What We Are Reading: Nonfiction

Are you a history buff? A science maven? A biography hound? Here is the place to share your nonfiction interests!

For January I am hoping to finally read The Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik. I love the style of the book. I do hope it lives up to the hype.

I've got Drinking in America: Our Secret History by Susan Cheever in my January plans.

I'd love to get to The Notorious RBG soon too.

I am reading mostly books on film plus memoirs this year. I also belong to a non-fiction book group through my volunteer work in American history. I am currently reading Five Came Back. I had to stop and watch the films by Huston, Wyler, Ford, and Capra--and I snuck in some WB Private Snafu cartoons from Geisel, Chuck Jones, and company. That slowed me down and I did not finish this book last year. The book is good but somewhat scattered; I had the same problem with Five Pictures at a Revolution. I am also listening to Orry-kelly's women I've Undressed
It's nothing salacious--it is the memoir of WB's chief costume designer during the golden age of Hollywood. I don't know about this one. Orr-Kelly died of alcoholism and his manuscript was tucked away in a pillowcase, so no editing, alas. I would abandon this audio, but I am over half done, so...

Plans for the month: Dead Wake for book group.
Hold Still. Sally Mann Audible is starting to have more enhanced audiobooks--yay! I need to look at a photographer's photos.
And the first have of A Brief History of Seven Killings...but that's fiction

Not a book as such, but I am listening to The Persian Empire one of the Great Courses.

Starting Mob Cop by Fred Pascente about his life as a mobbed up detective in Chicago.

I tend to read loads of books at once. I'm actively reading The Victorian Asylum which I just bought today. And listening to Seven Years In Tibet. And reading this Christian book on Relationships.

Just finished Fermat's Enigma by Simon Singh. Even as a non-mathematician, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

I don't read a lot of nonfiction but for January I did read Grant Morrison's Supergods. I have several others on my TBR list including:

Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman
The Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Cambell
Benjamin Franklin and his Enemies by Robert Middlekauff
In the Pit with Piper by Roddy Piper

I probably won't read them all in 2016, like I said I'm not into nonfiction; I like to let my imagination run wild while reading. I definitely want to get to Orange is the New Black this year though.

I started reading Where the Heart Beats: John Cage, Zen Buddhism, and the Inner Life of Artists . It's a little long but so far I'm finding it interesting.

About 1/3 of the way through Ivory Vikings, on the Lewis chessmen and, through them, Viking culture.

Just finished The Romanov Sisters by Helen Rappaport. Excellent!

I'm reading The Taste of Conquest, about - well, the subtitle is "The Rise and Fall of the Three Great Cities of Spice". The first is Venice, and I'm still in the middle of that - then Lisbon, then Amsterdam. So far, it's been interesting perspectives on a time I know a little about in a place I don't know much about at all.

Just went to the library and picked up Back to the Batcave by Adam West and We Don't Need Roads by Caseen Gaines. Those are my next two reads for sure.

I just read Last Train to Paradise by Les Standiford, about Henry Flagler, his railroad and resort empire, and especially the railroad he built to Key West.

A few years ago I read The Assassin's Cloak a collection of diary extracts which I read over the course of a year. I have started reading A Traveller's Year which is made up of diary extracts with a travel theme and plan to do the same. I should finish this book on the 22nd January 2017.

I've read 5 non-fiction works for January:

- Susan Hill - Howards End is on the Landing
- Martin Pistorius - Ghost Boy
- Suzanne O'Sullivan - It's All in your Head: True Stories of Imaginary Illness
- Asne Seierstad - One of Us
- Douwe Draaisma - Ontregelde geesten

I've written some thoughts about them in my thread. My favorites are of Suzanne O'Sullivan and Douwe Draaisma.

Started How the Scots Invented the Modern World. My Scots roots are showing... :)

Started Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.

Quickly read Lost Cat: A True Story of Love, Desperation, and GPS Technology by Caroline Paul. Short, cute, read that probably won't make sense to anyone who doesn't love cats.

February is Black History Month, so I'm reading Stokely: A Life by Peniel E. Joseph, a biography of the US civil rights activist Stokely Carmichael.

Just started The History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage. So far so good. We are in the beer era first

And what a good era that is... :)

I love learning new things while reading. The other day, while playing Scrabble with a friend, she made the word *bap*, which was new to me. She explained that it was a type of bread roll. Wouldn't you know it, coincidence or serendipity raises its head. As I was reading the first chapter of the Standage book last night, about Beer in Mesopotamia and Egypt, I read this: "Mesopotamian brewers could also control the taste and color of their beer by adding *bappir*, or beer-bread. To make bappir, sprouted barley was shaped into lumps, like small loaves which were baked twice to produce a dark brown, crunchy, unleavened bread that could be stored for years before being crumbled into the brewer's vat....Bread was solid beer and beer was liquid bread". Who knew?

