A young woman coming of age in Hawaii grapples with identity, family bonds, and the complexity of Hawaii’s past in this book that is part-memoir, part-mythology, and part-history lesson.
Category: Non-Fiction Book Review
Analysis and reflections on non-fiction books—memoirs, narratives, textbooks, and more across a variety of genres and topics.
How Do I Un-Remember This? 16 Things to Know
Genuinely LOL-worthy moments punctuate otherwise treacly reflections on life in the memoir How Do I Un-Remember This?: Unfortunately True Stories by comedic pop culture podcaster Danny Pellegrino.
5-Minute Book Review: Random Family
This unsparing work exposes the trials—both criminal and otherwise—and tribulations of a Bronx family caught in the crossfire of addiction, abuse, and poverty. Read my book review of Random Family.
Random Family: 16 Things to Know
A Bronx woman and her family struggle to overcome poverty, addiction, abuse, and crime over the course of a decade in this meticulously reported New York Times Bestseller. What can this profile of a “random family” reveal about breaking generational cycles of trauma?
Isaac’s Storm: 16 Things to Know
Early 1900s meteorologist Isaac Cline misjudges a storm that becomes the deadliest hurricane in history to date, resulting in significant loss of life and property. Does this work of narrative non-fiction shed new light on this moment in American, scientific, and human history?