Showing posts with label #NonFicNov. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #NonFicNov. Show all posts

Sunday, December 2, 2018

Nonfiction November 2018--Week 5!

This event is being cohosted by the following five bloggers: 
Julz of JulzReads

#NonFicNov

Week 5 (November 26-30): New to My TBR
By now, it has been a month full of amazing nonfiction books!
Which ones have made it onto your TBR listing?
(Be sure to link back to the original blogger who posted about that book!)

 Forty Autumns by Nina Willner

Ironically, this came from 
Katie @ Doing Dewey's Nonfiction that reads 
like Fiction posting for Week #4.
This sounds absolutely fascinating and 
I'm wondering how I missed it!

 One woman escapes from East to West 
Berlin, eventually settling in the US 
and her daughter becomes 
the first female Army Intelligence Officer 
to lead sensitive intelligence operations in East Berlin at the height of  the Cold War. 
Though only a few miles separated American Nina and her German relatives--grandmother Oma, Aunt Heidi, and cousin Cordula, a member of the East German Olympic training team--a bitter political war kept them apart. I'm already hooked! 

Katherine @ The Writerly Reader listed 
NeuroTribes: 
The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity 
by Steve Silberman as a nonfiction book 
that reads like fiction.

Actually, this has been on my TBR listing for awhile, 
but I have not yet read it!

I must move it up on that listing. This sounds like an amazing book with much to teach me. 



Reese @ Typings listed 
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: 
An American Slave Written by Himself
as another nonfiction book that reads like fiction.

This has also been on my TBR listing for awhile,
and is included in my current Classics Club challenge list.


Eva @ The Paperback Princess lists all of Erik Larson's books:
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania,
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin
The Devil in the White City: 
Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
Thunderstruck
Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History
Lethal Passage: The Story of a Gun
(though published in 1994, just the story of how he began this search is enthralling).

 My conclusion:
I really must start reading Erik Larson!
I just need to increase my nonfiction reading, with particular attention to these books!

What additions to your TBR have been made 
as a result of the Nonfiction November postings?

Happy reading!
--Lynn



Sunday, November 25, 2018

Nonfiction November 2018--Week 4!


This event is being cohosted by the following five bloggers: 

#NonFicNov

Week 4 (November 19-23): Reads Like Fiction
Nonfiction books are often praised for how they stack up to fiction. 
Does it matter to you whether nonfiction reads like a novel?
If it does, what gives it that fiction-like feeling?
Does it depend on the topic, the writing, the use of certain literary elements and techniques?
What are your favorite nonfiction recommendations that read like fiction?
And if your nonfiction picks could never be mistaken for novels, 
what do you love about the differences?

Perhaps the most common nonfiction books I read 
that do not necessarily read like fiction are memoirs/autobiographies/biographies.
There is typically little tension/drama, though some defy that definition.

I have read several that I would highly recommend:

My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem
I learned sooooo much by reading this one book! She is a wealth of knowledge!

H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald
I was absolutely fascinated by the details of training/'manning' a goshawk 
in the wake of her father's death and trying to re-establish her own life without him.

Heart Berries: A Memoir by Terese Marie Mailhot
Be forewarned! Do NOT be fooled by the small size and length of this book!
Her text may be sparse and poetic, but it is definitely intense!

Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
This would make a wonderful gift! Such a collection of timeless observations...

West With the Night by Beryl Markham
What a life this woman led! So many female firsts!
Absolutely fascinating...and I loved the writing!

And I just now realized that all of these are written by females! Ha! 
Guess there aren't many males whose lives interest me much at this point. 
Though I do intend to read Barack Obama's books at some point in the future, 
and am extremely anxious to read Becoming, Michelle Obama's autobiography!

Then there are the nonfiction books I've read and truly felt like fiction.
There are many reasons: mainly the pacing. 
These books do not just present a bunch of facts, rather they are excellently written stories, 
providing some tension and creating a desire within me to keep reading to find out...
And, in my humble opinion, that is what any 'good' book does!
Be it fiction or nonfiction.

