Nonfiction Authors on WSIRN Archives

Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time

by Jeff Speck

This is the book I can't stop talking about. Speck is a bit of a contrarian: at its heart, the book isn't about walking at all. Instead, Speck aims to show how we can deliberately plan urban spaces to be useful, safe, comfortable, and interesting. At a deeper level, Speck reveals how our spaces shape our behavior, whether or not we're aware of it. Pragmatic, relevant, and completely fascinating. (I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Speck in WSIRN episode 372: Books that change the way you see your city and the world.)

The End of Your Life Book Club

by Will Schwalbe

When the author’s mother begins treatment for pancreatic cancer, they start a two-person book club so they’ll have something to discuss while they’re in the hospital waiting room. They've always enjoyed talking about books together and this gives them a chance to read as many of the books they've been meaning to read as they can. They have meaningful conversations as they learn more about each other through the lens of books and reading. Schwalbe shared about why he believes if we all asked the question “what are you reading” more often, it could change the world in WSIRN Episode 184: You’ll never conquer your TBR—and that’s a good thing</a.

The Four Tendencies: The Indispensable Personality Profiles That Reveal How to Make Your Life Better (and Other People’s Lives Better, Too)

by Gretchen Rubin

You know I love a good personality book, right? Gretchen is best known for her work researching habits and happiness, which you may have read all about in books like The Happiness Project and Better Than Before. In the course of that research, she noticed that different people had drastically different responses to the question "How do I respond to expectations?" In this book, she's compiled what she's learned—that people fit into one of Four Tendencies based on how they respond to inner and outer expectations. I read Gretchen's blog and follow her podcast, but it wasn't until I could read the information in book form that I felt like I really got it and could categorize myself correctly. (Upholder, right here, but you may be a Questioner, Obliger, or Rebel).

1,000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life-Changing List

by James Mustich

This fun doorstop of a collection (and I say that with affection) includes titles I expected (all six Austen novels) and titles I didn't (Make Way for Ducklings, Into Thin Air, The Hunt for Red October). The book includes numerous shorter reading lists, thorough indexes, and a checklist so you can see how many on the list you have read. (My current total is 168.) I chatted with Mustich on a special New Year's episode of What Should I Read Next?, where Jim recommended which of those 1000 books he thinks I should prioritize.

I Miss You When I Blink: Essays

by Mary Laura Philpott

In her entertaining new essay collection, Philpott shares real, relatable stories that feel highly personal yet manage to encompass the universal experience of managing a life that, at times, grows unwieldy. The situations Philpott writes of will be familiar to many readers; after all, we’ve lived them ourselves. But she articulates her own experience in a way that makes you see it again, for the first time—and for that, I am grateful. Funny and poignant, smart and witty, and highly recommended for fans of Kelly Corrigan, Glennon Doyle, and Beth Ann Fennelly.

Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation

by Anne Helen Petersen

File under: books I can’t stop talking about. I’m just a touch old to fall under Petersen’s definition of the millennial generation, yet I found myself nodding along to every chapter as Petersen explained how my and my peers’ personal life experience slot neatly into cultural and economic trends. Her biggest topics are our childhoods, our college experience and the implicit (and explicit) promises it had for our future, and why work is so awful for so many these days—all set against the backdrop of the economic realities of the last 40 years in the United States. I closed this book feeling understood, and like I better understand the world I’m living in. Petersen notes that she completed her final edits on this book while COVID-19 was just beginning her spread, and I appreciated her thoughts on how the pandemic subtly shifts the lens through which readers will engage with the ideas presented here.

Relish: My Life in the Kitchen

by Lucy Knisley

This utterly delightful graphic memoir the story of Knisley's coming of age in the kitchen, surrounded by good food and people who love it, and love her. I don't read many graphic memoirs, but this one feels as though it was tailor-made for me, combining so many elements I love: a family story, cooking and craft, New York City, finding your way, and good food. Because we've visited some of the places that appear in the book, my whole family enjoyed passing this around the dining room table, enjoying the stories together.

Share Your Stuff. I’ll Go First.

by Laura Tremaine

Wise, warm, and relatable, this is the perfect read for anyone interested in exploring how to use their words to deepen their relationships. I read it SO FAST because I wanted to read the story of it, but the themes and questions have stuck with me for years now.

Congratulations, The Best Is Over!: Essays

by R. Eric Thomas

If I wasn’t already an R. Eric Thomas fan for life, this collection would have clinched it: I’m not sure I have words for what it meant to me. In his sophomore book of essays, the Here for It author tells hilarious, moving, and deeply insightful tales of love, adult friendship, family, and marriage, and also therapy, Zoom funerals, working alone, COVID isolation, middle age, and his home city of Baltimore. There’s no weak link in this collection: every story feels immediate, intimate, and real. I’ve thought of “Break Room Cake Communion” and “Jericho” nearly every day since reading them. I can’t stop talking about this book. For fans of Samantha Irby’s Wow, No Thank You and Saeed Jones’s How We Fight for Our Lives..

Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters

by Laura Vanderkam

In a niche already overflowing with guidance, Laura Vanderkam stands out as one of the field's most astute writers. She continues to offer surprising and valuable insights about making the most of our precious and limited time. I've greatly benefited from Laura's work over the years, and I’m so excited to implement the simple and practical nine-point framework she presents here. To hear more about Vanderkam’s framework for this book, listen to WSIRN Episode 359: Making big reading goals a reality.

Nonfiction Authors on WSIRN

The MMD Summer Reading Guide

your guide to reliable readerly joy this summer

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summer reading starts May 16th