Non-Fiction Fun!

I have a very wide range of book interests. I read pretty much anything about everything. I always seem to have 1 or 2 non-fiction books in my TBR pile at one time. By reading non-fiction I feel that I learn more about the world, and the people in it, and I gain so much knowledge. I wanted to do some mini reviews on some of the non-fiction books I have been reading!


A Stolen Life: A Memoir by Jaycee Dugard

Jaycee Dugard was kidnapped when she was 11 years old and was held by her kidnappers for 18 years in a secret backyard. During the course of the 18 years, Jaycee has 2 children with her kidnapper, Phillip Garrido. With great courage and strength, Jaycee survived her 18 year nightmare and came out alive!

Being kidnapped has always been one of my greatest fears, so I have always had an interest in stories of kidnapping survivors, like Elizabeth Smart. This book is written with such great detail by Jaycee herself. It blows my mind with what she had to go through during her 18 years of captivity and how she came out of it with the ability and strength to survive and to continue living her life. She is definitely someone I would consider a hero. This book does contain very vivid detail about her ordeal, so I would caution younger readers.


Brave Girl Eating by Harriet Brown

Brave Girl Eating chronicles Kitty, a 14 year old, during her treatment of anorexia. The book in written by Kitty's mother Harriet. Harriet describes the hardships of having a family member with an eating disorder. Harriet and her husband decide to take on Kitty's anorexia as a family. They want to conquer this beast, and get their family back to normal.

I have always been curious about eating disorders. I have read many memoirs of people with anorexia, but this is the first that I have read from the point of view of the mother. The Brown's take a unique approach to treating Kitty's anorexia, by using a family approach. Once I picked up the book, I could not put it down. I found myself hurting when the anorexia won, and sheering, when Kitty was able to beat the beast inside of her.

Poisoned by Jeff Benedict

Poisoned chronicles a major e. coli outbreak in 1993. E. coli is a deadly strain of food poisoning that killed several children from eating contaminated hamburgers from a fast food chain. Poisoned interviews the families, doctors, lawyers, and others that were involved in this story. The book discusses how the outbreak happened, and how it could have never happened.

I saw this book on the new book shelf at my local library and was instantly drawn in when I saw that the book involved children. I had never really heard of e.coli, so I learned a lot from this book. I learned the dangers of eating under cooked meat and the what can happen when people are not careful. The book discussed the different cases that were filled against the fast food chain, which I though were a little slow. Overall, the book was very informative and I enjoyed reading it!


Hopefully these encouraged you to do a little non-fiction reading. You never know what you will learn when you pick up a book!

Happy reading!
Bookaholic