Nonfiction

"Birth-Rate Crisis" Challenges Conventional Thinking About Family and Modern Life
Modern life offers an extraordinary range of distractions, conveniences, and opportunities for personal fulfillment. Yet alongside these changes, birth rates have fallen across much of the world, leaving policymakers searching for ways to encourage people to have children. In Birth-Rate Crisis: Reclaiming Family and Purpose in a Dopamine-Driven World , Jim Penman and Andrea Pearson explore a less conventional question: Could the conditions of contemporary life be changing not only people's circumstances, but also their priorities and willingness to commit to family?
By Rachel Martinoabout 24 hours ago in BookClub
Notes On A Nervous Planet
Introduction One of the first Matt Haig books was this I am covering this book on my blog, but I have a feeling that I will soon finish it. It is a small book with large print and lots of white space, making it very easy to read, and I needed something less taxing after Simon Singh's "The Code Book" (which is excellent and you can check out here:
By Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred a day ago in BookClub
So, You've Just Published a Book. Top Story - October 2026.
It’s actually been about four months since I published my first book, The Gragon. I originally planned on writing this article three months ago, but work got in the way. That’s actually a recurring theme in my life for the last few years. Too much work, not enough time to write. But I do my best to strike when the iron’s hot. Or at least lukewarm.
By Atomic Historian2 days ago in BookClub
Why the World Is Better Than You Think
I came to know about Hans Rosling in 2009 when I watched his TEDxStockholm talk, ‘ The world over time — in data ’. His way of presenting global data was remarkable. His lectures are always effective and easy to understand, and many of his influential talks are now widely available on YouTube.
By Krishna Babu Shrestha13 days ago in BookClub
Nice Girls Win: How Kind Women Can Create the Lives They Deserve by Kelly Ehlers
There is no shortage of books telling women how to succeed. There are books about negotiating, leading, networking, finding confidence, breaking barriers and climbing the professional ladder. What makes Kelly Ehlers' Nice Girls Win different is that she is less interested in teaching women how to play that familiar game and far more interested in asking whether the game itself needs to change.
By Rachel Martino26 days ago in BookClub
Which 3 Books Have Inspired You the Most?
For me, this is a rather difficult question to answer in view of the number of excellent books I’ve read and loved, some of which have changed my life. My reading has been like a patchwork quilt, each book being integral to my whole development, with every new one adding to the one before in unexpected ways. However, if I had to choose any at all, they would be three books we all should read, for very different reasons.
By Elaine Sihera 2 months ago in BookClub
In progress
Currently, I am progressing in writing various subject outlines to share in the EDUCATION area here at Vocal. My first will be an outline from the 7th grade science book that I had in school. It is quite lengthy and not really a formal outline as in using Roman numerals, Capital and small case letters and numbers. I did use those line indicators but not in the formal way as we were all probably taught in English class.
By Mark Graham2 months ago in BookClub
Does Reading Actually Make You Smarter?
On the face of it, one could easily say that it does, which makes it rather sad that people are now reading less and less. It certainly makes you more aware and knowledgeable than the person who doesn’t read! However, reading makes you smarter only if you absorb what you read and then utilise it.
By Elaine Sihera 2 months ago in BookClub
Rachel Reviews: A Perfectly Normal Childhood (and other lies I tell myself) by Jason Ramshaw
I always think it's a good sign when a book doesn't take long for me to read and I can tell you honestly that I have rattled my way through this, enjoying myself along the way. It helps that it's not a long book but it sure is packed - with wit, observations, confessions from start to finish. Its format too is designed to make the book accessible, being split into manageable chapters, all dealing with a different point, usually taken from Jason's life.
By Rachel Deeming2 months ago in BookClub
Mikey Tableman's "My Manic Maze" Maps the Complex Journey Through Mental Illness and Recovery
Memoirs about mental health often walk a difficult line. They must be vulnerable without becoming performative, reflective without feeling detached, and emotionally honest without offering simplistic answers. In My Manic Maze , Mikey Tableman succeeds by refusing to force neat conclusions. Instead, he presents healing as an ongoing process filled with setbacks, moments of clarity, and the constant effort to understand a mind that can feel both powerful and overwhelming.
By Rachel Martino3 months ago in BookClub
Rachel Reviews: Eve and Me: The Shadow that Spans 3,000 Years by Karen Gilden
I love reading books about women and nothing pleases me more than discovering new female characters from history who have pushed the boundaries or been courageous in the face of hardship, all in the name of women's rights. And this is one of the things that Karen Gilden does in this book: she points her reader towards influential figures, a lot of them women (but not all) who have furthered the reputation of women or been proponents of the search for equality or even just been exceptional people (who happen to be women).
By Rachel Deeming3 months ago in BookClub
Rachel Reviews: Dawn of an Empire: St. Augustine and the Spanish Founding of America by Irene Loftin
Who knew the Spanish were the first European colonists of North America? I mean, there's been Italians i.e. Columbus and before him mention of Vikings, maybe not colonising but certainly setting foot there, but the Spanish? This I did not know and I'm betting that there will be a lot of readers who will be just as surprised as me.
By Rachel Deeming3 months ago in BookClub