Admittedly, I am fond of nonfiction books dealing with some fairly gruesome topics. The flu pandemic of 1918, commonly referred to then and still today as the Spanish flu*, is indeed gruesome. It is also a fascinating historical event and author Spinney explores it comprehensively. Her writing is clear, the events presented in gripping detail, […]
This beautifully illustrated and simple to read book is an introduction to the pleasures and science behind forest bathing. The book is subtitled How Trees Can Help You Find Health and Happiness. Forest bathing is not taking a bath in the forest; it is immersing yourself using all your senses in the forest. Clinical research […]
Education is something many of us take for granted, and something we assume is denied only to those too poor or too disadvantaged to acquire. It’s easy to believe that never happens in the United States but Westover’s moving memoir proves that assumption wrong. Westover grew up in rural Idaho the daughter of survivalist Mormon […]
This book was fascinating on many levels: as a biography, as a description of one woman’s burgeoning intellectual journey, and as impassioned insight into how many women are treated under Islam. Ali describes her journey from her birth in Somalia to her subsequent homes in Saudia Arabia, Ethiopia and Kenya. After an arranged marriage she […]
This is a welcome sequel to Cohen’s first book Advanced Style [2014]. If you love people watching and appreciate fantastic looking, interesting women (and a few men) of a certain age, this book is a pleasure to page through. If you are a woman of a certain age, it’s a testament to the idea that […]
Beauty knows no national boundaries, and though cultures have different ideas about what is beautiful, one can still recognize that spark of beauty (inner and outer) when it presents itself to you. In this stunningly photographed book, Noroc takes us around the globe to meet women from a large number of cultures. Some photos are […]
As one reviewer said, “Few books could be more vital in this particular moment.” Helen Thorpe spends a year in the classroom at South High School in Denver that welcomes immigrants who don’t speak any English. She gets to know all the refugees including immigrants from Iraq, Democratic Republic of Congo, El Salvador, Mozambique, Burundi […]
Thanks to Masterpiece Theater and the film Imitation Game, many of us are familiar with the amazing code-breaking work done by our British allies at Bletchley Park outside London. At Bletchely a great chunk of the arduous decryption work was done by women–mostly young, well-educated, unmarried, and very eager to help the war effort. Here, […]
How Processed Food is Killing Us and What We Can Do About It (subtitle) Great introduction to a Whole Foods Plant Based (WFPB) diet, with some astounding and fascinating (and very sad) historical information about the history of racism in this country and how it is entwined with food and misdiagnosis of food related illness. […]
Do you speak Emoji? Wait—the correct question is, do you text Emoji? Another question: what is the difference between Emoji and an emoji? Cap e Emoji refers to the language system consisting of little pictographs used to add nuances of tone and meaning to our textual digital communications. Lower case e emoji refers to one […]
