Non-fiction

Review - Hatshepsut: The Pharaoh-Queen of Egypt by in60Learning

My rating:

Hatshepsut is a figure that’s always fascinated me, although she is probably not widely known, so when I saw that in60Learning had a book about her, I decided to use it to learn a little more. She ruled Egypt around 1479 to 1458 BC and is from the line that gave us Tutankhamun. The popular headline is that she was the first woman to rule as Pharaoh in ancient Egypt, but one of the big revelations of the book is that this is not exactly true.

Tags: non-fiction Ancient Egypt

Review - Alexander the Great by in60Learning

My rating:

Kindly note: The publisher of this series provided a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. in60Learning is a new range of books designed to provide and overview of people and events of the past in an easily digestible format. With a total print length of around 40 pages, they are meant, as the publisher’s name implies, to be read in around 60 minutes. The publisher offered me my choice of books for review.

Tags: non-fiction Ancient Greece

Review - The Best Little Boy in the World by Andrew Tobias

My rating:

As a very young child, the author’s parents praise him as “the best little boy in the world” (BLBITW). Such parental praise may be relatively common, but our hero truly takes it to heart and spends many years trying to live up to the perceived expectations of his parents and others. When he realizes that he prefers boys to girls he sublimates those feelings, since the BLBITW most certainly can’t have such feelings.

Tags: Autobiography non-fiction

Review - Is It True What They Say About Black Men? by Jeremy Helligar

My rating:

Note: Since I’ve been in the same places and similar situations to the author of this book, this review will be a little more personal than usual. Entertainment journalist Jeremy Helligar leaves his job and life in New York to travel the world. In this collection of blog posts, articles and musings we follow Jeremy as he settles first in Buenos Ares, then Melbourne, with long stints in Bangkok. As Jeremy writes about his efforts to connect to the men as well as the places he lives in, the comparisons to “Sex and the City” are obvious and not missed on the author.

Tags: non-fiction

Review - Gaysia Adventures in the Queer East

My rating:

“Gaysia” offers an interesting, if highly selective, portrait of gay life across the vast stretch of Asia, home to 60% of the world’s population. This was clearly a personal journey for Chinese-Australian Law, but he manages to maintain a very journalistic approach throughout, allowing the people he meets to tell their own stories, with minimal editorializing. Sometimes what comes out is surprising, sometimes funny, and often poignant. While the book covers a lot of ground and offers a lot of insight into the lives of some gay men and lesbians, it is by no means an exhaustive study of LGBT issues in Asia.

Tags: Non-fiction