jillbone's non-fiction challenge

Hello all. New to LT and thought I'd have a go at my own non-fiction challenge. I've started compiling a list of 1001 non-fiction books (I'm at 714 right now). I'll happily share my list with anyone who wants it (as an Excel spreadsheet). But right now I'll start with the books on my list that I have read so far:

1. Stiff by Mary Roach
2. Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi
3. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
4. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

I know, I know. It's a shockingly small list right now, but I'm about to start on my next book: 5. Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond. Wish me luck and I'll start putting up reviews soon.

Oh, GG&S is one of my faves! Actually, all of those are excellent. :)

If you like Jared Diamond, you might also like Simon Winchester. Krakatoa's my favorite of his.

Thanks for the suggestion. Don't worry. It's already on my list :)

1: I know, I know. It's a shockingly small list right now
Gotta start somewhere... :-) I see you've already discovered that the to-read list expands more rapidly than the have-read list. This makes you normal around here.

1. Stiff by Mary Roach
I've read three of Roach's books (including Spook and Bonk) and this is my favorite. It's fascinating to learn how active your body can be even after you're dead. Did you know that human composting is all the rage in Sweden? Or that you can compress a loved one into a diamond to wear? This book is a fascinating peek into the many ways you can continue to be useful for others even after you die. Or maybe it's just a look at alternatives to pricey funerals.

“The way I see it, being dead is not terribly far off from being on a cruise ship. Most of your time is spent lying on your back. The brain has shut down. The flesh begins to soften. Nothing much new happens, and nothing is expected of you. ”

2. Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi
Call me creepy, but I found this book absolutely fascinating. Written by the former Deputy District Attorney who successfully prosecuted Manson and his "family," the book is full of details about the crimes and the ensuing court case. All in all, this book leaves you wanting to wash your brain after being immersed in Manson's head.

“For a lawyer to do less than his utmost is, I strongly feel, a betrayal of his client. Though in criminal trials one tends to focus on the defense attorney and his client the accused, the prosecutor is also a lawyer, and he too has a client: the People. And the People are equally entitled to their day in court, to a fair and impartial trial, and to justice.”

3. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
I normally don't read novelized non-fiction, but I made an exception for this book when it first came out. Going into this book with a chip on my shoulder, I was pleasantly surprised by how the facts of the crime seem to jump off the page. The intricacies of life in Savannah are shown in vivid detail along with various colorful characters that seem to populate Southern towns. An excellent read.

“There being no direct route to Savannah from Charleston, I followed a zigzagging course that took me through the tidal flatlands of the South Carolina low country. As I approached Savannah, the road narrowed to a two-lane blacktop shaded by tall trees. There was an occasional produce stand by the side of the road and a few cottages set into the foliage, but nothing resembling urban sprawl. The voice on the radio informed me that I had entered a zone called the Coastal Empire.”

4. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
I think almost everyone has fond memories of reading this book in high school. The first time I read this book I was too young to fully grasp the importance of the words. Looking back on it now, the simple recordings of daily life from a young Jewish girl during the Holocaust move me. As she discovers herself through her diary, you find yourself forgetting the horrors of reality that await her around every corner.

“There's only one rule you need to remember: laugh at everything and foget everybody else! It sound egotistical, but it's actually the only cure for those suffering from self-pity.”

Just wanted to pimp my holiday giving Off-Topic thread here. If anyone's interested leave me a note there.

5. Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond
I now know more about New Guinea than I ever wanted to know. Seriously, try to go 5 pages without it being mentioned. That aside, his theories were interesting and I found the chapter on the history of writing systems particularly fascinating. But that may just be my inner linguist talking.

“Rhino-mounted Bantu shock troops could have overthrown the Roman Empire. It never happened.”

Going to start 6. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings next.

6. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
I honestly don't know why I've never read this book before. I enjoyed every page from start to finish. It was insightful and touching. I laughed and cried and hated that the book was so short.

"I thought that my brother and his friends had created Pig Latin. Hearing my father speak it didn't startle me so much as it angered. It was simply another case of the trickiness of adults where children were concerned. Another case in point of the Grownups' Betrayal."

Now on to 7. The Zimmerman Telegram.

7. The Zimmermann Telegram by Barbara W. Tuchman
As I read this book, I realized how little I knew about World War I. I had a vague sense of what caused it, but no real grasp of what caused America to join years later. The book was definitely interesting and enlightening, but struck me as a little dry. But maybe that's just because I don't read a lot of military history.

“Had all the world been a school and Wilson its principal, he would have been the greatest statesman in history.”

Later today's I'll start 8. Double Fold.

8. Double Fold by Nicholson Baker
I have mixed feelings now that I've finished this book. On the one hand, it's a fascinating topic about how libraries are "destroying to preserve" books and newspapers. Baker, however, gets bogged down in minute details which detract from the impact as a whole. If you can stand more than a few average facts, then go out and buy this book. Or for irony's sake, get it on Kindle.

"All of this was genuinely impressive, and it helped to remind me of the befuddling divergence, in library language, between conservation and preservation. The two are no longer synonyms -- in fact, they are more antonymic, although library spokespersons have been known to rely on the lay confusion that surrounds their undisclosed redefinition. Conservation refers to the repair or restoration of the original object, the book or manuscript, the empirical, thumbable thing; preservation, on the other hand, though it may embrace the act of conservation, has more generally come to mean, in response to powerful euphemistic requirements, any act that carries on or propogates, in any chosen medium (e.g., the original pages, CD-ROM, Norsam metal disk, and so on), the words or images of the original object. Thus preservation can mean dumping or other more renumerative forms of dispersal, whereas conservation never does, although of course conservational practices have at times caused unintentional harm."

Tomorrow I'll start 9. The Lives of a Cell on my way down to D.C.

9. The Lives of a Cell by Lewis Thomas
Although some of the ideas in this book are dated by now (it was originally published in 1974), the science essays did not leave me frustrated and angry for a change. That's quite an accomplishment considering I only got a science credit in college because the professor felt sorry for me. The mix of prose, poetry and humor in the essays made them easy to read and accessible. I would recommend this book as a science book for people that hate science.

"If we ever do achieve freedom from most of today's diseases, or even complete freedom from disease, we will perhaps terminate by drying out and blowing away on a breeze, but we will still die."

Going to read an ER book next 10. The Lesbian Fantastic.

Happy Holidays!

10. The Lesbian Fantastic by Phyllis M. Betz
I received this book as an Early Review. Although it sounded right up my alley (being both a sci-fi reader and a lesbian), the ideas given are overly simplistic and the generalizations given were often more insightful than the specific examples. The most interesting chapter was the one on Fantasy novels although it does rely heavily on Xena as a jumping off point for most comparisons. I would give this book a solid B for the ideas alone; however, it was riddled with grammatical and spelling errors (misspelling an author's name from one line to the next). Therefore I must give this book a C.

"Lesbian-authored fantasy provides the same experience for its own readers: the portrayal of a world where the individual discovers value and meaning in being different and in accepting the difference of others; the reassurance that one's desires are not monstrous."

I'm going to start my 2012 reads a little early and move on to 11. Ten Tea Parties (another ER book).

11. Ten Tea Parties by Joseph Cummins
A good quick read into ten patriotic "tea parties" that people may or may not know about. While most people know about the Boston Tea Party, fewer people know about the burning of tea in Greenwich, New Jersey or the protest by women in Edenton, North Carolina. While the coverage of the lesser known tea parties is not in depth, it does whet the appetite for more information if you choose to research further.

"Later, after the protests and the bloodshed and the Revolutionary War, when people returned once again to drinking tea, it was on their own teams. And I suspect that those steaming cups of Bohea must have tasted pretty good."

Starting 12. The Mother Tongue tomorrow.

12. The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson
I absolutely love linguistics books. It must be the English major still hidden away inside me. Bryson offers a good overview of different ways the English language has changed from its inception til the present (or at least 1990 when the book was published). My only peeve with this book is that many of the colloquialisms that Bryson cites I have never heard of having grown up in the South. Other than that, I enjoyed Bryson's small trivia tidbits and easy language.

"Perhaps for our last words on the subject of usage we should turn to the last words of the venerable French grammarian Dominique Bonhours, who proved on his deathbed that a grammarian's work is never done when he turned to those gathered loyally around him and whispered: 'I am about to -- or I am going to -- die; either expression is used.'"

Will start 13. Mountains Beyond Mountains tonight rather than watching the BCS game with my family.

13. Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
Dr. Paul Farmer may not call himself one, but he might be one of God's angels on earth. And I'm saying that as a self-professed agnostic. I don't think I've ever read about a man who gives so much to help others in places others fear to tread -- Haitian villages, Peruvian slums and Russian prisons. That's not to say Farmer is perfect, however. But that's kind of the point. If an average imperfect man can do so much in his lifetime, what are the rest of us waiting for?

