What Are We Reading - Nonfiction

Another spin-off from the original thread. There are so many of us in this group, there is no way we can all cover each other's individual threads. So, this idea came to me...

Here's a place to share what your reading in various nonfiction genres: biography, memoir, current events, history, travel literature, social issues, women's studies, gender studies, psychology & self help, religion & new age, art, architecture...etc.

I'm rereading Good Wives: Image and Reality in the Lives of Women in Northern New England 1650-1750 by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. I love this book because it illuminates the everyday lives of women who are in the shadows of history.

I reading a couple of books right now, which might explain why I have a hard time finishing any of them. I'm almost done with The Whiskey Rebellion by Willaim Hogeland and Human Smoke by Nicholson Baker. Both are good reminders that history is not a children's game with good guys and bad guys. It is usually bad guys and worse guys.

I also just started Pearl Harbor Ghosts by Thurston Clarke. I picked that up after reading the alternate history books Pearl Harbor and Days of Infamy both by Newt Gingrich and William Forshen. I realized I didn't know much about the attack on Pearl Harbor other then what I learned in school many years ago.

Avaland - Good Wives: Image and Reality in the Lives of Women and Northern New England is on my TBR list, and with your recommendation, I'll move it up near the top. I saw Ulrich speak a couple of years ago when I was at Notre Dame. She talked a lot about a quote of hers that has become famous - "Well-behaved women seldom make history." Many have taken the quote to mean women shouldn't be well-behaved if they want to make a difference in the world, but she actually meant that women who live their everyday lives - like the ones in Good Wives - are often ignored in the annals of history. Her goal, in part, has been to rectify this. I loved the idea so much that I bought a t-shirt with her quote on it!

Sgtbigg - I'll be very interested to hear what you think of Pearl Harbor Ghosts. It sounds like more than just a recounting of the events of the attack. Like you, I don't know much about the attack beyond the few pages that I read in history classes and would be interested in learning more.

Right now I'm reading This Land is Their Land by Barbara Ehrenreich. I've been an Ehrenreich fan since I read Nickel and Dimed. This Land is Their Land is a series of essays on a range of topics - the economy, health care, social policy, etc. Ehrenreich makes some interesting points about the implications of social policy for everyday Americans, but I think that I preferred the in-depth reporting of Nickel and Dimed to this essay format.

>porch_reader, how lucky to have heard Ulrich speak! I have been a fan of hers for years and have all her books and the DVD of Midwife's Tale. She talks a lot about her statement and how it has been used and abused in her latest book "Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History" (catchy title, eh?) *touchstone not working.

>sgtbigg, what is Human Smoke about? I have enjoyed quite a bit of Baker's fiction but haven't dipped into his nonfiction.

Avaland - I didn't know about Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History, but I found it at my library today. Thanks!

I have Human Smoke from the library but have not had a chance to tackle it yet. Currently, the nonfiction I am reading is A Summer of the Hummingbirds, A Short History of Nearly Everything, and Truth and Beauty.

>6 porch_reader: You're welcome!

>5 avaland: The thesis of Human Smoke is primarily that World War II did not have to happen and that the Allies were in a large part responsible for the war and its effects on civilian population. I'm finding the style very off-putting. There is no cohisive narrative. The book is made up entirely of short sections, one or two paragraphs, that discuss one incident. You can see the pattern that is developing based on the incidents but I would like liked the author to put it all together.

I just finished My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey by Jill Bolte Taylor. It's a fascinating exploration of her internal awareness shutting down and then recovery after a brain stroke. It has a lot to say about what such patients need from the people around them to be able to interface with the world, and how the typical hospital setting doesn't provide it.

I'm in the middle of Defining the World: the extraordinary story of Dr. Johnson's dictionary by Henry Hitchings. I read a few pages of it each day. I just picked up Rachel Carson's The Sea Around Us at a garage sale. It's a book I've always wanted to read, so I'll probably start dipping into it soon.

I'm trying to focus on Ironworks on the Saugus which is about the first ironworks in New England. However, Fiction keeps distracting me.

Hey StgBigg.

I've got Whiskey Rebels sitting on my nightstand. Read a chapter but had some other more pressing reads than are keeping it in it's place.

Current non-fiction read is "Ashley Tinsdale" of all things.

And, of course, it's not more me, but me wee darlin' girl.

Up next: American flag... or something like that. It's another kid book, but I'll correct the title after I run the critters off to school.

Hello all! I just finished How Starbucks Saved My Life by Michael Gates Gill. It's a memoir about a man who lost his job, a job he had given his life to, because he was to "old". 10 years later after a failed attempt on running his own company and his life coming unraveled, he is sitting at a Starbucks where a Starbucks manager asks if he would like a job. He takes the jump and becomes happier than he's every been.

What I love about this book is this man has done it all. Ran with the bulls, met Ernest Hemingway, E.B. White, Jackie Kennedy. He's the guy who came up with the slogan "A Few Good Men" for the Marines. He lived a charmed life. And from left field plain old life kicked him in the ass when he least expected. But he never gave up. Even being old. Even coming from a lucrative lifestyle to cleaning toliets at Starbucks. There is something about that type of courage that makes me stand straighter and respond better in my own life. :)

Currently reading The Incredible War of 1812 by J. Mackay Hitsman.

How Starbucks Saved My Life sounds good. I will have to look out for it. Thanks for the recommendation, glassreader.

Recently finished the monumental Black Lamb and Grey Falcon: A Journey through Yugoslavia by Rebecca West. Whew...(wiping brow)

Also just finished The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein.

deebee1, I've had Black Lamb and Grey Falcon on my TBR pile for a long time -- it seems so intimidating. I guess if you finished it you found it worthwhile -- how long did it take you to read it?

i've had that book also for some time, but never had the courage until a trip to Serbia last summer pushed me to take the plunge. so, i read the Serbia chapter (~200 pp) for 2 wks before traveling, and read the rest beginning in September. that makes it about 7 weeks.

it was worth the effort, though i should say that she does get tedious when she starts romanticizing sometimes to excess. the historical contexts she provides are what interested me more.

