JENN McKINLAY: Some of my best reads over the past year have been non-fiction. I--the person who NEVER reads non-ficiton--found a crop of awesome books to read/listen to this year that were NOT research books for my own writing, so I thought I'd share.
The one thing I have noticed with my non-fiction reading is that I tend to do it in chunks - a chapter here and a chapter there, so I can mull it over. It takes me forever to finish a non-fiction book. Unlike fiction books, which I tend to binge and read in a day or two -- thus, the meme above. Anyone else read non-fiction like that?
I am not a big reader of self-help books or motivational books or anything like that and I have no idea how this book even got on my radar, but Jen Sincero is hilarious. Her trials and tribulations and life lessons were a hoot to read and, yes, it turned to be quite motivating. It's a pep talk on paper and one fo the few books I've read more than once - mostly, because she makes me laugh but also...motivator.
Mr. Mystal breaks it down so it's entertaining and comprehensible with writing that is clever and informative. I feel smarter every time I finish a chapter.
What I love about all of Orman's books is that there is no judgement. Oh, you're a financial moron? (I really am). Don't feel bad let's just get you on track.
Not even kidding that I had NO retirement plan until I read her book. Now I have goals - it's shocking and fun!
Hooligan 2 turned me onto this book. Mr. Goggins was offered $300K for his book but decided to self publish instead and in his case it was a bold and brilliant decision. This book has been rocking best seller's lists for years.
His personal story is one of the most compelling I have ever read - it's a very tough read - but so inspirational. I loved it.
I found Tab on Instagram a few years ago when she was posting her vegan recipes and just had such a charming and upbeat way about her that I became a follower and have since watched her rocket to the top of the best seller's list and putting out her own clothing line in Target. All well deserved successes.
Her life story is truly one of perseverance and pain and persistence but she delivers it with such positivity that you feel like she's your best friend. I adore her. Her recipes are solid, too! "A little bit of this and a little bit of that. Like so like that. Because that's your business." --Tabitha Brown
All right, Reds and Readers, what non-fiction books have you read lately that surprised and delighted you?
One of the sweetest nonfiction books I’ve read recently is “501 Reasons Why Grandparents Know Best” edited by Ellen Kent and Beth Stephens. Filled with sweet observations, trivia, and humor, it’s heartfelt and touching. One of my favorite comments on grandparents came from Alex Hailey, who wrote “ Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children.”
ReplyDeleteJoan, thanks for the recommendation! Adding this to my TBR. Diana
DeleteOh, I love that. I have heard that being a grandparent is so much more fun than being parent.
DeleteJenn, John says you get to spoil them rotten and then send them home to their parents!
DeleteJENN: I am the same. I have been able to focus more on non-fiction, rather than fiction.
ReplyDeleteSTILL NOT A GEEK by Wil Wheaton (audiobook). A painfully frank (and often funny) annotated memoir about his years as a child actor on Star Trek: TNG to finding his path 30+ years later.
HAVE YOU EATEN YET? by Cheuk Kwan. Author, filmmaker Kwan weaves a global narrative across 14 cities about how family-run Chinese restaurants are global icons of immigration, community & delicious food.
ATOMIC HABITS by James Clear. An easy way to build good habits & break bad ones.
THE NEXT SUPPER by Corey Mintz. The end of restaurants as we know them and what comes after (post-pandemic).
I might have to get Have You Eaten Yet? for our neighbor. That sounds like his cup of nonfiction, Grace.
DeleteYour friend might also like the 15-part documentary that Kwan filmed.
Deletehttps://chineserestaurants.tv/
OOPS: The correct title for the Wheaton book is STILL JUST A GEEK. And the audiobook (narrated by Wheaton) is over 20 hours long so I am not finished.
DeleteGrace, Try Chop Suey Nation by Ann Hui. I read it as an audiobook. It is a Canadian cross country tour of Chinese restaurants, and how to get the authentic food available - not hot pink chicken balls. She names one about 20 km from here that I am trying to get my husband to visit. There is also one in Newfoundland that sounds very interesting.
