Lose Yourself in the World of Books
An Irreverent Guide I'd been looking forward to an Anthony Bourdain travel guide for years, hoping that eventually he would sit still long enough to write it. When he died, I thought we'd never get one and I was quite excited when it was announced that Laurie, his longtime assistant, would edit and assemble one… Continue reading World Travel by Anthony Bourdain
The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema When the world is crap, we need some brevity to cheer ourselves up. Shit, Actually, is that brevity - and I enjoy everything Lindy West writes, so reading this was a given. Synopsis From the publisher marketing:New York Times opinion writer and bestselling author Lindy West was once… Continue reading Shit, Actually by Lindy West
A Memoir in Thirteen Animals I've been waiting to write this review until I found the copy of the book that we're supposed to have on hand at the store. And when I finally gave up, I ordered another copy from the publisher. Right before we had to close our doors at the bookstore because… Continue reading How to Be a Good Creature by Sy Montgomery
Great Lives Worth Reliving Mobituaries was featured in the holiday catalog for the regional association for the indie bookstore I work at, and it really sold quite well for the holidays. When it came time to find a new audiobook to listen to before bed, I thought I'd give Mobituaries as try, not knowing it… Continue reading Mobituaries by Mo Rocca
Life is What You Make It As a long time Mythbusters fan and maker, I've always enjoyed watching Adam on television. When I found out he was writing his memoir/maker manifesto, I couldn't read it fast enough. Unfortunately I didn't get an advance copy, so I had to wait along with everyone else. Thankfully, it… Continue reading Every Tool’s a Hammer by Adam Savage
The Wisdom of Calculus in a Madcap World I love all things pop-math. As a former math teacher and currently still nerdy math lover, I love when authors and creative minded people take complex math concepts and make them relatable and understandable for all people. Synopsis From the Front Flap:From the author of the beloved… Continue reading Change is the Only Constant by Ben Orlin
Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems As I loved Randall's first book, What If?, when an advance copy of the follow up How To became available, I jumped at the chance to read it. Synopsis From the Inside Flap:For any task might want to do, there's a right way, a wrong way, and a… Continue reading How To by Randall Munroe
The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers Originally a selection for my old book club, the Modern Readers, which alas, no longer exists. I started it back in October of 2016 for said club and just recently got around to finishing it. Synopsis From the back cover:Stiff is an oddly compelling, often hilarious exploration of the… Continue reading Stiff by Mary Roach
The Secret Life of Dictionaries It's another nonfiction book club pick! As someone who is fascinated by books and journalism, I'm really not all that interested in the English language and how it functions - I never really learned grammar properly, and (as I'm sure this post and others can verify) am often in need… Continue reading Word by Word by Kory Stamper
Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World In March I attended my first book buyer's retreat and was grumbling about the fact that all the publishers were sending me fiction books - didn't they know that some book buyers really prefer nonfiction? Until, finally, the last book arrived before I made my way up to… Continue reading Range by David Epstein
Celebration of Books 