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True Story

Remembering Joan Didion and E.O. Wilson

Hello and belated happy new year, nonfiction friends! I hope your holiday season was restful and restorative, and you were able to spend time with your family (or chosen family) in ways that felt safe and rejuvenating.

If you’ll indulge me for a minute, I’d like to open this edition with a cheer that Episode 100 of For Real, Book Riot’s nonfiction podcast, came out this week. Alice and I have been recording the podcast since March 2018, and it’s been a real joy. If you haven’t listened before, it’s a fun and chatty episode – we talk about our podcast origin story, the bookish internet of the 2010s, and some of our favorite non-nonfiction books.

For the first newsletter of 2022, I want to catch up on some of the nonfiction news that came out in the last few weeks. Let’s get to it!

book cover the year of magical thinking by joan didion

In late December, pioneering journalist and essayist Joan Didion passed away at the age of 87. As a former journalist, Didion has always been one of my favorite writers – she had a distinctive voice and amazing observational skills that she honed at a time when it was a particular challenge for female writers to take on the “new journalism” style that men were exploring. Later in life, she also wrote two stunning books about loss – The Year of Magical Thinking and Blue Nights – that guided me during a period of deep grief. If you’ve never read any of Didion’s work, Book Riot has a reading pathway that I highly recommend.

Science writer E.O. Wilson also passed away at age 92. Throughout his career, Wilson “pioneered the study of biological diversity” and added some important theoretical support to ideas about conservation. Wilson won two Pulitzer prizes for his work – On Human Nature (1979) and The Ants (1991).

book cover the devil in the white city

Keanu Reeves may be starring in Hulu’s adaptation of The Devil in the White City. Attempts to adapt Eric Larson’s book have been in the news since as early as 2003, but the news about Hulu didn’t break until 2019. Leonardo diCaprio and Martin Scorsese are set to executive produce. I’m deeply interested in this Keanu news!

And finally! After a lengthy trial and multi-week deliberations, Elizabeth Holmes has been found guilty of four charges of defrauding investors to her company, Theranos. I am anxiously awaiting the final episode of Bad Blood: The Final Chapter, to get journalist John Carreyrou’s take on the end of the trial and the verdict – hopefully that’s coming soon!

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

One Thing I Like

Since the new year, I’ve rediscovered my love for classical music. In particular, I’ve really enjoyed listening to Yo-Yo Ma cello music, including his latest release, Notes for the Future, and some of the brief pieces he shares on Instagram.

I found two nonfiction connections for this pick – a children’s book, Playing at the Border: A Story of Yo-Yo Ma by Joanna Ho and Teresa Martinez, and an Audible original, Beginner’s Mind, written and narrated by Yo-Yo Ma. I’m on the lookout for both.


For more nonfiction reads, head over to the podcast service of your choice and download For Real, which I co-host with my dear friend Alice. If you have any questions/comments/book suggestions, you can find me on social media @kimthedork. Happy weekend!

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True Story

2022 Nonfiction to Look Forward To

Well! Throw 2021 in the garbage, here we are in 2022. New books! New first-time authors! New subjects for those books to explore. Is anything else even happening in the world? Probably, but we’re here to talk about BOOKS.

I picked a SMATTERING of new reads coming out that look interesting. Everyone get hyped:

THIS WEEK

The First Black Archaeologist: A Life of John Wesley Gilbert by John W.I. Lee

Let’s Get Physical: How Women Discovered Exercise and Reshaped the World by Danielle Friedman

The Artisans: A Vanishing Chinese Village by Shen Fuyu, Jeremy Tiang (Translated by)

JANUARY TO FEBRUARY

Admissions by Kendra James cover

Admissions: A Memoir of Surviving Boarding School by Kendra James

JAN 18. I love boarding school books, and this is nonfiction! Even better. James was the first African American legacy student to graduate from The Taft School (I looked it up! it is in Connecticut and looks like where a British country house murder would take place). She became an admissions officer specializing in diversity recruitment. This position “forced her to reflect on her own elite education experience, and to realize how disillusioned she had become with America’s inequitable system.” She covers her own time at Taft as well as the experience of working there. LOOKS GREAT.

Phantom Plague cover

Phantom Plague: How Tuberculosis Shaped History by Vidya Krishnan

FEB 1. Maybe this is because I love opera AND Victorian lit, but I feel like I’ve heard just so much about tuberculosis and how much it has ravaged the world. So this looks v interesting. The publisher is calling 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.” Also, now there is an antibiotic-resistant version of TB, so there is that. This also looks really good!