DeleteGRACE: Wil Wheaton's memoir is already on my TBR list. I have been wanting to read the book. I have a feeling that I am going to cry a lot while reading the book.
DeleteDiana
MARGO: Thanks, I have already read Chop Suey Nation.
DeleteDIANA: You will cry, laugh and be shocked at how Will's parents treated him. Emotional child abuse.
DeleteGrace: I truly enjoyed the Kwan series. It filled in a gap that I didn't even know was there.
DeleteExcellent! I'm going to have to check out Atomic Habits.
DeleteAlso reading STILL JUST A GEEK. I’m curious, how are the annotations handled in the audiobook version, Grace? Lisa in Long Beach
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteLISA: I think Wil uses change in tone, inflection & volume throughout the LONG chapters to differentiate between main text, annotations & annotations within annotations. But the Table of Contents also lists several appendices at the end of the book (which I have not yet listened to).
DeleteThanks for the suggestions, Jenn. I like the sound of that Constitution book. Will check it out.
ReplyDeleteI basically only read non-fiction for research. History of Sonoma County Wineries, anyone? East to the Dawn, a biography of Amelia Earhart, was fascinating.
EDITH: I have a little photography ? book about Wineries in Sonoma County. I forgot the title but I think it was co authored by a married couple?
DeleteDiana
Wineries are fascinating. I'd read that just for fun.
DeleteYour new book series must be set n the Sonoma area. If it is at a winery even better.
DeleteThe new series is set in a fictional town in the Alexander Valley, and my protag manages a wine bar. So, yeah - vineyards!
DeleteEdith, keep us posted! It sounds great.
DeleteI read more non-fiction than fiction. History, biography, memoirs, they all interest me. Recently for my book group I had to read THE EDUCATION OF AN IDEALIST by Samantha Power. That book, about the author's efforts to confront and prevent genocide around the world, was unusually tough but I listened to the audiobook doggedly while mowing and working on the farm.
ReplyDeleteI think in general I like to read about how other people make or made their way through life, overcoming challenges. Biographies and histories impose a narrative structure and through-line to what can seem like an overwhelming jungle of choices and compromises when you're exhausted and pushing through it yourself. In the years when I'd drive my kids to Florida for a break from snow to sit around a pool in the sunshine, we'd go to the nearby Goodwill and load up on bags of used books for $.25-1.00. I would read /have read biographies and memoirs of anyone... people fascinate me. I remember reading Peter Guralnick's two-volume biography of Elvis Presley. I would have said I didn't particularly care about Presley or his music but Guralnick wrote with such intimacy and compassion that I was rapt. David McCullough did this in TRUMAN. Doris Kearns Goodwin wrote about the marriage of FDR and Eleanor in NO ORDINARY TIME. And on and on. My shelves are crammed with lives.
"My shelves are crammed with lives". Wow, what an eloquent way to put that!
DeleteThe Hub loves Elvis and that 2 vol set is one of his most prized possessions. I believe he has read every rock bio ever written. We have an entire library of musician lives.
DeleteI have the TRUMAN biography by David McCullough and I have been meaning to read the novel. He is my father's favorite President and I just learned that he is my father's 7th cousin, which I don't think my father knew.
DeleteDiana
I don't typically read non-fiction. I have enough to keep me occupied in the fiction world to really branch out. However, there are exceptions. They usually are books about either sports figures (Jerry Tarkanian, Bill Belichick) or music artists (Warren Zevon and the upcoming book DESTINATION ONWARD about the band Fates Warning). But they are few and far between.
ReplyDeleteI've never been a non-fiction reader but lately it's filled my reading time. How was the Bellichack book? Like him or not, that guy is fascinating.
Delete*Belichick
DeleteWe have entire bookcases, multiple, of nonfiction books, in several categories (natural history, women's history, business, writing, gardening, travel, art, biographies, politics, and holistic health). I used to read loads of nonfiction, and so did Steve.
