“The most telling symptom of fascist politics is division. It aims to separate a population into an “us” and a “them.” This was a very informative book about what fascism is, how it works, and examples throughout history. I learned a lot from this book, especially in understanding how the United States got to this … More Review: How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
As soon as I saw this book I knew it was one I wanted to read. This was a fascinating look at cannibalism in humans, animals, and insects. While this seems like a book that would discuss cannibal serial killers, it doesn’t and the author explains early on why he doesn’t cover that topic. I … More Review: Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History by Bill Schutt
“What makes Scream so relatable is that the killer, though initially masked and anonymous, is not some monster. It is someone you know who is deeply betraying you in a very traumatic and violent way.” This book is a love letter to the Scream franchise and its impact on the horror genre. Ashley Cullins provides … More ARC Review: Your Favorite Scary Movie: How the Scream Films Rewrote the Rules of Horror by Ashley Cullins
While I live in the Appalachian mountains and spend a lot of time wandering the woods, I have never considered spending months hiking the Appalachian Trail or the Pacific Crest Trail. I have always been conscious of the dangers of hiking/wandering the woods and usually am pretty prepared, but that is only for a few … More Review: Trail of the Lost: The Relentless Search to Bring Home the Missing Hikers of the Pacific Crest Trail by Andrea Lankford
Title: Black Coal and Red Bandanas: An Illustrated History of the West Virginia Mine Wars Author: Paul Buhle and Raymond Tyler Illustrator: Summer McClinton Pages: 137 “There is never peace in West Virginia because there is never justice.” Mother Jones This was a beautifully illustrated history of the West Virginia mine wars. I really loved … More Review: Black Coal and Red Bandanas: An Illustrated History of the West Virginia Mine Wars by Paul Buhle and Raymond Tyler
“God does not walk in these hills…The devil is here in these hills, and the devil is greed.” General Charles D. Elliott As a West Virginian, I will admit I only recently learned about the mine wars. About four years ago my work created an exhibit and presentation about it be mine wars and it … More Review: The Devil Is Here in These Hills: West Virginia’s Coal Miners and Their Battle for Freedom by James Green
TW: Discussion of murder, slavery, matricide, forced transitioning, rape; racism; disablism and ableism, mainly to those with dwarfism (Ch. 5); eugenics; pedophilia; miscarriages; abortions; This book takes you through thirteen of the worst breakups in history. Like Wright’s other books, this was an enjoyable look at a specific topic in history. This book covers many … More Review: It Ended Badly: Thirteen of the Worst Breakups in History by Jennifer Wright
“One estimate…maintains that TB has killed around one in seven people who ever lived.” Tuberculosis is something that I knew was a thing that killed a lot of people but I didn’t realize it was still so rampant and that it is still killing on such a wide scale. Green does a great job at … More Review: Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green
“No murderer should ever be the guardian of their victim’s story, and yet this is the role that Hawley Harvey Crippen has always held.” Hallie Rubenhold, author of The Five, is back and this time deep diving into the North London Cellar Murder. This is a case that I had never heard of before picking … More ARC Review: Story of a Murder: The Wives, the Mistress, and Dr. Crippen by Hallie Rubenhold
“Diseases are the most fundamental enemy of the human race, and we must be at constant war against them.” This was a fascinating book about thirteen different plagues and how they were handled. I have only heard about most of these but never done deeper research into them. This book provided a great introduction to … More Review: Get Well Soon: History’s Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them by Jennifer Wright
Witchcraft: A Graphic History tells the story of Biddy Early, a famous wise woman in Ireland who was tried as a witch. This is a dramatized version of her story and the relationship but the relationship between her and her apprentice is false and is just used as an element to move the story along. … More ARC Review: Witchcraft: A Graphic History: Stories of wise women, healers and magic by Lindsay Squire
This was a very emotional and impactful graphic novel. I have been meaning to read this for a while now and was glad that I could read about this piece of history that was not included in the history books I had to read during school. This is the story of George Takei’s childhood in … More Review: They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, and Steven Scott
Red-Haired Ash Reads 