Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green

Title: Everything is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection

Author: John Green

Publisher: Crash Course Books 2025

Genre: Nonfiction - Science, History

Pages: 208

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; Nonfiction Reader

Where I Got It: Preordered in 2025!

Tuberculosis has been entwined with hu­manity for millennia. Once romanticized as a malady of poets, today tuberculosis is seen as a disease of poverty that walks the trails of injustice and inequity we blazed for it.

In 2019, author John Green met Henry Reider, a young tuberculosis patient at Lakka Government Hospital in Sierra Leone. John be­came fast friends with Henry, a boy with spindly legs and a big, goofy smile. In the years since that first visit to Lakka, Green has become a vocal advocate for increased access to treatment and wider awareness of the healthcare inequi­ties that allow this curable, preventable infec­tious disease to also be the deadliest, killing over a million people every year.

In Everything Is Tuberculosis, John tells Henry’s story, woven through with the scientific and social histories of how tuberculosis has shaped our world—and how our choices will shape the future of tuberculosis.

I really appreciate John Green’s ability to weave hard science and history with emotional human stories and somehow not make it seem trite or manipulative. We get a comprehensive history of tuberculosis, its place in society, and current state. We get some beautiful and tragic human stories weaving in and out. I really loved hearing personal stories of dealing with the disease. Along the way, Green also includes his own commentary about his obsession with tuberculosis. I absolutely loved this short book.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Kinky History by Esmé Louise James

Title: Kinky History: A Rollicking Journey Through Our Sexual Past, Present, and Future

Author: Esmé Louise James

Publisher: Tarcher 2024

Genre: Nonfiction - History, Science

Pages: 320

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Nonfiction Reader

Where I Got It: Library

Contrary to popular belief, our predecessors had all sorts of obscene hobbies long before Christian Greyhit the scene. In this enlightening romp, learn about the first instances of homosexuality on record from the ancient world and the diverse history of nonbinary gender; encounter a thousand years’ worth of hilarious and horrifying contraceptive methods; consider the positive and negative effects of the widespread availability of pornography in the digital age—and how our relationship to it changed during the pandemic; take a sneaky riffle through centuries of bedside drawers; and discover the dirty little secrets of luminaries such as Julius Caesar, James Joyce, Albert Einstein, and Virginia Woolf.

Esmé Louise James also identifies the key tipping points that directly inform current beliefs around sex to place the past in conversation with the present. By educating ourselves about the weird, wonderful, and varied spectrum of human sexuality and experience, we can normalize and destigmatize sex, write people of marginalized sexual identities back into the pages of history, and build toward a more liberated future..

A friend recommended the author based on her Instagram reels. I started following her and loved her little historical tidbits. And then I found out that she wrote a book and had to immediately read it. Diving in, James writes just like her instagram voice, funny and yet full of information. We go on an exploration of sex in history dispelling many myths along the way. I loved the inclusion of various historical figures as attendees of our dinner party. They added an interesting human element to the statistics and deep research. This book is not for those afraid of talking about sex in detail. And yet, I think that it should be required reading for adults. Having honest conversations with each other should be number one. I really enjoyed this one.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Secret Lives of Color by Kassia St. Clair

Title: The Secret Lives of Color

Author: Kassia St. Clair

Publisher: Penguin Books 2016

Genre: Nonfiction

Pages: 284

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: COYER; Nonfiction Reader

Where I Got It: Kindle

The Secret Lives of Color tells the unusual stories of seventy-five fascinating shades, dyes, and hues. From blonde to ginger, the brown that changed the way battles were fought to the white that protected against the plague, Picasso’s blue period to the charcoal on the cave walls at Lascaux, acid yellow to kelly green, and from scarlet women to imperial purple, these surprising stories run like a bright thread throughout history.

In this book, Kassia St. Clair has turned her lifelong obsession with colors and where they come from (whether Van Gogh’s chrome yellow sunflowers or punk’s fluorescent pink) into a unique study of human civilization. Across fashion and politics, art and war, the secret lives of color tell the vivid story of our culture. 

