For Real

This week Alice and Kim wrap up 125 episodes of the For Real podcast by discussing their favorite reads of 2022 and reflecting on their favorite podcast episodes.

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For more nonfiction recommendations, sign up for our True Story newsletter, edited by Kendra Winchester.

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KIM’S FAVORITES OF 2022

How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell

World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

How to Be Perfect by Michael Schur

Ancestor Trouble by Maud Newton

Invisible Child by Andrea Elliot

The World As It Is by Ben Rhodes 

In the Shadow of the Mountain by Sylvia Vasquez-Lavado

Dog Flowers by Danielle Geller

ALICE’S FAVORITES OF 2022

A Most Remarkable Creature by Jonathan Meiburg

Ghosts in the Schoolyard by Eve L. Ewing

The Line Becomes a River by Francisco Cantú

Looking for the Good War by Elizabeth D. Samet

The Lost City of Z by David Grann

Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? By Roz Chast

Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Trans Mission by Alex Bertie

FAVORITE PODCAST EPISODES

Episode 13: Suffragists, Suffragettes, and Winning the Vote

Episode 23: The Arctic and the Tropics

Episode 34: Ahoy, We Sail the Sea of Books

Episode 50: 50 Books for 50 Episodes

Episode 53: Snake Math!

Episode 67: After the Final Rose

Episode 70: YA Nonfiction, aka Nonfiction for Exhausted Adults 

Episode 91: Library Treasure Hunt

Episode 92: The One With Mary Roach 

Episode 96: Fell in a Hole (AKA True Stories Underground)

Episode 100: Episode 100!!!!

Episode 123: Nonfiction Holiday Gift Guide

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This week Alice and Kim talk about new nonfiction out in November and December, including memoirs, cold cases, orchid obsession, and more.

Gift Tailored Book Recommendations this holiday season!

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Nonfiction in the News

New York Times: Best Books of the Year

Washington Post: Best Books of the Year

Reader’s Digest: The National Book Foundation Announces 2022 National Book Award Winners

New Nonfiction

Fatty Fatty Boom Boom: A Memoir of Food, Fat, and Family by Rabia Chaudry

Disability Pride: Dispatches from a Post-ADA World by Ben Mattlin

The Forever Witness: How DNA and Genealogy Solved a Cold Case Double Murder by Edward Humes

Queen of Snails: A Graphic Memoir by Maureen Burdock

A Coastline is an Immeasurable Thing: A Memoir Across Three Continents by Mary-Alice Daniel

The Mexican Witch Lifestyle: Brujeria Spells, Tarot, and Crystal Magic by Valeria Ruelas

As Gods: A Moral History of the Genetic Age by Matthew Cobb

Twenty Dollars and Change: Harriet Tubman and the Ongoing Fight for Racial Justice and Democracy by Clarence Lusane

Elizabeth Taylor: The Grit & Glamour of an Icon by Kate Andersen Brower

Silent Spring Revolution: John F. Kennedy, Rachel Carson, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and the Great Environmental Awakening by Douglas Brinkley

Orchid Muse: A History of Obsession in Fifteen Flowers by Erica Hannickel

The Quentin Blake Book by Jenny Uglow

Reading Now

Year of the Tiger: An Activist’s Life by Alice Wong

The Icepick Surgeon: Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and Other Dastardly Deeds Perpetrated in the Name of Science by Sam Kean

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This week Alice and Kim make holiday gift guide recommendations.

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For more nonfiction recommendations, sign up for our True Story newsletter, edited by Kendra Winchester and Kim Ukura.

For a complete list of books discussed in this episode, visit our website https://bookriot.com/listen/nonfiction-holiday-gift-guide/.

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This week Alice and Kim talk about books by Indigenous authors to recognize Native American Heritage Month. They also speculate about Prince Harry’s memoir and share exciting new nonfiction picks.

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For more nonfiction recommendations, sign up for our True Story newsletter, edited by Kendra Winchester and Kim Ukura.

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NONFICTION IN THE NEWS

Prince Harry’s Memoir Is Due in January. How Explosive Will It Be? [New York Times]

How Julie Powell and her ‘Julie/Julia’ blog changed food writing [Washington Post]

Keanu Reeves Exits Hulu’s ‘The Devil In The White City’ Limited Series [Deadline]

NEW NONFICTION

White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How to Do Better by Regina Jackson and Saira Rao

Cheap Land Colorado: Off-Gridders at America’s Edge by Ted Conover

The Grimkes: The Legacy of Slavery in an American Family by Kerri K. Greenidge

Among Tigers: Fighting to Bring Back Asia’s Big Cats by K. Ullas Karanth

NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH

Heart Berries: A Memoir by Teresa Marie Mailhot

This Place: 150 Years Retold

Dog Flowers: A Memoir, An Archive by Danielle Geller

Our History Is the Future: Standing Rock Versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance by Nick Estes

READING NOW

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

A Most Remarkable Creature: The Hidden Life and Epic Journey of the World’s Smartest Birds of Prey by Jonathan Meiburg

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This week Alice and Kim talk new fall nonfiction.

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Book Riot’s Reading the Stars Giveaway

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Fall Books Review, Part I

The Stolen Year: How COVID Changed Children’s Lives, and Where We Go Now by Anya Kamenetz 

Inventing Latinos : A New Story of American Racism by Laura E. Gómez

Stay True: A Memoir by Hua Hsu

The Surprising Lives of Bark Beetles: Mighty Foresters of the Insect World by Jiri Hulcr, Marc Abrahams

Gospel of Wellness: Gyms, Gurus, Goop, and the False Promise of Self-Care by Rina Raphael

Wolf Hustle: A Black Woman on Wall Street by Cin Fabré

Fall Books Review, Part II

Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto by Tricia Hersey

Fen, Bog and Swamp: A Short History of Peatland Destruction and Its Role in the Climate Crisis by Annie Proulx

Somewhere Sisters: A Story of Adoption, Identity, and the Meaning of Family by Erika Hayasaki

The United States of Cryptids: A Tour of American Myths and Monsters by J.W. Ocker

Home Bound: An Uprooted Daughter’s Reflections on Belonging by Vanessa Bee

American Sirens: The Incredible Story of the Black Men Who Became America’s First Paramedics by Kevin Hazzard

Reading Now

KIM: Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Rao

ALICE: The Castle on Sunset: Life, Death, Love, Art, and Scandal at Hollywood’s Chateau Marmont by Shawn Levy

CONCLUSION

You can find us on SOCIAL MEDIA – @itsalicetime and @kimthedork. Amazing Audio Editing for this episode was done by Jen Zink. RATE AND REVIEW on Apple Podcasts and Spotify so people can find us more easily, and follow us there so you can get our new episodes the minute they come out.

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This week Alice and Kim reflect on visiting Salem, Massachusetts and discuss books about witches and boats.

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For more nonfiction recommendations, sign up for our True Story newsletter, edited by Kendra Winchester and Kim Ukura.

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Follow Up

In the Shadow of the Mountain: A Memoir of Courage by Silvia Vasquez-Lavado

Giveaway: Reading the Stars by Book Riot

New Nonfiction

Savor: A Chef’s Hunger for More by Fatima Ali and Tarajia Morrell

Black Hollywood: Reimagining Iconic Movie Moments by Carell Augustus

Life Is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way by Kieran Setiya

Looking for the Hidden Folk: How Iceland’s Elves Can Save the Earth by Nancy Marie Brown

Witches and Boats

The Witches: Salem, 1692 by Stacy Schiff

Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan Fantasies by Elaine G. Breslaw

Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky

Witches: The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem by Rosalyn Schanzer

Reading Now

Who Is Wellness For?: An Examination of Wellness Culture and Who It Leaves Behind by Fariha Róisín

This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War by Drew Gilpin Faust

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This week Alice and Kim talk about nonfiction reads for Hispanic Heritage Month.

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For more nonfiction recommendations, sign up for our True Story newsletter, edited by Kendra Winchester and Kim Ukura.

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Nonfiction in the News

Jung Hae Chae Wins the Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize [Graywolf Press]

2022 National Book Awards Longlist for Nonfiction [National Book Foundation]

Writer Samantha Irby calls her latest book ‘a devolution!’ [Entertainment Weekly]

NEW NONFICTION 

Listen, World!: How the Intrepid Elsie Robinson Became America’s Most-Read Woman by Julia Scheeres and Allison Gilbert

Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton

Runaway: Notes on the Myths that Made Me by Erin Keane

Brown and Gay in LA: The Lives of Immigrant Sons by Anthony Christian Ocampo

WEEKLY THEME: HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH

In the Shadow of the Mountain: A Memoir of Courage by Silvia Vasquez-Lavado

The Line Becomes a River by Francisco Cantu

Bad Mexicans: Race, Empire, and Revolution in the Borderlands by Kelly Lytle Hernández

In the Country We Love: My Family Divided by Diane Guerrero

READING NOW

KIM: The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee

ALICE: The Office BFFs by Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey

CONCLUSION

You can find us on SOCIAL MEDIA – @itsalicetime and @kimthedork. Our amazing Audio Editing for this episode was done by Jen Zink. RATE AND REVIEW on Apple Podcasts and Spotify so people can find us more easily, and follow us there so you can get our new episodes the minute they come out.

