history and I totes recommend this.

Education Across Borders cover

Education Across Borders: Immigration, Race, and Identity in the Classroom by Patrick Sylvain, Jalene Tamerat, Marie Lily Cerat

Are you a teacher? Do you teach BIPOC students? This is a resource for K-12 educators serving BIPOC and/or first-generation students that’s all about inclusive pedagogy. The three teachers who contributed “draw on their experiences as immigrants and educators to address racial inequity in the classroom.” Teachers are amazing, and this book can maybe help them be even more amazing. Hurray!

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


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.