*Tear Warning* Given the title, it shouldn’t be a shock that this is a memoir that pulls at your heart. Michelle Zauner is a founding member of a band called Japanese Breakfast (she’s Korean, that’s a big part of the book so don’t get confused), but before she found success in music, she was an…
Category: Non-Fiction
The Boys in the Boat
I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve always thought rowing was a fairly straight-forward sport (pun intended), but I have far more appreciation for it, and the individuals who participate in it, having read this book. Brown takes the reader on a journey from Seattle to Berlin for an incredible feat in 1936 I…
Everything I Know About Love
In a book that reads like a well-written diary, Alderton lets the reader into the raw, brilliant and broken corners of her life. Beginning in her teens and travelling through to her thirties, Alderton covers love, grief, self-discovery, the perils of MSN Messenger, realities of online dating, and the love of romantic partners and lifelong…
A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal
MI6, counterintelligence during the Cold War, and double agents – all wrapped up in the unbelievable account of Kim Philby’s career. Through his friends– fellow MI6 agent Nicholas Elliot and head of CIA counterintelligence James Jesus Angleton – Philby was able to derail an unbelievable amount of Anglo-American spy operations. Carried through department inquiries and moments of…
Deep Work
Making history as the second non-fiction book in a row to grace the 2% newsletter, Deep Work challenges us to reconsider the way we organize our day, how we understand the concept of focus, and how we work. In order to understand how our brains focus and how we can manage time more efficiently, Cal Newport breaks down various…
Brickwork: A Biography of the Arches
It’s remarkable how someone from Kansas can feel so emotionally connected to a venue and night club in Glasgow that shut in 2015, but here we are. I came across a press release for Brickwork several months ago and was so intrigued that I used it as part of an assignment. Fast forward to its…
The Diary of a Bookseller
Quick disclaimer: I am often visually aware of a book even if I don’t remember its title, so in this way I think it helps to see the covers and match the review with books you might have seen crop up other places. The tricky bit is that the US and UK often have different book jackets,…