I randomly picked this from my backlog of Kindle selections. I enjoyed a light journey through various historical vignettes about colors. I liked learning specific shades. There’s a lot of history in here that obviously took a lot of research. It didn’t surprise me that so many colors involve various toxins and poisons. An interesting read in between all my more serious books.

Next up on the TBR pile:

A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks by David Gibbins

Title: A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks

Author: David Gibbins

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press 2024

Genre: Nonfiction - History

Pages: 289

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Nonfiction Reader

Where I Got It: Library

The Viking warship of King Cnut the Great. Henry VIII's the Mary Rose. Captain John Franklin's doomed HMS Terror. The SS Gairsoppa, destroyed by a Nazi U-boat in the Atlantic during World War II.

Since we first set sail on the open sea, ships and their wrecks have been an inevitable part of human history. Archaeologists have made spectacular discoveries excavating these sunken ships, their protective underwater cocoon keeping evidence of past civilizations preserved. Now, for the first time, world renowned maritime archeologist David Gibbins ties together the stories of some of the most significant shipwrecks in time to form a single overarching narrative of world history.

Of course I was going to grab the book about shipwrecks. I have a weird obsessions with ghost ships and shipwrecks. Diving into this book, I was hoping for some great shipwrecks stories and information about underwater archaeology. We got some, but then a ton more super detailed history about the time the ships went down. Some of the chapters started to even bore me and I love reading history books. This one would have benefited from a more narrative style than the dry recitation of history with some shipwreck finds thrown in.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Story of Evolution in 25 Discoveries by Donald R. Prothero

Title: The Story of Evolution in 25 Discoveries: The Evidence and the People Who Found It

Author: Donald R. Prothero

Publisher: Columbia University 2020

Genre: Nonfiction - Science

Pages: 376

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf Project

Where I Got It: The Nook, Cedar Falls IA

The theory of evolution unites the past, present, and future of living things. It puts humanity’s place in the universe into necessary perspective. Despite a history of controversy, the evidence for evolution continues to accumulate as a result of many separate strands of amazing scientific sleuthing.

In The Story of Evolution in 25 Discoveries, Donald R. Prothero explores the most fascinating breakthroughs in piecing together the evidence for evolution. In twenty-five vignettes, he recounts the dramatic stories of the people who made crucial discoveries, placing each moment in the context of what it represented for the progress of science. He tackles topics like what it means to see evolution in action and what the many transitional fossils show us about evolution, following figures from Darwin to lesser-known researchers as they unlock the mysteries of the fossil record, the earth, and the universe. The book also features the stories of animal species strange and familiar, including humans―and our ties to some of our closest relatives and more distant cousins. Prothero’s wide-ranging tales showcase awe-inspiring and bizarre aspects of nature and the powerful insights they give us into the way that life works.

I grabbed this last summer from the used bin at a bookstore (The Nook) in Cedar Falls, Iowa. I was hoping for a fun adventure through what we know about evolution. And that’s exactly what we got! I love how every chapter is its own mini book. You can do a deep dive into a variety of topics within evolution in this one volume. I was especially fascinated by chapter tracing animal lineage. We get to see exactly how our understanding of topics have changed over the decades. I loved it so much that I had to pass it on to a friend. And I will be adding it to Arthur’s required reading in high school. In the end, I will be putting Prothero’s other texts onto my TBR pile.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Behind the Horror by Lee Mellor

Title: Behind the Horror: True Stories that Inspired Horror Movies

Author: Lee Mellor

Publisher: DK 2020

Genre: Nonfiction - True Crime

Pages: 288

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library

Where I Got It: Library

Which case of demonic possession inspired The Exorcist? What horrifying front-page story generated the idea for A Nightmare on Elm Street? Which film was based on the infamous skin-wearing murderer Ed Gein?

Unearth the terrifying and true tales behind some of the scariest Horror movies to ever haunt our screens, including the Enfield poltergeist case that was retold in The Conjuring 2 and the serial killers who inspired Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs.

Behind the Horror dissects these and other bizarre tales to reveal haunting real-life stories of abduction, disappearance, murder, and exorcism.

