Ape's 2012 Nonfiction Challenge

Hey everyone! I suppose I read just enough nonfiction to warrant creating a separate thread. Last year I read 81 books, 31 of which was nonfiction. I've actually been wanting to read LESS nonfiction, and I suppose creating a thread here isn't going to help me with that, but oh well, here I am anyway!

Here's the list.

Books read: 11
Pages read: 2,384

1. Level 4: Virus Hunters of the CDC by Joseph McCormick
2. The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks
3. The Snake Charmer by Jamie James
4. The Passionate Observery by Jean-Henri Fabre
5. Vanished Smiley by R. A. Scotti
6. White Bread by Aaron Bobrow-Strain
7. A Planet of Viruses by Carl Zimmer
8. The Fever by Sonia Shah
9. Urban Animals by Mireille Silcoff
10. Evolutionary Wars by Charles Kingsley Levy
11. The Disheveled Dictonary by Karen Elizabeth Gordon

1. Level 4: Virus Hunters of the CDC by Joseph McCormick



Pages: 386
Rating: 3/5

Science/Memoir

How could I not read a book co-written by Joe McCormick? I've read about him in numerous books, mostly for his work against Ebola and Lassa Fever in Africa, and was quite excited to see he had written this with his wife about their experiences working for the CDC.

It's an enjoyable read, but I did find it a bit, well, luke-warm. It neither offers any tremendous insight into the diseases themselves nor does it give much information about the scientist working on them. Seasoned lovers of epidemiology will find nothing new related to the topic here and those new to the world of diseases may find themselves confused with the such a limited amount of information to be found. The events are so scattered over such long period of time and deal with such a myriad of diseases that all the details are glossed over, which leads to an unsatisfying read.

It does give the reader an idea of what it's like working in Africa, and it does a great job stressing the need for further research. If you are curious about Joe McCormick's work this is perfectly serviceable. I won't recommend it to everyone but it's not bad if it's something you are interested in.

2. The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks



Pages: 254
Rating: 4/5

Survival Guide, Zombies

I really don't have a lot of use for survival guides. It doesn't do me any good to invest a bunch of time learning how to survive in extreme weather places where I'll never find myself in. Sure, maybe if I was visiting a desert/jungle/mountain I would read a guide, but it seems inefficient to bother with them during my everyday life and I'm certainly not going to go everywhere toting a giant bag of survival manuals 'just in case' I somehow find myself lost in the Alaskan wilderness.

So, finally, I'm happy to say there is a survival guide worth reading! The Zombie Survival Guide will teach you how to survive the inevitable zombie apocalypse. With exhaustive research Max Brooks brings us thorough information regarding the effectiveness of different types of weapons, techniques on barricading your home, and the importance of being prepared. Have you ever thought where you would flee to in the event of a class 3 or 4 outbreak? You better start!

I confess the book is firmly rooted in conspiracy theory. There is an extensive section in the back chronicling 'potential' zombie outbreaks, most of which are shrouded in mystery with lots of sketchy evidence. Look, the zombie outbreaks of the past a pretty unlikely. Having read some of the recent discoveries in the field of entomology I'm confident the onset of the zombie apocalypse will result from a parasitic brain fungus. Still, it's good to be prepared, and this book WILL save lives. Read it if you value your life. Don't if you are naive enough not to believe in zombies.

3. The Snake Charmer by Jamie James



Pages: 249
Rating: 4/5

Herpetology

Being a bit of an eccentric and irrational person, I am very accepting of other people's odd quirks and peculiar characteristics, which tend to make the people more interesting if you ask me. One thing I am completely incapable of comprehending is a fear of snakes. What lovely, majestic creatures! A fear of venomous animals is perfectly understandable, but who could possibly be afraid of those affectionate little serpents who so lovingly wrap themselves around their owners arms. Oh sure, they are only wrapping themselves around a source of heat. Fine, but I can say the same thing about people, and snakes are way cooler.

So The Snake Charmer is partly a biography detailing the life and unfortunately death of herpetologist Joe Slowinski, who lost his life during an expedition in Burma after he was bitten by a highly venomous Many Banded Krait. It also functions as a very informative peek into the world of snakes, each chapter (aside from the 70+ page retelling of the Burmese expedition) is dedicated to a different snake, which tells of a time Joe came into contact with one and then relates interesting information about the snake in question in a very readable and enjoyable way.

I really liked this book. Joe isn't exactly the type of guy I tend to idolize, being a 'manly' outdoors man who seemed to drink heavily, call out men who weren't behaving 'masclulinely' enough, and handled deadly snakes with very little caution. With that said, his passion for what he did and his tragic demise doing what he loved something I find admirable, and I suspect the field of herpetology took a big hit with the loss of a man as dedicated as Joe Slowinski.