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore
This was amazingly written and so very informative!
Trust me! We all owe our lives (literally) to the women in this group 
who survived to live long lives!

The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown
This is truly one of the very best books I've ever read! I learned so much about rowing! 
And especially the challenges experienced by this one team.
Brown does an excellent job of characterization and building tension all within a true story!

I am especially interested in Social Justice and these books were so informative 
in different ways...and each of them well-crafted!

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness 
by Michelle Alexander
Heartbreaking. Unbelievable just how inherently unfair our "justice" system is...
(And...an excellently-written fiction book that depicts the personal cost of unjust arrest, charges, and incarceration is An American Marriage by Tayari Jones.)

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
This one man is such a hero! He makes me want to move south to help him in his fight!
What a heartbreaking but so very necessary book! And his writing just flows...

The Long Shadow of Small Ghosts: Murder and Memory in an American City
by Laura Tillman
This is one of the first books I've read that truly depicted the marginalization of the poor and emotionally under-equipped to survive, let alone thrive, in this world...
Having worked in the as a mental health advocate, this hit home as so very accurate...

The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America by Timothy Egan
I learned so very much from this book and it read just like fiction! 
I will definitely read anything this man writes!

Horse Soldiers: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of US Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan by Doug Stanton
I read this while working at Borders in 2009. Though I am by no means interested in the military or reading about it, I found this book enthralling!
I see it has now been made into a movie entitled 12 Strong and they have released the original book under a new title: 12 Strong: The Declassified True Story of the Horse Soldiers

The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann
I also read this book while working at Borders. It was fascinating!
I would definitely read anything this man has written!

What nonfiction books would you recommend as reading like fiction?

Happy reading!
--Lynn

Thursday, November 15, 2018

Nonfiction November 2018--Week 3!



This event is being cohosted by the following five bloggers: 

#NonFicNov

I have been too busy to post anything for Week 1 or Week 2 until now, 
but am determined to make time to post for Week 3 during Week 3!
(I apologize for the differently-colored links!)

Week 3 (November 12-16): Be the Expert/Ask the Expert/Become the Expert
There are three ways to participate this week!

You can share three or more books on a single topic 
that you have read and can recommend--BE THE EXPERT
OR
You can put the call out for good nonfiction on a specific topic 
that you have been dying to learn more about--ASK THE EXPERT
OR
You can create your own list of books you would like to read that discuss a topic about which you would like to learn more--BECOME THE EXPERT

I have chosen option 3!
I really want to read more about animals, and particularly the human-animal connection.

One of the very best books I've ever read about animals and the animal-human connection was Lawrence Anthony and Graham Spence's The Elephant Whisperer
Each member of the book club I facilitate agreed!
While it may not be considered strictly scientific but rather anecdotal, it is absolutely amazing and excellently demonstrates just how little we humans "know" about animals!
I myself consider such "qualitative data" just as valuable as "quantitative data"! 
Sometimes even moreso! 

Again, more anecdotal evidence, but Anthony Bourke and John Rendall's 
A Lion Called Christian: 
The True Story of the Remarkable Bond Between Two Friends and a Lion 
is a book I absolutely adored! As did each member of the book club I facilitate!
There is an unbelievable reunification video on YouTube 
that demonstrates just how little we may really KNOW about any animal(s)... 
Warning: it makes me cry every time!

These are the related books I fully intend to read in the future:
(Should I happen to live long enough! lol)

Katy Payne's Silent Thunder: In the Presence of Elephants

Carl Safina's Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel

Virginia Morell's Animal Wise: The Thoughts and Emotions of our Fellow Creatures

Barbara King's How Animals Grieve

Tom Michell'sThe Penguin Lessons
One man. One Penguin. Hidden. Through Customs. Across borders. 
Each member of my book club loved this one as well!