Overall, the stories behind the horror movies are pretty uneven. A few were very detailed and sufficiently creepy. I loved the chapters that detailed the background of the The Exorcist and Poltergeist. I found some of the chapters very detailed and informative. But then many of the chapters were too plodding. I found myself getting bogged down in some of the details. And a few times even I found the details to be too gross.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Four Lost Cities by Annalee Newitz

Title: Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age

Author: Annalee Newitz

Publisher: WW Norton 2021

Genre: Nonfiction

Pages: 320

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; Nonfiction Reader

Where I Got It: Afterword in Kansas City June 2024

In Four Lost Cities, acclaimed science journalist Annalee Newitz takes readers on an entertaining and mind-bending adventure into the deep history of urban life. Investigating across the centuries and around the world, Newitz explores the rise and fall of four ancient cities, each the center of a sophisticated civilization: the Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük in Central Turkey, the Roman vacation town of Pompeii on Italy’s southern coast, the medieval megacity of Angkor in Cambodia, and the indigenous metropolis Cahokia, which stood beside the Mississippi River where East St. Louis is today.

Newitz travels to all four sites and investigates the cutting-edge research in archaeology, revealing the mix of environmental changes and political turmoil that doomed these ancient settlements. Tracing the early development of urban planning, Newitz also introduces us to the often anonymous workers—slaves, women, immigrants, and manual laborers—who built these cities and created monuments that lasted millennia.

Four Lost Cities is a journey into the forgotten past, but, foreseeing a future in which the majority of people on Earth will be living in cities, it may also reveal something of our own fate.

Usually history books annoy me as they are so incredibly surface level. I get bored as I know the surface level facts about a ton of history. Thankfully, this one was focused enough to deep dive into four “lost” cities highlighting a ton of new information and discoveries. We get sections on Angkor War, Catalhoyuk, Cahokia, and Pompeii. I found each section to be very interesting and full of information that I was excited to learn. Newitz takes a much more nuanced approach to teaching about each civilization. The author focuses on a different aspect of the civilization. I was extra fascinated by the section on Cahokia. The shift in understanding from trade center to center for religious and spiritual gatherings was eye opening for me. I took my time through this book, but enjoyed every page of it.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Six by Loren Grush

Title: The Six: The Untold Story of America’s First Women Astronauts

Author: Loren Grush

Publisher: Scribner 2023

Genre: Nonfiction - US History

Pages: 432

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Nonfiction Reader; Clock Reader

Where I Got It: Library

In this account of America’s first women astronauts “Grush skillfully weaves a story that, at its heart, is about desire: not a nation’s desire to conquer space, but the longing of six women to reach heights that were forbidden to them” (The New York Times).

When NASA sent astronauts to the moon in the 1960s and 1970s the agency excluded women from the corps, arguing that only military test pilots—a group then made up exclusively of men—had the right stuff. It was an era in which women were steered away from jobs in science and deemed unqualified for space flight. Eventually, though, NASA recognized its blunder and opened the application process to a wider array of hopefuls, regardless of race or gender. From a candidate pool of 8,000 six elite women were selected in 1978—Sally Ride, Judy Resnik, Anna Fisher, Kathy Sullivan, Shannon Lucid, and Rhea Seddon.

Our book club selection for August was a nonfiction pick! I was really hoping for an engaging story of six fascinating women. We got most of that, but there were a few slow parts. I loved learning about the process of these women becoming astronauts. I was very interested in the process. And I was interested in seeing how NASA adapted and changed over the decades. I was less excited to really get into the nitty gritty of each of these missions. The details started to bog down the book a bit. Overall, I did enjoy this one, but I wonder if the Young Readers version would be better.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Raising Critical Thinkers by Julie Bogart

Title: Raising Critical Thinkers: A Parent’s Guide to Growing Wise Kids in the Digital Age

Author: Julie Bogart

Publisher: TarcherPerigree 2022

Genre: Nonfiction - Education

Pages: 352

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; Nonfiction Reader

Where I Got It: Bookworm in Omaha NE March 2024

Education is not solely about acquiring information and skills across subject areas, but also about understanding how and why we believe what we do. At a time when online media has created a virtual firehose of information and opinions, parents and teachers worry how students will interpret what they read and see. Amid the noise, it has become increasingly important to examine different perspectives with both curiosity and discernment. But how do parents teach these skills to their children?

Drawing on more than twenty years’ experience homeschooling and developing curricula, Julie Bogart offers practical tools to help children at every stage of development to grow in their ability to explore the world around them, examine how their loyalties and biases affect their beliefs, and generate fresh insight rather than simply recycling what they’ve been taught. Full of accessible stories and activities for children of all ages, Raising Critical Thinkers helps parents to nurture passionate learners with thoughtful minds and empathetic hearts.

For co-op adult book club, we followed up Julie Bogart’s The Brave Learner with her newer book. Overall, I totally see the need for this book and know that many of my fellow co-op parents really benefitted from the information presented. For me, it was a bit like being back in education classes in college. For goodness sakes, Bogart name drops Maria Montessori, John Dewey, and Paolo Freire. Many of the big explanations about critical thinking were a review from my college days. From those, Bogart tries to give some activities and examples, but they were very long and drawn out. I would have liked more practical advice on how to implement critical thinking skills into our education plans. A few of us did meet last weekend to discuss the book. Thankfully the discussion veered more towards practical applications than theory. Worthwhile read, but not going to end up being a favorite.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Broad Strokes by Bridget Quinn

Title: Broad Strokes: 15 Women Who Made Art and Made History (in that Order)

Author: Bridget Quinn

Publisher: Chronicle 2017

Genre: Nonfiction - Art History

Pages: 192

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Nonfiction Reader

Historically, major women artists have been excluded from the mainstream art canon. Aligned with the resurgence of feminism in pop culture, Broad Strokes offers an entertaining corrective to that omission. Art historian Bridget Quinn delves into the lives and careers of 15 female artists from around the globe in text that's smart, feisty, educational, and an enjoyable read. Replete with beautiful reproductions of the artists' works and contemporary portraits of each artist by renowned illustrator Lisa Congdon, this is art history from the Renaissance to Abstract Expressionism for the modern art lover, reader, and feminist.

An online bookish friend recommended this book and I immediately got it from the library. I took two amazing Women Artists in History classes in college, and this book brought me right back to that space of learning. I knew about a few of the women profiled here, but not others. I loved the conversational style of writing highlighting these women’s lives and accomplishments. I loved seeing some of their work in the pages. And I especially love bringing history out of the closet. This would be the perfect gift book for someone interested in women and art.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson

Title: Isaac’s Storm: A Man, A Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History

Author: Erik Larson

Publisher: Vintage Books 2000

Genre: Nonfiction - History

Pages: 323

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; Nonfiction Reader

September 8, 1900, began innocently in the seaside town of Galveston, Texas. Even Isaac Cline, resident meteorologist for the U.S. Weather Bureau failed to grasp the true meaning of the strange deep-sea swells and peculiar winds that greeted the city that morning. Mere hours later, Galveston found itself submerged in a monster hurricane that completely destroyed the town and killed over six thousand people—and Isaac Cline found himself the victim of a devastating personal tragedy.

Using Cline's own telegrams, letters, and reports, the testimony of scores of survivors, and our latest understanding of the science of hurricanes, Erik Larson builds a chronicle of one man's heroic struggle and fatal miscalculation in the face of a storm of unimaginable magnitude.

In my reading of all of Larson’s books, I somehow his first big book. A reader can tell that this is one of his earlier books. We don’t have quite as robust of a story weaving together plot lines and bringing everything together. As to the story itself, this is a fascinating look at a natural disaster. I loved finding out more about the 1900 Galveston hurricane. Apparently, I have a thing for natural disaster books. I do wish that we had got a bit more insight in Isaac, but I was with all the people of Galveston as they dealt with a horrific tragedy.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Blood by Jen Gunter

Title: Blood: The Science, Medicine, and Mythology of Menstruation

Author: Jen Gunter

Publisher: Citadel 2024

Genre: Nonfiction - Science

Pages: 480

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Nonfiction Reader; 52 Book Club - Nonfiction Recommended by a Friend

Most women can expect to have hundreds of periods in a lifetime. So why is real information so hard to find? Despite its significance, most education about menstruation focuses either on increasing the chances of pregnancy or preventing it. And while both are crucial, women deserve to know more about their bodies than just what happens in service to reproduction. At a time when charlatans, politicians, and even some doctors are succeeding in propagating damaging misinformation and disempowering women, Dr. Jen provides the antidote with science, myth busting, and no-nonsense facts.

