For Real

In this week’s episode, Kim and Alice share a few last November new books, then jump into a holiday gift guide with recommendations for history buffs, video gamers, wine aficionados, nature lovers and more.

This week, Alice + Kim talk book award shortlist and longlist favorites, colonialism, the end of megafauna, and more.

In this episode, Kim and Alice dive into some great young adult nonfiction reads and consider true stories connected to current events like Harry and Meagan’s royal visit to Australia and debates about immigration.

This week, Alice and Kim discuss arson, mesmerism, and murder in a true crime-themed episode. Find your scary nonfiction here this month on For Real. This week’s episode is sponsored by Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margarita by Tim Federle, and The Golden Boy: A Doctor’s Journey With Addiction by Grant Matheson. Don’t forget to check out Book Riot’s new subscription service offering Tailored Book Recommendations for readers of all stripes. Visit mytbr.co to learn more. FOLLOW UP Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach Boom Town: The Fantastical Saga of Oklahoma City, Its Chaotic Founding, Its Apocalyptic Weather, Its Purloined Basketball Team, and the Dream of Becoming a World-Class Metropolis by Sam Anderson NEW BOOKS The Library Book by Susan Orlean Invisible: The Forgotten Story of the Black Woman Lawyer Who Took Down America’s Most Powerful Mobster by Stephen L. Carter Noncompliant: A Lone Whistleblower Exposes the Giants of Wall Street by Carmen Segarra My Squirrel Days by Ellie Kemper In the Hurricane’s Eye: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown by Nathaniel Philbrick Impeachment: An American History by by Jon Meacham, Timothy Naftali, Peter Baker, and Jeffrey Engel WEEKLY THEME: True Crime Bonanza The Red Parts by Maggie Nelson The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule After the Eclipse: A Mother’s Murder and a Daughter’s Search by Sarah Perry I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara The Infamous Harry Hayward: A True Account of Murder and Mesmerism in Gilded Age Minneapolis by Shawn Francis Peters American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land by Monica Hesse SEGMENT THREE: Short Nonfiction II Tell Me How it Ends: An Essay in 40 Questions by Valeria Luiselli My Friend Dahmer by Derk Backderf Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit READING NOW Good and Mad by Rebecca Traister The Good Pig by Sy Montgomery In Cold Blood by Truman Capote EXTRAS Allie Brosh/Felicia Day Interview

This week, Kim and Alice share some books that try to find the truth behind the supernatural or that might be perfect haunting reading in October. This episode is sponsored by Oxford University Press, LibraryReads, and TBR, Book Riot's new subscription service offering Tailored Book Recommendations for readers of all stripes. NEW BOOKS Behold, America: The Entangled History of "America First" and "the American Dream" by Sarah Churchwell The Ravenmaster: My Life With the Ravens at the Tower of London by Christopher Skaife Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger by Rebecca Traister Feuding Fan Dancers: Faith Bacon, Sally Rand, and the Golden Age of the Showgirl by Leslie Zemeckis Heart: A History by Sandeep Jauhar Six By Ten: Stories from Solitary, edited by Taylor Pendergrass TRUE STORIES OF THE SUPERNATURAL Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life After Death by Deborah Blum The Secret History of the Jersey Devil: How Quakers, Hucksters, and Benjamin Franklin Created a Monster by Brian Regal and Frank J. Esposito American Ghost: A Family's Extraordinary History on the Desert Frontier by Hannah Nordhaus The World of Lore: Monstrous Creatures by Aaron Mahnke RIP READING CHALLENGE Readers Imbibing Peril Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life by Ruth Franklin In Cold Blood by Truman Capote Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life by Laura Thompson Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places by Colin Dickey READING NOW Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Caroline Fraser Fallout: Conspiracy, Cover-Up, and the Making of the Atomic Bomb by Peter Watson