ReplyDeleteFor the last couple years neither of us wanted to be serious with our reading. Steve read a book called COD, about the history of that fish and how it changed the world. And looking back on my list of read books this year, the only nonfiction--besides a book on straw bale gardens--I've read was West With Giraffes, by Linda Rutledge, and Me & Patsy, Kickin' Up Dust, by Loretta Lynn, about her relationship with her mentor and friend, Patsy Cline. Excellent reads, but the Rutledge book is probably actually considered historical fiction.
Karen in Ohio: I've been reading more non fiction recently, especially biographies and memoirs. I love to collect women's history. I just read MEAN BABY by Selma Blair from the library and it took a lot of tissues. I call it my "crying" book. I cried and cried!
DeleteDiana
Karen, my husband also enjoyed COD. Had to read it after several vacations to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia going to fisheries museums that told of the cod fisheries. I believe there's a book titled SALT that does a good job on the history of salt.
DeleteI'll have to send COD to my nephew. Thx.
DeleteI love enlightening books on limited subjects like this. I will look for both COD and SALT -- thank you. During the Revolution, when trade was embargoed, salt was as precious as gunpowder. Without salt, meat could not be preserved. All along the coasts, Americans boiled sea water to make their own. When the British attacked, they made sure to destroy salt pans.
DeleteBoth COD and SALT sounds interesting, thanks.
DeleteI thought I'd read SALT, but it doesn't sound anything like what I'm remembering. Thanks!
DeleteMilkmaid, those are two of my faves! I can also recommend the COD author's other book, THE BIG OYSTER.
DeleteWith a degree in history and psychology my non-fiction teeth were cut early. Like you, I read them in chapters. Isn't that strange. Right now I'm deep in The Secret series. There is so much to be said for gratitude and positivity and the world needs more of it. As for history - I'm a biography sucker. I love reading about how people lived, what they did and thought, the odds they overcame. Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough and Jennie by Ralph G. Martin were two standouts.
ReplyDeleteI still remember my pleasure lying on a couch reading MORNINGS ON HORSEBACK several decades ago! I've read JENNIE also. In his book VALIANT COMPANIONS, David McCullough wrote that knowing the challenges that people before you have overcome sows your mind with examples of courage to draw upon in your own hard times. I find that quite true.
DeleteSo glad to find a fellow traveler! I quite agree with the McCullough quote.
DeleteKAIT: My boyfriend loves McCullough history books. I think that I have ALL of his history books from TRUMAN to JOHN ADAMS.
DeleteDiana
Hub is a history guy. He and his father share all of the McCullough books, which are brilliant.
DeleteI buy them then I don't read them. Biographies, histories, etc. The last one I read was 1776. It is superb, even though you know the outcome, I was on the edge of my seat as those oxen crossed over the mountains (okay West Coasters, don't get snooty about "mountains") to Albany. I will make a list of your suggestions, and Grace's suggestions, too, and try your technique of a chapter at a time. After all, Jenn, you've never steered me wrong! In fact, I may use that chapter at a time technique on a very painful non-fiction I have half finished on my night table.
ReplyDeleteJUDY: Yay, enjoy!
DeleteWait, wait, wait! Bill Bryson. Just hilarious! A Walk in the Woods was the first one we read (hiking the Appalachian Trail), then quite a few others, too. Neither Here Nor There (Europe), Notes from a Small Island (England) and In a Sunburned Country (Australia).
DeleteJUDY: Thanks for the reminder about the Bill Bryson books. I have read of those you listed.
DeleteChapter by chapter seems to work! Good luck!
DeleteBryson's autobiography, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, about growing up in Des Moines, is hilarious. Don't miss it, a perfect antidote for our troubled times.