And that would have gone right by me without a blink had I not played Scrabble just a couple of days earlier.

Huh! I knew baps, and I'd heard the thing about beer being liquid bread - but I'd never heard about bappir. Fascinating.

Finished Drinking in America: Our Secret History by Susan Cheever quick, fun and interesting.

Just finished The Knowledge by Lewis Dartnell

In honor of national Eating Disorders Awareness Month, I read Little Girl Blue: the Life of Karen Carpenter by Randy L. Schmidt -- informative but sad.

Finished Spies, Sadists and Sorcerers by Dominic Selwood -- an Early Review book.

I'm still working through Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. I picked up a modern translation. I read and absolutely loved Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates.

I'm reading Winterdance, a funny and engaging story of author Gary Paulsen running the Iditarod.

I am still reading 3, only 2 of which were on my *planned* list to read this month:

The History of the World in 6 Glasses
Capturing the Light

and I just started The Hare with Amber Eyes

So much for *planned* reads...

>32 jessibud2: So much for *planned* reads...
Yeah, I'm with you on that...

Just found and started The Patriarch, David Nasaw's biography of Joe Kennedy. mresdrneutron gave it to me Christmas 2014, I put it on a shelf, and lost track of it. Now it's found again!

I just picked up The Paper garden: An Artist Begins her life's work at 72 by Molly Peacock . I hope the writing is as beautiful as the pictures in it!

Just finished The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

I finished Capturing the Light. Will log and review it later on. I did enjoy it!

I'm a ways into Evicted by Matthew Desmond and impressed by it.

Just finished All New Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew

I highly recommend Michael Mosley's The 8-week blood sugar diet. Was bullied into reading it by my partner - and so glad I did. It's a rigorously science-based diet book with lots of yummy, quite easy recipes - many of which we have tried already. Especially helpful for people with type 2 diabetes, or heading that way.

>35 Jacksonian: I really liked the Omnivore's Dilemma! I am currently reading In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan.

Also plugging away at Hard Choices by Hillary Clinton. I have always been interested in foreign affairs, the Department of State, and international relations, but HRC's book is a tough one to get through.

For the "Spring Training" baseball thread, I'm reading The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn.

>41 tymfos: - There's a baseball thread?? Please point me in the direction....!

Evicted is terrific and ground-breaking. Highly recommended. Review here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/219826#5499157

>42 jessibud2: There's a baseball thread?? Please point me in the direction....!
Linda (lindapanzo) starts a thread every Spring for baseball Spring Training. Here's this year's installment:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/219327

Finished The Quarter-Acre Farm by Spring Warren

I finished The Taste of Conquest a while ago - great book. The author has a nicely sarcastic viewpoint on the behavior of people back then (essentially, his silent comment is "so what's changed?"). Lots of interesting facts about the current structure, both physical and cultural, of the three cities (Venice, Lisbon, and Amsterdam) and how they were affected by the spice trade. And a little bit about spice in the modern world, from science to trade. Lots of lovely food mentioned, as well, though no actual recipes (darn it). Fun; I've passed it on to my parents, but I want it back. I think I'll be happy to reread it in a while.

I finished Capturing the Light last week. I"ll add my review to my own thread soon. It was a really interesting read.

Edited to add that I have posted my review for Capturing the Light

I have abandoned A History of the World in 6 Glasses. I got about 2 chapters in but it just wasn't holding my interest and I kept moving on to other books. Oh well, c'est la vie

Finished Mind Wide Open by Steven Johnson

finished Sextant: A Young Man's Daring Sea Voyage and the Men Who Mapped the World's Oceans - good read- mix of history of navigation technique and instruments with a memoir of a trans-Atlantic crossing in the author's youth.

I'm reading two nonfiction books right now (a bit unusual for me): The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson and Being Mortal by Atul Gawande.

>50 bell7: - I am listening to the audio of the Bryson book right now and am finding it disappointing (less funny/more grumpy than usual) and he isn't narrating, which he always has, on his previous audiobooks. That alone is disappointing for me. As for the Gawande book, I read it last year and, as everyone else was, I was very impressed with it. It should be compulsory reading for everyone, in my opinion.

>51 jessibud2: I'm liking the Bryson book overall, though I agree that he's just a tad more grumpy than usual. I usually would've jumped at the chance to listen to it, but gave it a pass when I learned he wasn't narrating. I wonder why they changed? I'm really getting a lot out of ("enjoying" is not the right word...) Being Mortal so far, and I keep thinking of more people I think should read it!

