When Isabel Gillies’s husband got a job she packed up her two toddlers, and belongings and moved from New York City to Ohio.  After only a few months of doing so her husband informed her that he was leaving her and their two boys.  A friend told her it “happens every day.”  The story doens’t even have the slightest hint of self pity, Isabel writes candidly as if speaking with a close friend.  With divorce rates close to 60% this memoir hits close to home for many of us.

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Tags: book, divorce, happens every day, isabel gillies, Literature, memoir, New York City, nonfiction, ohio, read

Essays from a local New Yorker who has the quirkiest and strangest life experiences to have ever hit a page find themselves collected and bound in I Was Told There’d be Cake.  Sloane Crosley has written essays for New York Times, Village Voice, and Salon.  Released last April 2008, I Was Told There’d be Cake is a lovable compilation of stories ranging from Sloane’s odd collection of  plastic pony’s to baking a cake in the shape of her boss’ face.  Her voice in the book is said to feel a little like David Sedaris, Carrie Bradshaw, and Dorothy Parker, but the best part about this little piece of literary brilliance is its Sloane Crosley’s.  Keep your eye out for this woman, with a debut book this good I can hardly wait for what the future brings.  Grab I was Told there’d be Cake at your nearest bookshop because your collection won’t be complete without it.

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Tags: april 2008, carrie bradshaw, David Sedaris, dorothy parker, essays, i was told thered be cake, Literature, New York, new york times, nonfiction, salon, sloane crosley, village voice

Lewis H. Lapham is an American writer who has been the Editor of Harper’s Magazine from 1976 until 2006, apart from a short interim between 1981 and 1983.  In 2006 he established his own journal on history, Lapham’s Quarterly.  Since the early 80′s Lewis Lapham has not only worked on monthly publications but has written several books on the topic of history as well.  

Theater of War is a non-fictional piece about 911 and how the government, as well as the nation, perceived events, our leader, and the inevitable conflict at our hands.  Although Lapham’s work goes into great length and discursiveness, he is cognizant and assured.  As Annie Dillard, a Pulitzer Prize winning author herself, has said, Lewis Lapham is “one of our most brilliant writers and thinkers.”

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Tags: 911, books, Harper's Magazine, history, Lapham's Quarterly, Lewis Lapham, Literature, nonfiction, Theater Of War

6,557 miles, two and a half weeks, 600 CDs and one man make Killing Yourself to Live one of the best books about death I have ever read.  That might not be saying much, as I have read maybe 5 books about death, but trust me Killing Yourself to Live is good.  

Chuck Klosterman takes the reader along as his traveling companion as he embarks on a curious roadtrip about rock-n-roll and death.  His mission:  to understand why one of the best career moves a rockstar can make is to die.  ”Somewhere at some point, somehow, somebody decided that death equals credibility.”

The reader suddenly becomes Chuck’s confidante as he reveals his partying, love life issues, family stories and rock-n-roll legends who have met their demise.  Published in 2005, Killing Yourself to Live is, in my opinion, a masterful piece of witty nonfiction, pop-culture literature.

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Tags: 2005, books, CDs, chuck klosterman, death, killing yourself to live, Literature, love life, miles, mission, nonfiction, nyc, pop culture, reading, road trip, rock, rock n roll, traveling, weeks

The collapse of the Zimbawean government, an indepth look at the regime of Robert Mugabe, a fathers death, and a country struggling to survive are all depicted in vivid details throughout this memoir.  It is a gripping tail of persistance, survival, and a nations turmoil.  This true story truly left me breathless and was, in my opinion, a terrific book.

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Tags: Africa, books, memoir, nonfiction, Peter Godwin, reading