Woodsqueer cover

Woodsqueer: Crafting a Sustainable Rural Life by Gretchen Legler

FEB 15. Hahahaha sometimes I pick a book just for me. Legler left her busy life to live on a farm in rural Maine with her partner Ruth. That sentence is a delight. They befriend wildlife just like Snow White and barter with neighbors, which I would just love to do, because it sounds extremely fun (“really, Steve? I offer you a chicken and you give me this watering can? This chicken is worth at least three watering cans and you are very aware of that”). Also I love this cover. And it’s a university press book! What! So fun.

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.

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True Story

2021 Nonfiction Highlights: Part II

Here we are! More subjective highlights from the nonfiction world for this closing year. I hope you’ve had the chance to read at least some of the excellent nonfiction that managed to get published during this Time we’re all living through.

I’m delighted to be able to put a spotlight on some of these titles again, because they deserve it. Here we go:

Punch Me Up to the Gods a memoir

Punch Me Up to the Gods: A Memoir by Brian Broome

It’s so good! Broome tells the story of his growing up in less than ideal circumstances, including when he burned down his house, and what it has been like being a queer Black man who feels tremendous isolation. The book is centered around the Gwendolyn Brooks poem “We Real Cool” and is excellent and everyone should read it.

Horse Girls Cover

Horse Girls: Recovering, Aspiring, and Devoted Riders Redefine the Iconic Bond ed. by Halimah Marcus

This book just makes me want to pull out my Breyer horses and start drawing them like I did in fifth grade. It’s a collection of essays written by self-professed horse girls, including Carmen Maria Machado, Jane Smiley, and Sarah Enelow-Snyder— who writes about growing up as a Black barrel racer in central Texas. So many horse-related career and hobby options!

Wake cover

Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts by Rebecca Hall, Illustrated by Hugo Martínez

This graphic memoir and history of women-led slave revolts rejects the popularly-held idea that slave revolts were solely led by men. Hall, the granddaughter of enslaved people, combs through “old court records, slave ship captain’s logs, crumbling correspondence, and even the forensic evidence from the bones of enslaved women from the ‘negro burying ground’ uncovered in Manhattan.” Deeply researched AND illustrated AND about a little-known women-centered topic.

Arbornaut cover

The Arbornaut: A Life Discovering the Eighth Continent in the Trees Above Us by Meg Lowman

You know how sometimes, someone is such a nerd about something that it just grabs you? Ok yes, this might be connected to the horse girls book in terms of passionate nerdery, but THIS time, it is about life in the treetops, or “the eighth continent” as Lowman will have. She’s a “tree-top scientist” and goes from Australian rainforests to the Scottish highlands, and shares what life is like up in the trees. So cool.

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


For more nonfiction new releases, 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.

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True Story

Some of Book Riot’s Best Nonfiction Coverage

Hello hello hello, nonfiction friends! Due to the timing of the holidays, this is actually the last Friday send of True Story you’ll be getting in 2021. This year has truly just flown by for me, although many days, weeks, and months felt incredibly long. 

To round out the year, I’d like to use this edition of the newsletter to highlight some of my favorite nonfiction-related posts on Book Riot from the last six-ish months. There’s been some incredible writing there that I haven’t shared enough. In no particular order: 

If you need a pep talk, Dee suggests some of the most empowering nonfiction

If the brain fascinates you, Summer recommends books about the mind.

If you’re thinking about money, Neha rounds up some investment books for beginners.

If you’re a winter sports lover, Liberty collected great books about skiing and snowboarding.

If you love true crime but hate violence, Ashley has a great round up of true crime comics that aren’t about killers.

If you want to expand your nonfiction horizons, Rebecca suggests great nonfiction in translation and the best genre-bending nonfiction of 2021. She also wrote a great post on the book-length essay.

If you want to learn more about the death positive movement, Caitlin explains what that is and suggests some books for newbies.

If you’re interested in climate change or capitalism, Sarah rounds up some books at the intersection of both.

If you’re a sucker for an oral history (like I am), Aisling has eight awesome ones to suggest.

If the last two years have you thinking about public health, Jamie has gathered some impactful books talking about how important it is

If you love a good nonfiction debate, check out Yashvi’s suggestions for the best nonfiction books of the decade.

If things are feeling a bit dark lately, Kelly wrote about books on wonder and sparking joy.