Not knowing how your body works makes it challenging to advocate for yourself. Consequently, many suffer in silence thinking their bodies are uniquely broken, or they turn to disreputable sources. Blood is a practical, empowering guide to what’s typical, what’s concerning, and when to seek care—recounted with expertise and frank, fearless wit that have made Dr. Jen today’s most trusted voice in women’s health.

Dr. Jen answers all your period-related questions, including: What exactly happens during menstruation? How heavy is too heavy? How much should periods hurt? and provides essential information. Blood is about much more than biology. It’s an all-in-one, revolutionary guide that will change the way we think about, talk about—and don’t talk about—our bodies and our well-being.

Another amazingly informative yet very readable science text from Jen Gunter. I had previous read her older book, The Vagina Bible, and recommended it every single person I knew. I picked this later book up and remember why I enjoy her weighty tomes so much. Gunter writes with clarity and conciseness with a bit of a humor. Even in the most complicated medical sections, the reader can easily follow the explanations. I learned so much from this book. I can’t wait to pick up her other book about menopause next month.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Unmasking Autism by Devon Price

Title: Unmasking Autism: Discovering the New Faces of Neurodiversity

Author: Devon Price

Publisher: Harmony 2022

Genre: Nonfiction

Pages: 304

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Nonfiction Reader

For every visibly Autistic person you meet, there are countless “masked” Autistic people who pass as neurotypical. Masking is a common coping mechanism in which Autistic people hide their identifiably Autistic traits in order to fit in with societal norms, adopting a superficial personality at the expense of their mental health. This can include suppressing harmless stims, papering over communication challenges by presenting as unassuming and mild-mannered, and forcing themselves into situations that cause severe anxiety, all so they aren’t seen as needy or “odd.”
 
In Unmasking Autism, Dr. Devon Price shares his personal experience with masking and blends history, social science research, prescriptions, and personal profiles to tell a story of neurodivergence that has thus far been dominated by those on the outside looking in. For Dr. Price and many others, Autism is a deep source of uniqueness and beauty. Unfortunately, living in a neurotypical world means it can also be a source of incredible alienation and pain. Most masked Autistic individuals struggle for decades before discovering who they truly are. They are also more likely to be marginalized in terms of race, gender, sexual orientation, class, and other factors, which contributes to their suffering and invisibility. Dr. Price lays the groundwork for unmasking and offers exercises that encourage self-expression.

It’s time to honor the needs, diversity, and unique strengths of Autistic people so that they no longer have to mask—and it’s time for greater public acceptance and accommodation of difference. In embracing neurodiversity, we can all reap the rewards of nonconformity and learn to live authentically, Autistic and neurotypical people alike.

A recommendation from a friend who has been finding this book life changing. I was most intrigued to see how this book could help me understand my autistic friends. Right away, I was pulled into the many insights and learned so much in just the first chapters. I feel like this is one of those books that I should reread in a year or so. I feel like I will find many more insights and new information as I reread. While this book was written for autistic people, it was very illuminating to me.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Toil & Trouble by Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson

Title: Toil & Trouble: A Women’s History of the Occult

Author: Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson

Publisher: Quirk Books 2022

Genre: Nonfiction - History

Pages: 336

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Nonfiction Reader

Meet the mystical women and nonbinary people from US history who found strength through the supernatural—and those who are still forging the way today. From the celebrity spirit mediums of the nineteenth century to contemporary activist witches hexing the patriarchy, these icons have long used magic and mysticism to seize the power they’re so often denied.

