Daphne Gordon

Dead Mom Walking brings humour to the hell of losing a parent

Rachel Matlow’s gut-busting memoir made me want to call my mom — ASAP

Dead Mom Walking forced me to face not just one, but several of my worst fears: losing my mom, being diagnosed with cancer, and leaving behind a grieving child when I die. But somehow, author Rachel Matlow had me laughing through almost every scene along the way to their effervescent mother’s death from cancer. (Matlow is genderqueer and uses the pronouns she/her and they/them.)

Honestly, it took me a couple of weeks to finish this book, despite the fact that it’s immediately unputdownable because of Matlow’s lively and conversational voice. I got three-quarters of the way in, laughing out loud at Matlow’s narration as well as their mother’s witty quips. But then I stalled.

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Daphne Gordon

Who doesn’t want to make Amazing Decisions?

Dan Ariely’s book helps explain why people usually do the right thing… and why they sometimes don’t

If the educational animated series Schoolhouse Rock mated with the academic field of Behavioural Economics, the two would have a baby named Amazing Decisions.

The author of this inventive book, Dan Ariely, is a professor of cognitive psychology at Duke University, where he founded the Center for Advanced Hindsight. The research he conducts there puts human beings in situations that test their decision-making, and he’s written several books to explain the results of his studies.

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Daphne Gordon

A blog about books

I love reading!

On this blog, I write book reviews. It started out as a weekly review, but what was I thinking? Then it became monthly. Now it’s occasional.

I’ve reviewed books in several categories, including adult fiction and non-fiction, kid fiction, and graphic novels. I search out books that will interest my son, who is in elementary school, and my reading choices have often reflected that. I also look for books that can spark interesting conversations with my husband and my friends.

But in 2020 I’m focusing mostly on adult nonfiction, with a focus on books about work, social justice, feminism and leadership.

You can filter this blog by Category in the sidebar at the right side of this blog (👉🏻 on a desk computer) or at the bottom (👇🏻 on a tablet or phone).

You can also filter by Topic in the sidebar.