David Quammen's The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life
While I am a bit uncertain how much this book will address animal species other than 
homo sapien, I am fascinated by this idea of horizontal gene transfer (HGT).

David Quammen's The Chimp and the River: How AIDS Emerged From an African Forest

Bronwen Dickey's 
Pit Bull: The Battle Over an American Icon

Kathryn Bowers and Barbara Natterson-Holowitz' 
Zoobiquity: The Astonishing Connection Between Human and Animal Health

Frans de Waal's Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?
This is something that has always bothered me. 
How do we humans KNOW we are 'smarter' than animals? 
My answer to that question? It's simple, really... We don't... 
But humanity certainly does NOT lack for arrogance in believing we are! 

Peter Godfrey-Smith's 
Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness

Sy Montgomery's 
The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the World of Consciousness

Susan Casey's 

Voices in the Ocean: A Journey into the Wild and Haunting World of Dolphins
I loved her book The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean 
when I read it almost 6 years ago! Truly enjoyed her writing style!

Rachel Smolker's 
To Touch a Wild Dolphin: A Journey of Discovery with the Sea's Most Intelligent Creatures

Susan Casey's 
The Devil's Teeth: A True Story of Obsession and Survival Among America's Great White Sharks

David Rothenberg's 
Thousand Mile Song: Whale Music in a Sea of Sound

Wallace Nichols and Celine Cousteau's 
Blue Mind: The Surprising Science That Shows How Being Near, In, On, or Under Water Can Make You Happier, Healthier, More Connected, and Better at What You Do
I found it amazing to discover this book on the heels of all the other books listed above 
that center around underwater animals! Hmmmm...

Linda Spalding's The Follow: A True Story
(formerly entitled A Dark Place in the Jungle Following Leakey's Last Animal into Borneo)
I'm betting this one is a tear-jerker!

How about you? 
Are you an expert? 
Do you wish to become an expert? 
Or would you rather just ask an expert? 

Happy reading!
--Lynn

Nonfiction November 2018--Week 2!

This event is being cohosted by the following five bloggers: 

#NonFicNov


Week 2 (November 5-9): Fiction/Nonfiction Book Pairing
Pair up a nonfiction book with a fiction title.
It can be a "If you loved this book, read this!"
or just two titles you think would go well together. 
Maybe it's a historical novel and you'd like to get the real history
by reading a nonfiction version of the story.

Tayari Jones' An American Marriage and 
Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
Jones takes the unjust harassment, arrest, charge, conviction, and incarceration 
of "non-whites" to the personal level, 
depicting the devestating, life-altering effects for one fictional couple.
And if you have not yet read Alexander's book, you need to do that right now!
Especially if you happen to be white! (I can say that...I am white.) :)

Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible and Adam Hochschild's 
King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa 
(This second one is nonfiction and enraged me! 
I believe it will make most readers uncomfortable at the very least...)
But we need to know our history!
Kingsolver does an excellent job of depicting "unintended consequences" 
when uninformed (and all too often very ignorant) white people 
believe they are improving indigenous people's lives!

Helen Macdonald's H is for Hawk and
Jean Craighead George's My Side of the Mountain
On the Far Side of the MountainFrightful's Mountain
My own children always loved George's books, and I recognized the accuracy of her accounts of Sam training Frightful since I had recently read Macdonald's memoir.

William Maley's What is a Refugee? and Sharon Bala's The Boat People
I have not yet read Maley's book but very much appreciated 
the nonfictional aspects of Bala's fictional account of a (literal) boatload of immigrants landing off the coast... 
I can imagine Maley's book is very informative and I would love to read it and compare.

Susan Wilson's One Good Dog and 
Bronwen Dickey's Pit Bull: The Battle Over an American Icon
I absolutely LOVED Wilson's book and would easily read anything she writes!
(I have managed to read The Dog Who Danced and loved it!
I own two more of her books so hopefully I'll get to read them soon!)
I have yet to read Dickey's nonfiction book, but believe it would make a good pairing 
since Chance's heredity included pit bull!

How about you? 
Have you ever read a nonfiction and fiction book that you felt complemented each well?

Happy reading!
--Lynn

Nonfiction November 2018--Week 1!


This event is being cohosted by the following five bloggers: 

#NonFicNov

Week 1 (October 29-November 2): Your Year in Nonfiction 
Take a look back at your year of nonfiction and reflect on the following questions:
What was your favorite nonfiction read of the year?
Do you have a particular topic you've been attracted to more this year?
What nonfiction book have you recommended the most?
What is one topic or type of nonfiction you haven't read enough of yet?
What are you hoping to get out of participating in Nonfiction November?

I analyzed my recent nonfiction reads on my Nonfiction Page October 2018 Update!

Those nonfiction books I've read that I highly recommend: 
Gloria Steinem's My Life on the Road
Kate Moore's The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women
Terese Marie Mailhot's Heart Berries: A Memoir
Roxane Gay's Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body,  
Helen Macdonald's H is for Hawk
Anne Morrow Lindbergh's Gift From the Sea
Bryan Stevenson's Just Mercy
Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
and one of the best books I have ever read...
Daniel James Brown's The Boys in the Boat: 
Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics 

There is no way I could ever select just one favorite read. 
Actually, for varied reasons, all nine recommendations listed above qualify!

I love reading science books, particularly about nature and animals, 
but it appears I make little time for those...

However, my main goal for this November is to read two of the nonfiction books I already own and had already committed to reading in prior events!

How about you? 
Have you read any of these favorite nonfiction books?

What is your favorite over the past year that you've read?

Happy reading!
--Lynn

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Nonfiction November 2018!

Whoo! Whoo! Look what I found!!

This event is being cohosted by the following five bloggers: 

Before I give you their November schedule, 
(At least in my opinion!)

Week 1 (October 29-November 2): Your Year in Nonfiction 
Take a look back at your year of nonfiction and reflect on the following questions:
What was your favorite nonfiction read of the year?
Do you have a particular topic you've been attracted to more this year?
What nonfiction book have you recommended the most?
What is one topic or type of nonfiction you haven't read enough of yet?
What are you hoping to get out of participating in Nonfiction November?

Week 2 (November 5-9): Fiction/Nonfiction Book Pairing
Pair up a nonfiction book with a fiction title.
It can be a "If you loved this book, read this!"
or just two titles you think would go well together. 
Maybe it's a historical novel and you'd like to get the real history 
by reading a nonfiction version of the story.

Week 3 (November 12-16): Be the Expert/Ask the Expert/Become the Expert
There are three ways to participate this week!
You can share three or more books on a single topic 
that you have read and can recommend--BE THE EXPERT
OR
You can put the call out for good nonfiction on a specific topic 
that you have been dying to learn more about--ASK THE EXPERT
OR
You can create your own list of books you would like to read that discuss a topic about which you would like to learn more--BECOME THE EXPERT

Week 4 (November 19-23): Reads Like Fiction
Nonfiction books are often praised for how they stack up to fiction. 
Does it matter to you whether nonfiction reads like a novel?
If it does, what gives it that fiction-like feeling?
Does it depend on the topic, the writing, the use of certain literary elements and techniques?
What are your favorite nonfiction recommendations that read like fiction?
And if your nonfiction picks could never be mistaken for novels, 
what do you love about the differences?

Week 5 (November 26-30): New to My TBR
By now, it has been a month full of amazing nonfiction books!
Which ones have made it onto your TBR listing?
(Be sure to link back to the original blogger who posted about that book!)

So, now I need to dig out at least two nonfiction books 
that are NOT memoirs to read in November!
Here are two I know I own:
(Huh. There was a TV movie released in 2017.)
and



Happy reading!!

--Lynn