If you love to read about reading, Senjuti rounds up excellent bibliomemoirs (such a good word).

If you need to brush up on critical race theory, Mikkaka suggests some books to help you make sense of the hubbub.

There’s so much more great stuff on the site, so definitely head over there to explore the nonfiction tag

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

One Thing I Like

I’ve been an avid bullet journal devotee for the last five or so years, so one ritual I always appreciate is wrapping up one journal and starting the next. My journals usually last about a year, so this is the time where I start to think about what new notebook I’m going to use, what changes I want to make, and what goals I want to think about in the next year. 

book cover the bullet journal method

One book I like to revisit is The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll, the “inventor” of bullet journaling. Caroll’s explanation of the system avoids all of the bells and whistles and fancy spreads you’ll see on Instagram to talk about how bullet journaling is really more about mindfulness than productivity. I also appreciate that the system is flexible, and allows you to plan based on what you need at a given moment. It’s been effective for me, and I can’t wait to use the new year as an opportunity to recenter.


For more nonfiction reads, head over to the podcast service of your choice and download For Real, which I co-host with my dear friend Alice. If you have any questions/comments/book suggestions, you can find me on social media @kimthedork. Happy weekend!

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True Story

2021 Nonfiction Highlights: Part I

Goodness gracious, we’re near the end of the year.Year 2022 is almost upon us, and with it, almost assuredly the prospect of my wife singing “22” by Taylor Swift nonstop.

I’m gonna spend some of December looking at some excellent nonfiction from 2021. Let’s begin!

White Feminism: From the Suffragettes to Influencers and Who They Leave Behind by Koa Beck

This is one of several books about white feminism that came out this year! Others include Against White Feminism and The Trouble with White Women. Koa Beck’s looks at how popular feminism has historically centered white women (predominantly those in the middle-to-upper classes) and the issues central to them. This is important to know about! Especially if you are a white lady like me. This one came out in January, so if you get it for your 2022 reading, you can read it on its one year birthday. Exciting.

You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories about Racism by Amber Ruffin, Lacey Lamar

I listened to this on a road trip with my wife and sister-in-law, and it’s hilarious, but also starkly sobering. Amber Ruffin’s sister Lacey has to deal with a huge number of microaggressions on a daily basis, and having them laid out in story after story (some are macro, just as a side note) is extremely impactful. This sticks out as one of the books from 2021 that will stay with me the most.

Follow the Flock cover

Follow the Flock: How Sheep Shaped Human Civilization by Sally Coulthard

SHEEP. Sheep and their wool have had a tremendous impact on civilization and this book is here to tell you all about it. The number of times I started thinking about the properties of wool after this book, I cannot tell you. This is for if you want a nice relaxing book that’s just here to tell you some sheep facts. That’s its whole aim. I love it. More animal fact books, please.

Queer Icons and Their Cats Cover

Queer Icons and Their Cats by Alison Nastasi, PJ Nastasi

Obviously I am highlighting the queer people with their cats book. Look, we’ve got Alison Bechdel, we’ve got James Baldwin, Marlene Dietrich, JUJUBEE (see: cover). It has “amewsing” anecdotes and “impawtent” moments, language I would probably have found insufferable before I adopted my cats, and now I am completely charmed by it. This is clearly a perfect book for any queer person you know who is v into cats.

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. And don’t miss Book Riot’s new podcast Adaptation Nation, all about TV and film adaptations of awesome books. If you have any questions/comments/book suggestions, you can find me on social media @itsalicetime. Until next time, enjoy those facts, fellow nerds.

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True Story

Reading More about Doing Less

Happiest of Fridays, nonfiction friends! I don’t know about you, but the last couple of weeks have kicked me in the behind. Some potent mixture of work projects, holiday celebrations, travel planning, pandemic anxiety, and early darkness has left me feeling like doing little more than eating carbs and going to bed super early. 