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This week Kim and Alice go down a rabbit hole talking about A League of Their Own and talk nonfiction about women in sports.

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For more nonfiction recommendations, sign up for our True Story newsletter, edited by Kendra Winchester and Kim Ukura.

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Nonfiction in the News

Barbara Ehrenreich, author who challenged American Dream myths, dies at 81 [Washington Post]

Recommending Books Based on the Weirdest Facts They Taught Me [Book Riot]

New Nonfiction

Thinking 101: How to Reason Better to Live Better by Woo-Kyoung Ahn

Off with Her Head: Three Thousand Years of Demonizing Women in Power by Eleanor Herman

The Godmother: Murder, Vengeance, and the Bloody Struggle of Mafia Women by Barbie Latza Nadeau

Africa Is Not a Country: Notes on a Bright Continent by Dipo Faloyin

The Chaos Machine: The Inside Story of How Social Media Rewired Our Minds and Our World by Max Fisher

Year of the Tiger: An Activist’s Life by Alice Wong

Women in Sports

Hail Mary: The Rise and Fall of the National Women’s Football League by Frankie de la Cretaz and Lyndsey D’Arcangelo

Dust Bowl Girls: The Inspiring Story of the Team That Barnstormed Its Way to Basketball Glory by Lydia Reeder

Baseball’s Leading Lady: Effa Manley and the Rise and Fall of the Negro Leagues by Andrea Williams

Curveball: The Remarkable Story of Toni Stone the First Woman to Play Professional Baseball in the Negro League by Martha Ackmann

Reading Now

Romantic Outlaws: The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley by Charlotte Gordon

I Might Regret This: Essays, Drawings, Vulnerabilities, and Other Stuff by Abbi Jacobson

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This week Alice and Kim talk middle grade nonfiction reads.

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NONFICTION IN THE NEWS

Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese are Creating a Devil in the White City Series for Hulu [Town and Country]

NEW NONFICTION 

The Mamas: What I Learned About Kids, Class, and Race from Moms Not Like Me by Helena Andrews-Dyer

Raising Lazarus: Hope, Justice, and the Future of America’s Overdose Crisis by Beth Macy

Democracy’s Data: The Hidden Stories in the U.S. Census and How to Read Them by Dan Bouk

Eating While Black: Food Shaming and Race in America by Psyche A. Williams-Forson (Univ of NC Press)

Quick Mentions

Walking in My Joy: In These Streets by Jenifer Lewis

WEEKLY THEME: MIDDLE GRADE NONFICTION

Yummy: A History of Desserts by Victoria Grace Elliot

Free Lunch by Rex Ogle (AOC)

The Eagle Huntress: The True Story of the Girl Who Soared Beyond Expectations by Aisholpan Nurgaiv with Liz Welch

All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team by Christina Soontornvat

Reading Now

KIM: My Imaginary Mary by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows

ALICE: The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed

CONCLUSION

You can find us on SOCIAL MEDIA – @itsalicetime and @kimthedork. Amazing Audio Editing for this episode was done by Jen Zink. RATE AND REVIEW on Apple Podcasts and Spotify so people can find us more easily, and follow us there so you can get our new episodes the minute they come out.

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This week Alice and Kim catch up on all the books they read during their summer break. Plus, they share some new memoirs and social history titles.

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For more nonfiction recommendations, sign up for our True Story newsletter, edited by Kendra Winchester and Kim Ukura.

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Nonfiction In the News

David McCullough, Best-Selling Explorer of America’s Past, Dies at 89 [New York Times]

New Books

Bright: A Memoir by Kiki Petrosino

A History of Delusions: The Glass King, a Substitute Husband and a Walking Corpse by Victoria Shepherd

What the Children Told Us: The Untold Story of the Famous “Doll Test” and the Black Psychologists Who Changed the World by Tim Spofford

A Good Country: My Life in Twelve Towns and the Devastating Battle for a White America by Sofia Ali-Khan

Books We Read on Summer Break

The Ugly Cry: A Memoir by Danielle Henderson

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi

Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing of America by Eliza Griswold

The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783-1789 by Joseph J. Ellis

The World as It Is: A Memoir of the Obama White House by Ben Rhodes

The Colony: Faith and Blood in a Promised Land by Sally Denton

Crying in H Mart: A Memoir by Michelle Zauner

Reading Now

The Scandalous Hamiltons: A Gilded Age Grifter, a Founding Fathers Disgraced Descendant, and a Trial at the Dawn of Tabloid Journalism by Bill Shaffer

Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closings on Chicago’s South Side by Eve L. Ewing

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