Catching up on Non-Fiction: November 2016-January 2017

Faith Salie. Approval Junkie: Adventures in Caring Too Much. New York: Crown, 2016. 256 pages. ISBN 9780553419931.

Faith Salie was the emcee at one of the special events that I attended during the 2016 BookExpo America convention. She was one of the best emcees that I've seen there; she had read all of the books and had funny things to say about and to each of the other presenters. Her book is both humorous and heartfelt.

Adam Grant. Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World. New York: Viking, 2016. 322 pages. ISBN 9780399564192.

I really liked Adam Grant's Give and Take, which I reviewed here, but this book wasn't as interesting for me. It could be that I read it too soon after reading Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers (reviewed here), since they address some of the same themes. Nevertheless, it was entertaining and a quick read.

Lawrence Wright. Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief. New York: Vintage Books, 2013. 538 pages. ISBN 9780307745309.

This is a fascinating but frightening book about the history and development of Scientology as a religion. It's particularly interesting in our current political climate when we see how credulous people can be when they really want to believe something's true in spite of all evidence to the contrary. I recommend this well-written and deeply researched book.