It’s also got me thinking a lot about doing less and the ways in which we can all learn to cut ourselves some slack. It seems like that’s been a common theme for several years, resulting in many books on my TBR about this topic. Here are three on my list:

book cover drop the ball by tiffany dufu

Drop the Ball: Achieving More by Doing Less by Tiffany Dufu

This memoir, targeted specifically at women, is a call to action to let go and do less. Tiffany Dufu, a self-described “poster child for doing it all,” writes about realizing how difficult it felt to pursue her career and personal goals after the birth of her first child. Eventually, she came to the realization that the only way to move forward was to let go – change expectations, reduce her to-dos, and get help from others. This is the most achievement-oriented of the books on my list, but I suspect it will resonate with many people. 

book cover laziness does not exist by devon price

Laziness Does Not Exist by Devon Price

Devon Price is another recovering overachiever. After finishing college and graduate school early, they were diagnosed with anemia and heart complications from overexertion. This prompted an exploration into the “laziness lie” – an idea that began with the Puritans and continues to this day. The book looks at how people today work more than ever but feel like we’re not doing enough and how digital tools have contributed to this feeling of overwork. 

book cover the art of the wasted day by patrica hampl

The Art of the Wasted Day by Patricia Hampl

This book is an exploration of leisure and an exploration of people who have found ways to disconnect from the demands of their lives to pursue lives of leisure in their own ways. In the book, Hampl goes off on pilgrimages to visit historical figures, as well as traces her own history and fascination with doing nothing and the things that letting go can bring. I loved this line from the description: “The real job of being human, Hampl finds, is getting lost in thought, something only leisure can provide.”

One Thing I Like

podcast graphic for bad blood the final chapter

Although I’ve mentioned it in past newsletter editions, I want to give another call out to John Carreyrou’s new podcast Bad Blood: The Final Chapter. The 11 episodes, so far, have been a satisfying extension of the work he did writing about Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos in Bad Blood. Each episode explores a new angle of the story, incorporating new reporting, additional audio sources, and testimony from the trial happening right now. It’s fascinating and highly recommended!

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


For more nonfiction reads, head over to the podcast service of your choice and download For Real, which I co-host with my dear friend Alice. If you have any questions/comments/book suggestions, you can find me on social media @kimthedork. Happy weekend! 

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True Story

New Releases: Garbo, Ballroom

Does anyone have tips for getting through just massive nonfiction? I feel like my main thing is to do a readalong, but I have found that unless I am the HOST of the readalong, the odds I will finish it are still like 50%. Mind you, it’s the same for fiction with me, but this is a nonfiction newsletter, so here we are.

I picked up that book about the Sackler family and before I knew it, it was due back at the library with me having read like 20 pages because I got distracted by other books (classic). But I liked Say Nothing, so I’ll probably like this! Oh well, here we are. Onto new books!

And the Category Is cover

And the Category Is…: Inside New York’s Vogue, House, and Ballroom Community by Ricky Tucker

BALLROOM. The “underground subculture founded over a century ago by LGBTQ African American and Latinx men and women of Harlem,” now occasionally referenced on RuPaul’s Drag Race, but here laid out in all its fascinating glory. Tucker splits the chapters up into “categories,” like Vogue, Realness, Body — i.e. Ballroom categories — and features an interview with Ballroom members. Read this and watch Paris Is Burning. Sounds like an excellent weekend.

Vivian Maier Developed cover

Vivian Maier Developed: The Untold Story of the Photographer Nanny by Ann Marks

Remember when someone found Maier’s photographs in a Chicago storage locker? They went viral in 2009, which I remember because Chicago especially went bonkers over them. The history museum had an exhibit where you could wander through giant versions of the photographs, and she’s just so good. Maier worked as a nanny for apps. 40 years and took over 150,000 photos during that time. And now there is a biography of her!

The Making of Juana of Austria cover

The Making of Juana of Austria: Gender, Art, and Patronage in Early Modern Iberia by Noelia García Pérez

Oh man, what’s better than a book on Juana of Austria, someone we definitely all know about? A book of ESSAYS on Juana of Austria. Ok yeah, I definitely did not know who this was, but #womenshistory. If anyone knows about Philip II of Spain being Elizabeth I’s brother-in-law and then later sending the Spanish Armada after her — ok, so this is his sister. She became Princess of Portugal, a very fun title. “Wait, why is she ‘of Austria'” you might very rightly ask. It’s because the Habsburgs interbred TOO MUCH, and with her other titles, she was “Archduchess of Austria, Infanta of Castile and of Aragon, and princess of Burgundy.” THIS IS WHY YOUR JAWS ARE LIKE THAT. Anyway, she was smart and a good ruler (according to Wikipedia) and this looks like a delight.

Garbo cover

Garbo: Her Life, Her Films by Robert Gottlieb

Did you know Greta Garbo stopped making films at age 36? Just like that, her reputation — solidified. If I stopped doing my stuff now, people would be like “oh yeah, didn’t she say something funny once about some person from history? Oh, that was Sarah Vowell, nm.” But GARBO. She came to Hollywood from Sweden at nineteen and did her Garbo thing and made an extremely great impression and everyone loved her and now she’s mainly known for “I vant to be alone,” which is real relatable for 2021. GARBO.