Your other thread got a cobra. Why isn't there a cobra here? :-(

Well, considering there is a lot less activity and I have a slow dial-up connection, I'm afraid the book covers might make it difficult for me to visit my own thread later in the year, so I'm trying to limit the number of pictures.

That sounds both logical and believable, right? :P

It is plausible enough that I won't post a picture on your thread.

...oh...ummmm...oops... :P

4. The Passionate Observer by Jean-Henre Fabre



Pages: 132
Rating: 3/5

Nature Writing

Jean-Henri Fabre was a naturalist in what I would consider one of the golden ages of natural history. In the late 1800's he was publishing papers on entomology that were not always well received by his peers, mostly for 1 reason alone. They were WONDERFULLY well-written.

His writing is very elegant, and Fabre has enlightening things to say. Not just about nature, but about his childhood, his schooling, and about mistakes made by other entomologists. Fabre does have a tendency to ramble a bit at times, and I won't say I didn't find the book rather dull at times, but just when you are beginning to lose interest he says something overwhelmingly enlightening that it makes you wonder how you managed to lose focus. He really is a brilliant man.

Also, the pages are decorated with vibrant watercolors by Marlene McLoughlin, which perfectly accompany Fabre's writing. It's a beautiful book.

Touchstone: The Passionate Observer. Cool. How'd you discover this book?

I stumbled upon it at Amazon somehow. Of course they always flood every page I visit with recommendations, it's a good thing I'm poor or I think I'd own every book on Amazon. :P

I seem to have Social Life in the Insect World by that author in my library somewhere. At least LT tells me I do. I haven't seen it recently. I am doing a sort of reorganization of my physical books. That should be done by- oh, let's say 2015- so maybe I'll locate by then.

Haha, that sounds like a wonderful problem to have. My problem is that seems to be one of the only problems I don't have!

5. Vanished Smile by R. A. Scotti



Pages: 228
Rating: 3/5

Art History

The theft of the Mona Lisa is something that I am surprised I knew so little about. What a wonderful piece of art, and to think it was pilfered from such a world-renowned museum with so much ease, and still today shrouded in so much mystery. It's truly a remarkable story, without foolish incompetent news reporters like Karl Decker trumping it up with falsified sensationalism.

Scotti's writing is peppered with patches of purple, although such passion is certainly not rare among art enthusiasts and I find it difficult to reproach someone's adoration of such popular work. Still, her frequent and regular musings on the beauty and allure of the painting, while appropriate in lesser proportions, became tiresome. I get it, people love the painting, but I really don't think everyone wept when she was stolen.

Vanished Smile is informative regardless, the theft is a compelling story and the fact that the likes of Pablo Picasso were suspects in the crime makes it all the more intriguing, and I'm glad she discredited the rather silly Valfierno myth, of which I am about to read a (re)fictionalized account of. Maybe there are better books written on the topic, I don't know, but I found it satisfactory. Plus, I bought my hardcover edition for $1. Huray.

6. White Bread: A Social History of the Store-Bought Loaf by Aaron Bobrow-Strain



Pages: 202
Rating: 4/5

Food

It might be surprising to many people the relationship something as simple as bread has had with so many aspects of our daily lives. While food in general can always be an indicator to the condition of a nation's well-being, looking at bread specifically can be an intriguing and insightful way to judge the social personality of a group of people. In the United States, we've gone from a nation of home-baked bread eaters to purveyors of bleached, chemical-laden loaves of industrialized white bread, and then back again to 'all-natural' bread just recently. Even if by 'all-natural' we mean bleached, chemical-laden loaves of industrialized bread with caramel coloring (brown dye) that is masterly crafted with holes and irregular shape so as to appear healthy. You know, because it's not the ingredients that affect how healthy a slice of bread is but its shape and color, obviously...

I was dubious upon reading in the summary that the author was going to draw correlations between racial/sexual prejudice, politics, culture, and other things with the way we eat bread, but they do always seem to be connected. While it is most likely that neither have a direct effect on the other they do seem to progress in a symbiotic manner, which I never considered until now.

White Bread was a great read. It's not the most comprehensive book being just under 200 pages, but this is always a positive thing for when it comes to popular nonfiction. It's still 200 pages of great information presented in a readable way, it doesn't overstay its welcome and while the book might not have made me an expert on the evolution of bread I do feel significantly more knowledgeable about the process and the basic history of bread-making over the past 100 years or so. Most importantly, Bobrow-Strain presents his information in a fairly objective way, only occasionally sounding like he has a an agenda and never coming off as a food Nazi, which is always a danger when writing about this particular topic.