"On one visit, in a new empolyee's office, I saw a sign taped to a wall which read, 'If Paul is the model, we're golden.' When you looked closely, though, you saw that the word golden was written on a strip of paper. Lift up the strip and you saw that the original read, 'If Paul is the model, we're fucked.' This was a direct quote from Jim, a characteristically emphatic phrase, which sounded harsher than it was. Jim meant it as a warning to the many young PIH-ers who imagined, as many had and many would, that the right thing to do with their lives was to imitate Paul...'Paul is a model of what should be done. He's not the model for how it has to be done. Let's celebrate him. Let's make sure people are inspired by him. But we can't say anybody should or could be just like him.' He added, 'Because if the poor have to wait for a lot of people like Paul to come along before they get good health care, they are totally fucked.'"

Going to start 14. Up From Slavery possibly tonight, but more likely tomorrow.

14. Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington
I agree with most people who read this book: it is an important read about the Reconstruction from the perspective of a former African-American slave/now educated orator. While Washington's life story was interesting, with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, I found most of his sentiments about the men of his time period and the future of his race naively optimistic. That said, however, thos sentiments don't make this any less of a compelling snapshot of history.

"The world should not pass judgment upon the Negro, and especially the Negro youth, too quickly or too harshly. The Negro boy has obstacles, discouragements, and temptations to battle with that are little known to those not situated as he is. When a white boy undertakes a task, it is taken for granted that he will succeed. On the other hand, people are usually surprised if the Negro boy does not fail. In a word, the Negro youth starts out with the presumption against him."

Maybe tomorrow I'll start 15. The Emperor of All Maladies.

15. The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee
I'm not a science person (I almost failed it twice in college), but this book is a must-read. I was originally going to say it was a must-read for those living with cancer or living on the periphery of cancer, but I think it's a must-read for everyone. Because whether we like it or not, we all live on the periphery of cancer these days. At once realistic and cautiously hopeful, Mukherjee's book is filled with the history of the living entity that is cancer. Throughout this history (a biography as he calls it), the different approcahes to cancer are laid out in simple, easy-to-understand terms. Reading this book leaves you optimistic about the future of cancer research, but with the frank knowledge that there is no "miracle cure" to be found.

"As Doll suggests, and as Atossa epitomizes, we might as well focus on prolonging life rather than eliminating death. This War on Cancer may best be 'won' by redefining victory."

I'm going to start on 16. The Genius Factory tonight since I have some free time.

21: I read The Emperor of All Maladies last year, and it's the one book I didn't get around to reviewing, so it's still sitting on my desk with a bunch of marker flags. It's useful for both history and science, but there's more information that I could absorb in one pass.

16. The Genius Factory by David Plotz
This is one of those books I picked up because my partner and I have been thinking about starting our own family lately. As we research fertility clinics and sperm banks, our thoughts inevitably turn to what type of donor to pick. Will he be smart? Athletic? Artsy? The sad history of the Repository for Germinal Choice (the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank) makes me more wary than before. Although no actual Nobel Prize babies were born during its short history, the Repository did usher in a new age for sperm banks with more donor characteristic choices and stricter sample screening. Good to know that something positive came out of this failed eugenics experiment.

"Graham seduced his targets like a lover. He literally got crushes on them. (He wanted to have their babies.) He arranged meetings as if they were first dates. He dressed to the nines -- immaculate sport jacket, tie, pressed white shirt, black leather belt with a silver 'RKG' buckle. He took them to long dinners -- he was a famously slow eater -- where he flattered them with questions about their work, their life, their families. He studied up on his men -- not merely Nobelists, but even late donors whose achievements were meager -- reading their academic papers, memorizing details from their entry in Who's Who of Emerging Leaders. He didn't use first names; anyone who could conceivably be called 'Doctor,' he called 'Doctor.'

Maybe later tonight I'll start on 17. The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker.

I am curious to read the Genius Factory--I remember reading about the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank, and it sounded so creepy.
Good luck with your own explorations -- my partner and I used a sperm bank to start our family 16 years ago, and it's worked out great.

17. The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker
Despite a slow start (the first few chapters are a bit hard to slog through), this is an interesting take on linguistic theory. Arguing that language is a basic human instinct, Pinker illustrates how we are born with an innate capacity for language hardwired into our brains. Although he can become bogged down in linguistic terminology at times, Pinker's use of anecdotes and humorous examples makes the book an enjoyable read.

"As you are reading these words, you are taking part in one of the wonders of the natural world. For you and I belong to a species with a remarkable ability: we can shape events in each other's brains with exquisite precision. I am not referring to telepathy or mind control or the other obsessions of fringe science; even in the depictions of believers these are blunt instruments compared to an ability that is uncontroversially present in every one of us. That ability is language. Simply by making noises with our mouths, we can reliably cause precise new combinations of ideas to arise in each other's minds. The ability comes so naturally that we are apt to forget what a miracle it is."

Tomorrow morning I will start on 18. Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen.

18. Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen
When I started this book, I considered myself an amateur history buff. I'd taken more than a few classes in college, I like reading books about American and European history, and I love historical films. As I made my way through the chapters, however, I realized how little I actually knew about the history of my own country. Loewen presents 10 chapters of American history that high school textbooks have distorted either by omission or by using a Eurocentric slant that excludes minorities. While his own bias shows through as some points (as a textbook writer who had to fight a court case for his book to be adopted by school systems), Loewen is correct that teaching history as it has always been taught does not engage today's high school student or prepare them for thinking about their own future in relation to our collective past. I can only hope that teachers and administrators read this book and see the changes that need to be made.

"Students will start learning history when they see the point of doing so, when it seems interesting and important to them, and when they believe history might relate to their lives and futures. Students will start finding history interesting when their teachers and textbooks stop lying to them."

In a few minutes, I'll start on 19. Flu by Gina Kolata.

19. Flu by Gina Kolata
I'll be honest. The only reason I had even heard about the influenza epidemic of 1918 was because it was featured on a recent episode of Downton Abbey. How could I have never heard of a pandemic that killed (by conservatiive estimates) at least 20 million people? Kolata presents a thoroughly researched and well-written account of scientists efforts to track and find the root of the deadly flu epidemic. Even for those us with no direct tie to the wave of deaths, it is a great read for those interested in epidemiology.

"Crosby calls the 1918 flu 'America's forgotten pandemic,' noting: 'The important and almost incomprehensible fact about the Spanish flu is that it killed millions upon millions of people in a year or less. Nothing else -- no infection, no war, no famine -- has ever killed so many in as short a period. And yet it has never inspired awe, not in 1918 and not since, not among the citizens of any particular land and not among the citizens of the United States.'"

I'll be starting on an Early Review 20. The Information Diet by Clay A. Johnson after dinner.

There's another book, which I have but haven't read: The Great Influenza by John Barry.

>28 qebo: That's on my TBR list for later this year. Hopefully I'll get to it soon.

20. The Information Diet by Clay A. Johnson
It may be my own prejudices showing, but I find it hard to trust facts in a book supported only by footnotes containing websites...especially in a book telling me that the Internet is full of bias information reporting. I'm also not so sure I trust some of the figures given. For example: "As of 2008, according to the UCSD, we were consuming 11.8 hours of information per day per person while we're not at work." Now assuming that the average person works between 7 to 8 hours per day and we are supposedly consuming another 11.8 hours of information independent of that, that leaves us approximately 4 or 5 hours to sleep. I'm just not sure those are accurate figures. It doesn't seem to add up to me. The book also contained several charts that were obviously meant to be rendered in color (although the book was not) which made the various shades of gray impossible to distinguish between.

"When we start looking at information consumption through the lens of a diet and take responsibility for the information we're consuming, things start to get really frightening. Poor information diets and poor filters are responsible for really atrocious things and have horrible social effects that are, as history suggests, as deadly as the worst of our diseases."

Since I'm still awake, I'll start on another Early Review book: 21. Straphanger by Taras Grescoe.

I read Lies My Teacher Told Me recently too, though I don't think his court battle gives him bias, but understanding. That's no doubt part of the reason he doesn't just blame the writers of the text books, because he knows what the adoption process is like and what happens if you try to be accurate. Part of what I love about the book (other than the information) is that he doesn't blame the writers or the publishers or even the school boards, he understands that everyone's under a lot of pressure.

Your comments on your books are really helpful in terms of helping me decide what to read, so thanks much for that!

21. Straphanger by Taras Grescoe
I've lived my entire life either in suburbs or in small towns. I've never felt the urge to move to the city...until now. Reading this book makes me want to move to Copenhagen where 37% of residents commute to work by bicycle. I want to move to Tokyo with its ultra-efficient trains (even if they are really crowded). I want to live in Moscow and spend time in the beautifully decorated underground stations. Or maybe I'll just stay where I am and try to make the U.S. a little better by giving up my car and finding alternate ways around. Whichever I choose, I know that I can look back on this book as my inspiration.

"Sometimes, the best way to get to a better place is to make the place you are in just a little bit better."

Next I'll start on 22. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.

22. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
This was a book my partner has been trying to get me to read for some time now. She received the book from her company's CEO who was trying to jumpstart his employees ways of thinking about their company. After reading this book, I can't help but think that Gladwell would appreciate how this book came into my hands. I found his ideas about how trends and epidemics start and spread fascinating. When I stopped to think about examples in my own life, it was eerie to me how easily they fit into the patterns he talks about. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to understand how and why some ideas spread and others don't.

"The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire.”

Later on today I'll start on 23. The Story of English by Robert McCrum.