Organized around different approaches women in particular have taken to the occult over the decades—using the supernatural for political gain, seeking fame and fortune as spiritual practitioners, embracing their witchy identities, and more—this book shines a light on underappreciated magical pioneers,

Even though I knew a lot of the information in this book, I really appreciated how the authors clearly moved through the stories. We get a variety of women, from all sides of the occult world. We get to hear about some of the hidden women of history. Their stories are pulled into the light showing all their strength and resilience. My favorite pieces were obviously all those that I knew nothing about. This is the perfect book for readers wanting to know more about important women in history.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Sellout by Dan Ozzi

Title: Sellout: The Major Label Feeding Frenzy that Swept Punk, Emo, and Hardcore 1994-2007

Author: Sarah Hollowell

Publisher: Dey Street Books 2021

Genre: Nonfiction - Music

Pages: 416

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Nonfiction Reader

Punk rock found itself at a crossroads in the mid-90’s. After indie favorite Nirvana catapulted into the mainstream with its unexpected phenomenon, Nevermind, rebellion was suddenly en vogue. Looking to replicate the band’s success, major record labels set their sights on the underground, and began courting punk’s rising stars. But the DIY punk scene, which had long prided itself on its trademark authenticity and anti-establishment ethos, wasn’t quite ready to let their homegrown acts go without a fight. The result was a schism: those who accepted the cash flow of the majors, and those who defiantly clung to their indie cred.

In Sellout, seasoned music writer Dan Ozzi chronicles this embattled era in punk. Focusing on eleven prominent bands who made the jump from indie to major, Sellout charts the twists and turns of the last “gold rush” of the music industry, where some groups “sold out” and rose to surprise super stardom, while others buckled under mounting pressures. Sellout is both a gripping history of the music industry’s evolution, and a punk rock lover’s guide to the chaotic darlings of the post-grunge era, featuring original interviews and personal stories from members of modern punk’s most (in)famous bands.

I ran across this book as a recommendation on interesting nonfiction from the last few years. I was intrigued by the topic as I’m a huge fan of punk and emo. This book breaks down the history of eleven bands. Some of the chapters are more engaging than the others. Hands down my favorite chapter was the first one about Green Day. Their story was absolutely fascinating! At times, Ozzi gets a little too in the weeds with the profusion of name drops and technical aspects of the music industry. But overall I enjoyed this journey through music history. As a bonus, it inspired me to download a few key albums from my past.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Mrs. Sherlock Holmes by Brad Ricca

Title: Mrs. Sherlock Holmes: The True Story of New York City's Greatest Female Detective and the 1917 Missing Girl Case That Captivated a Nation

Author: Brad Ricca

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press 2017

Genre: Nonfiction - True Crime

Pages: 448

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Nonfiction Reader; Library Love

Mrs. Sherlock Holmes tells the true story of Mrs. Grace Humiston, the detective and lawyer who turned her back on New York society life to become one of the nation's greatest crime fighters during an era when women weren't even allowed to vote. After graduating from N.Y.U. law school, Grace opened a legal clinic in the city for low-income immigrant clients, and quickly established a reputation as a fierce, but fair lawyer who was always on the side of the disenfranchised.
 
Grace's motto "Justice for those of limited means" led her to strange cases all over the city, and eventually the world. From defending an innocent giant on death row to investigating an island in Arkansas with a terrible secret about slavery; from the warring halls of Congress to a crumbling medieval tower in Italy, Grace solved crimes in-between shopping at Bergdorf Goodman and being marked for death by the sinister Black Hand. She defended women clients who had killed their attackers and fought the framing of a Baltimore black man at the mercy of a corrupt police department. Known for dressing only in black, Grace was appointed the first woman U.S. district attorney in history. And when a pretty 18-year-old girl named Ruth Cruger went missing on Valentine's Day in New York, Grace took the case after  the police gave up. Grace and her partner, the hard-boiled Hungarian detective Julius J. Kron, navigated a dangerous mystery of secret boyfriends, two-faced cops, underground tunnels, rumors of white slavery, and a mysterious pale man -- in a desperate race against time to save Ruth. When she solved the crime, she was made the first female consulting detective to the NYPD.

