Where is your nonfiction section please.
Every once in awhile I go on a spree of visiting my old home of France in my mind by reading a bunch of books about it. I did this over the summer again by finally picking up Peter Mayle's A Year in Provence, the book that kicked off the trend in recent decades of... Continue Reading →
Super late but better late than never when it comes to looking ahead to the year's new nonfiction, right? Right! Here's what's caught my eye in new and recent nonfiction releases: Longshot: The Inside Story of the Race for a COVID-19 Vaccine, by David Heath (January 18) - "Investigative journalist David Heath takes readers inside... Continue Reading →
It's the most wonderful time of the year: Christmas stresses are over and it's time for year-end favorites lists! I love dividing up my year's favorite books by new releases and backlist selections because it means I can include more books. Also, since my blogging has deteriorated into a truly awful state, I realized that... Continue Reading →
I've disappointed myself massively this year in terms of one of my favorite book events, Women in Translation Month. The wonderful Rachel@PaceAmoreLibri introduced me to this event and initiative a few years ago and I absolutely love it. Books published in English translations by female authors account for less than 31% of translated literature every... Continue Reading →
Is it ungodly hot where you are, like it's been in New York City these last weeks? Then let's go freeze our asses off in Tibet with French author Sylvain Tesson. One of my favorite authors (especially in translation), Tesson's latest book, 2019's award-winning La panthère des neiges, is published in English next week as... Continue Reading →
Review: Roadside Religion: In Search of the Sacred, the Strange, and the Substance of Faith, by Timothy Beal. Used or new @ SecondSale.com Perhaps you take to the road with the explicit aim of [...] discovering the world beyond your world. But what you end up discovering may be something more profoundly transformative and re-creative:... Continue Reading →
I'm guilty of sometimes buying a book because I like the cover. I'm not proud of this at all, but there you have it. Who isn't susceptible to some artistic influence from time to time? I also choose my edition on Goodreads based on the cover, even if I actually read a different one. So... Continue Reading →
Book review: The Border: A Journey Around Russia, by Erika Fatland, translated from Norwegian by Kari Dickson. Used or new @ SecondSale.com I turned and looked out at the grey ocean. Here, right here, is where Asia and mighty Russia end. In The Border: A Journey Around Russia, journalist and Sovietistan author Erika Fatland embarks... Continue Reading →
Is it cold where you are? Egads, it's freezing in New York City right now. A good excuse to round up some of my long-overdue reviews of books I'd love to share but haven't managed to writing reviews for. That's been a pattern the last year plus. And when is the best time to read... Continue Reading →
Writers on walking stretches of England, weaving memoir with nature and various musings, has become a popular little sub-genre. I'm intrigued but not totally sold on it yet. Let's explore two of them. "When it hurts," wrote the Polish poet Czeslaw Milosz, "we return to the banks of certain rivers," and I take comfort in... Continue Reading →
Quite the mixed bag today, eh? Although I try to avoid hard reading goals or challenges, I do set myself a soft challenge of reading at least one big book of Russian history every year. It's one of my favorite genres anyway and there are so many that it's a good way to make sure... Continue Reading →
Before I start on my 2020 favorites, I'd rather take a quick look ahead first. We're all hoping for a better 2021 -- eventually, at least -- so let's start there instead. Here are some upcoming nonfiction titles scheduled for early 2021 that I've got my eye on. Any of these on your list too?... Continue Reading →
What's Nonfiction? 