Category Archives: non-fiction

Osebol by Marit Kapla translated by Peter Graves

Posted on September 25, 2023 by bookbii

“The scenery here is dramatic. There’s the low land and then the river and steep mountain sides. and the houses… It’s very special.” I have long been a fan of ‘polyphonic’ non-fiction; works that collect word of mouth stories from … Continue reading →

Posted in non-fiction, non-fiction by female writers, polyphonic, translation | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Yoga by Emmanuel Carrere

Posted on May 30, 2023 by bookbii

“It’s both very simple and very complicated.” I think that’s a pretty good description of this exceptional book, a book which, after I’d read it, left me casting around for 2 or 3 days, picking up this book and reading … Continue reading →

Posted in meditation, non-fiction | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

The Unquiet Grave: A Word Cycle by Palinurus (Cyril Connolly)

Posted on May 9, 2023 by bookbii

“We cannot think if we have no time to read, nor feel if we are emotionally exhausted, nor out of cheap material create what is permanent. We cannot co-ordinate what is not there.” I picked up The Unquiet Grave thinking … Continue reading →

Posted in non-fiction | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Slow reading the Diaries of Virginia Woolf

Posted on March 17, 2023 by bookbii

A while ago I acquired a full set of Virginia Woolf’s diaries, all six volumes. I had read the Persephone volume, edited by Leonard Woolf, and I grew curious about what her expanded, unexpurgated diaries might be like. At the … Continue reading →

Posted in Challenges, female writers, non-fiction, non-fiction by female writers | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

Food for Life – the new science of eating well by Tim Spector

Posted on February 9, 2023 by bookbii

I was part way through reading another book when this one became available at the library. I’d reserved it some time late last year, when I reserved it I was something like number 32 in the list so I figured … Continue reading →

Posted in food, gut health, microbiome, non-fiction, nutrition, science | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

I May Be Some Time by Francis Spufford

Posted on December 25, 2022 by bookbii

I have a fascination with polar exploration; something about it really speaks to me on some deep, unconscious level. Perhaps it’s the cold, the isolation, the quiet (though I suspect neither pole is really very quiet, weather rarely is), the … Continue reading →

Posted in exploration, non-fiction, polar | 6 Comments

Travels with Myself and Another, Five Journeys from Hell by Martha Gellhorn

Posted on October 8, 2018 by bookbii

“What has politics to do with real daily life, as real people live it?” Why have I never heard of Martha Gellhorn before? I’ve taken a short break from Ideal Reading having become a little worn out after the epic … Continue reading →

Posted in Eland, non-fiction, travel | 9 Comments

A Life of One’s Own by Joanna Field (Marion Milner)

Posted on February 15, 2018 by bookbii

“I had set out to try and observe moments of happiness and find out what they depended upon. But I had discovered that different things had made me happy when I looked at my experience from when I did not. … Continue reading →

Posted in memoir, non-fiction, psychology, self-help, Virago | 10 Comments

The Thrifty Forager by Alys Fowler

Posted on February 1, 2018 by bookbii

My Dad was always really interested in plants. He had a greenhouse at the bottom of the garden in which he grew tomatoes and cucumbers, and he tended our small garden with great care. He always wanted an allotment, though … Continue reading →

Posted in nature, non-fiction | 6 Comments

The Art of Frugal Hedonism by Annie Raser-Rowland & Adam Grubb

Posted on January 11, 2018 by bookbii

After reading a review on ANZ LitLovers’ blog I put this book on a wishlist as it looked to be the kind of book I would definitely want to read, and that’s where I left it because as a budding … Continue reading →

Posted in lifestyle, non-fiction | 11 Comments