I really liked the book, despite my alarm over the author's endorsement of unpasteurized milk. It was a fascinating, enligtening, and ultimately enjoyable experience and I'm glad to have won a free copy through Librarything's Early Reviewer program.

15: I got this book too, hoping to read / review it next month. Glad to hear it's both engaging and short.

Definitely. As much as I like nonfiction, 300+ pagers can be a real slog unless it's either brilliantly written or a topic you already know you love. I'm a curious reader and I love exploring new topics, but getting halfway through a dense nonfiction and realizing you're not as into the subject as you thought you would be is not fun at all.

Ah, of course, it doesn't help that I'm a 1-book-at-a-time kind of person. I really should consider reading 1 book of each fiction and nonfiction at a time but I can't bring myself to do it.

I can deal with a book and a magazine, or a non-fiction and light fiction, but I have trouble with two serious books at the same time.

Interesting bread stuff! Do people still use the slang term 'bread' for money anymore? I haven't heard it for a while. I would imagine there are some areas of the US where tortillas outsell bread. I usually eat peanut butter and jelly on fresh grilled tortillas nowadays, instead of on bread. I probably eat more burritos than I do sandwiches also. Hmmm... maybe I should survey myself for eating trends.

18: I do like focusing a single book, I like the sort of atmosphere it created when you're dedicated to a single story/theme, which is why I'm hesitant to try reading two at the same time.

19: Hmmm, I don't think I've ever hard anyone refer to money as bread, just 'bacon.' Unfortunately the book didn't discus regional bread consumption, although it did mention that during the heyday of industrialized white bread many places in the world, including Asia, were consuming quite a bit of white bread themselves.

Also, right now, one of the bigger white bread bakers in the United States is a Mexican company. Grupo Bimbo, who recently bought Sara Lee actually.

I can't believe I've gone so long without reading a nonfiction! Well, here's the first one in two months...

7. A Planet of Viruses by Carl Zimmer



Pages: 97
Rating: 3/5

Virology

A Planet of Viruses is a quick and concise little book, clocking in at just under 100 pages, that efficiently brushes over a broad spectrum of virological information and is written by one of my favorite writers in the field of science, Carl Zimmer.

The book does a great job of doing what it was intended too, quickly informing the reader a scattering of knowledge from within the field of virology. The book divided into 3 parts, and the chapters themselves are usually only 5-7 pages each, which makes it perfect to dip into without too much commitment; and the length of it makes it perfect for those who might be interested in the topic but are too intimidated to start a bigger, denser, and more technical book.

The problem, of course, is that it's size doesn't allow for much depth. Being a science lover, I want all the nitty gritty details and I have loved Zimmer's commentary in the past. I may have let out a sigh of disappointment when a chapter incited my curiosity only to end a couple pages later.

Still, despite that it is definitely intended as an educational tool for those less familiar with the subject, I still found the odd anecdote to make it worthwhile. In fact, I was completely unfamiliar with Mimiviruses and I was actually unaware of the amount of oxygen viruses help create from within the ocean.

I desperately wish it were longer, but I can accept it for what it is. I certainly wouldn't discourage anyone from reading it, and if anyone new to the topic asked me for recommendations I think most likely I would turn to this as a serviceable, although brief, introductory dip into to the potentially infectious waters of Virology. If that applies to you, then go read it!

8. The Fever by Sonia Shah


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Pages: 241
Rating: 3/5

Science/History, Disease

Malaria seems to have two intriguing and opposing reputations among the average person. Some seem to think it is some relentless scourge terrorizing the people of Africa and others think it is some benign flu-like illness that is barely worth taking notice of. The reality is it is somewhere in between, not particularly deadly on a case-by-case basis but by sheer widespread infection manages to claim more lives than it ought to.

Sonia Shah's book is certainly informative, though it isn't always the most enamoring. I had a difficult time getting into it initially and I wasn't always inspired to keep reading after a chapter or section ended. I also found myself raising my eyebrow dubiously from time to time, for example towards the end she discounts a recent organizations statistics showing how successful their anti-Malaria campaign was by pointing out that Malaria numbers naturally fluctuate, so taking Malarial statistic from two distant years and comparing them to demonstrate how effective a campaign is wouldn't be accurate...despite the fact that she spent the entire book doing the very same thing herself.

Still, though she herself has made me skeptical of her own numbers, there is plenty of interesting history here. It's one of those books that I'm glad I read, it's informative and I definitely feel like I learned a lot about the subject...but I'm also glad I'm done with it and get to move on to something more engaging. I give it 3 stars and a shrug.

9. Urban Animals by Mireille Silcoff


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Pages: 150
Rating: 2/5

Humor

The book describes and depicts a zoo's-worth of animals often found in urban environments, be it the Old Guy at the Gym who wears spandex and is always asking the young ladies to be their spotter or the OPP (Office Party Planner) who sends urgent emails about emergency holiday party meetings, and each 'animal' is complimented by a full-page illustration by Kagan Mcleod.