Just finished April 1865: The Month that Saved America which was excellent, so I am now on to The Promise of the New South, a recommendation from Fourpawz.

Finished up The Promise of the New South and am now reading Visions of Jazz and Rome 1960.

Finished Little Boy Broken for Early Reviewers, and, sorry, not a recommendation here. Very sad story of horrific abuse, but read very much like a self-published exorcism.

#20 - Alcottacre - Hope you like Rome 1960. I'm listening to Maraniss's Clemente on audiobook right now. So far, it is very interesting!

#22 porch_reader: Glad to hear that you are liking Clemente. If you do not, you can blame it all on me for recommending it in the first place, lol. I have just started on Rome 1960 - so far, so good!

I'm currently reading a great book. Zarafa by Michael Allin chronicles the travels of a giraffe given to King Charles X of France by Muhammond Ali, The Ottoman Viceroy of Egypt in 1827.

I'm learning so much about Egypt, about the slave trade by the Arabs, about Napoleon and his attempt to invade and conquer Egypt, about the Rosetta stone and much more. This small book is filled with very interesting tidbits of history.

It is one of the best books I've read thus far this year. I highly recommend it.

I am reading Jesus: Uncovering the Life, Teachings, and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary by Marcus J. Borg at bedtime and I started The Great Derangement by Matt Taibbi, but haven't found it compelling yet (very early in the book).

#25 Whisper: Sounds like another good one I need to add to Continent TBR! Thanks (I think, lol) for another recommendation.

#26 - Nancy - What do you think of Marcus Borg's book? I've read Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time and Reading the Bible Again for the First Time and liked both of them.

Nancy
I too am interested in your impressions regarding the Marcus Borg book you mentioned.
Thanks for taking the time to post your comments re. this one.

Stasia
I should finish Zarafa this weekend. Please send your address to me at lcl1@lehigh.edu and I'll send it to you.

I am reading Dewey by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter at present and loving it.

Alcottacre - I'm from Iowa, so I'd been wanting to read Dewey. You've convinced me. Onto the TBR list it goes!

#31 porch_reader: At least for me, Dewey was what I would call a 'comfort' read. There is no in depth analysis, everything is pretty much face value. The book is just charming. I highly recommend it. Let me know what you think once you have had a chance to read it.

Reading Loom and Spindle: or, Life Among the Early Mill Girls, a memoir by Harriet Robinson; and Just a Housewife: The Rise and fall of Domesticity in America by Glenna Matthews.

#33 avaland: Sounds like some interesting reading. I will be interested in your thoughts on the books, especially the Glenna Matthews one.

Just finished reading Human Smoke and have moved on to The Souls of Black Folk.

>34 alcottacre: yep, it is.

>by night, I'm reading Illness as Metaphor by Susan Sontag. It's the one written in 1978. I see there is an update which includes AIDS and its metaphors. . .

Almost finished with The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston

Let me know what you think when you get done!

I'm also curious regarding your imporessions of The Monster of Florence. I checked this out from the local library, but alas didn't read it in time and had to return it.

Hope to get my thoughts down by Wednesday or so.

35- What did you think of Human Smoke? It's taken me awhile but I've almost finished it. I was somewhat put off by the structure of the book.

#41 sgtbigg: Human Smoke is one of those books that I am very ambivalent about. The structure of the book, once I got used to it did not bother me as much as the question of what the author was trying to say did - Was he trying to say that FDR and Churchill were such warmongers that they were going to fight Germany whether there was any agression against their respective countries? Was he trying to say that Britain should have just stood idly by while Germany just marched across Europe taking whatever it wanted? Was he trying to say that Britain should have sworn for peace at all cost with Hitler? Only the pacifists were right and everyone else was wrong? Or was the entire point of the book only that the questions get asked? I do not know and after contemplating it while reading it and several days after still do not know.

I am still working my way through Visions of Jazz, which is excellent but definitely not a quick read, also still reading The Souls of Black Folk, and have thrown The Closing of the Western Mind into the mix as well.

I just finished The Sewing Circles of Herat: A Personal Voyage Through Afghanistan by Christina Lamb, an excellent book on the history and culture of Afghanistan. It provides a good understanding of the past and present circumstances in this devastated country where, amazingly, people are still filled with unbelievable hope.

I'm reading Crazy Horse:Strange Man of the Oglalas by Mari Sandoz and am enjoying it immensely - so much so that I'm anxious to get hold of her other books as well. Only problem is that I take so many notes that it slows the reading down more than I would like.

#44 & 45: Sounds like another couple for me to track down. I will be on the lookout for them. And Fourpawz, I know exactly how you feel about taking all those notes - slows down the reading, but makes you appreciate the book all the more, I think.

Finished Dewey and passed it on to my cat loving friend. I liked it for the library and the small town in Iowa which reminded a little of the small town in rural California where I now live.

This afternoon I readThe Man Who Forgot How to Read -- I waited nearly six months for my library to get it to me, but now I'm glad I didn't buy it. It was interesting -- I like books that talk about how the brain works because I have a brain that "wired differently"-- but I was disappointed that there wasn't more substance to this. But it passed a pleasant afternoon and now I'm thinking about trying one of his mysteries. The one he wrote just before he wrote this memoir has his detective suffering from the same condition, alexia sine agraphia (he couldn't read but he could still write--even though he couldn't read what he had written), that Engel's stroke had caused.

Since I am making slow progress on Visions of Jazz and wanted to clear my head a bit, I decided to pick up The Buried Book before heading back to the other nonfiction I am currently reading.

I really want to know what you think of The Buried Book! It sounds like something I would like and I own two translations of Gilgamesh, one of which I haven't read yet. (I hope I can find it--my library is a mess . We were supposed to build new shelves this summer so I cleared everything out and then we had a couple of "emergency" expenses so we put off the shelves and I'm having trouble finding books now.)

Ok, cut it out. If you people come up with one more good book for me to read, I think the library's computer system is going to explode! The Buried Book just went on the dangerously teetering TBR pile. 8^}

Alcott, I would have bet money (a little bit anyway) that you would be intrigued by that book (#45). I think that you will like it when you read it.

#49 MusicMom: I really liked The Buried Book. It could have been longer and more indepth to my mind, but I thought it was a very good treatment of the discovery and history of Gilgamesh.

#50 drneutron: After all the books I have put on Continent TBR from your reading list, you will get absolutely no sympathy from me! :)

#51 Fourpawz: I have already checked and my local library does have the book on Crazy Horse, so I will be reading that one within the next couple of months. Thanks again for the recommendation.

I finally finished up Visions of Jazz (excellent book) and The Souls of Black Folk and have moved on to Raoul Wallenberg.

I just finished Come Tell Me How You Live by Agatha Christie which tells of the time she spent with her archeologist husband Max doing digs in Syria before WWII. Once you get past the first chapter (shopping for clothes for the trip--I hate shopping for anything but books!) it is quite enjoyable, told with grace and humor about a living a lifestyle that suited her well. However, reading it now, in the 21st century, also gives one a hint of some of the tensions between the different factions in the area at that time which have since burgeoned into major international problems in our time.

I hope to finish my ER book for September Living Agelessly today so I can review it. It didn't arrive until about 10 days ago so I'm not that far behind on it yet.

Message #47. Interesting that you mention the book Dewey I saw this at Barnes and Noble bookstore this evening and almost bought it. Please tell me what you thought of it.

#55 Whisper1

My "review" of Dewey is on my 75 challenge--but briefly I was very surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did. I enjoyed especially the stories about the library and learning about the small rural town of Spencer, Iowa. About 10 years ago I moved to a the small rural town of Reedley, California and it has been an eye-opening experience for this "city" girl. I enjoyed relating what I've learned about my small town to what I was reading about theirs.

As soon as I finished it (it was a Sunday afternoon read) I passed it on to my very good friend who has lived here all her life and will love the book for all the cat stories. They are cute.

For what it's worth, here are my 2 cents on Dewey: I thought the entire story was charming. It is a simple story, simply told. There is no overwrought emotion, no action/adventure, just a simple, well told story of a cat and the impact he had on a small Midwest town.

msg #38-40, Okay doc and whisper, I finally got my review on The Monster of Florence posted. Some technical difficulties kept me off the site for a few days. I was very preasantly surprised. I read Relic last year or so, with Preston's famous FBI agent Pendergast and was not all that into the book. It was fun and all but nothing special. This book was much better, both in writing and story. Even a Non-fiction book has to engage in story-telling and I thought Preston did so with a great deal of style, more so than a typical Non-fiction, true-crime.

Currently reading This Republic of Suffering by Drew Gilpin Faust. Overall, an excellent book on how both sides in the Civil War dealt with the massive numbers of the dead.

Just started The Great Game. The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia by Peter Hopkirk, a fascinating read about a little known "Cold War" between Russia and Britain from the 17th to the early 20th century played out in the steppes, desert, and highlands of vast Central Asia. Also reading Gulag: A History by Anne Applebaum -- chock-full with details, very interesting subject (she won the Pulitzer for this), but i'm finding her writing a bit wooden.

Somehow I've fallen into a singularity in the space/time continuum and have three non-fiction works going! This is unheard of for me. I've got Louis L'Amour's memoir Education of a Wandering Man going as my "regular" read, Defining the World by Henry Hitchings as my "couple of pages before falling asleep" read and The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman as my commuting audio book.

Once finished, I will clearly have to start a science fiction book, a mystery and a fantasy book all going simultaneously to restore the balance of the universe.

I wondered why the world seemed to be tilting sideways today, TadAD. Thanks for clearing up the mystery for me.

Let me know what you think of Education of a Wandering Man. It is one of the books I read annually (and for that matter, the only book L'Amour's that I have ever read).

TadAd, looking forward to your impressions on The Guns of August. i liked this book very much. i wish more authors write non-fiction like Tuchman did...

. . . Boy, if that isn't the truth!

Well, The Guns of August just went on my list...Thanks!

#61 TadaD

I hear you! Since reading the threads on LT I find myself first of all reading a lot more nonfiction than I used to and secondly, loosing that "balance" of genre I used to have when juggling 3 books at a time!

However, Education of a Wandering Man is enjoyable if you like reading about books (which I surely do!) and The Guns of August I remember as a "page turner" when I read it many years ago. I stayed up late one night to finish it because I couldn't put it down. Then I knew I wouldn't be able to go to sleep without reading something more "soothing" before going to bed. Unfortunately, not knowing anything about the book, I chose to begin Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier to be that soothing read! Needless to say, I crawled into bed just as the sun was coming up the next morning. Ah! the day of youth! Can't do that anymore! ;-)

Just checked out Defining the World--that goes on my growing TBR. Hope I can find a place for it in my 999 challenge.

Reading Marley and Me.......I will let you all know when the weep fest begins!!!

Reading A Room of One's Own--for the first time!

I love VW but never got around to this one. Since reading Orlando last month I seem to be on a VW kick right now--striking while the iron is hot!

#69 MusicMom: I love A Room of One's Own! Enjoy!

#68 BDB: I hate it when the weep fest begins. I am sorry for you ahead of time.

Okay, Marley and Me is over and I have recovered sufficiently to move on. What a moving book. Now reading Duty by Bob Greene (touchstone is not working).

#63 - Have you read Tuchman's A Distant Mirror? She does a great job with 14th Century Europe. If you haven't already read it and you have any interest in the subject at all I highly recommend it.

I second sgtbigg's recommendation of A Distant Mirror. Frankly, I would second the recommendation of just about all of Tuchman's works. She was an immensely readable historian - characteristics that do not necessarily go hand in hand with historians.

there, u just said it, alcottacre -- reading all of Tuchman's works is something i've always wanted to do. thanks both, >72 sgtbigg: and >73 alcottacre:.

I just started reading The Boy Who Fell Out of the Sky by Ken Dornstein, a book recommended by wunderkind.

>47 MusicMom41:: MusicMom, if you're interested in books about how the brain works, I thought Proust and the Squid also looked really interesting - it's now out in paperback in the UK, not that I can justify buying it at the moment.

