NON-FICTION ROUND-UP
Whenever my mom or I review a non-fiction book, we comment on the rarity of the genre appearing on our reading lists. And yet somehow, of the last 11 books I’ve read, seven were non-fiction! Year Of Yes I reviewed in November (read review here). But rather than choosing just two books to share with you this month, I’ve written a rapid-fire round-up and hope to spark more non-fiction interest on your reading list.
HOW TO BE PERFECT: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question
by Michael Schur
Written by the creator of NBC’s The Good Place, this book is both very funny, and taught me the history of moral philosophy. More than that, it gave me a framework of how to approach everyday and extraordinary decisions from a moral point of view. I highly recommend both the book and the television show.
HELLO, MOLLY! A Memoir
by Molly Shannon
In this memoir we have another very funny television personality as the author. Shannon had some very difficult moments in her life, which made this book a much tougher read than I anticipated. The story is amazing; the writing I would say is average.
WAYWARD LIVES, BEAUTIFUL EXPERIMENTS: Intimate Histories of Riotous Black Girls, Troublesome Women, and Queer Radicals
by Saidiya Hartman
This gorgeous, dark, difficult book was well worth the read. With prose-like poetry, Hartman weaves stories of Black women around the turn of the last century who don’t fit the mold or keep their heads down together with stories on how society punishes them. Many of the stories are based on figments and scraps, and yet they illuminate lives I never knew existed.
THE WARRIOR QUEENS
by Antonia Fraser
Frazer creates masterful, sweeping surveys of women in history and Warrior Queens is no exception. She starts with Queen Boudicea from 1st century Britain and builds her case from there all the way through to Indira Gandhi and Margaret Thatcher. Her thesis: There have always been warrior queens and whether they get their power by inheritance or might, they have faced the same adoration and approbation from the beginning of time. I wish the book had been published more recently than 1988 so that Fraser would have written about Hillary Clinton.
I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS
by Maya Angelou
File this under classics I thought I had read and realized after one chapter that I had not. A gorgeous book about a girl coming of age in a time and place when being young, Black and female made survival alone a major achievement. Angelou possesses a mastery of both language and imagery. No wonder this book has been a touchstone for so many writers and women for so long.
JUST KIDS
by Patti Smith
Just Kids was a surprise hit for me since I didn't really know that much about Patti Smith. Smith's autobiography focuses mainly on her relationship with Robert Maplethorpe, about whom I also knew very little. They lived their lives wild and hard, especially in their early years which were full of fascinating people and dreams. (Lily)