But despite her many successes in social and criminal justice, Grace began to see chilling connections in the cases she had solved, leading to a final showdown with her most fearsome adversary of all and one of the most powerful men of the twentieth century.
 
This is the first-ever literary biography of the singular woman the press nicknamed after fiction's greatest detective. In the narrative tradition of In Cold Blood and The Devil in the White City, her poignant story unmasks unmistakable connections between missing girls, the role of the media, and the real truth of crime stories. The great mystery of Mrs. Sherlock Holmes -- and its haunting twist ending -- is how one woman dedicated to finding the missing herself become so lost to history?

This was one giant dud of a book! I was hoping for an examination of how one of the first women detectives in the United States proved her qualifications and solved crimes. Instead, I got a jumble of book more intent on telling all the tiny irrelevant details of one particular case while alluding to others but not exploring them. We get a ton of inside information about the thoughts and feelings of a variety of people related to the missing woman’s case, but nothing from Grace. We meander around the case while dropping weird hints and observations. But we don’t really get to the point. We don’t get to place Grace in the time and geographic location. This is certainly no Erik Larson style book that connects the dots so that the audience can understanding why the story is truly groundbreaking. I wonder if this was an article and the author was pressured into padding it out to a full length book? That might explain the complete necessary information and side tangents that take up a majority of the pages.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Share Your Stuff, I'll Go First by Laura Tremaine

Title: Share Your Stuff, I’ll Go First: 10 Questions to Take Your Friendships to the Next Level

Author: Laura Tremaine

Publisher: Zondervan 2021

Genre: Nonfiction

Pages: 224

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; Nonfiction Reader

In spite of the hyper-connected culture we live in today, women still feel shamed for oversharing and being publicly vulnerable. And no matter how many friends we seem to have, many of us are still desperately lonely.

Laura Tremaine, blogger and podcaster behind 10 Things To Tell You, says it's time for something better. Openness and vulnerability are the foundation for human growth and healthy relationships, and it all starts when we share our stuff, the nitty-gritty daily details about ourselves with others. Laura has led the way in her personal life with her popular blog and podcast, and now with lighthearted self-awareness, a sensitivity to the important things in life, and compelling storytelling, Laura gives you the tools to build and deepen the conversations happening in your life.

Laura's stories about her childhood, her complicated shifts in faith and friendships, and her marriage to a Hollywood movie director will prompt you to identify the beautiful narrative and pivotal milestones of your own life. Each chapter offers intriguing and reflective questions that will reveal unique details and stories you've never thought to tell and will guide you into cultivating the authentic connection with others that only comes from sharing yourself.

This book has been sitting on my shelf for years now after reading rave reviews from my podcast community. I finally dove into this one and just felt very meh about it throughout. There’s some good questions and advice in here, but like in most self-help books, the text goes on and on. I kept getting bogged down in the repetitions and multiple scenarios detailed. I just couldn’t find myself caring much at all. Oh well. One less book on my Unread Shelf.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Counting the Cost by Jill Duggar

Title: Counting the Cost

Author: Jill Duggar

Publisher: Gallery Books 2023

Genre: Romance

Pages: 288

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

Jill and Derick knew a normal life wasn’t possible for them. As a star on the popular TLC reality show 19 Kids and Counting, Jill grew up in front of viewers who were fascinated by her family’s way of life. She was the responsible, second daughter of Jim Bob and Michelle’s nineteen kids; always with a baby on her hip and happy to wear the modest ankle-length dresses with throat-high necklines. She didn’t protest the strict model of patriarchy that her family followed, which declares that men are superior, that women are expected to be wives and mothers and are discouraged from attaining a higher education, and that parental authority over their children continues well into adulthood, even once they are married.

But as Jill got older, married Derick, and they embarked on their own lives, the red flags became too obvious to ignore.

For as long as they could, Jill and Derick tried to be obedient family members—they weren’t willing to rock the boat. But now they’re raising a family of their own, and they’re done with the secrets. Thanks to time, tears, therapy, and blessings from God, they have the strength to share their journey. Theirs is a remarkable story of the power of the truth and is a moving example of how to find healing through honesty.

