For Real

This week Alice and Kim take a trip down memory lane to talk about books that appeared on best of the decade lists. 

This episode is sponsored by Book Riot's Read Harder Journal, Book Riot's Read Harder 2020 Challenge, and Book Riot's Tailored Book Recommendations.

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

Follow Up

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

New Books

A Crisis of Peace: George Washington, the Newburgh Conspiracy, and the Fate of the American Revolution by David Head

America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United States by Erika Lee

Best Books of the Decade

Paste Magazine: The 25 Best Memoirs of the 2010s

LitHub: The 20 Best Works of Nonfiction of the Decade

Time: The 10 Best Nonfiction Books of the 2010s

Entertainment Weekly: Here are EW's top 10 nonfiction books of the decade

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert

The Emperor of All Maladies by Sidhartha Mukherjee

All the Single Ladies by Rebecca Traister

The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson

The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara

Dark Money by Jane Mayer

Reading Now

Guest House for Young Widows by Azadeh Moaveni 

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This week Alice and Kim talk holiday gifts for the nonfiction book lover in your life.

This episode is sponsored by Book Riot’s Read Harder Journal, and Book Riot Insiders.

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NONFICTION IN THE NEWS

National Book Award goes to Sarah Broom’s The Yellow House!

HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

Q: I am looking for a book for my grandpa for the holidays on Sociology or Ethics. He is a former Criminology Professor and so hard to buy for.

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

Another Day in the Death of America by Gary Younge

White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America by Nancy Isenberg

Q: My partner is a triathlete and loves to read books about or from cyclists and triathletes. There is not that many of them so he is running out of reading material, and I’m running out of ideas for gifts. Could you recommend good nonfiction on sport or by sportspeople? I think what he enjoys is reading about personal achievements.

The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown

A Necessary Spectacle: Billie Jean King, Bobby Riggs, and the Tennis Match That Leveled the Game by Selena Roberts

C.C. Pyle’s Amazing Foot Race: The True Story of the 1928 Coast-to-Coast Run Across America by Geoff Williams

Q: I am looking for a book for my dad. And that is what I want – a good, solid dad book (frontlist) recommendation. Think The Pioneers by David McCullough or Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. My dad is in his 80s and fairly conservative.

Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland’s History-Making Race Around the World by Matthew Goodman

The City Game: Triumph, Scandal, and a Legendary Basketball Team by Matthew Goodman

The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert M. Edsel

American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race by Douglas Brinkley

Q: I find a lot of the non-fiction I read is fairly heavy. Recent reads I’ve enjoyed are Invisible Women, Prisoners of Geography and Say Nothing, and although I’ve loved them all, all the war and death and sexism is hard going. So, I’d like your favourite happy, uplifting non-fiction on any topic to read over the holiday season!

Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? And Other Questions You Should Have Answers to When You Work in the White House by Alyssa Mastromonaco

From the Corner of the Oval by Beck Dorey-Stein

The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir by Samantha Power

The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey

I Know I Am, But What Are You? by Samantha Bee

The Wonder Trail: True Stories from Los Angeles to the End of the World by Steve Hely

READING NOW

KIM: In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

ALICE: Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford

CONCLUSION

You can find us on SOCIAL MEDIA – @itsalicetime and @kimthedork

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This week Alice and Kim chat about new November releases! Alice makes the Crusades sound interesting, Kim ponders likability and leadership, and both struggle with what to call nonfiction graphic novels.

This episode is sponsored by Book Riot’s Tailored Book Recommendations (aka TBR), Book Riot Insiders, and Run Like a Mother (the audiobook!).

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

Follow Up

Send holiday gift guide questions to [email protected] by November 20!

Nonfiction in the News

Slate: “The Library Popularity Index”

American Library Association: #eBooksForAll

New Books Bonanza!

Highway of Tears: A True Story of Racism, Indifference, and the Pursuit of Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls by Jessica McDiarmid

The Witches Are Coming by Lindy West

The Mutual Admiration Society: How Dorothy L. Sayers and her Oxford Circle Remade the World for Women by Mo Moulton

Mudlark: In Search of London’s Past Along the River Thames by Lara Maiklem

The Likeability Trap: How to Break Free and Succeed as You Are ‌by‌ ‌Alicia‌ ‌Menendez‌ ‌

The Accursed Tower: The Fall of Acre and the End of the Crusades by Roger Crowley

Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists: A Graphic History of Women’s Fight for Their Rights by A D’Amico and Mikki Kendall

Becoming RBG: Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Journey to Justice by Debbie Levy, illustrated by Whitney Gardner

Reading Now

Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow

Without a Prayer: The Death of Lucas Leonard and How One Church Became a Cult by Susan Ashline

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This week Alice and Kim talk plagues, Disney, and what Harry Houdini really thought about spiritualism.

This episode is sponsored by Book Riot’s Blind Date with a Book, and Dad’s Maybe Book by Tim O’Brien, published by HMH.

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

NONFICTION IN THE NEWS

Kirkus Prize winner: How We Fight for Our Lives: A Memoir by Saeed Jones

“A memoir of coming to terms that’s written with masterful control of both style and material.”

