Nonfiction Archives

7 min

How To Age Gracefully

I ran up against my ignorance when as an undergraduate student I enrolled in Philosophy 101, read a sentence in my first assignment, and said to myself, "I know the meaning of that word and that word and that word, but in this sentence, all three of those words are in a row, and I have no idea what they mean when they're in a row." After a bit, I realized that I didn't know what those three words really meant. I had the same realization when I read the words "age gracefully" in the title of Scoblic's book.

7 min

Lost Without the River: A Memoir

Lost Without the River: A Memoir by Barbara Hoffbeck Scoblic. Published by She Writes Press. Barbara Hoffbeck grew up during the Great Depression on a small dairy farm outside Big…

5 min

Last Witnesses: An Oral History of the Children of World War II

Current events sometimes justify reviewing a book published years ago, especially if the book helps readers better understand their world today. Last Witnesses: An Oral History of the Children of World War II by Nobel Laureate Svetlana Alexievich is such a book.

5 min

I Could Name God in Twelve Ways: Essays

At one point early in her new book of essays, I Could Name God in Twelve Ways, Karen Salyer McElmurray writes, “With memoir, we become accountable.” Later, she wants to…

8 min

The Death of a Jaybird

Across cultural heritage, certain kinds of courage endure. One of them is at the core of Jodi M. Savage’s collection.

3 min

One Curious Doctor – A Memoir of Medicine, Migration and Mortality

Hilton Koppe opens a window into the inner world of a family practitioner through a focus on the doctor/patient relationship and deep self-reflections on the complexities and mysteries of attending to the living and the dying.

3 min

Poverty, By America

POVERTY is one subject Matthew Desmond knows intimately. That he has personally experienced what it is like to grow up poor in the richest country in the world, and received a Pulitzer Prize for writing about it, sets him apart from other sociologists who study only the poor, but not why they are poor. In his newest book, Poverty, By America, Desmond examines in depth the causes and consequences of the abject poverty affecting millions of Americans.

2 min

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning

For those who enjoy the unconventional bildungsroman—or are thirsting for some adventure—read this memoir by Laurie Lee. Originally published in 1969, it recounts the poet's long walk across Spain in the 1930s.

20 min

The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story

"Shattering one-sided, romanticized stories of how this country came to be..." Carol Ann Wilson reviews The 1619 Project, created by Nikole Hannah-Jones.

5 min

So You Want to Talk About Race: Understanding Racism in America

So You Want to Talk About Race is a vital book in our divisive society, to help all of us understand what is racial oppression and why we need to talk about it.

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