While marketed as middle grade, this memoir transcends the young adult genre with its matter-of-fact honesty and subtle lessons about tolerance, faith and perseverance. Just like Scheherazade, Nayeri uses storytelling for survival.
All tagged non-fiction
The Beast in the Garden – David Baron
Baron presents the events as a tense, slowly unfolding disaster complete with disagreeing citizens, unconcerned politicians and a few people determined to raise the alarm. If you replaced great white shark in “Jaws” with a group of mountain lions, the plot of that movie and this book would be eerily similar.
Trust – Pete Buttigieg
In "Trust," Mayor Pete outlines the many ways in which Americans have grown distrustful - of politics, of science, of media, of each other, etc. - and how foreign actors and partisan politics have exploited the schism.
Sitting Pretty – Rebekah Taussig
In “Sitting Pretty,” – a candid, raw, funny, accessible and incredibly eye-opening memoir of essays – Rebekah Taussig expertly breaks down this intersectionality and leads the reader/listener through the multiple ways culture – sometimes in well-meaning ways – has cultivated bias against a population that makes up 26 percent of adults in the United States.
I Have Something to Tell You – Chasten Buttigieg
Chasten, who had the potential to go from middle school teacher to First Gentleman of the United States, was an omnipresent yet restrained presence on the campaign trail. In this memoir, we learn more about the affable and relatable political spouse.
The Deviant’s War –Eric Cervini
A sweeping and detailed account of the first efforts to formally organize the gay rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s, primarily lobbying against a formidable foe: the United States federal government and its discriminatory hiring and firing practices.
Between The World And Me - Ta-Nehisi Coates
This book made me uncomfortable, sad and angry, but it also, at times, made me smile and feel hopeful, because people like Coates are sharing their experiences so that we can be better, if not for ourselves then for the generations to follow.
The Professor and the Madman – Simon Winchester
Although it’s always been part of our lives, the Oxford English Dictionary didn’t just appear one day. It took 70 years of research and collaboration from people all around the world, including a criminally institutionalized former U.S. Civil War surgeon.
What Is the Longest Book You've Read? Was It Worth It?
I don’t shy away from epic reads, but in reviewing my 10 longest reads, only about half ended up being the time spent reading or listening. Is this your experience too?
White Fragility – Robin DiAngelo
An important tool in helping white people understand and challenge their own misconceptions about race in Western society.