Washington Post: “Anonymous author of Trump ‘resistance’ op-ed to publish a tell-all book”

NEW BOOKS

Ordinary Girls: A Memoir by Jaquira Díaz

The Queens of Animation: The Untold Story of the Women Who Transformed the World of Disney and Made Cinematic History by Nathalia Holt

The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini by Joe Posnanski

Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets, & Advice for Living Your Best Life by Ali Wong

MEDICAL MYSTERIES

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan

The Dancing Plague: The Strange, True Story of an Extraordinary Illness by John Waller

The Ghost Map: The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic — and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson

The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story by Richard Preston

READING NOW

KIM: Antisocial: Online Extremists, Techno-Utopians, and the Hijacking of the American Conversation by Andrew Marantz

ALICE: The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Millicent Patrick by Mallory O’Meara!

CONCLUSION

You can find us on SOCIAL MEDIA – @itsalicetime and @kimthedork

RATE AND REVIEW on Apple Podcasts so people can find us more easily, and subscribe so you can get our new episodes the minute they come out.

LINKS

NPR Article

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This week Alice and Kim talk about some excellent new memoirs and dive deep into books about monsters.

This episode is sponsored by Book Riot’s Blind Date with a Book, Playlist: The Rebels and Revolutionaries of Sound by James Rhodes and illustrated by Martin O’Neill, and Change is the Only Constant by Ben Orlin, in hardcover from Black Dog and Leventhal.

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

Follow Up

NPR: "Here Are The Finalists For The 2019 National Book Awards"

Fifty Works of English Literature We Could Do Without by Brigid Brophy, Michael Levey, Charles Osborne (1967)

Nonfiction in the News

Sports Illustrated: "She Won Athletes' Hearts. And Robbed Them Blind"

Andrew Carnegie Medals Longlist

Forbes: “Decluttering Expert Marie Kondo On Her Forthcoming Workplace and Career Advice Book ‘Joy At Work’”

New Books

How We Fight for Our Lives: A Memoir by Saeed Jones

Unashamed: Musings of a Fat, Black Muslim by Leah Vernon

Things We Didn't Talk About When I Was a Girl: A Memoir by Jeannie Vanasco

Unfollow: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church by Megan Phelps-Roper

Here Be Monsters

The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick by Mallory O'Meara 

Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction by Lisa Kroger and Melanie R. Anderson

Monsters in America: Our Historical Obsession with the Hideous and the Haunting by W. Scott Poole

The Science of Monsters: The Truth About Zombies, Witches, Werewolves, Vampires, and Other Legendary Creatures by Meg Hafdahl, Kelly Florence

Reading Now

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb

Me by Elton John

The Twilight Man: Rod Serling and the Birth of Television by Koren Shadmi

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This week Alice and Kim talk about the National Book Award longlist, cozy books, and the best pig there ever was.

This episode is sponsored by Book Riot’s Blind Date, These Boys and Their Fathers by Don Waters, and Motherhood So White by Nefertiti Austin.

Subscribe to For Real using RSS, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher.

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

FOLLOW UP BOOKS

She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey

NONFICTION IN THE NEWS

National Book Award Longlist

New York Times: “It’s a Fact: Mistakes Are Embarrassing the Publishing Industry”

Impeachment: An American History

NEW BOOKS

Make it Scream, Make it Burn by Leslie Jamison

On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal by Naomi Klein

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics by Donna Brazile, Yolanda Caraway, Leah Daughtry and Minyon Moore

Embrace Your Weird: Face Your Fears and Unleash Creativity by Felicia Day

COZY NONFICTION

The Good Pig: The Extraordinary Life of Christopher Hogwood by Sy Montgomery

Life in the Garden by Penelope Lively

The Curse of the Boyfriend Sweater: Essays on Crafting by Alanna Okun

My Life in Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead

READING NOW

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe

Motherhood So White by Nefertiti Austin

CONCLUSION

You can find us on SOCIAL MEDIA – @itsalicetime and @kimthedork

RATE AND REVIEW on Apple Podcasts so people can find us more easily, and subscribe so you can get our new episodes the minute they come out.

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This week Alice and Kim take a deep dive into eight great new books coming out in early September!

This episode is sponsored by our giveaway of the best mysteries and thrillers of the year so far, Born to Fly by Steve Sheinkin, and Yale Needs Women from Sourcebooks.

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

Follow Up

The trailer for Just Mercy was released!

Nonfiction in the News

NBC News: Ex-aide to James Mattis claims Pentagon is holding up his memoir

VOX: It’s time to talk about James Mattis’s involvement with the Theranos scandal

New Book Bonanza

Yale Needs Women: How the First Group of Girls Rewrote the Rules of an Ivy League Giant by Anne Gardiner Perkins

She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?: Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death by Caitlin Doughty

Crossfire Hurricane: Inside Donald Trump's War on the FBI by Josh Campbell

Guest House for Young Widows: Among the Women of ISIS by Azadeh Moaveni

The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls by Mona Eltahawy

The Nature of Life and Death: Every Body Leaves a Trace by Patricia Wiltshire

How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems by Randall Munroe

Reading Now

Audience of One: Donald Trump, Television, and the Fracturing of America by James Poniewozik

The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland by Jim Defede

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This week Alice and Kim talk underdog robots, a school with no tests, and monsters of the Midwest. This is For Real.