DeleteMy current reading is "Who Killed Jane Stanford? A Gilded Age Tale of Murder, Deceit, Spirits, and the Birth of a University." Who could pass up a subtitle like that? Up next is "Loot" by Sharon Waxman, looking at how ancient artifacts end up in museums far from their home countries -- research for a class I hope to lead later this year. In general, if it's history, I'll read it!
ReplyDeleteCHRIS: The JANE STANFORD book is on the Best Selling list in our area. Many history books are wonderful.
DeleteDiana
I am just beginning to be interested in history (sorry!) while I always enjoyed lectures about history, the textbooks were so deadly dull. I know it has improved over the years but my interest has just been engaged.
DeleteYes, absolutely, I read non-fiction -- more slowly than fiction and usually in 'real' book form, not on my Kindle. I love it as an enjoyable and effective way to learn about people, things and events (history).
ReplyDeleteTo paraphrase adkmilkmaid above, my shelves are crammed with food. That is, writing about food or memoirs of foodie people. My favourite browsing spot in my local indie bookshop used to be "food writing" -- so much good writing about (and by) interesting people whose lives and work revolve around food: Julia Child among them, of course.
AMANDA: Same, I have been reading food memoirs or other non-fiction related food books since I can't seem to focus much on reading fiction. No big surprise, for those who know me.
DeleteIt's such tasty reading without any of the effort to do the shopping or cooking -- and none of the calories. Ha ha
DeleteAgreed, those memoirs show that being in the restaurant business is really gruelling and heartbreaking, especially lately.
DeleteI'm not a food reader so much as a craft reader. Recently, I picked up Sutton Foster's HOOKED. She talks about how crochet has helped her through divorce and life as an actress. I really wanted to see her in The Music Man with Hugh Jackman when I was in NYC (Lucy, you got to go, didn't you?) maybe next time.
DeleteI definitely read more fiction than non, but have read some great non fiction in recent years. I read a number of books about racism and history. My favorite was THE SUM OF US: WHAT RACISM COSTS EVERYONE AND HOW WE CAN PROSPER TOGETHER by Heather McGhee. She's a policy wonk and her policy recommendations are spot on, In the realm of memoir, I loved Fiona Hill's THERE IS NOTHING FOR YOU HERE, about opportunity and lack there of in the US, the UK and Russia. Another great memoir was Pauli Murray's SONG IN A WEARY THROAT; such a beautiful book. TANGLED UP IN BLUE by Rosa Brooks gave me some hope for the future of policing in this country.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for these recommendations.
DeleteYou bet! I forgot one: Brian Doyle's posthumously published book of essays, One Long River of Song. I get teary-eyed thinking about it; it was beautiful.
DeleteIrwin and I both read Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson. It was very hard to read but it should be a requirement for college level American History.
DeleteJudy, I listened to that. Bryan Stevenson reads it. So powerful and stays with you for so long. My hair rose listening to the references to Monroeville and TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. (My mother was the same age as Harper Lee and grew up in a similar tiny, rural Alabama town.) You would not think a book about the death penalty would be inspiring but I found it so.
DeleteGillian, those sound fantastic! Thank you. I am most curious about the Fiona Hill book.
DeleteJudy, JUST MERCY was the U Maine Honors College read the year Youngest matriculated. They had a seminar built around the book and Bryan Stevenson came and spoke to them about it. It blew her away.
DeleteI read non-fiction and I enjoy a good biography. But I haven't read much lately. I have to me in the right mood. But when I do read them, yes, the pace is usually much slower.
ReplyDeleteSome of the titles people have suggested sound interesting.
Sorry, the most recent one was a bit of James Patterson's memoir. He writes in short chapters, much like his fiction, so it's easy to consume. The writing style is very conversational and funny.
DeleteLIZ: Would you recommend James Patterson's memoir?
DeleteDiana
Hank interviewed him about his memoir. It sounds very engaging.
DeleteDiana, yes. It's very honest, funny, and touching.
