Kerry - Customer Service Specialist

Wordsmithin' Bookworm

I haven’t always enjoyed reading. It was a favored pastime during my childhood, but I actually lost interest for a long time. After spending entire days – weeks, MONTHS even – with my nose buried in books as a kid, my desire to read faded almost to nothing during my early adulthood. It wasn’t until my late twenties that my love of reading rekindled with a vengeance, ignited by a few collections of short stories. Now, I keep the flame of my readership lit with small, consistent morsels in a variety of flavors; novellas and short stories are among my favorite formats, and I deeply enjoy switching between fiction and non-fiction (as well as print and audio books) to keep my curiosity keen.

I love exploring language and the ways it twists and turns in our quest to communicate.

Things that grow hold a special place in my heart –– for we are all lifelong learners.

Non-Fiction That Kept Me Reading

Non-fiction often gets a bad rap as "pretentious" or "boring." But please! Don't fall into the trap of believing that all fact-based writing reads like a textbook! Take this list as proof that non-fiction can, in-fact, be wildly captivating.

Whether it was the content presented therein, its origin/authorship, or something else entirely, each of these reads had a certain "je ne…

Based on the author's extremely hands-on education, this book swaps seamlessly between factual descriptions of various skills and materials utilized in early civilization and fictional narratives of how someone might've used them.

I couldn't put this one down. Authored by a former lawyer, this book is a fascinating examination of human psychology and the addictive nature of "getting even."

This book reignited my childhood interest in prehistoric reptiles, and as a result, my coworkers learned almost as much new dinosaur trivia as I did!

A riveting memoir written by a former therapist who was driven toward her psychology degree by a desire to understand her own sociopathic tendencies. If you have even the mildest interest in social psychology, read this book!

Macabre Magic and Monstrous Mysteries

Stories that thrill with monsters, haunted houses, and other classic tropes of the horror genre have never failed to keep me hooked, but I'll be honest: I'm pretty averse to gore and body horror. As a result, my list of "horror" picks is actually more "horror-lite," and is punctuated with eerie tales that cross genres into the historical, fantastical, and mysterious.

“I…

Histories of the Women, by the Women, and for the Women

These non-fiction titles focus on the many ways feminine forces have influenced history. Expect most (but not all) of these titles to be written with attitude!

Emily and Elizabeth Blackwell faced great challenges during their pursuit of improved medical services for women. While their beliefs and efforts didn't always align with the feminist movement of their day, they knew there was a need for female doctors, and they felt that there were women capable of meeting that need. So, with an impressive amount of grit and determination, this pair helped forge the way for women to be included in medical schools and practices.

I've always been a fan of linguistics and wordplay, so this book, sating both my curiosity around language and my interest in history, was doubly delightful. In it, Jenni Nuttall not only examines how historical changes in both slang and official terminology have reflected the societal values and expectations of each era, but she also considers today's lexicon and reconnects us to some of the "women's words" we've lost along the way.

These three women each raised a son who went on to become one of the foremost advocates of the American Civil Rights movement – but what of the women who raised them? In her book, Anna Malaika Tubbs explores not only the relationships between these mothers and their famous sons, but also how their lives before (and during) motherhood shaped the families they raised.

What a crossover! This recipe-laden book explores the history of Italian-American cuisine, down to the first generation of southern Italians that sought their fortunes in the USA. Not only does Lucinda S. Quinn provide stories of the women immigrants who brought - and adapted! - their family's ancient recipes for American ingredients, but it also provides the recipes themselves, each one made with readily accessible ingredients and sorted for easy browsing.