Non-Fiction | Raging Biblio-holism

Roundup: January 2017

January 31, 2017 by Drew

Neuromancer by William Gibson Rating: 3 out of 5 The Short Version: A former hacker, crippled by a job gone wrong, is given a second chance at what he does best by a mysterious benefactor. Soon, he’s teamed up with an programmed version of his former mentor and a badass samurai girl to launch a major hack – but what is the real target of this operation? The Review: Neuromancer is one of those books that even non-speculative-fiction-reading folks have heard […]

Categories: Essays, Fantasy, Fiction, History, Literature, Mystery, Non-Fiction, Sci-Fi, Short Stories

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Grief is the Thing with Feathers

January 18, 2017 by Drew

The Short Version: After death of his wife, a Ted Hughes scholar receives a visitor in the form of Crow. The husband and his two sons, along with their guest, attempt to navigate this new motherless world and discover what grief truly is. The Review: I have never lost, not truly. High school friends have died tragically, grandmothers passed decade(s) ago after long and vibrant lives, dogs (best friends, in their way) have gone to the endless fields, cultural icons who inspired […]

Categories: Fiction, Literature, Poetry • Tags: Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Crow, Fiction, Grief, Grief is the Thing with Feathers, Literature, Max Porter, Poetry, Prose Poetry, review, Reviews, Ted Hughes, The Tournament of Books 2017

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Sirens

January 6, 2017 by Drew

The Short Version: Novelist Joshua Mohr turns his attentions to non-fiction, specifically an account of both his years of substance abuse – and his discovery, after getting sober and having a daughter, that he has a literal hole in his heart. All before he turns 40. It’s complicated, complex, funny, and brimming with life – just like Josh. The Review: I started this book in a warm tub with a Glencairn glass of single malt scotch, my second of that particular night. […]

Categories: Memoir, Non-Fiction • Tags: Advance Review, Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Joshua Mohr, Memoir, Non-Fiction, review, Reviews, Sirens, Two Dollar Radio

The Argonauts

December 14, 2016 by Drew

The Short Version: Part memoir, part theory exploration, part prose-poem, part theory creation – The Argonauts is the story of Maggie Nelson’s courtship with and marriage to Harry Dodge, her pregnancy, a country’s evolving mind on gender and sexuality, and a look at the theory that has created a single human’s worldview. The Review: There is such a joy in discovering something to be not only worthy of the hype, but worthy of continued generation of that hype. So it is with […]

Categories: Essays, Memoir, Non-Fiction, Poetry • Tags: 6, Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, BookClub, Books, Essays, Favorites, Feminism, Gender Theory, Maggie Nelson, Memoir, Non-Fiction, Philosophy, Queer Theory, review, Reviews, The Argonauts, Theory

Future Sex

December 9, 2016 by Drew

The Short Version: Having turned 30 without settling into a committed relationship like she thought she would, Emily Witt takes the moment to take stock of our modern relationships – to each other, to sexuality in general, and to the way that technology has changed both. The Review: I had high hopes for this collection. As the jacket copy promises, we are at an intriguing and complicated moment in the history of sex, sexuality, gender, and love. Never before have so […]

Categories: Essays, Non-Fiction • Tags: Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Emily Witt, Essays, Future Sex, Non-Fiction, review, Reviews, Sex, Sexuality

Roundup, October 2016

October 31, 2016 by Drew

The Grownup by Gillian Flynn 3 out of 5 The Short Version: A young woman on the margins, working as a fraudulent psychic, lands a gig investigating a creepy house and creepy child for another woman. What ensues is a classic gothic battle for sanity. The Review: Flynn’s voice is unmistakeable and it was great to hear it again, seeing as it’s been awhile since Gone Girl and we’re likely to have to wait a while longer yet for her next […]

Categories: Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Literature, Mystery, Non-Fiction, Poetry • Tags: A Head Full of Ghosts, A Thousand Mornings, A Visit to October Country, Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Contagion, Dana I. Wolff, Disease, Exorcism, Fiction, Gillian Flynn, Heidi Julavits, Horror, Literature, Mary Oliver, Metafiction, Mikhail Bulgakov, North Brother Island, Novella, Paul Tremblay, Peace, Poetry, Psychics, Religion, Review Roundup, Reviews, Roundup, Russia, Speculative, Stalin, The Devil, The Grownup, The Master and Margarita, The Prisoner of Hell Gate, The Vanishers, Thriller, Typhoid Mary

The Care and Feeding of an Independent Bookstore

September 26, 2016 by Drew

The Short Version: For Independent Bookstore Day 2016, Ann Patchett (perhaps the most famous independent bookstore owner in the world) adapted her Atlantic article as well as delivered two new pieces to encourage others in the care and feeding of such an exotic beast. The Review: I’m a sucker for an exclusive piece of literature, especially when it’s got its heart in the right place. This can most certainly be said for the first “A $6 Story” from the folks […]

Categories: Essays, Non-Fiction • Tags: A $6 Story, Ann Patchett, Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Bookstores, Essays, Independent Bookstore Day, Independent Bookstores, Non-Fiction, Parnassus Books, review, Reviews, The Care and Feeding of an Independent Bookstore

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Roundup, August 2016

August 31, 2016 by Drew

A monthly round-up of any books that didn’t get a full review! Paper Girls, Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang 3 out of 5 The Short Version: On Nov. 1, 1988, four paper girls are doing their early morning route when they encounter strange creatures. What seems like leftovers from Halloween quickly turns out to be something else entirely: some kind of invasion from across time and space. So they fight back. The Review: I’m a sucker […]

Categories: Fiction, Graphic Novel, History, Literature, Non-Fiction, Sci-Fi, Short Stories • Tags: August 2016, Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang, Fiction, Frederic Morton, Graphic Novel, History, Judaism, Literature, Non-Fiction, Paper Girls, Rebecca Schiff, review, Review Roundup, Reviews, Roundup, Science Fiction, Short Stories, The Bed Moved, Thunder at Twilight

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A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal

July 20, 2016 by Drew

The Short Version: Kim Philby was the perfect spy. Educated, well-groomed, brilliant – it’s no surprise that he rose to prominence in MI6 during the Second World War and the ensuing Cold War conflict. What was surprising was that he was also working for the Soviets. For over thirty years, he maintained a double life and compromised nearly every major operation for the West. This is his story and the story of those who thought they knew him – but didn’t […]

Categories: History, Non-Fiction • Tags: A Spy Among Friends, A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal, Ben MacIntyre, Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, CIA, Cold War, England, Espionage, History, John le Carré, Kim Philby, Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal, MI5, MI6, Nicholas Elliott, Non-Fiction, Reviews, US, USSR, World War II

Raging Biblio-holism

The overwhelming urge to collect, consume, and consider books

Category Archives: Non-Fiction

Roundup: January 2017

Grief is the Thing with Feathers

Sirens

The Argonauts

Future Sex

Roundup, October 2016

The Care and Feeding of an Independent Bookstore

Roundup, August 2016

A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal