Joel Swagman (Reviews / TESOL)

Sunday, March 22, 2026

The Nonfiction book Tag

The tag was created by Bibliophile-Bookscape: https://youtu.be/kuhyyyGyR0M?si=O5VRfk759FLX5qin

I was tagged by Derek Green: https://youtu.be/qKNFqj1rC0g?si=EOzuVnNTSywnyyyc

1. What originally made you interested in reading nonfiction?

2. Do you read nonfiction mainly for curiosity, learning, or enjoyment?

3. What topic could you read endless nonfiction about?

4. How do you usually discover nonfiction books?

5. Do you follow authors or topics when choosing nonfiction?

6. What nonfiction book stuck with you long after reading?

7. What topic have you learned the most about through books?

8. What nonfiction book made you curious about something unexpected?

9. What topic would you recommend everyone explore at least once?

10. What nonfiction book would you recommend to curious readers?

11. What nonfiction book would you give someone who says they don’t like nonfiction?

Links to stuff mentioned:

* The Scramble for Africa: 1876-1912 by Thomas Pakenham: https://youtu.be/oy8fySdy4zw

* My Favorite Narrative History Books: https://youtu.be/-IpTC7RX9d0

* The Moral Animal by Robert Wright: https://youtu.be/f7ATNq7CMqA

* The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker: https://youtu.be/yZh25tJ7b9s

I tag:

@Bucky749

@mindysbookjourney

@WilliamsLibrary

@jimsbooksreadingandstuff

@bethannebruninga-socolar

@JosephFrancisBurton

Tag Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x68GfUHYtDeSJLo6gwRKIID

This Week in Booktube: March 22, 2026

(These are the Booktube videos I watched this week. As always, I encourage you also to check out each of the videos I've linked to down below. Support Booktube. And let me know what you've watched this past week.)

Google document: docs, pub

Joseph Francis Burton I do the Non-Fiction book tag!!

Steve Donoghue Ryan Holiday's 26 Rules for Reading: A Very Belated Response!

Steve Donoghue Epic Comic Book Wednesday: The Dark Knight Returns

Bethanne Bruninga-Socolar Still Life with Bones by Alexa Hagerty

Tell Tale Books Stephen King 69: The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands | Review

Mindy's Book Journey Cold Snap Book Review

jim's books reading & stuff 1 min review: Christine by Stephen King

Derek Green Is there a literacy crisis? Response

Joseph Francis Burton A Haven, by Joris-Karl Huysmans - book discussion

Steve Donoghue Star Trek Starfleet Academy Season 1: Review

Bucky749 TMNT Talk : Rennet: (tmnt’s doctor who )

Randy Ray Patience with and for Booktube: A Response to Steve Donoghue

Steve Donoghue Having Patience with (and on) BookTube!

Saturday, March 21, 2026

High Windows by Philip Larkin: ESL Listening

TESOL Worksheets--Poems ESL Listening)

Transcript: docs, pub
Video: HERE

High Windows by Philip Larkin: poems

Video: https://youtu.be/HzNPfG9Rx8I

When I see a couple of kids

And guess he’s fucking her and she’s

Taking pills or wearing a diaphragm,

I know this is paradise

Everyone old has dreamed of all their lives—

Bonds and gestures pushed to one side

Like an outdated combine harvester,

And everyone young going down the long slide

To happiness, endlessly. I wonder if

Anyone looked at me, forty years back,

And thought, That’ll be the life;

No God any more, or sweating in the dark

About hell and that, or having to hide

What you think of the priest. He

And his lot will all go down the long slide

Like free bloody birds. And immediately

Rather than words comes the thought of high windows:

The sun-comprehending glass,

And beyond it, the deep blue air, that shows

Nothing, and is nowhere, and is endless.

Friday, March 20, 2026

Paper Moon: Movie Review

This is part of my so-called "Scripted Review" series, in which I make a Youtube video based on an old blogpost. For more information on what this is and why I'm doing it, see HERE:

https://youtu.be/HgneyXvRI04

and HERE: https://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2018/12/vlog-scripted-book-reviews-i-ramble-on.html

In this case, the old blog post is here: https://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2014/02/paper-moon.html

Related Playlists:

Movie Reviews playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x6N06WoIoV2fLb6xRYrepTk&si=EDHi2_Y41ACLnCmA

Scripted Movie Reviews playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x49ts8TV1DbXQo8zN_e65us&si=_gzqGAmaz337NVCP

Scripted Reviews Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x5BKcEIufNKlS58JHU_glyL&si=Pje0KQqIqOgWGGUI

Movies I Saw in 2014 Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x4WRnfM_TDQClWj8OOCg9f_&si=Uu6SYX9o1qm1Ndhc

8 Stars playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x6E9mEGW46UNZNnW0C4zHNm