Welcome!
I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t reading at least one book. I devour them, make time for them, hunt for bargains, and love to talk with other readers like you.
When I was trying to sum up my favorite 2016 reads, I realized I read mostly in three categories: books I learn from, books I use to relax, and books that are about resisting patriarchy, racism, and the status quo. So, that’s how I’m organizing my blog posts here. (I hope you’ll check out my favorite 2017, 2018, and 2019 reads also.)
I’m also the author of the Amazon best-selling Kick Pain in the Kitchen, about how to find holistic pain relief.
Find me at Goodreads and on the Litsy app as BarbaraTheBibliophage!
The New Barack Obama Memoir: A Promised Land (Book Review)
I spent 30 hours listening to Barack Obama in November. Hint: It was the audiobook of his recently released memoir, A Promised Land. I consider it time well spent, as well as an enjoyable listen. And even though I was alive and politically aware during the events of...
Taffy Brodesser-Akner Explores NYC Life in Fleishman Is in Trouble (Book Review)
Taffy Brodesser-Akner shines a light into the darkness of dysfunctional marriage and divorce in Fleishman Is in Trouble. Set in the world of Manhattan’s social climbing thirtysomethings, we meet Toby Fleishman first. He’s experiencing the unstable world of newly...
Legal Insights from Ruth Bader Ginsburg in My Own Words (Book Review)
Reading My Own Words by Ruth Bader Ginsburg is like dipping my toe into the world of judges and legal briefs. It’s a marginally vast compilation of lectures, briefs, interviews, and other writings from the Supreme Court Justice. They begin early in life—with a school...
Hope Rides Again: Obama Biden Mysteries #2 by Andrew Shaffer (Book Review)
Starting Hope Rides Again: Obama Biden Mysteries #2 by Andrew Shaffer right after Election Day was celebratory. And more than a little bittersweet. With Joe Biden now the U.S. President-Elect Shaffer most likely won’t write another of these quirky mysteries. At least...
Rethink the Bins: Your Guide to Smart Recycling and Less Household Waste from Julia L.F. Goldstein (Book Review)
Julia L.F. Goldstein offers environmental research and information in her upcoming book Rethink the Bins: Your Guide to Smart Recycling and Less Household Waste. Her first book, Material Value covered a lot of manufacturing processes and a little household advice. On...
Ruth Ben-Ghiat on Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present (Book Review)
Watching real-life strongman moves while reading Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present from Ruth Ben-Ghiat is both surreal and chilling. But given that the book’s publication date was also the U.S. Election Day, comparisons are inevitable. At least to one of the...
Dave Cullen on Parkland: Birth of a Movement (Book Review)
Dave Cullen offers the inspirational journey of the students from Margery Stoneman Douglas High School (MSD) in Parkland: Birth of a Movement. Before you think it’s all “happy happy joy joy,” you should know the stories include dark times as well as light. Of course,...
More Gwen Proctor Thrillers: Wolfhunter River & Bitter Falls (Series books 3 & 4)
These two satisfying thrillers follow more of Gwen Proctor and her family, which still comprises her teenage son and daughter and now adds a trusted male friend and love interest. If you remember from my recent reviews, she fights vicious Internet trolls and stalkers...
Mona Hanna-Attisha Fights for the Children in What the Eyes Don’t See (Book Review)
Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha wrote What the Eyes Don’t See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City to tell what happened in Flint, Michigan. But it’s not just her story. It’s the story of her clinic, her city, her state, and her country. And they are...
Colin Dickey—Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places (Book Review)
From author Colin Dickey, Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places is just the kind of book choice readers make in October. It combines history, travel, architecture, urban legend, and philosophy. But I also have to say it wasn’t nearly as gripping as I...
Rachel Caine Thrillers: Stillhouse Lake & Killman Creek (Series books 1 & 2)
Rachel Caine and her main character Gwen Proctor know how to create tight-as-a-drum tension throughout this series based in rural Tennessee. In the first book, Gwen moves to Stillhouse Lake, near the small town of Norton, TN after leaving a long string of other...
The Lottery and Other Stories: Classic Horror from Shirley Jackson (Book Review)
The Lottery and Other Stories proves that Shirley Jackson was a master storyteller. Everyone knows this, so I’m not saying anything new. I’m behind on reading Jackson’s work, having only read We Have Always Lived in a Castle previously. But I figured October was a...
Lindy West—Shit, Actually: The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema (Book Review)
Lindy West reviews classic movies from the last several decades in Shit, Actually: The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema. These are her favorites, meaning she likes to pick them apart and point out all the plot holes, weird characters, and clunky...
Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything by Lydia Kang, MD and Nate Pedersen (Book Review)
Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything by Lydia Kang and Nate Pedersen is two parts gasping at astounding purported medical cures. It’s also one part rubbernecker can’t look away no matter how yucky the example might be. I thoroughly enjoyed...
Amitav Ghosh: Gun Island is Socially Conscious Storytelling (Book Review)
Gun Island is my first Amitav Ghosh, but certainly not my last. I love his style and this book. I’m particularly drawn to Ghosh’s ability to weave various current news topics into a compelling story. It grounds the narrative solidly in our own time period, and...
Bob Woodward explains Trump administration in Rage (Book Review)
Rage by Bob Woodward is the combination of rage-inducing, all the rage, and full of rage. Woodward’s on every interview show (at least on the channels I watch). He’s getting his message out and selling books, for gosh sakes. Plus of course, time is short before...
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I will definitely recommend Kick Pain in the Kitchen to my patients: Those who are looking to avoid pharmaceutical treatment and those who want to combine western medicine with alternative therapies.
Jane A. Swartz
ARNP, MSN, Rheumatology Nurse Practitioner
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