This episode of For Real is sponsored by The Good Neighbor by Maxwell King and The Real Lolita by Sarah Weinman. FOLLOW UP READS The Class by Heather Won Tesario NEW BOOKS The Dinosaur Artist: Obsession, Betrayal, and the Quest for Earth's Ultimate Trophy by Paige Williams Call Them By Their True Names by Rebecca Solnit Seeds of Resistance: The Fight to Save Our Food Supply by Mark Schapiro  The Personality Brokers: The Strange History of Myers-Briggs and the Birth of Personality Testing by Merve Emre  The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War by Joanne Freeman The Art of Logic in an Illogical World by Eugenia Cheng  She Called Me Woman: Nigeria’s Queer Women Speak, edited by Azeenarh Mohammed, Chitra Nagarajan, Rafeeat Aliyu  WEEKLY THEME: Cozy Nonfiction for Fall House of Stone by Anthony Shadid The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living by Meik Wiking Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman Travels With Charley in Search of America by John Steinbeck SEGMENT THREE: Great Subtitles Moby-Duck: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea & of the Beachcombers, Oceanographers, Environmentalists & Fools Including the Author Who Went in Search of Them by Donovan Hohn Heaven’s Ditch: God, Gold, and Murder on the Erie Canal by Jack Kelly The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner by Judy Melinek READING NOW 99 Glimpses of Princess Margaret by Craig Brown Knocking on Heaven’s Door by Katy Butler QUESTIONS/COMMENTS? Find us on Twitter @itsalicetime and @kimthedork  

In this week's episode, Kim and guest co-host Sharifah recommend books by people with interesting jobs and personal essay collections by smart and funny women. This episode is sponsored by Unapologetic by Charlene A Carruthers and Elizabeth Warren by Antonia Felix. Book Riot also wants to know about your reading habits. Hop over and take our Fall Reader Survey before Sept. 10 for a chance to win a $100 gift card to the Book Riot Store: bookriot.com/fallsurvey NEW BOOKS To Obama: With Love, Joy, Anger, and Hope by Jeanne Marie Laskas “Dear Mr. President” by Jeanne Marie Laskas in the Guardian Ten Letters by Eli Saslow Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? by Alyssa Mastromonaco The Class by Heather Won Tesoriero I Should Have Honor: A Memoir of Hope and Pride in Pakistan by Khalida Brohi Bureau of Spies by Steven T. Usdin The Provocative Colette by Annie Goetzinger Not Quite Not White by Sharmila Sen LABOR DAY/STORIES OF WORK Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty From Here to Eternity by Caitlin Doughty This is Just My Face by Gabourey Sidibe It's What I Do: A Photographer's Life of Love and War by Lynsey Addario MOSTLY FUNNY PERSONAL ESSAYS We Are Never Meeting in Real Life by Samantha Irby A Field Guide to Awkward Silences by Alexandra Petri Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Brittney Cooper One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter by Scaachi Koul READING NOW Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood The Infamous Harry Hayward by Shawn Francis Peters

This week, Kim and Alice take a deep dive into books about the campaign for women's suffrage and the passage of the 19th Amendment in August 1920. This episode is sponsored by Book Riot Insiders, Girl Boner: The Good Girl’s Guide to Sexual Empowerment by August McLaughlin, and Tragedy Plus Time by Adam Cayton-Holland. NEW BOOKS A Deal with the Devil: The Dark and Twisted True Story of One of the Biggest Cons in History by Blake Ellis and Melanie Hicken Amateur: A True Story About What Makes a Man by Thomas Page McBee Reader, Come Home: The Fate of the Reading Brain in a Digital World by Maryanne Wolf A Life of My Own by Claire Tomalin Proud: My Fight for An Unlikely American Dream by Ibtihaj Muhammad The Kill Jar: Obsession, Descent, and a Hunt for Detroit’s Most Notorious Serial Killer by J. Reuben Appelman WEEKLY THEME: WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE News: Hillary Clinton, Steven Spielberg Bringing Women's Voting Drama to TV For fun: Bad Romance - Women's Suffrage The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote by Elaine Weiss A Woman’s Crusade: Alice Paul and the Battle for the Ballot by Mary Walton The Myth of Seneca Falls by Lisa Tetrault Quick Hits: Women Will Vote: Winning Suffrage in New York State by Susan Goodier / Lucy Stone: An Unapologetic Life by Sally G. McMillen / Fighting Chance: The Struggle Over Woman Suffrage and Black Suffrage in Reconstruction America by Faye E. Dudden / To Keep the Waters Troubled: The Life of Ida B. Wells by Linda O. McMurry / Frances Willard: A Biography by Ruth Bordin / The Scarlet Sisters: Sex, Suffrage, and Scandal in the Gilded Age by Myra MacPherson FICTION/NONFICTION Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else by Chrystia Freeland Singapore: Unlikely Power by John Curtis Perry The Dinner List by Rebecca Searle Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. by Sam Wasson (2010) The Slenderman Mysteries: An Internet Urban Legend Comes to Life by Nick Redfern The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah Pilgrim’s Wilderness by Tom Kizzia READING NOW Yes We (Still) Can by Dan Pfeiffer Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret by Craig Brown The Secret Token by Andrew Lawler Forever Nerdy by Brian Posen

This week, Kim and Alice talk presidential scandals, Victorian affairs, and the inside scoop on the Jell-O dynasty.

