Non-fiction book reviews part 22 - art, nerves and sloths!

Welcome to part 22 in a series of non-fiction book reviews, originally based on the idea that the books I request tell you everything you need to know about me. I have, after so many chapters of this series, realised that all these posts say about me is that have eclectic taste and endless curiosity.  I can't believe I'm up to part 22, this was just a place to put these reviews, but now I can see how broad my non-fiction reading is, and how many interesting, good (and sometimes not-so-good) books and topics I've had a chance to explore. 

Today I am talking about bohemia (the cultural state, not the Eastern European region), sloths and relaxing.

 I don't do a start rating here (although I have to on NetGalley) because sometimes I prefer to use words to express how I felt about a book than provide a stark, unscientific and often inconsistent number. 

All books in this post are kindly provided in e-arc form from the publishers through NetGalley.

The Twilight of Bohemia: Westbeth and the
Last Artists of New York by Peter Trachtenberg  (publishes 1 April 2025)

An intimate history of America’s first publicly funded artists’ housing project, the artists who lived there, and the transformation of New York’s West Village across five decades. Westbeth Artists Housing was founded in 1970 to provide affordable housing for artists and their families.

This book provides a VERY detailed account of this interesting and unique housing project, including what happens when a group of people start to get old together. It does this through personal anecdotes. I can see how this book would be interesting for those who were involved. For me it was a bit dense, with the wider story told through that of many, many individuals. I can see people who were involved in that scene really enjoying it. 

The Polyvagal Solution: Vagus Nerve-Calming Practices to Soothe Stress, Ease Emotional Overwhelm, and Build Resilience by Rebecca Kase (Releases 1 May 2025)

The subtitle of this book was enough to draw me to it. I'm a high tension person who, in the (not at all distant past) was having a lot of panic attacks and all the associated stuff. I'm managing all that quite well, largely thanks to a meditation app. I am having an issue right now with one of my neighbours, which included him printing out photos of me taken from the CCTV in my building, calling me crazy and delivering this to all 38 of my neighbours. Wild! Managing my emotions around him and his behaviour has been fascinating, as I know I'm right and he;'s wrong, and he almost certainly does not pose a physical threat to me. But tell that to my nervous system! 

This book is simple and clearly written. It acknowledges that there are other factors at play with stress and anxiety, but given the name of the book it's no surprise where the focus is. 

There are clear explanations and clear steps to follow, although I think doing what is essentially a meditation practice is more effective using an audio app. I used this book for background and information,but toddled off to my app to do the exercises.  The exercises are fairly simple, but having the background on how and why it works is interesting. 

The structure of the book is quite straightforward, and it's written in a chatty workbook style, with questions, things to do and a dot point summary at the end of each chapter. The author tells anecdotes about when she has used these techniques and the book would be better off without them. They make her seem both privileged and ordinary and don't add anything helpful.

The main flaw with this book is that while everything is drawn back to the vagus nerve most of the techniques will be very familiar for anyone who has been around the wellness / meditation space for a while. It's not innovative, but it is simple and clear.

Sloths (Stairway Decodables Nonfiction Step 3) by Laura Stickney  (publishes 1 August 2025)

This is a book designed to help children with their reading, using a technique called Science of Reading. I don't know much about the debate about ways to teach reading, except that there is a heated debate about the topic. Anyway, that's not why I requested it, I wanted to see pictures of sloths. And there were loads of them in this well presented book. It also had instructions for teachers, so if I was using this to help a child even I, with my lack of knowledge about reading techniques, could effectively use this engaging book. Very nicely presented and photographed with interesting sloth facts, this book feels natural, something a child would want to read, rather than trying too hard to be educational, even though it is.