>52 bell7: - I hadn't realized that he wasn't the narrator until I popped it into my car's CD player. Oh well I'm nearly done. I really miss him as narrator

Finished The Survival Medicine Handbook by Joseph Alton

I just finished Nobody Knows: The Forgotten Story of One of the Most Influential Figures in American Music by Craig Von Buseck, a biography of Harry T. Burleigh. I believe Burleigh should be better known than he is; he changed the world of American music by bringing the Spirituals, those marvelous songs passed down from those in slavery, into the mainstream of American musical consciousness. Dvorak's New World Symphony was largely the result of exposure to the Spirituals when Burleigh was a student and Dvorak was head of the American Conservatory. This book was worthwhile because of the subject matter, but I really didn't care for how it was written.

Started On the Map: why the World Looks the Way it Does that I picked up at Kramer Books during our recent DC meetup!

>56 drneutron: It's a book of essays on maps! BB for sure.

Just finished Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

>58 Jacksonian: - Did you like it? I listened to the audiobook version, read by Kingsolver, her husband and her daughter, who each read the sections they contributed and I found that to be exceptionally good. I'm not sure I could do (that is, I'm quite sure I could NOT do) what they did but I was captivated to live it vicariously!

>59 jessibud2: It's an interesting book, but I preferred The Omnivore's Dilemma personally.

I've started my annual April Autism Awareness thread.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/220532

(The thread is not meant to compete with any other monthly theme or group read for the month. It's just here for folks who want to share reading on the topic.)

I'm reading The Way I See It: A Personal Look at Autism and Asperger's by Temple Grandin

Finished A Year of Biblical Womanhood: How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head, and Calling Her Husband "Master" by Rachel Held Evans. I follow her blog from time to time. It was nice to see how she started her journey.

I started a great book today Brand new from my local library, Emmett Till The Murder That Shocked the World and Propelled the Civil Rights Movement is very well researched.

Finished Living Mindfully by Deborah Schoeberlein David

Also finished Mindful Eating by Jan Chozen Bays

Just finished A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. Funny, a bit off the wall at times, occasionally pedantic. Still, it made me want to put on the hiking boots and hit a trail!

Just finished The Locavore Way by Amy Cotler

Finished Farewell, My Subaru by Doug Fine

Just finished Consumed by Sarah Elton

>69 Jacksonian: - Was it good? Sarah Elton is a local gal and I have always enjoyed her radio columns on food. She is very passionate and eclectic. I have heard about the book but haven't read it yet

Started Philosophy of Mind by Jaegwon Kim, a senior in college or early graduate text on, well, the philosophy of mind. So far, interesting, but technical.

I've altered my Autism Awareness read to start off April. I got hold of a copy of Send in the Idiots: Stories from the Other Side of Autism by Kamran Nazeer. He's a man who had gone to a special school for children with autism when he was young, and tracked down some of his old classmates to see how they had fared as adults.

>70 jessibud2: It's quite interesting but not quite as good as my personal fave The Omnivore's Dilemma.

Finished Plenty by Alisa Smith

I just finished an ER book called Locally Laid by Lucie B. Amundsen. If you're curious about the locovore movement or mid-range agriculture, you'll enjoy this book. I'm working on my review, but it was, surprisingly, a 4 star read for me. Not to mention a horrible urge to bring home a few chicks.....

>75 streamsong: I've been reading a lot of locavore books recently. I'll be adding that one to my TBR Pile.

I'm reading Our mathematical universe : my quest for the ultimate nature of reality. I put it down for a few days but plan to get back to it.

I am loving Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing. It is really tough in some parts but it is an excellent book.

^I loved that Endurance book. Caroline Alexander wrote a good one about it, too.

I just started In a Different Key for Autism Awareness Month.

Just finished The Know-It-All by A.J. Jacobs

Finished The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

I recently finished Assembling California by John McPhee - fascinating discussion of the geology of California and via that of the development of the idea of plate tectonics, and how geologists dealt with this change of concept at the time. Now I'm reading Geology of the San Francisco Bay Region by Doris Sloan, which is equally fascinating, covers a lot of the same ground (actually, having read McPhee was very helpful as Sloan goes into the different types of rock found in different areas of the Bay region), and makes me want to go out to all the places she talks about and look at the rocks (ooh, there's radiolarian chert near the top of Mt. Diablo! And volcanics over- and underlying sandstone, just east of the Caldecott Tunnel - she says there's visible ancient lava flows! And, and...). The only problem is that both of them are library books, so in a week or so I won't have them any more (I already renewed Sloan's, McPhee's has been returned).

They also both mention Streetcar to Subduction, which is supposed to be specifically short trips around San Francisco to see aspects of the fault systems around here. I'm not in the city, I'm on the other side of the bay - but it might be worth going into the city some day to take a few of those trips. I think the library has that book, too...

