The non-fiction I read in 2018 didn't disappoint, and as is normally the case, I can find more than ten books that I'd love to press into the hands of friends. However, I'm limiting myself to these ten. If you decide to pick them up, I'd love to know what you think of them.
1. Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou- this is an absolutely fascinating account of Theranos, a multi-billion dollar Silicon Valley start-up and its founder, Elizabeth Holmes, a Stanford drop-out who scammed big-name (and not so big-name) investors out of billions of dollars to help fund her company that provided at home blood testing. Except her technology never really worked, and she lied and lied and lied. I've loved reading more about this company on the internet after finishing this book, and we're not done hearing about Holmes yet.
2. The Library Book by Susan Orlean - part of this I loved because it's about books and libraries, and part of it I loved because it's about a little known event- a fire at the Los Angeles Public library that destroyed or damaged more than a million books. Given barely a mention in the news at the time (the Chernobyl incident took center stage), I found this whole story fascinating.
3. Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the creator of Nike by Phil Knight- I never realized how little I knew about Nike until I read this book. Knight's memoir is interesting and really shows how perseverance and determination played a big factor in his success.
4. Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and A Mother's Will to Survive by Stephanie Land - this one comes out in January 2019, but I read it a while ago and am still thinking about it. It's a nice companion to Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by In America and truly shows how some people live a hand-to-mouth existence with no room for additional expenses.
5. The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row by Anthony Ray Hinton - I read this book a few years after reading Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, who told Hinton's story in his book about the failings in our criminal justice system. I so loved hearing Hinton's story in his own words.
6. What the Eyes Don't See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance and Hope in An American City by Mona Hanna-Attisha - the account of the Flint, Michigan, water crisis from the perspective of Hanna-Attisha, a pediatrician in Flint who helped uncover the city's problems and the struggle to enact change for the residents of this poverty-stricken city.
7. Beauty in the Broken Places: A Memoir of Love, Faith and Resilience by Allison Pataki - Pataki's book is so beautifully written I had a hard time putting this one down. She writes of the life changing event that occurred as she and her husband Dave embarked on a short vacation. Midway into their flight, she notices Dave's eyes don't look "right." From there things go downhill dramatically as it is revealed that Dave suffered a rare stroke and his survival is in question. The road to recovery is long - and life today doesn't look like what Pataki may have once imagined, but this story is one of hope and resilience.
8. Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors and the Drug Company That Addicted America by Beth Macy - Macy's done a great deal of research to show readers how the opioid epidemic has spread in our country, who has been affected, and who holds some of the blame for this devastating crisis.
9. Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover- Westover grew up with a strict, anti-government, off-the-grid parents and didn't attend school until she was seventeen. Her story is interesting for the way her family was so removed from society, but also for the way Tara was able to overcome the many obstacles standing between her and her dreams.
10. I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara - McNamara's book was published posthumously and shortly afterward the GSK was arrested, creating a little more buzz around this true crime story that McNamara researched then wrote about in great detail.
I stand behind all of these books and would love to talk about them with someone. My husband has read #1, 9 and 10, and also enjoyed them, so despite our diverse reading tastes, I feel like most of these books will appeal to a wide audience.
Check back tomorrow for one last look at 2018 where I share my best YA and Middle Grade titles I read this year
Happy Reading!
2 comments:
I've got #1, #2, #9, and #10 already in my house - in some form or other. Looking forward to getting to them at some point. Non-fiction is tough for me. There always seem to be so many fictional tales that I choose instead. Maybe because non-fic is real? Who knows? In any case, I always love hearing what you are reading.
Happy New year Tina. It looks like you had a great year!
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