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. And don’t miss Book Riot’s new podcast Adaptation Nation, all about TV and film adaptations of awesome books. If you have any questions/comments/book suggestions, you can find me on social media @itsalicetime. Until next time, enjoy those facts, fellow nerds.

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True Story

Upcoming Books from Hannah Gatsby, Patrick Radden Keefe

Happy Friday, friends! This week has positively flown by, which makes me feel like the rest of the year will be over before we see it coming. I’m feeling a little stretched thin right now, with some work projects and volunteer commitments converging in a way that’s stressing me out… so I’m going to skip the rest of the preamble and get right to the news. 

For a final time, don’t forget, we’re hiring an Advertising Sales Manager! Do you like books and comics? Does helping advertisers reach an enthusiastic community of book and comics lovers intrigue you? This might be your job. Apply by December 5, 2021.

book cover ten steps to nanette by hannah gatsby

Hannah Gatsby is releasing a memoir in 2022! Ten Steps to Nanette will be released in March and “explore Gatsby’s path from the open mic to the global stage.” In addition to her professional and personal accomplishments, it will also explore her growth as a queer person and her struggles with autism and ADHD. 

Looking for an audiobook? The New York Times recommends several to download this winter, based on some formats they think work especially well – essay and oral history. 

Curious about formats in young adult nonfiction? In a recent edition of Book Riot’s YA newsletter, What’s Up in YA?, editor Kelly Jensen linked to a fascinating article about the five kinds of nonfiction that have evolved in the YA format. That’s a growing segment of nonfiction, so I thought it was interesting to learn about some of the categories and how they’ve changed. 

Author Hanif Abdurraqib shared an absolutely infuriating experience on Twitter about trying to get certified as a volunteer soccer coach. I don’t have any commentary, I just think it’s important to read.

Patrick Radden Keefe announced the title of his next book! Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels, and Crooks is coming out in June from Doubleday Books and will be a collection of articles from The New Yorker with themes of “skulduggery and intrigue.” I’m in!

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

One Thing I Like

book cover here for it by r. eric thomas

One of my favorite email newsletters is Here for It w/ R. Eric Thomas, which arrives every Sunday. A couple weeks ago he wrote about the cultural ceremony around a new Adele album, which made me feel seen and teased all at the same time and I don’t even mind it. This summer, he wrote a whole piece on artistic swimming, which was a hoot if you, like me, also love the Olympics. 

The nonfiction connection? R. Eric Thomas is the author of Here for It, or How to Save Your Soul in America, an awesome collection of essays about what it means to be “other” in the world. He’s done a lot of other stuff too, but this book and the newsletter are a great start.


For more nonfiction reads, head over to the podcast service of your choice and download For Real, which I co-host with my dear friend Alice. If you have any questions/comments/book suggestions, you can find me on social media @kimthedork. Happy weekend! 

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True Story

New Releases: December 1

Holidays! What a minefield. I find the holidays can bring you closer to certain books, because sometimes you just have to lock yourself in a room away from other people and save your sanity by reading. And then you love those books forever, because they were There for You.

That being said, I hope your holidays are stress-free, but still filled with books. Maybe some of these new releases! Let’s look at ’em:

Dark Tourist cover

Dark Tourist: Essays by Hasanthika Sirisena

Sirisena is an English professor who was born in Sri Lanka but grew up in North Carolina. In her essay collection, she looks at the places where personal identity meets history, including “the 1961 plane crash that left a nuclear warhead buried near her North Carolina hometown, juxtaposed with reflections on her father’s stroke,” her coming to grips with her queer identity while in Chicago, and “the ways that the permanent aftereffects of a severe eye injury have shaped her thinking about disability and self-worth.” This looks really, really good, and side note: I love the cover.

Disorientation Cover

Disorientation: Being Black in the World by Ian Williams

Williams is a Canadian poet and author of fiction and nonfiction, as well as a professor at the University of British Columbia. I know I just said I loved the cover of the previous new release, but I love this one too! Excellent job, designers. Williams was “[s]purred by the police killings and street protests of 2020” and here “offers a perspective that is distinct from that of U.S. writers addressing similar themes. Williams has lived in Trinidad (where he was never the only Black person in the room), in Canada (where he often was), and in the United States (where as a Black man from the Caribbean, he was a different kind of ‘only’).” These experiences all lend to his views on living life as a Black man in different environments.

