ashleyholstrom's Reviews (1.38k)

To be a complete woman, I felt as though I had to get rid of a part of myself. But why? Why does there have to be all this shame and angst about something that's a natural part of being woman? The pressure to be hairless has driven me to feel like I have to hide something from my fiance, to spend thousands of dollars, to feel less worthy than my female peers.

Mara Altman takes a very Mary Roach approach to the questions she has about the human body—Why do women have to shave their legs and armpits? Why do dogs like sniffing crotches? What makes people faint?—and hunts down experts to answer those questions for her. She’s hilarious. I love Gross Anatomy, especially the bit about the butthole having two sphincters that tell you whether it’s a fart or a poop.

Weird, gross science! With humor! That’s it, that’s the pitch.

Erika Engelhaupt is a science reporter who has covered all kinds of bizarre and fascinating topics for National Geographic. Gory Details is a compilation of the weirdest of those things. If you don’t want to read about a person who had a cockroach stuck in their ear canal (WHAT) or why some bodies float and others sink (huh), maybe skip this one.

Sue Black is a forensic anthropologist and anatomist who studies human remains to determine a person’s identification and cause of death. Written in Bone works its way down the human skeleton, starting at the skull, detailing the kinds of information our bones contain—approximate age, sex, height, weight—even when that’s all that’s left. She includes anecdotes from her work in the field, relaying confounding cases where her knowledge of human development was vital. Did you know babies are born with, like, a zillion bones that fuse together to form a proper skeleton as they age? SO. COOL.

When pro baseball player Gavin finds out his wife’s been faking it in bed, he turns to his teammates, who welcome him to the bromance book club. They read regency romances to learn how to be better partners. It’s super hokey and meta and eye-rolly, and I love the heck out of it.

⚡️From the April 2020 edition of Crooked Reads, my monthly(ish) newsletter.

A few years ago, feminist nonfiction was the only genre I read, and I burnt myself out on it. Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers was the perfect book to break that spell. Sady Doyle digs into horror and true crime and how women factor into those genres, with tons of true (and horrific) stories about women being mistreated as mental patients when they were just, uh, having normal feelings.

⚡️From the April 2020 edition of Crooked Reads, my monthly(ish) newsletter.

Yes, yes, yes. This novel a stream-of-consciousness internal monologue of every terrible thought we all have while living in a tiny apartment and working in a stuffy office and hating every person we encounter. I feel so seen. And the emphasis on tedious things, like mundane email chains and the correct way to use paper clips (small side in front, big side in back), is chef’s kiss perfection.

⚡️From the January 2020 edition of Crooked Reads, my monthly(ish) newsletter.

This is the Big Book of right now for a reason. It’s a deep exploration of two characters, a rich white lady with an internet brand and her Black twenty-something babysitter. It’s riveting and addicting and so fun and you should listen to it on audiobook, because Nicole Lewis is so dang talented.

⚡️From the January 2020 edition of Crooked Reads, my monthly(ish) newsletter.

I’m ashamed at how little I knew about John Lewis. I devoured all three of these incredible graphic memoirs detailing his nonviolent work for the Civil Rights Movement in Alabama and across the South. History is horrifying.

⚡️From the January 2020 edition of Crooked Reads, my monthly(ish) newsletter.

I took this in small spoonfuls, because it is too beautiful to wolf down. It is mostly writing advice, but also lots of life advice. Pay attention. Listen. See. Smell. Feel. Discover. Then write about it. She is wonderful and this book was such a delight to read.

⚡️ From the August 2016 edition of Crooked Reads, my monthly(ish) newsletter.

So much Bollywood drama in a young girl’s life! Delightful.

⚡️From the May 2018 edition of Crooked Reads, my monthly(ish) newsletter.