DeleteI love non-fiction. I go in spells where I read non-fiction in bunches -- ALL of Erik Larson - he's fantastic. My favorite is Devil in the White City but Thunderstruck and In the Garden of Beasts are also very good. In fact, the latter helped me to understand some of the mechanics going on in Berlin before the war, they why and wherefore. Larson recently published an audio only book that was a thrill to listen to: No One Goes Alone. I also love Jon Krakauer, especially the heartbreaking Into The Wild and the riveting Under The Banner of Heaven.
ReplyDeleteThose sound amazing. So much of it depends on the writing.
DeleteSorry, that anonymous reply above is from Lorraine Norwood
ReplyDeleteMy shelves are like adkmilkmaid's, filled with lives. I'm always immersing myself in other people's experiences and emotions. Memoirs, travel journals, histories of friendships, foody romances, affairs with books, amazing adventures and discoveries, personal essays or just plain autobiographies. So many lives to explore and enjoy.
ReplyDeleteLast week it was Ann Patchett's These Precious Days. A book filled with heart.
I'm reading Ann Patchett's essays, too. Most enjoyable.
DeleteI would read anything by Ann Pachett. Will seek out those essays.
DeleteOh, thank you, I'd love to read a book filled with heart.
DeleteI am another one who reads primarily fiction. Memoirs and biographies seem to me to carry most of the traits that make me like fiction, so if I read non-fiction that is usually my go-to. For anyone who likes his music, I strongly recommend Willie Nelson's memoir: ITS A LONG STORY: MY LIFE. I especially recommend the audiobook. Willie himself reads the opening, then a talented reader with a West Texas twang a lot like his reads the rest of the book. It is a very honest, genuine look at his life.
ReplyDeleteA non-fiction book I recently enjoyed that is outside my normal parameters was FROM STRENGH TO STRENGTH: FINDING SUCCESS, HAPPINESS, AND DEEP PURPOSE IN THE SECOND HALF OF LIFE by Arthur C. Brooks. This book is written to help high achievers figure out how to redirect their lives as they age in order to maximize satisfaction in later life. He shows research that supports the theory that there are two types of knowledge -- one that tends to peak around the thirties or early forties, and another that continues to grow into the sixties and doesn't deteriorate very quickly even for a long time thereafter. So for happiness and fulfillment, he proposes people need to move themselves away from careers dependent upon the former and into those that use the latter -- things like teaching and writing, that involve synthesizing disparate ideas to find new insights and connections, and communicating them clearly. It was an inspiring, thought-provoking book.
Susan: Thanks for this recommendation; it sounds like a good and important read for anyone in that second half of life. I'm off to find it...
DeleteOh, I love that. I had an uncle who decided to learn German at 83 and was fluent by the time he passed at 96. Never stop learning.
DeleteI go through periods where I read nothing but non-fiction, usually memoir or biography, but I also like books of essays. During the pandemic shutdown, I struggled to read at all, which was a first for me. I eventually started buying books of humorous essays for my Kindle, and they saved my sanity! I think I read all of Jen Mann’s books, and I reread them when life gets too intense. There are also books of humorous essays by other authors that I rely on when I need a laugh. 2021 and 2022 have been challenging years for me, personally, and I need all the humor I can get!
ReplyDeleteDebRo
DebRo: Love Humor. There is a book by the Cathy cartoonist that my Mom loved. I forgot the exact title but it has a light blue cover.
DeleteDiana
I love humor books but i am surprised by how many books didn't do it for me - Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling, and Amy Poehler were a few where I expected hilarity but never really found it, which is likely an unfair expectation except they're known for comedy. Jenny Larson, however, does make me laugh. I love well done essays, too.
DeleteJENN: I am sorry to tell you that Suze Orman is the LAST PERSON TO GIVE FINANCIAL ADVICE. She hired a team to work for her then reneged on the contract and NEVER PAID them, claiming POVERTY. Can you explain HOW someone who is supposedly a financial genius CANNOT AFFORD to pay for the work done? The team worked 24/7 with no breaks, not even for major holidays. She threatened to fire them if they took a holiday break. There are other financial advice books that are better.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I won't read her books because there is something about her that rubs be the wrong way. She and all those charlatan doctors are why I stop watching PBS during pledge months.