Elizabeth Stuart cover

Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Hearts by Nadine Akkerman

Yeah, like I’m not gonna include an obscure history new release in this list. Elizabeth Stuart was the daughter of James VI and I, the first monarch to reign over a united England and Scotland. She married someone who became King of Bohemia, but only for a year, garnering her the nickname “the Winter Queen” due to her husband’s reign lasting one winter (harsh but fair). Anyway, this is a bio of her, so if that’s your sort of thing, have at it!

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


We’re hiring an Advertising Sales Manager! Do you like books and comics? Does helping advertisers reach an enthusiastic community of book and comics lovers intrigue you? This might be your job. Apply by December 5, 2021.

For more nonfiction reads, check out the For Real podcast which I co-host with the excellent Kim here at Book Riot. And don’t miss Book Riot’s new podcast Adaptation Nation, all about TV and film adaptations of awesome books. If you have any questions/comments/book suggestions, you can find me on social media @itsalicetime. Until next time, enjoy those facts, fellow nerds.

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True Story

Things We Think About After Thanksgiving

Hello fellow nonfiction nerds! If you’re lucky enough to have the day off today, I hope you’re able to spend it in a way you find relaxing and fulfilling. If you’re working or out in public, I hope people are kind and you’re able to find some peace as the holiday season kicks off. 

Today, the day after Thanksgiving, has a lot of different meanings too. For some, it’s a big day of shopping. For others, it’s a chance to reflect on the history of Indigenous people in the United States. Luckily, I have a couple of book recommendations for both!

Don’t forget! We’re hiring an Advertising Sales Manager! Do you like books and comics? Does helping advertisers reach an enthusiastic community of book and comics lovers intrigue you? This might be your job. Apply by December 5, 2021.

If You’re Thinking About Black Friday

consumed by aja barber

Consumed: The Need for Collective Change: Colonialism, Climate Change, and Consumerism by Aja Barber

In this book, Aja Barber digs into the fast fashion industry to explore how a culture of consumption is creating an environmental crisis. She also looks at how social media algorithms push shopping and purchasing, the racist and dangerous history of the textile industry, and how we can unlearn our habits about consumption for a better future. This one seems absolutely great – but if you’re interested in a sneak peek first, I suggest this interview with Barber on the Forever35 podcast.

book cover the day the world stops shopping by jb mackinnon

The Day the World Stops Shopping: How Ending Consumerism Saves the Environment and Ourselves by J.B. MacKinnon 

The premise of this book is a bit of a thought experiment – what would happen if we just stopped shopping? To answer, journalist J.B. MacKinnon set out to find answers from big box stores to tribal communities that consume at a perfectly sustainable rate. But then, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic happened… creating an opportunity to see the impacts of less consumption in real time. 

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

If You’re Thinking About Native American Heritage Day

cover image of An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

There are more than 500 federally recognized Indigenous nations in the United States, descendants of the more than 15 million Native Americans who once lived here. In this book, historian and activist Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz presents a history of the United States from the perspective of Indigenous people. She also connects this history of resistance to current events and struggles being led by Indigenous peoples.

book cover the heartbeat of wounded knee by daavid treuer

The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present by David Treuer

A common idea about Native American history is that it basically ended in 1890 with the massacre at Wounded Knee. In this book, Ojibwe historian David Treuer explores a different narrative – that the story of contemporary Native Americans is “one of unprecedented resourcefulness and reinvention.” The book blends history, reporting, and memoir to look at actions taken against Indigenous people and how they have pushed back.

One Thing I Like

book cover the art of gathering by priya parker

Turns out I can finish reading books! Last week I sped through The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters by Priya Parker. Parker is a facilitator and conflict resolution expert who has facilitated gatherings for a variety of complex groups and gatherings. In this book, Parker argues that when we rely on routines and conventions we end up with gatherings that are boring or don’t meet their intended purpose.

She then walks through the steps she takes to help forge meaningful and memorable experiences at each gathering. Her steps are actionable and hopeful, and she uses her vast experience to show successes and failures in various gatherings. It’s really fascinating! If you’re not ready for a full book, Parker also has an email newsletter that I’ve really enjoyed too.


For more nonfiction reads, head over to the podcast service of your choice and download For Real, which I co-host with my dear friend Alice. If you have any questions/comments/book suggestions, you can find me on social media @kimthedork. Happy weekend!