Ok friends. I know I’ve been writing about a lot of romance lately, so to balance out a little, here is some great nonfic. They don’t have a theme, but that just means there’s a greater chance for everyone to find something to love.

Gladwell is one of those authors for me. I always try and read what he puts out. And when I saw this one, I got excited because I really enjoyed reading his first book - The Tipping Point. Gladwell makes so many interesting connections. I don’t know how many times I thought, “oh, I didn’t know that.” Usually I like to speed read things, but this one, I made myself savor - just one or two chapters a day. You can read this new book without having read the old one, but why not just read both for fun? They are highly worth your time. 

I have to admit that Charleston is one of my cities. You can’t grow up with googly eyes for Rhett Butler and not want to see his hometown. My husband and I actually got to visit in October 2019 (and if I’dve known what was coming in 2020, we would have stayed longer). It was a great visit, and I had no idea that the city is in such danger of flooding and rising water. We always hear about New Orleans being in trouble (also one of my cities), but not so much Charleston. Turns out they are already in danger. After reading this book, if I had any property in the area, I’d be selling it. This was an interesting and educating read, and we can be thankful that Nashville doesn’t have to face these problems.

I am not a fan of going up in skyscrapers. Even before 9/11 and that whole falling down thing, being high in the sky held only fear for me. That said, I also think that’s why I enjoyed reading about the world’s tallest buildings and the people who built them. It’s the same reason I like to read about people who summit Everest. Am I ever going to do it? Nope. Can I live vicariously through these folks from the safety of my couch on the first floor of my house. Yep. I might even live dangerously and read it in my third floor office - as high in the sky as I am willing to go. The good news is the lower floors are cheaper, so my fear of heights might actually save me some money. In the meantime, I get to read about all these other high places.

I should probably start this by admitting that I have never shopped at Victoria Secret. I’m not sure I’ve ever even been in one of their stores. But I was definitely the right age that malls were a thing when I was a teenager. This was before there was so much online shopping - if you needed something, you went to the mall. Because I did not partake of their products, I didn’t know a lot about the behind the scenes dynamics. In the post-#MeToo era, I’m not shocked at all the toxic masculinity of the men in charge. This was an interesting read that held my attention. It made me nostalgic for the whole mall culture. It was kind of a thing and if you missed it, I’m sad for you. PS Our local Cool Springs mall got a shout out in this one.

This book was not what I expected. I’ve long enjoyed a good art heist book. But this was about a friendship between the author and his sometime business partner. The art world is not the most regulated industry - to the point that it has kind of become a popular way to launder money (or so I hear…). For all the ways that friend Inigo worked the system, I had no idea that those things were even options. This was an interesting book to read, but I am so happy that I don’t have to deal with this on a daily basis. I’m not enough of a conman to pull anything of this nature off on any level. I did learn a lot though.

I used to be a mostly fiction reader. I didn’t fully know the joy of learning about something and being entertained at the same time. Pick the most intriguing and jump in.

Happy expanding your world…

:) Amanda