I succumbed to publishing peer pressure and grabbed this one from the library shelves. I ended up pretty disappointed in this read, but wasn’t sure exactly why. Of course, I don’t believe in an higher power, but I don’t think that was my problem. The more I examined my thoughts, I can down to a few aspects that I did not like. The biggest of these is that it feels like Jill has not done enough reflection to see her upbringing clearly. She maintains that her childhood was overall very good. It’s only in the last sections of the book that she questions the authority model for her entire family. But the examination is cursory. I’m not asking her to turn her back on her entire family or faith, but clearly there were a lot of concerning situations and models that she just glosses over. I don’t need details of the abuse she suffered, but she seems to dismiss it throughout most of the book and only brings it up when discussing the financial compensation. Perhaps this book would have more reflection and nuance if it had been written five years in the future. It seems that she is too close to the situation to see clearly right now.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Unlikeable Female Characters by Anna Bogutskaya

Title: Unlikeable Female Characters: The Women Pop Culture Wants You to Hate

Author: Anna Bogutskaya

Publisher: Sourcebooks 2023

Genre: Nonfiction - Media Criticism

Pages: 340

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fall TBR

Female characters throughout history have been burdened by the moral trap that is likeability. Any woman who dares to reveal her messy side has been treated as a cautionary tale. Today, unlikeable female characters are everywhere in film, TV, and wider pop culture. For the first time ever, they are being accepted by audiences and even showered with industry awards. We are finally accepting that women are—gasp—fully fledged human beings. How did we get to this point?

Unlikeable Female Characters traces the evolution of highly memorable female characters, examining what exactly makes them popular, how audiences have reacted to them, and the ways in which pop culture is finally allowing us to celebrate the complexities of being a woman. Anna Bogutskaya, film programmer, broadcaster, and co-founder of the horror film collective and podcast The Final Girls, takes us on a journey through popular film, TV, and music, looking at the nuances of womanhood on and off-screen to reveal whether pop culture—and society—is finally ready to embrace complicated women.

A decent breakdown of various female archetypes in movies and television. This is my favorite gender studies book in years. It is entertaining and informative without being too dense or overly reductive. Bogutskaya deftly details the nine archetypes and how they have been represented in a variety of movies and television. I especially love the Mean Girl and the Angry Girl chapters. I’ll admit that this book was completely illuminating for me because of my past studies and general reading, but I did enjoying reading this book.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Kingdom of Prep by Maggie Bullock

Title: The Kingdom of Prep: The Inside Story of the Rise and (Near) Fall of J. Crew

Author: Maggie Bullock

Publisher: Dey Street Books 2023

Genre: Nonfiction - Business

Pages: 368

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fall TBR

Once upon a time, a no-frills J.Crew rollneck sweater held an almost mystical power—or at least it felt that way. The story of J.Crew is the story of the original “lifestyle brand,” whose evolution charts a sea change in the way we dress, the way we shop, and who we aspire to be over the past four decades—all told through iconic clothes and the most riveting characters imaginable.

In The Kingdom of Prep, seasoned fashion journalist Maggie Bullock tells J.Crew’s epic story for the first time, bringing to life the deliciously idiosyncratic people who built a beloved brand, unpacking the complex legacy of prep—a subculture born on the 1920s campuses of the Ivy League—and how one brand rose to epitomize “American” style in two very different golden eras, and also eventually embodied the “retail apocalypse” that rocked the global fashion industry and left hollowed-out malls across the country.

A random library pick that I thought might be something I would enjoy, but ultimately, this book fell a bit flat for me. Overall I think this account felt a little too long. We spend so much time setting up the entire concept of J. Crew and then linger over the details. I might have liked this more as a long-form article than a full length book. Or maybe I just wasn’t as invested in the J. Crew brand as a reader that would have really loved this one. I never really bought into the J. Crew brand as a teen or college student. And now I’m very much in homeschool mom chic. Oh well.

Next up on the TBR pile: