Non-Fiction Friday
Non-Fiction Friday is a link-up where you can find all of the awesome non-fiction happenings of the week. Be sure to link-up your non-fiction posts too!
Tag: non-fiction
Me, Myself, and Why
Title: Me, Myself, and Why
Author: Jennifer Ouellette
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review Summary: I love the author’s sense of humor and the unique fun facts she shared, but was bothered by some oversimplifications and inaccuracies in her coverage of the material I already knew.
“As diverse as people appear to be, all of our genes and brains are nearly identical. In Me, Myself, and Why, Jennifer Ouellette dives into the miniscule ranges of variation to understand just what sets us apart. She draws on cutting-edge research in genetics, neuroscience, and psychology—enlivened as always with her signature sense of humor—to explore the mysteries of human identity and behavior. Readers follow her own surprising journey of self-discovery as she has her genome sequenced, her brain mapped, her personality typed, and even samples a popular hallucinogen. Bringing together everything from Mendel’s famous pea plant experiments and mutations in The X-Men to our taste for cilantro and our relationships with virtual avatars, Ouellette takes us on an endlessly thrilling and illuminating trip into the science of ourselves.” (description from goodreads) Read more »
Non-Fiction Friday
Non-Fiction Friday is a link-up where you can find all of the awesome non-fiction happenings of the week. Be sure to link-up your non-fiction posts too!
Mister Owita’s Guide to Gardening
Title: Mister Owita’s Guide to Gardening
Author: Carol Wall
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review Summary: Although the author deals with big issues, she does so in a relatable and optimistic way which made this book a very easy and enjoyable read.
Since a tragic event in her childhood, Carol has been a bit afraid of gardening. Following a cancer scare, she became more timid about life as well. A chance encounter with her neighbor’s gardener, Mister Giles Owita, leads to a deep and surprising friendship. As they get to know each other, Mister Owita ends up “transforming not only Carol’s yard, but her life.” (quote from goodreads)
Read more »
Non-Fiction Friday
Non-Fiction Friday is a link-up where you can find all of the awesome non-fiction happenings of the week. Be sure to link-up your non-fiction posts too!
American Saint
Title: American Saint: The Life of Elizabeth Seton
Author: Joan Barthel
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review Summary: I liked the connection to modern women’s rights and enjoyed the descriptive writing but found the story disjointed and preachy.
Elizabeth Seton led a very full life. As part of an influential family, she interacted with many of the founding fathers and other important political figures. A brave voyage to Italy in search of a cure for her husband led to her conversion to Catholicism, despite the social stigma associated with being a Catholic. Both before and after her conversion, she helped lead charitable institutions devoted to helping women and as a Catholic, she fought for women’s rights within the church. Read more »
What is Relativity?
Title: What is Relativity?
Author: Jeffrey Bennett
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review Summary: I was shocked by how well the author made complicated ideas intuitive and understandable.
This is a primer on the basic ideas of relativity. It includes great, illustrative cartoons and very little math. The author addresses many of the misconceptions people might have about concepts related to relativity because of pop culture and introduces some surprising ways relativity affects our daily lives. Read more »
The Future of the Mind
Title: The Future of the Mind
Author: Michio Kaku
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review Summary: I loved the exciting look at current and future technology, but the explanations weren’t as clear as in some of Kaku’s other books.
Michio Kaku is first and foremost a theoretical physicist, so he begins his book describing a physicist’s perspective on how the brain works. Then he describes the latest and greatest advances in our understanding of how the brain works and makes some incredible predictions for the future. These include everything from the possibility of assisted telepathy and enhanced cognition to uploadable memories and recordable dreams. Read more »
Non-Fiction Friday
Non-Fiction Friday is a link-up where you can find all of the awesome non-fiction happenings of the week. Be sure to link-up your non-fiction posts too!
The Bombers and the Bombed – Mini-Review
Title: The Bombers and the Bombed
Author: Richard Overy
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: DNF (★★★☆☆ at 36%)
I think objectively this book is very well done. The author includes a lot of very detailed statistics but mixes them in with fun facts, first-hand anecdotes, and fascinating stories. However, for me, this was just more detail than I needed on the topic. I felt the story got bogged down by details of exact numbers and dates. There were a number of people mentioned, but I couldn’t keep them straight because we were never given any personal information about any them and they all blurred together. The timeline was hard to follow because (at least in my ARC) dates usually didn’t include the year and in chapters that spanned multiple years, this could be confusing. I think had I finished this, I’d have given it three stars because I didn’t enjoy it, but I think someone very interested in the topic would. I made it through about a third of the book before deciding that it just wasn’t for me.