Jim,
Streetcar is a famous guidebook among geologists I've not seen it but it is apparently very well done and is as it says a guide to places one can get two by public transportation. The author was quite an interesting character as well. It is the sort of book frequently goes missing from libraries, so if the copyright status allows you might want to scan it if you succeed in getting out.

Finished The Burglar Caught by a Skeleton by Jeremy Clay

In a Different Key: The Story of Autism was good, with an emphasis on the personal stories, but if I had to pick an overview book, I'd pick Neurotribes.

So far this month I have listened to Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing and Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat. Both were excellent. I started the audio for The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. I thought it might be dry, but Parker Posey is a good narrator for this type of work.

Finished The Floating Brothel by Sian Rees

Just finished Tomorrowland by Steven Kotler

Just picked up Algorithms to Live By.

Finally read and loved Dead Wake by Erik Larson.

I'm currently listening to Inside Scientology by Janet Reitman which is quite fascinating.

I'm currently reading Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Start-Up Bubble by Daniel Lyons. It's actually quite funny as he lost is writing job at Newsweek at age 51 and went to work for a tech startup. He's now a writer for the TV show Silicon Valley and has clearly put his experience to good use.

Finished You Could Look It Up by Jack Lynch

Just finished The Guinea Pig Diaries by A.J. Jacobs

Finished Candyfreak by Steve Almond

Just finished The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science by Natalie Angier

I just started When Breath Becomes Air.

Just finished Reading the OED by Ammon Shea

Finished Virgin: The Untouched History by Hanne Blank

Reading The Deltoid Pumpkin Seed by John McPhee. Less interesting than his geology books, for me - but still good.

Finished The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs

Just finished The Poisoner's Handbook by Deborah Blum

Finished Severed: A History of Heads Lost and Found by Frances Larson

Just finished Packing for Mars by Mary Roach

Finished The Clockwork Universe by Edward Dolnick

I just started Deliver Us by Kathryn Casey, about 3 decades of murder on the I-45 corridor from Houston to Galveston, TX.

Almost done with Suspicious Minds: Why We Believe Conspiracy Theories by Rob Brotherton. Very readable, very understandable psychological popularization. Turns out we're all conspiracy theorists - it's just that some are better than others at hiding it! :)

Just finished NeuroTribes by Steve Silberman. An excellent read for anyone whose life is touched by the autism spectrum

Finished The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean

Just finished Smoke Gets In Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty

I recently finished The Devil in Pew Number Seven by Rebecca Nichols Alonzo. Not bad but not great either.

My comments are here

Just finished Galileo's Middle Finger by Alice Dreger

Just finished Jefferson's America: the President, the Purchase, and the Explorers Who Transformed a Nation, mainly about the expeditions to explore the Louisians Territory sponsored by Jefferson ad a way to stake The US claim on the newly purchased land.

I'm about a quarter of the way through Lab Girl. Very good so far. She has an engaging, conversational writing style.

Finished Outwitting History by Aaron Lansky

Just finished The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan

Finished Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer

Just finished I'll Take You There: Mavis Staples, the Staple Singers, and the Music That Shaped the Civil Rights Era by Greg Kot.

>116 jessibud2: How was it? I love Mavis Staples and the Staples Singers.

>117 jnwelch: - It was terrific. See my review; I included some youtube links to performances. I have a friend who has a permanent collection of books she calls her Rock and Roll Library. She is a fiend for anything R&R and really knows her stuff. I just gave the book to her yesterday and told her that although the Staples weren't strictly R&R, there was a lot of crossover. She was thrilled because, as she noted, so many R&R people were influenced by the Staples over the years. I really enjoyed the book. If you get a chance, try to find the new documentary that came out last year, called *Mavis!*. It's terrific

>118 jessibud2: Excellent, thanks. And thanks for the "Mavis" documentary reminder. I'd read about that, and then lost track of it.

Just finished The Etymologicon by Mark Forsyth

>120 Jacksonian: Hmmm, I think you got me with a book bullet there. What did you think of it?

>121 jjmcgaffey: I liked it, but as a warning he does jump around quite a bit.

Yeah, I looked at the reviews. Sounds like me reading the OED - which sounds fun! I'll have to hunt that up.

I am reading Wolves and Honey by Susan Brind Morrow. It is absolutely brilliant, and belongs on the shelf with Pilgrim at Tinker Creek andHigh Tide in Tucson and everything John McPhee and Stephen Jay Gould wrote.

I'm reading And Hell Followed With It: Life and Death in a Kansas Tornado, by Bonar Menninger. It's very good so far.

Just started Waterloo: A History of Four Days by Bernard Cornwell, and so far it's very good.

I read That's Not English: Britishisms, Americanisms and What Our English Says About Us by Erin Moore. It was a very entertaining read.

Just finished Early Review book Words on the Move by John McWhorter