Category: Nonfiction

Reviews for nonfiction books.

Review: Rabid: A Cultural History of the World’s Most Diabolical Virus by Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy

February 17, 2026

“It is the most fatal virus in the world, a pathogen that kills nearly 100 percent of its hosts in most species, including humans.” Rabid is all about the most fatal virus known to science, Rabies. This discusses the history of the disease, the cultural impact of it, and how it has been handled throughout … More Review: Rabid: A Cultural History of the World’s Most Diabolical Virus by Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy

Review: The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party by Daniel James Brown

February 11, 2026

This book follows the harrowing journey of the Donner party. It chronicles the group’s journey from the very beginning in Illinois all the way till their deaths after their rescue. As someone who has known about the Donner party for years but never really done any research on the tragedy, this was a very eye … More Review: The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party by Daniel James Brown

Review: Out Cold: A Chilling Descent into the Macabre, Controversial, Lifesaving History of Hypothermia by Phil Jaekl

February 5, 2026

Out Cold chronicles the history of using cold in medicine and hyperthermia. This covers experimentations, accidents, and all different kinds of medical marvels. This is a topic that is not really something that I have ever really thought of when it comes to medical history, but it ended up being a really fascinating one.  I … More Review: Out Cold: A Chilling Descent into the Macabre, Controversial, Lifesaving History of Hypothermia by Phil Jaekl

ARC Review: The Culting of America: What Makes a Cult and Why We Learn to Love Them by Daniella Mestyanek Young and Amy Reed

January 24, 2026

“Cults don’t start with mass suicide or pledges to storm the Capitol. They start with small things: a shared belief, an inspiring leader, a feeling of belonging. They start with language—words like awakening, truth, resistance, patriotism. And before long, that language becomes identity, and identity becomes dogma. The most dangerous ideas aren’t shouted—they’re whispered in … More ARC Review: The Culting of America: What Makes a Cult and Why We Learn to Love Them by Daniella Mestyanek Young and Amy Reed

Review: When We Spoke to the Dead: How Ghosts Gave American Women Their Voice by Ilise S. Carter

January 5, 2026

This was a fascinating look at the history of Spiritualism and its role in the history of faith, fraud, feminism, and financial opportunities. This covers things like women’s suffrage, the changing of people’s faith and rituals, the rise in popularity of these spiritualists in media, the racism of the movement, and scientific testing done to … More Review: When We Spoke to the Dead: How Ghosts Gave American Women Their Voice by Ilise S. Carter

Review: Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident by Donnie Eichar

December 27, 2025

Before picking up this book, I had never heard of this incident and had no idea about all the controversy around what might have happened to these nine hikers. Eichar weaves together his journey to uncover the mystery of this incident with the hikers’ accounts to create a very interesting and captivating look at what … More Review: Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident by Donnie Eichar

Review: The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore

December 20, 2025

The Radium Girls discusses the lives, careers, trials, and death of the women who worked in factories painting watches, clocks, and other military dials with radium so they will illuminate. They were repeatedly told that radium wasn’t harmful, and taught to make their paint brushes into a point using their mouths. So when the women … More Review: The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore

Review: Nine Pints; A Journey Through the Money, Medicine, and Mysteries of Blood by Rose George

December 15, 2025

Blood is not something that I ever thought I would be interested in learning more about but Rose George really made this a fascinating topic. This book takes us through history by talking about the use of blood in medicine, like leeches and transfusions; to blood donation, menstruation, HIV/AIDs, hemophilia, vampirism, and quite a few … More Review: Nine Pints; A Journey Through the Money, Medicine, and Mysteries of Blood by Rose George

Review: War is a Racket by General Smedley Butler

December 14, 2025

This book was written in 1935, and is still so relevant today. War is a Racket is a scathing 43 minutes (or 50 pages) book about the lies politicians tell American taxpayers to justify going to war. Butler explains the corruption of war in very easy to follow language and finishes up by presenting three … More Review: War is a Racket by General Smedley Butler

Review: Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

December 13, 2025

“For good or ill, there is now a cult for everyone.” When you hear the word ‘cult’ your brain instantly imagines a specific type of group (an extreme religious one most likely), but that doesn’t cover the broadness of what a cult can be. Cultish takes a look at the language surrounding cults and what … More Review: Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

Review: Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham

December 7, 2025

This book is about the history of the dangers of the space program and how it led to disasters like the Challenger explosion in 1986, the Columbia disaster in 2003, and a few other disasters. While I knew of the Challenger disaster, it was before I was born and I never really looked into what … More Review: Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham

Review: The Unidentified: Mythical Monsters, Alien Encounters, and Our Obsession with the Unexplained by Colin Dickey

December 6, 2025

Like in Ghostland, Colin Dickey challenges our views on conspiracies, UFOs, and cryptids by asking not if they exist, but why do people believe or don’t believe they do. He goes over the histories of conspiracies, UFOs, and cryptids and dives deep into why some people believe.  This was an interesting book and really challenged … More Review: The Unidentified: Mythical Monsters, Alien Encounters, and Our Obsession with the Unexplained by Colin Dickey