Category: Non Fiction

— Book Review, Fashion, Non Fiction —

Book Review: ‘Fashioning Fat: Inside Plus-Size Modeling’ by Amanda M. Czerniawski

March 28, 2015

There are probably not many people out there who are going to deny that there is something wrong with North America’s conception of beauty. One constant complaint is the narrow-minded definition of beauty that has been created and its implications, from eating disorders to plastic surgery, self-mutilation to the preferential treatment that those considered beautiful… Read More Book Review: ‘Fashioning Fat: Inside Plus-Size Modeling’ by Amanda M. Czerniawski

— Book Review, Historical, Non Fiction —

Book Review: ‘Plucked: A History of Hair Removal’ by Rebecca M. Herzig

January 29, 2015

Many women spend countless hours and large sums of money to get rid of unwanted hair. From our eyebrows all the way to our toes, there is not a single part of the female body that has not been subjected to plucking in some form or another. How many of us have stopped to consider… Read More Book Review: ‘Plucked: A History of Hair Removal’ by Rebecca M. Herzig

— Book Review, Memoir, Non Fiction —

Book Review: ‘Pieces of my Mother’ by Melissa Cistaro

January 10, 2015

Heartbreaking in its simplicity, Pieces of my Mother is Melissa Cistaro’s attempt to shed some much needed light on her dark past. Her mother—the woman who left her three children and her then-husband when Cistaro was a very small child—is dying, and Cistaro finds herself holding vigil at her bedside, desperate to connect with the… Read More Book Review: ‘Pieces of my Mother’ by Melissa Cistaro

— Biography, Book Review, Non Fiction —

Book Review: ‘Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)’ by Mindy Kaling

December 15, 2014

Reviewing auto-biographies is a delicate venture, to say the least. A reviewer has to learn to draw the line between reviewing the book and reviewing the person’s life. In some cases it can be easy – when an auto-biography is both well written and the author is someone the reader can easily relate to. The… Read More Book Review: ‘Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)’ by Mindy Kaling

— Biography, Book Review, Non Fiction —

Book Review: ‘Mademoiselle: Coco Chanel and the Pulse of History’, by Rhonda K. Garelick

September 21, 2014

Celebrity culture pervades our day to day lives. We have an unhealthy relationships with the people that influence our lives, placing them on pedestal and deifying them. When it comes to someone like Coco Chanel, whose influence, even a little over 40 years after her passing, infuses to many lives around the world, that deification,… Read More Book Review: ‘Mademoiselle: Coco Chanel and the Pulse of History’, by Rhonda K. Garelick

— Book Review, Music Industry, Non Fiction, Self-Help —

Book Review: ‘Your Band is a Virus!’ by James Moore

September 2, 2014

The music we are most exposed to is that which is deemed worthy by big companies with big reach.  Unfortunately, these companies are more interested in making a profit than creating uplifting, inspiring music, encouraging audiences like ourselves to accept that the formulaic songs they churn out at breathtaking speed is, indeed, good music. How… Read More Book Review: ‘Your Band is a Virus!’ by James Moore

— Book Review, Non Fiction, Psychology, Self-Help —

Book Review: ‘Constructive Wallowing: How to Beat Bad Feelings by Letting Yourself Have Them’ by Tina Gilbertson

July 19, 2014

One’s conception of life is of big importance as to how we deal with mistakes. If life on Earth is but one chance to do everything we have to do before disappearing for good, then of course mistakes are unacceptable. But if one understands life on Earth as the beginning of an eternal path on… Read More Book Review: ‘Constructive Wallowing: How to Beat Bad Feelings by Letting Yourself Have Them’ by Tina Gilbertson

— Book Review, Education, Non Fiction —

Book Review: Kids Gone Wild: From Rainbow Parties to Sexting, Understanding the Hype Over Teen Sex, by Joel Best and Kathleen A. Bogle

July 18, 2014

I have had the pleasure of working with preteens and teens for some time and had to face very early on the question of sex.  I believe this topic should not be a shameful one that needs to be hidden away.  Rather it should be discussed openly with wisdom, and tact.  Furthermore, preteens and teens… Read More Book Review: Kids Gone Wild: From Rainbow Parties to Sexting, Understanding the Hype Over Teen Sex, by Joel Best and Kathleen A. Bogle