Nonfiction

Review: Fromms: How Julius Fromm’s Condom Empire Fell to the Nazis by Götz Aly and Michael Sontheimer

Julius Fromm was born in Russia in 1883; when he was 10 years old, his parents left Russia for Berlin. At the time, Berlin offered the hope of more economic opportunity and a better life. Fromm grew up feeling like a German, and a patriotic one at that. It all came to crushing end when Hitler came to power, because… Read more

Review: A Sportcaster’s Guide to Watching Football by Mark Oristano

Have you ever wished that you knew a little more about football?  You’re watching with friends, everyone is yelling about the lousy blocking or the zone defense and you wish you knew what they were talking about?  Or maybe you wish your boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse could get as excited about the pass coverage as you are?  This may be just the book you… Read more

Review: The Mirror Effect: How Celebrity Narcissism is Seducing America by Dr. Drew Pinsky and Dr. S. Mark Young

Who better to talk about celebrities than Dr. Drew? For more than 25 years he has co-hosted Loveline on the radio and, for 4 years, on MTV. On VH1, he produces and hosts Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew and Sober House. He is definitely an expert on celebrity behavior, and this book is full of anecdotes and descriptions of the… Read more

Review: Throw Out Fifty Things: Clear the Clutter, Find Your Life by Gail Blanke

If anyone needed this self-help book, it was me. I actually have at least one thing in common with author Gail Blanke – both of our mother’s were extremely organized, while both of us struggle to keep ourselves organized. That’s a good start. In addition, as I have mentioned before, I am a packrat. I need to go through things… Read more

Review: Legerdemain: The Presidents Secret Plan, The Bomb and what the French Never Knew… by James J. Heaphey

Legerdemain: French term (literally “light of hand”) commonly used to refer to sleight of hand or magical manipulation. The term could have been James Heaphy’s job description. Legerdemain is the story of Heaphey’s time in Morocco, working for U.S. Air Force intelligence. At the time, the United States had a secret cache of nuclear weapons, hidden in an air force… Read more

The Necklace: thirteen women and the experiment that transformed their lives by Cheryl Jarvis

How would you like to go to the grocery store or the gynecologist or your graduation wearing a $37,000 diamond necklace? Would it be fun? Would it be shocking? Would it change your life? In Cheryl Jarvis’ book, The Necklace, Jonell McClain convinces 11 other women to band together with her to bid on a $37,000 diamond tennis necklace. (The… Read more