I just got Robert Baer's The Devil We Know: Dealing with the New Iranian Superpower from the library. I also started The Great American Crime Decline.

Oh, dear! Where is my copy of Proust and the Squid? I just got it last month...where did it go? It's not on the table by the computer where it started out...I've lost it!

Try 10 books down in the stack of books to be read . . .

No, I had to start a new TBR pile under the desk, and that's where it was. Forgot about it and was running all over the house trying to figure out where it could be. NOW I'll take it out and put it on the bedstand for my next nonfiction read. It's only 5 down in that pile. Thanks, Flossie, for reminding me that I had it--I'd been having difficulty figuring out what NF to read next, and that was definitely what I wanted.

#80 ronincats: Forgot about it and was running all over the house trying to figure out where it could be That happens to me, too, only with library books: "Ack! It's due tomorrow and I haven't even started it and I can't find it!"

#76 FlossieT

Thanks so much for the suggestion. I went to Amazon and red the review and it sound like one I would reallylike. I put it on my wish list and will be hinting to my son when we go to Chicago next week about something to get me for Christmas! I think I will want to own this one! H'e the son who recommended Brain Rules for me. It's very interesting--and hopefully will be helpful!

>82 MusicMom41: - I have that with my swap-site books... "Oh no! I swear that one was on the "to swap" shelf last week... where has it gone??"

Well, my swapping is which library book is due when and can I renew it before I start reading it. That stack is constantly on the move (actually, two stacks, one for each library), but the TBR stacks of books I own? Never move. There's one of 1001 Must Reads which I gathered together and ran out of shelf space, and there are two of "these are interesting" books. Argh!

In the meantime, my current non-fiction read is Curriculum Vitae, Muriel Spark's autobiography.

#84 Prop: Hope you like it (especially since I suggested it, and one never knows about these things)! Let me know when you have finished, please.

I couldn't find my note about who recommended (and LOL, I should have known!) the autobiography, but so far, so good. I just love her writing and recently finished Symposium, which was fabulous.

I can't say that Education of a Wandering Man lived up to my expectations. I am, however, loving The Guns of August.

Message #56 and 57.
Thanks for the remarks about Dewey I like the sound of this one and I'm going to buy it this weekend during my usual Barnes and Noble have a cup of coffee and read trek.

#58
Blackdogbooks...
the Monster of Florence is a book mentioned often in this group. I'm moving it up on the tbr pile.
Thanks for posting a review

Message #75...
Stasia. I know you finished this book since your original post and I read your wonderful review posted on your thread.
Thanks to your recommendation, last night, I started to read The Boy Who Fell Out of the Sky. Thus far, I really like the writing style. It is always wonderful to read a book so well-written that you want to savor every page.

In addition, in the non-fiction category, I just finished a true crime book written by a local (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) District Attorney, John Morganelli called The D-Day Bank Massacre I highly recommend this one!

I finished Three Cups of Tea for the local library group read and we had our final meeting last night. I will post my review on my 75 challenge thread today (Lord willin' and the creek don't rise!). Meantime, all I have to say is if you missed reading it what are you waiting for! Everyone should read this book!

Ya think I like it? ;-)

Finished Duty.....as some others have said of other books, "Meh." Good read but less than expected.

Started Cricket in the Web:The 1949 Unsolved Murder that Unraveled Politics in New Mexico by Paula Moore.

Have to put Three Cups of Tea on my list for next years NF.

Started Proust and the Squid: the story and science of the reading brain last night--only got a few pages in, but this will be my non-fiction read until I get it done. This is in the way of my professional reading.

Three Cups of Tea was the last One Book-One San Diego book. The local Public Broadcasting Station and the San Diego Library have been coordinating for several years now to have everyone in San Diego read the same book at the same time. I didn't, but really need to catch up on this one. The current book, just chosen by vote, is The Zookeeper's Wife--has anyone read it?

#91 - MusicMom, I'm with you. I loved Three Cups of Tea. I passed it along to my mom and even my dad read it.

#94 - Ronincats, I just bought The Zookeeper's Wife last weekend, but am only about 20 pages in. So far, it is fascinating. I'll keep you posted.

#94 ronincats

Fresno County does a "countywide" read in the spring with every library reading the same book--last spring we did Essential Saroyan in honor of his 100th birthday; this spring we will do Tom Sawyer which some of my group in Reedley are disappointed about because we've all read it multiple times.

My local library a couple of years ago added a fall read just for us so we get to choose the book--the librarian and a HS teacher who coordinates the group make a list of suggestions and at the end of the April read we choose our book for October-November. Last year we did Hiroshima by John Hersey. That was my second time meeting with this group, so the first time one of our choice. I had never read it and it, too, was a great book. We seem to like nonfiction and global reading--so far at least.

I highly recommend you read Three Cups of Tea! I'm on a crusade to get this book even better known than it already is. I think that was one of the choices that could have been made for the spring read in Fresno last year, but Saroyan is from Fresno so there was no contest. We are nothing if not provincial! I will admit, though, that I had never read Saroyan before and I was glad to be introduced to him.

Golly, another Afghanistan book. Onto the list it goes...

Hi Anusha

Hey whats up

OK, I had to come back and report on an interesting cultural shift here: it seems that in the US, this book's subtitle is "One Man's Mission to Promote Peace... One School at a Time".

In the UK, the publisher has plumped for the altogether more aggressive "One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations... One School at a Time".

What on earth does this say about readers in the UK?? Worrying.

I sent you a friend request.

Doesn't necessarily say anything in particular about the UK as much as it may say something about marketing in the world of publishing. But just because they marketed it that way doesn't mean it was a successful marketing ploy.

If you get far enough to read the acknowledgments--the hard cover edition used the words "fight terrorism." When the Penguin edition was being prepared Mortenson and Rellin made 'multiple requests' to Viking Penguin editor Paul Slovak to change the wording to "promote peace" --which is why it was changed.

edited for spelling

BDB & ronincats: I have read both Three Cups of Tea and The Zookeeper's Wife, both of which I really liked and would recommend, although I liked the former more than I did the latter.

TadAD, sorry you did not enjoy Education of a Wandering Man more. It is one of my favorite reads, and a book I regularly re-read on an annual basis.

Whisper: I have put the John Morganelli book on Continent TBR. Thanks for the recommendation.

I just started reading Seven Years in Tibet by Heinrich Harrer. It is supposed to be a good true-life adventure story. We shall see.

#106 - I've had that one sitting on the TBR pile for years. Have you seen the film version. I think watching that has preventing the book from moving up towards the top of the pile.

#107 sgtbigg - I have not seen the film version of the book and honestly, in just about every case, I prefer the book to the film.

# 105 alcottacre

I also enjoyed Education of a Wandering Man--I gave it to my Dad because he was such a L'Amour fan and also a bookaholic. Unfortunately my Mom was definitely not a "book saver" so it went to the used book store in exchange for something else before I could get it back. I need to see if it is still in print.

Do you think TadAD might enjoy Books by McMurtry? :-)

I don't mind books about books...I really enjoyed A Gentle Madness. The L'Amour book just wasn't exactly what I expected...more of something I'd use for reference than ever reread. If you look at my posting on my thread, you'll see my thoughts.

TadAD

I hope I didn't offend you with my comment--that was not my intention. Neither of us could get into the Larry McMurtry book--I didn't like it because he spent more time talking about people and book promotion and selling than about the books themselves--including a lot of name dropping which I might have enjoyed more if I had recognized the names. It is more of a memoir than a book about books. I had read your comment and really thought this one might be more up your alley because it has more story to it than the L'Amour book does.

A Gentle Madness is one of my favorites, also. You might also like Every Book Its Reader by Basbanes--its quite different from Gentle Madness but I found it interesting.

Oh, no, I wasn't offended. I haven't read Books and wasn't quite sure what you were intending. I'm unlikely to like a book that is full of name-dropping and promotion.

I'll put Every Book Its Reader on the list of things to check out.

A Gentle Madness is the first book in a trilogy by Basbanes (it is also one of the books I annually re-read). The other 2 book in the trilogy are Patience and Fortitude and A Splendor of Letters. I recommend them all, although the first book in the series is definitely my favorite.

Thanks, Stasia (I think!)--

I haven't heard of either of those books by Basbanes. I will definitely look for them!

I'll look for those, also.

#114 & 115: I hope you both enjoy them. Please let me know what you think once you have had a chance to read them.

I just started reading Safe Return Doubtful by John Maxtone-Graham. It is about one of my favorite subjects - polar exploration.

Wow, A Gentle Madness is really popular! There are many, many people who have it wishlisted on both BookMooch and PaperBackSwap! However, Amazon has it used for under $2 and there are 5 copies available in the San Diego Library system, so I think I'll go with the library first. Sounds like a great read, Stasia. I need to go back through the threads and get all the books about books people have been recommending recently, but I'll start with this one. As soon as I read the copy of Islandia I picked up the other day at the library on TadAD's recommendation. You didn't say it was so BIG, Tad! That's my next read after I finish my Miller and Lee comfort reads.

Well, I said if you don't like the first 100 pages, ignore the remaining 900. *smile*

#118 RC: If you like A Gentle Madness, be sure to check out the other 2 books in the trilogy as well. See message 113.

alcottacre, thanks for the referral on Curriculum Vitae by Muriel Spark. Definitely interesting--she worked with Ian Fleming? Who knew. Since it takes her to the new success of her first novel, it would now be interesting to read about the rest of her life. In the meantime, I'm working my way through the rest of her work and enjoying myself immensely.

Currently into Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell, and it is fascinating reading about his activities in the Spanish Civil War--in which he is actually making sense of the war itself.

I am currently reading The Most Famous Man in America by Debby Applegate and there is a line in the book that reads "He became and avid reader, picking up a passion for books that would drain his pocketbook and fill his shelves." Boy, do I know how that feels!

ok, Stasia, I am curious....who is "The Most Famous Man in America?" (I'm smiling.)

In the case of this particular book, Henry Ward Beecher (and you are the second person who has asked me that today, lol)

BTW - There is a quote from the book that I liked so much I put it on my profile page. I believe it fits just about everyone (if not everyone) here:

"Alas! Where is human nature so weak as in a book-store! As a hungry man eats first, and pays afterwards, so the book-buyer purchases, and then works at the debt afterward." Henry Ward Beecher

Fabulous quote, Stasia - thanks for sharing.

I must be a direct descendant of Henry Ward Beecher! We obviously have the same philosophy. ;-)

Is it wrong if the most famous man in America is someone I have never heard of?

#128 BDB: Would it help if I told you he was Harriet Beecher Stowe's younger brother?

Currently caught up in Arsenals of Folly by Richard Rhodes, which was recommended here in the challenge group.

Stasia

Incredible that you are reading Arsenals of Folly!!! This is a book I read earlier this year and forgot to list on my 75 challenge list. It is quite interesting. I learned a lot about Chernobyl and the incredible secrecy and travesty that occurred in Russia.

I highly recommend this one and I'm very anxious to read your comments about it when you are finished...which, given your proclivity for incredible reading abilities, I image I'll be reading your review tomorrow.... Of course, I'm smiling!

I finished Arsenals of Folly this morning and started on Chinese Lessons by John Pomfret. It is similar to a book I read earlier this year by Peter Hessler called River Town, in that both of them are written by young Americans in China: Pomfret as a college student and Hessler as a Peace Corps volunteer. I just started the Pomfret book, so it will be interesting to see how the similarities to the Hessler book pan out.

Arsenals of Folly just went on the TBR list. Sounds like a fascinating book. A few years back, I was peripherally involved in some work developing radiation detection equipment for field workers and learned some really disturbing things about the Soviets and the damage they did to the people and the environment through their nuclear engineering programs for both weapons and power generation. I'll be interested to see what he's written about Chernobyl.

Regarding Arsenals of Folly, hang on for a wild ride drneutron. I felt saddened and a more than a tad upset after reading how Gorbachev and his regime tried to hide the event. Gorbachev's own family members died at the hands of the communist government and he expoused Glasnost and open communication, Yet, under his direction, there was increbile incompetancy and secrecy.

As I remember, there were exceedingly high levels of radiation registered in Sweden and they confronted Russia...
Stasia, is this right????

I could be wrong about my recollection, I'm a bit weary today...but, I do remember my feelings about the poor people who were "jumpers" and had to clean the damaged reactor.
Also, I was chagrined at the fact that the true numbers of those who died of radiation poison will never be accurately depicted. The government would not allow the hospitals to report death from radiation sickness as the cause of demise.

#134: Several of the Scandinavian countries ended up confronting Russia, chief among them were Sweden and Finland.

I am currently snuggling up to China Shakes the World by James Kynge. This book was highly recommended by Rob Gifford, whose book China Road was one of my favorite nonfiction reads this year.

#129-130, I wondered if there was a connection.

I have started on Why We Hate Us, one of the recommendations from the 75 Book Challenge Group. Thus far, it is very good.

We Finns (even by descent) have the sisu to be really, really irritated at such actions. Now I have to find the book. Finished Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell, and it is the first non-fiction book I've read that even begins to make sense of the origins of the Spanish Civil War. Orwell admits his political naivete, and spends two chapters in the book explaining the parties and the politics of the war (although he opens both chapters by telling the reader only to both with the chapter if they are interested in the subject matter). It is Orwell's journey from beginning to end that makes this well worth reading.

Stasia.

This is the second time in a few days that it has happened that you are reading a book that I have either just finished, or am currently reading.

My husband and I are reading Why We Hate Us. He cannot put it down, so I get to read it late at night when he goes to bed.

It is a good book. Sadly, I have to agree with the authors comments regarding how rude our society has become and how it is healthy to avoid rude, negative and selfish people.

Just finished The Yellow Wind, a very-well written, powerful, thought-provoking collection of articles by David Grossman depicting the human face of the Israel-Palestine conflict. It records his observations of, conversations with, and reflections about both Palestinian refugees and Jewish settlers in the Israel-occupied West Bank during a 7-week visit he made in the late 1980s. Painful to read at times, but absolutely essential to read if one wishes to understand even a tiny bit this troubled land, Grossman with his extraordinary journalistic ability to probe with such humanity, very much succeeds in opening our eyes.

thanks for your wonderfully written description of The Yellow Wind

#140 Whisper: how it is healthy to avoid rude, negative and selfish people Well, OK, but I hope you do not miss talking to me too much :)

Seriously though, I agree with the premise of the book. It is going to be interesting to see how he developes it and the conclusions he comes to. I am only 25 or so pages into it.

Stasia
YOU are funny!

Well, I am glad SOMEBODY thinks so, lol :)

I am switching gears a bit tonight, so I picked up Mosaic: Pieces of My Life So Far by Amy Grant.

I'm interested in your impressions of Amy Grant's book. I like her music very much!

#147: To tell you the truth, Linda, I was a disappointed in the book. To me, it was disjointed. It was more a collection of essays with little coherence than a true biography, which is what I thought it was going to be.

Thanks Stasia...One less to add to the tbr pile.

Starting up on Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer

I have started To School Through the Fields, now that I have finished Why We Hate Us. Talk about the difference between day and night!

>151 alcottacre:. What did you think about Why We Hate Us. My wife tried reading it but kept getting angry and returned it to the library.

#152 sgtbigg: I thought the author did a very good job of making the book well-balanced. He stated his thesis firmly and then wrote examples to support it while not talking down to readers or so loftily that only those with PhDs would be able to understand it. All in all, I would recommend the book.

Thanks. Maybe I'll add it to the impossibly long TBR list.

Just finished How to Live Dangerously - about how our desire to control our lives and those of our children's is damaging our health and ability to enjoy the world. Very entertainingly written, but a bit slight and a tad under-referenced for non-fiction (more newspaper articles than books cited). Still, it was fun. I'm grappling with the issue of how much I trust my children to do by themselves at the moment, so it was a good read from that perspective.

I am starting a biography of Emily Dickinson called My Wars Are Laid Away in Books. It will be interesting to read more about this reclusive poet.

Mrs Tortoise is reading to me Every Living Thing by James Herriott. One Chapter a night. We are loving it. Every chapter James gets into some scrape or other but by the end of the chapter all is well. The language is simple and straightforward which is helping Mrs Tortoise because English is her second language. If you have never read any of James Herriot's memoirs of a country vet they are absolutely delightful and hilariously funny.

- TT

Have started the bazillion pound Dickens by Peter Ackroyd for the Go Review That Book group. It is very interesting so far, but I wish I had read all of Dickens' works before I started it. However, that would mean probably another decade before I could then read this book. Guess I will have to fill in the blanks later on.

Fourpawz, can you say a bit more about 'Go Review That Book'? I've come across it once or twice but never looked further - it is worth a go?

I am starting Here's the Story by Maureen McCormick, which was recommended here in the group by alaskabookworm.

I am starting to read Bury my heart at Wounded Kneeby Dee Brown I'll see how it goes. I don't read much historical non-fiction.

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is excellent. I hope you like it!

Currently trapped In the Devil's Snare, a recommendation by avaland.

The Book Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee literally changed my life.

Is is a brief synopsis of how:

While attending college as an adult, I noticed an attractive person in class, but thought he was a little too forthright, abrupt and caustic in his opinions and "not my cup of tea."

One day during break he sat at my table and calmly asked me "Have you ever read the book Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" I said I hadn't and he recommended that I do so, stating that it was a book wherein he had to read and then put down because it made him so sad and angry to know what happened to the American Indians. He was a gentle soul afterall....

We were married three years later, and if not for that one question about that book, I never would have given him a second glance.

The marriage lasted 17 years. And even though it ended in divorce (my first impressions where right), still I don't regret it.