This week, Kim and Alice take a deep dive into types of nonfiction that are great for reading at the beach -- stunt and celebrity memoirs, science and nature stories, and historical true crime reads. While you’re here, don’t forget Book Riot’s YA giveaway! Go here to win $500 of the year’s best YA fiction and nonfiction: bookriot.com/500yagiveaway. FOLLOW UP From the Corner of the Oval by Beck Dorey-Stein Never Caught by Erica Armstrong Dunbar Drinking in America by Mark Edward Lender NEW BOOKS Barons of the Sea by Steven Ujifusa Blood and Ivy by Paul Collins A Bite-Sized History of France by Stephane Henaut (translated by Jeni Mitchell) Killing It: An Education by Camas Davis NONFICTION BEACH READS Stunt Memoirs! My Year with Eleanor by Noelle Hancock Word Freak by Stefan Fatsis The Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes The Lunatic Express by Carl Hoffman Nature/Science Books! A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson The Death and Life of the Great Lakes by Dan Egan The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness by Sy Montgomery Light/Historical True Crime! The Poisoner’s Handbook by Deborah Blum Empty Mansions by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell, Jr. The Girls of Murder City by Douglas Perry Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett Comedy Memoirs! Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir by Eddie Huang I Know I Am But What Are You by Samantha Bee Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh So Close to Being the Sh*t, Y’All Don’t Even Know by Retta READING NOW Bad Blood by John Carreyrou Fighting Chance by Faye Dudden OTHER Ask a Slave (web series)

This week, Alice and Kim talk Revolutionary War history, Persian empresses, and the tragic fire that society buried. While you're here, don’t forget Book Riot’s YA giveaway! Go here to win $500 of the year’s best YA fiction and nonfiction. bookriot.com/500yagiveaway   NEW BOOKS Don't You Ever by Mary Carter Bishop                                   Tinderbox: The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire by Robert E. Fiesler  Empress: The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jahan by Ruby Lal No One Tells You This: A Memoir by Glynnis MacNicol  From the Corner of the Oval by Rebecca Dorey-Stein   WEEKLY THEME: Revolutionary History Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation by Cokie Roberts Ladies of Liberty: The Women Who Shaped Our Nation by Cokie Roberts The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell Jefferson’s Daughters: Three Sisters, White and Black, in a Young America by Catherine Kerrison Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge by Erica Armstrong Dunbar   SEGMENT THREE: Fiction/Nonfiction The Ensemble by Aja Gabel Gone by Min Kym The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World by Steve Brusatte How to Build a Dinosaur: The New Science of Reverse Evolution by Jack Horner and James Gorman   READING NOW Stalking God by Anjali Kumar Drinking in America: A History by Mark Edward Lender   OTHER Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell Age of Jackson Podcast

This week, Kim and Alice dive into some new books and backlist reads to read during Pride Month (although, of course, they’re also great any time!). This week’s episode is sponsored by Book Riot’s Annotated, an audio documentary podcast series about books, language, and reading. Give it a listen! NEW BOOKS Alone Time by Stephanie Rosenbloom Troublesome Science by Rob DeSalle and Ian Tattersall The Ambition Decisions by Hana Schank and Elizabeth Wallace 90s Bitch by Allison Yarrow Squeezed by Alissa Quart PRIDE MONTH! Dear John, I Love Jane by Candace Walsh Does Jesus Really Love Me? by Jeff Chu Jesus, the Bible, and Homosexuality by Jack Rogers Surpassing the Love of Men by Lillian Faderman Tomorrow Will be Different by Sarah McBride Then Comes Marriage by Roberta Kaplan with Lisa Dickey The Fact of a Body by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich READING NOW Black Dahlia, Red Rose by Piu Eatwell Text Me When You Get Home by Kayleen Schaefer OTHER TITLES Momo by Michael Ende