It's mildly humorous from time to time, to say I didn't have to suppress the occasional smirk while reading it would be a lie, but I couldn't get past the fact that the book affirms social stereotypes and is mostly offensive and judgemental. The jokes are obviously intended in a good-natured way, but they mostly came off as snarky and derisive to me.

Perhaps it is simply the prejudice nature of the book I didn't like. There are some funny observations made. Maybe I just don't like it for what it is, and not what is in it. Well, it gets 2 stars regardless.

10. Evolutionary Wars by Charles Kingsley Levy


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Pages: 284
Rating: 4/5

Science

I don't generally like books on evolutionary biology. Though I can't imagine why anyone would still consider evolution a 'theory' with all the hard science that now backs it up, I don't like reading the books because they are often filled with presumptuous, fill-in-the-blank science. The fossil record, though it has given us tremendous insight, is filled with holes and is very incomplete. I strongly oppose scientists that take limited information and 'invent' science using nothing other than their own imagination. This just doesn't do it for me, and it always seems to be the most common with evolutionary biology.

So why did I read Evolutionary Wars? Well, because the cover caught my eye and it had lots of cool pictures in it! ...no, really, that's the reason...

The book examines predator/prey behavior and details how they have evolved to be the intricate creatures that they are. Fortunately, the evolutionary biology is kept to a minimum, this book functions much better as a nature science book with an evolutionary introduction. It's filled with hard, observable science taken from the animal kingdom, and it was very fun to read!

Surprisingly, the book was one of those that was constantly inspiring my imagination. For example, I was elated to learn that a hermit crab that, being immune to the poisons of a stationary jellyfish-like Anemones, adorns its shell with it and uses it as potent and dangerous defensive weapon. The book was filled with these "Oooooh, neat!" moments that I absolutely relish when reading books on subjects like this.

While the evolutionary biology aspects of the book had me tearing my hair out from time to time, the nature science was fascinating and made the book well worth suffering through the occasional assumption. Yes, the author has a tendency to repeat himself and the first 40 or so pages are very skippable, but ultimately I really enjoyed the book. It took some patience on my part in the beginning and I nearly quit on it about 30 pages in, but I'm so glad I powered through it as it lead to a very satisfying read.

11. The Disheveled Dictionary by Karen Elizabeth Gordon


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Pages: 161
Rating: 3/5

Wordsmithery

If I may unbosom my burden, I must confess I am not much of a wordy. Not a word aficionado by any length, I have always been laconic by nature. However, being a reader, I naturally have developed an internal dictionary of sorts and only on rare occasions do I come across an unfamiliar word, but being the quiet, untalkative person that I am they are just not in my repertoire of everyday speech.

Nonetheless, The Disheveled Dictionary is a very fun read. It defines a number of words that either obscure or just fun to say, and provides a sentence/paragraph that uses the word and is usually clever, hilarious, or beautiful, and often all 3 at once, like elegant susurrations of a flummerous nature. She also tends to reuse many of the words in other words' examples, so after you've learned it you might see it pop up again, which does a great job of getting it to 'stick' better in your memory.

It's understandable that some of these words are uncommon, simply because they are unpleasant to say. I will never say calumniate aloud, nor will I ever choose to say ineluctable over the much prettier inevitable. I also would but roll my eyes at anyone who said they took a perambulation, instead of a walk or a stroll.

One can also learn a lot about oneself by perusing these pages. I, for example, have learned that I probably wamble, that I am a troglodyte and chasmophile, and that I'm ingenuous, among other things. I can say that I never want to find myself in an oubliette, although if ever I ran into a sedulous simulacrum of my 14-year-old self I would totally dump him in one. So you see, these are very important things to know!

I enjoyed reading the book. Really, it was a lot more fun than reading an actual dictionary, and I don’t even care if the author voluntarily chooses to live in California and Paris.

24: Your complaint applies more to popularizations of science than to the thing itself, where the details may be esoteric and tedious. I want cool pictures too. Onto the wishlist.

If you liked this one, Stephen, you should try Gordon's The Transitive Vampire, her "handbook of grammar for the innocent, the eager and the doomed".

Qebo: It can be hard to find that middle ground, where the science is fluid and fun for the reader but dense enough to contain some amount of substance. For me it varies based on topic. I can read dense, fact-heavy microbiology but I desperately need astrophysics and anything on the molecular level simplified or it's all lost on me.

Linda: Yeah, I have that author in general on my radar now. She has a lot of fun-looking books, and you won't hear me say that about grammar very often. :)