Category: Nonfiction

Thirst

~ rachelbenzine ~ Leave a comment

Plot:

Scott Harrison was a successful nightclub promoter, living the high life in New York City. When he was 28 years old, he hit the metaphorical wall, turned his life over to Jesus, and eventually started a nonprofit organization aimed at meeting one of the most pressing issues across the world: lack of clean water. Thirst is Harrison’s memoir chronicling his journey to starting and running the amazing global nonprofit charity: water, which aims to provide access to clean and safe water to people in developing countries.

What I loved most:

Until I read Thirst, I hadn’t realized the magnitude of the problem of lack of access to clean water globally. This book does a great job of balancing out Harrison’s story of starting the nonprofit, and explaining why this organization is so necessary. An estimated 785 million people across the world don’t have access to clean water. They have to spend hours each day walking to collect water… which takes time away from school, earning income, raising a family, and all the other crucial tasks to thrive in life. This is the kind of book that fires you up as you read it, and makes you want to take action and make a real difference in people’s lives.

Read this book if you like:

Seeing a need and meeting it, changing the lives of people around the world, nonprofits, redemption stories, global worldview

Book details:

  • Author: Scott Harrison
  • Publisher: Currency
  • Date of Publication: October 18, 2018
  • Interest level: Adult
  • Look up Thirst on WorldCat to find it at a library near you!

Honey and Venom

~ rachelbenzine ~ Leave a comment

Plot:

When I think of beekeeping, I definitely don’t tend to think of New York City. Little did I know… urban beekeeping is a thing. In Honey and Venom, Andrew Cote shares a year in his life as a beekeeper in NYC. From selling honey from his hives at local farmers markets, to serving as a liaison between beekeepers and businesses that don’t want bees near their companies, to helping police remove illegal beehives… Cote is as busy as a bee (I’m so sorry but how could I possibly resist). For real though, this is a captivating memoir that I would highly recommend.

What I loved most:

I drink black tea with honey every. single. morning. of my life. As such, I was excited to learn more about the honey production process, and bees in general. This was such a good mix of bee information with personal stories – it was exactly what I was hoping it would be. Plus, Cote founded a nonprofit organization called Bees Without Borders. This group teaches beekeeping all around the globe to fight poverty. Cote shares some of his stories of traveling around the world to teach people beekeeping, helping them figure out a new way to earn income. I always get super pumped when people want to use the skills that they have to make other people’s lives better, so I love that Cote started this organization and is helping provide people with information and tools they can use to climb out of poverty.

Read this book if you like:

Biographies, bees, honey, nature, figuring out what nature looks like in an urban setting

Book details:

Bedlam

~ rachelbenzine ~ Leave a comment

Plot:

Dr. Kenneth Rosenberg is a psychiatrist who has been working in the field of mental health since the 1980s. Bedlam is his exploration of the way that mental health has been treated in the United States. This book is an in-depth journey through Serious Mental Illness (SMI). Much of the book centers around schizophrenia, but other SMIs such as depression and bipolar disorder are also addressed. Through analysis of both individual stories of SMI and the overarching framework that governs the way that America views mental health, Rosenberg talks about medications, mental institutions, and the intersection between mental health and the criminal justice system. I listened to the audiobook (narrated by the author), and really loved it in this format.

What I loved most:

My undergraduate degree is in Psychology, and I wanted to be a therapist for a long time. I’ve always been fascinated by mental health, and by the way our culture views people who struggle with mental disorders. I couldn’t help but devour this book. Rosenberg did a great job of balancing people’s stories of their own issues with SMI, and a wider view of the way our society currently deals with mental health. I am always more captivated by personal stories – I love memoirs, because I love exploring people’s cognitive patterns, and how they make the decisions they make, and how they have become who they are today. However, I also know that it’s crucial to take a step back and examine the larger systemic issues around mental health treatment. This book gave both perspectives to help develop a more full understanding of mental health in the United States.

Read this book if you like:

Psychology, sociology, memoirs, history (but not the dry, date-focused kind of history – the engaging, people-and-system-focused kind of history)

Book details:

  • Author: Kenneth Paul Rosenberg
  • Publisher: Avery
  • Date of Publication: October 1, 2019
  • Age Recommendation: Adult
  • Check out Bedlam on WorldCat to find it at library near you!