This week, Kim and Alice do a recap of some of the best nonfiction of Book Expo America, the publishing industry's big trade show each spring. This episode is sponsored by Book Riot’s Annotated and Recommended podcasts. Give them a listen! And don’t forget that Book Riot is giving away a $500 gift card to the bookstore of your choice. Go to bookriot.com/bookstore500 before June 21 to enter. FOLLOW UP Locking Up Our Own by James Forman Jr. Dear Madam President by Jennifer Palmeri Bombay Anna by Susan Morgan NEW BOOKS What Would the Great Economists Do? by Linda Yueh (June 5, Picador) The Secret Token by Andrew Lawler (June 5, Doubleday) First in Line by Kate Andersen Brower (June 5, Harper) Woman at the Devil’s Door by Sarah Beth Hopton (June 1, Indiana University Press) BOOK EXPO The Impatient Dr. Lange by Seema Yasmin (July 2018, Johns Hopkins University Press) Call Them By Their True Names by Rebecca Solnit (September 2018, Haymarket) American Prisons by Shane Bauer (September 2018, Penguin) One Person, No Vote by Carol Anderson (September 2018, Bloomsbury) Black Flags, Blue Waters by Eric Jay Dolin (September 2018, Liveright) Born Criminal by Angelica Shirley Carpenter (September 2018, South Dakota Historical Society Press) Interior States by Meghan O'Gieblyn (October 2018, Anchor Books) 8-Bit Apocalypse by Alex Rubens (October 2018, Overlook Press) How to Behave Badly in Elizabethan England by Ruth Goodman (October 2018, Liveright) BEA EDITOR'S BUZZ (Nonfiction) Small Animals by Kim Brooks (August 21, Flatiron Books) The Real Lolita by Sarah Weinman (Sept. 11, Ecco/HarperCollins) There Will Be No Miracles Here by Casey Gerald (October 2, Riverhead Books) Maid by Stephanie Land (January 2019, Hachette Books) READING NOW City of Devils by Paul French (July 2018, Picador) The Truth About Animals by Lucy Cooke OTHER TITLES Sioux Women by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve Newjack by Ted Conover Under the Black Flag by David Cordingly

This week, Kim and Alice talk about books related to Memorial Day, lady serial killers, and some capital "R" Romantics. This episode is sponsored by American Fire by Monica Hesse. Follow Up Damnation Island and Imperfect Harmony by Stacy Horn New Books So Close to Being the Sh*t, Y'all Don't Even Know by Retta Baracoon by Zora Neal Hurston Great American Outpost by Maya Rao Like a Mother by Angela Garbes Feminist Freedom Warriors by Chandra Mohanty and Linda Carty Weekly Theme: Memorial Day Thank You for Your Service by David Finkel Drift by Rachel Maddow Mum's Army by Winifred Philips Ashley's War by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon A Life in Secrets by Sarah Helm Fiction/Nonfiction Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye Lady Killers by Tori Telfer Charlotte Brontë: A Fiery Heart by Claire Harman Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Romantic Outlaws by Charlotte Gordon Reading Now Bombay Anna by Susan Morgan Locking Up Our Own by James Forman Jr. Don't forget! Book Riot is giving away $500 to the bookstore of your choice. Visit bookriot.com/bookstore500 to enter!  

This week, Kim and Alice chat about the British royals they love (and love to hate), graphic memoirs (comics, not dirty stuff), and new books on Christianity, historical hospitals and Los Angeles. Follow Up Bachelor Nation by Amy Kaufman New Books The Darkening Age by Catherine Nixey (April 17 from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) Damnation Island by Stacy Horn (May 15 from Algonquin) The Mirage Factory by Gary Krist (May 15 from Crown) Not that Bad, edited by Roxane Gay (May 1 from Harper) British Royals Past and Present Elizabeth the Queen by Sally Bedell Smith Victoria: The Queen by Julia Baird Elizabeth and Leicester by Sarah Gristwood Princes at War by Deborah Cadbury Game of Crowns by Christopher Andersen Mary, Queen of Scots: A Study in Failure by Jenny Wormald Penguin Monarchs series Graphic Memoirs Marbles by Ellen Forney Displacement: A Travelogue by Lucy Knisley A Bintel Brief by Liana Finck Rolling Blackouts by Sarah Glidden Tomboy by Liz Prince Mentioned briefly and recommended -- Maus by Art Spiegelman and Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi What We're Reading Now I Contain Multitudes by Ed Yong (and his article on gender balance in reporting) Dear Madam President by Jennifer Palmeri (and her interview on NPR's It's Been a Minute podcast) The Escape of Charles II: After the Battle of Worcester by Richard Ollard