#159 - Re: Go Review That Book, Flossie, I really enjoy this group becuase it forces me to write a review. The idea is you pick a book from the library of the last person to post and they must read (and hopefully review) the book that you choose for them. Then the next person on the thread picks something from your library for you to read and review. And so on and so forth. I like having the choice taken out of my hands. Of course I intend to read all of the books in my library that I've gotten, but when, exactly, I'm going to get to them is hard to know. And of course there is the reviewing - I feel an obligation with this group to write the review because that is the whole point to the group. I might make a resolution on my own to review everything I read, but I know, if it's up to me, I am going to slide. I never was any good at resolutions.

I second the recommendation of Bury my heart at Wounded Knee, it was a sad, but great book.
What a nice way to find a husband Linda ;-)

Fam

Yes, well, perhaps I should have read a book on
excellent choices before the comments on Bury my heart at Wounded Knee spun my head around...

I'm smiling...I'm smiling....

I just picked up Four Hours in My Lai by Michael Bilton and Kevin Sim. I know very little about Vietnam, a fact I am going to change over the next year or so, and the tragedy at My Lai seemed like a good place to begin. Any other recommendations on the Vietnam War would be appreciated!

alcottacre, the Vietnam is a widely-written subject so u will be sure to find a lot of interesting reads. just a couple of titles that i'd like to recommend up front --- The Sorrow of War by Bao Ninh, as obvious from the title, a very sad, disturbing, and painful but exquisitely written book about the impact of the war on a former Vietnamese soldier. it's fiction, but it captures very well the insanity of war. the other book is The Best and the Brightest by David Halberstam, a superb account of the origins of the war -- American foreign policy (crafted by the "best and brightest" starting from JFK's administration) and its consequences on Vietnam.

#169 deebee: I already had The Best and the Brightest on Continent TBR, but not the other book you mentioned. Thanks for the help! I will certainly try and get hold of The Sorrow of War as well.

Finished A Pirate of Exquisite Mind yesterday while stuck in holiday traffic coming home.

On my doorstep when we got home was my ER for October (UPS), Soldier's Heart which I started last night just before going to bed. I love books about books and I think this one will be interesting.

edited to give correct month for ER--Thanks TadAD!

November?

I didn't think those had been allocated, yet. I didn't get an accept or reject email. Hmmm.

I started The Fate of the Romanovs tonight, a hefty tome, that despite being written in 2003, is already dated because the authors postulate that Anastasia escaped the executions, but DNA testing has confirmed that she did not.

One of the things that I have learned from the book already is how anti-Semitic the tsar was. In my reading of several books about Nicholas II, I do not recall coming across this before (granted, a lot of my reading on Russian history was done one summer 30 years ago!). I was surprised because I thought most of the pogroms were carried out under Stalin.

>173 alcottacre: Stasia, the Romanov story and Rasputin's involvment with the Russian Royal family is quite fascinating. I read that they were all assasinated in a basement but the Anastasia story was finally put to rest in a documentary I saw about a year ago that shows it was all a haox. I am sure you will enjoy this book.

- TT

>168 alcottacre:. Vietnam: A History by Stanley Karnow is just what the title says. I read it about a million years ago but it is a good history of the country and it helps to be able to put the U.S. involvement in context. On a related note, I watched the movie "We Were Soldiers" over the weekend, it's based on We Were Soldiers Once...and Young by Hal Moore, about the Battle of Ia Drang Valley. It was quite a good movie and since the book is always better I'm looking forward to reading it.

#175 sgbigg: Thanks for the recommendations. I will look for both books.

I actually took a college class based on Karnow's book and the PBS documentary series for which it was a companion. I have been looking for a good hard cover copy of the book and jsut found one a couple of months ago. I agree it is a wonderful contextual history book.

You will absolutely love the book We Were Soldiers ONce...and Young. It follows the battle much further the the movie was able to and it even more amazing and moving. You must post your thoughts when you're done!

Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave

I like reading about food.

Starting Every Knee Shall Bow to continue my true crime spree.

Currently reading On Ancient Central-Asian Tracks while continuing with the Romanovs. I have a couple more nonfiction coming up as well - Patriotic Gore and The Flowering of New England.

I'm reading The Shia Revival by Vali Nasr. Robert Baer mentioned three books in the acknowledgement section of his recent The Devil We Know and this was one of them so I'm giving it a try. Between the two books I might actually begin to understand the difference between Sunni and Shia, which means I'm now overqualified for a high level government job.

I read Patriotic Gore some years ago, alcott and I have had The Flowering of New England (unread) on the shelf almost as long. Will be waiting to hear what you think of them.

#182 Fourpawz: I have not yet started The Flowering of New England, but thus far (about 400 pages into it), Patriotic Gore has been excellent. I can certainly see why it made Modern Library's list of the top 100 nonfiction books of the 20th century.

I so enjoyed Manila Rope by Veijo Meri (and the very engaging YouTube of him signing books), that I pulled a book of historical essays by him from the library. Beneath the Polar Star: Glimpses of Finnish History is a series of very short essays covering very specific topics in Finnish history and I'm learning a lot about my great-grandparents' native country--like written Finnish was basically created to write the Bible and order of worship for the new Lutherans who wanted their own language book for services as they broke away from Catholicism. The spoken language succumbed to the need for a consistent written work. Each essay is about 2 to 5 pages long, with pictures and woodcuts. A charming and fun history, written I suspect for the YA group because of each essay's length, but I'm enjoying them.

Prop2gether

I'm enjoying Manila Rope (at your suggestion) so I think I'll see if I can find that essay book. My best friend in High School was from Finnish stock--she was second generation in America--and it will be fun to learn more about her country of origin. I'm going to tell her in my Christmas Card about Manila Rope.

I'm so glad you're enjoying Manila Rope--it's not for every sense of humor, but I really had fun with it.

Started My FBI by Louis Freeh.

#187 BDB: I would be interested in your comments on My FBI when you finish it.

But, of course, madam!

On the agenda for the next few days, King Stephen 1135-1154, The Incredible Mrs. Chadwick, and How Starbucks Saved My Life.

ETA: The Touchstone for the book King Stephen will not work. The list includes all kinds of Stephen King books, which for me, are so obviously wrong!