This episode is sponsored by the Book Riot Mystery Giveaway, What They Meant for Evil by Rebecca Deng, published by FaithWords and Book Riot’s Recommended.

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

NONFICTION IN THE NEWS

Ann Shen’s Bad Girls Throughout History is being made into a series.

The film version of Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy will hit theaters in January 2020!

NEW BOOKS

Midwestern Strange: Hunting Monsters, Martians, and the Weird in Flyover Country by B.J. Hollars

The Optimist’s Telescope: Thinking Ahead in a Reckless Age by Bina Venkataraman

Savage Appetites: Four True Stories of Women, Crime, and Obsession by Rachel Monroe

Scan Artist : How Evelyn Wood Convinced the World That Speed-Reading Worked by Marcia Biederman

SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK

The Class: A Life-Changing Teacher, His World-Changing Kids, and the Most Inventive Classroom in America by Heather Won Tesoriero

Law Touched Our Hearts: A Generation Remembers Brown v. Board of Education ed. By Mildred Wigfall Robinson and Richard J. Bonnie

The Teacher Wars: A History of America’s Most Embattled Profession by Dana Goldstein

Spare Parts: Four Undocumented Teenagers, One Ugly Robot, and the Battle for the American Dream by Joshua Davis

READING NOW

KIM: Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagoski and Amelia

ALICE: Seduction: Sex, Lies, and Stardom in Howard Hughes’s Hollywood by Karina Longworth

CONCLUSION

You can find us on SOCIAL MEDIA – @itsalicetime and @kimthedork

RATE AND REVIEW on Apple Podcasts so people can find us more easily, and subscribe so you can get our new episodes the minute they come out.

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This week Alice and Kim talk about Barack Obama’s summer nonfiction picks, the world’s deadliest predator, and true stories inside cults and places with cult-like thinking.

This episode is sponsored by Book Riot Insiders, Skin Deep by Gavin Evans, published by Oneworld Publications and Chase Darkness with Meby Billy Jensen.

Subscribe to For Real using RSS, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher.

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

FOLLOW UP

Exile and Pride: Disability, Queerness and Liberation by Eli Clare

NONFICTION IN THE NEWS

Barack Obama’s summer reading list

Publisher’s Weekly: Workman to Publish AOC Bio

NEW BOOKS

Breaking the Ocean: A Memoir of Race, Rebellion, and Reconciliation by Annahid Dashtgard

The Yellow House: A Memoir by Sarah M. Broom

Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers: Monstrosity, Patriarchy, and the Fear of Female Power by Sady Doyle

The Mosquito: A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator by Timothy C. Winegard

CULTS!

Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer

The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and the People’s Temple by Jeff Guinn

Without You, There is No Us: My Time with the Sons of North Korea’s Elite by Suki Kim

Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche by Haruki Murakami

READING NOW

Rising Out of Hatred: The Awakening of a Former White Nationalist by Eli Saslow

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemptionby Laura Hillenbrand

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This week Alice and Kim talk books for book lovers, Anna the fake heiress, and one of the most astounding women in the Roman world.

This episode is sponsored by Book Riot Insiders. Check it out and sign up for your 14-day free trial at insiders.bookriot.com.

Subscribe to For Real using RSS, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher.

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

Follow Up

-Moon podcast Moonrise

NEW BOOKS

My Friend Anna: The True Story of a Fake Heiress by Rachel DeLoache Williams

The Pretty One: On Life, Pop Culture, Disability, and Other Reasons to Fall in Love With Me by Keah Brown

Our Women on the Ground: Essays by Arab Women Reporting from the Arab World by Zahra Hankir

Girl on the Block: A True Story of Coming of Age Behind the Counter by Jessica Wragg

God Land: A Story of Faith, Loss, and Renewal in Middle America by Lyz Lenz

Agrippina: The Most Extraordinary Woman of the Roman World by Emma Southon

Gross Anatomy: A Field Guide to Loving Your Body, Warts and All by Mara Altman

BOOKS ABOUT BOOKS

In honor of National Book Lover’s Day on August 9

What We See When We Read by Peter Mendelsund

Black Ink: Literary Legends on the Peril, Power, and Pleasure of Reading Writing, ed. by Stephanie Stokes Oliver

Book Love by Debbie Tung

Bibliophile: An Illustrated Miscellany by Jane Mount

My Life with Bob: Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues by Pamela Paul

READING NOW

KIM: The World’s Fastest Man: The Extraordinary Life of Major Taylorby Michael Kramish

ALICE: American Heiress by Jeffrey Toobin

You can find us on SOCIAL MEDIA – @itsalicetime and @kimthedork

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