I'm reading Salvation on Sand Mountain which is about some people in Southern Appalachia who use snakes and strychnine in their worship services. It was favorably mentioned on LT when I first started reading posts in August and I remembered that when I saw it on a sale table--buy one for $2.99 and get a 2nd one free. This was the free one! (Cry the Beloved Country was the one I knew I wanted--I've never read it and I wanted it for my Africa category in 999.)

alcottacre--I'll be interested to hear how you like How Starbucks Saved My Life. I've been thinking about reading that one--it sounds intriguing.

I finally read some non-fiction ;-)
After Marley and me, I now started A short history of nearly everything by Bill Bryson.

alcottacre, I know this is the nonfiction thread, but you can't beat The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien for fiction; Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson is also excellent. For nonfiction, I haven't read it since it came out (contemporaneously with the war), but I was very impressed by Fire in the Lake by Frances Fitzgerald.

#188 and 189, Posted my thoughts on my thread, alcottacre. Let me know if it makes the continent.

Starting A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah

#193: I have Tree of Smoke home from the library now and will be reading it over the next week or so. Thanks for the recommendations on the others. I will see if I can get copies of them.

Currently I am having fun with The Incredible Mrs. Chadwick.

ETA: Unfortunately, the fun did not last long. The book was terrible.

#191 - I'm sure I'm one of the folks who spoke well of Salvation on Sand Mountain but now I'm afraid it is regional or personal in its appeal. I'm trying to think that if you hate it, at least it was free! Either way let me know what you think...

#197 nancyewhite

I finished it Saturday and haven't written my review yet--plan to do that today, I hope--it will be posted on my 75 challenge thread. However, I will say I really liked the book. Covington gives a sympathetic but balanced view of these people and helps us understand why they worship the way they do. We get to see them as individuals with virtues and faults like everyone else rather than lumping them into a category of "crazy fanatics." Of course, they probably could be considered fanatics, but don't most people have something that they are fanatic about? Like reading? :-)

#198: Who us? Fanatical about reading? Never!

Currenty I am in Kenya (well in my mind anyway) reading I Dreamed of Africa by Kuki Gallmann. Thanks to lunacat for the recommendation of this one. It is very good.

I am reading 1215 by Danny Danziger - this is about England in 1215, the year of the Magna Carta.
Also reading Paper Shadows, an autobio by Wayson Choy.

message 175/176
I think this one of the best books re. VietNam. And the documentary was good as well -- that is, if you can call the horror of war "good."

message 201
dihiba
I have this book on my tbr pile. I read Danziger's book Museum: Behind the Scenes at the Metropolitan Art Museum and it was very well written and fascinating!
I highly recommend it.
I'm anxious to learn your impressions of 1215

I am finally getting around to The Flowering of New England which I had meant to get to a couple of weeks ago and never did. I am only about 50 pages in, but I am thoroughly enjoying myself. If it continues to be this good, I am going to look for Van Wyck Brooks other books in this series.

Have I mentioned I'm reading Proust and the Squid--it's taking me a long time but now that all my stressful events are over--

The only stress now is that I haven't started Christmas shopping and I have to get gifts which haven't been purchased yet sent to Chicago before Christmas and I thought I had all day tomorrow (Saturday) to do my shopping, etc, and I just found out this evening from my pastor that I have to do two things for the church tomorrow (I'm the music director of the church--a job), one from 9Am to about 11 AM and the other at 3PM to about 6PM--and shopping is about an hour from where I live (2 hours round trip) so I won't have time to shop tomorrow and ---"tis the season to be jolly!" :-)

On the bright side--I will have from 11-3 to read! (unless someone else has a bright idea for how I should to spend my time!) Ho! Ho! Ho!

I just picked up (literally) Bound for the Promised Land by Kate Clifford Larson.

Edited because I spelled the author's last name incorrectly and therefore the Touchstone would not work.

I am interspersing reading Bound for the Promised Land with Shtetl by Eva Hoffman as well as a couple of other fiction books.

I am reading off and on A short history of nearly everything by Bill Bryson, not an easy or quick read but intresting!

#208 HRH FAM: I read it earlier this year and agree, it is interesting - but certainly not short!

Just finished: Ulysses S. Grant: An Unlikely Hero by Michael Korda. It was short, but crammed with detail and fascinating about this man who was, at the end of his life, forced to write his memoirs to keep his family out of debt. Korda makes Grant a very real person, but he also ties events in Grant's life to more current events in a very interesting manner.

Just finished a bio on Princess Margaret - it was a hoot. Still reading 1215 and Paper Shadows and hoping to read The Tipping Point before the end of the year. I put my name in for The Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell at the library, but I am something like 232 on the waiting list!

Just finished "The Lost City of Z." Great book. I really enjoyed it and will not be signing up for any trips to the Amazon soon. Yuck.

Just finished Proust and the Squid by Maryanne Wolf. It was fascinating -- highly recommended! I'll post a review on my 75 challenge thread in a couple of days--after the Christmas activities settle down.

Finished A short history of nearly everything by Bill Bryson, a short review on my 75 thread.

Just started The wonderful and surprising history of Sweeney Todd. First chapter's great, hope it holds up!

Currently reading Fatal North by Bruce Henderson.

Just finished The King and Mrs Simpson which Linda (Whisper1) sent to me. See review on my thread.

- TT

Now starting Joker One: a Marine Platoon's Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood.

Currently reading The Small Woman by Alan Burgess, a biography of the missionary to China, Gladys Aylward.

>218 ThePam:. I'm interested to hear what you think, I just finished it.

I've just finished Reading Like a Writer - Francine Prose, which I enjoyed; I liked the call-to-arms to revive close reading, especially as the discipline of writing a few comments in my 75 thread on what I thought of a book and why has given this even greater practical application (and made me feel that my degree wasn't a total waste of time...). It has added a few more writers to my list as well.

Now reading Vanishing Cornwall - Daphne du Maurier, which my grandmother-in-law gave me for Christmas, and enjoying so far. Just read a chapter on tracing the Arthurian legends to real places which was really interesting. I've actually never read any of her fiction and it feels slightly backwards to be starting here, but then it is Christmas.

I started reading Amish Grace in the wee hours this morning. Wow! that's all I can say.