DeleteOh, I'll have to check other background. Mostly, I needed someone to explain finances to me. She's just the beginning. I intend to get much more savvy.
DeleteJenn, try Michelle Singletary. She is awesome, and writes with a lot of humor and understanding.
DeleteIf you have not read "The Battle Cry of Freedom" by James McPherson, run out and buy it NOW. It is the best book on the American Civil War you will ever read, and tells you a lot more about the United States than you know-- and his style is wonderful!
ReplyDeleteELLEN: Thanks for the recommendation. Adding this to my TBR. Diana
DeleteOh, I know some Civil War buffs. Thank you!
DeleteI check out the nonfiction shelves as often as I do the fiction ones. I devoured Left on Tenth by Delia Ephron. Picked up Calm the F*ck Down by Sarah Knight. Just finished Freezing Order: A True Story of Money Laundering, Murder, and Surviving Vladmir Putin's Wrath by Bill Browder. And found Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention... helpful. I'm especially drawn to books about advances in genetics, archaeology, education, medicine, but will pick up anything that catches my eye--sort of a magpie approach to nonfiction.
ReplyDeleteFLORA: I already have LEFT ON TENTH by Delia Ephron. It's on my TBR. think I will cry so I am going to have my tissues with me while reading.
DeleteDiana
Okay, the title of the Sarah Knight book has gotten my attention.
DeleteI've recently gotten hooked on Rosemary Harris's Dirty Business books. Just finished the fourth one. Are there going to be any more?
ReplyDeleteNo idea but I will definitely check them out.
DeleteTAMI: I really liked Rosemary's mystery series - she was an early JRW in the 2000s but have not seen any new books from her since 2008 or 2009.
DeleteRosemary wrote one more book, about a group of women who had a beach vacation together, and I think that was it.
DeleteMost of my non-fiction reading is work. I am interested in how ideas manifest and how they grow into the rules that govern social interactions and how we can look at day to day life and discern the ideas that underpin it. I like to read histories of ideas and I like to read how people who observe day to day social interactions explain and critique the ideas that support them sometimes with moral implications. Of late, that has meant Ibram Kendi's _Stamped From the Beginning_ and Amitav Ghosh _The Nutmeg's Curse_. Also, I am revisiting Karl Marx and the contemporary English philosopher John Gray for a discussion group conversation coming up next week.
ReplyDeleteNot a book, but I am thinking of braving a trip into downtown Toronto to see the new Edward Burtynsky photographic exhibit on all 8 giant screens in Dundas Square.
https://www.cbc.ca/arts/after-a-two-year-wait-edward-burtynsky-brings-massive-climate-change-exhibit-to-toronto-s-yonge-dundas-square-1.6484668
Wow. I am impressed!
DeleteDEAUN: That Edward Burtynsky exhibit at Yonge-Dundas Square sounds great. I have not been back to Toronto since winter 2018.
DeleteOk now that I can add more... EARTHA & KITT by Kitt Shapiro (only child of Eartha Kitt)
ReplyDeleteOh, I be that's interesting. What a story she was.
Deletewhat is going on? I just gave two and I thought it was published then it disappeared!
ReplyDeleteBlogger is a weirdo.
DeleteJENN: Let's see if my recommendations get through this time? ENTERING THE LIGHT: BUILDING A FAMILY...by Jill Biden, BECOMING by Michelle Obama, GOING THERE by Katie Couric and SUNSHINE GIRL by Julianna Marguilies.
DeleteMy husband reads more non-fiction than I do. Books about the long history of peoples and societies like A MILLION YEARS IN A DAY and THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN 100 OBJECTS.
ReplyDeleteMy non-fiction tends to be mostly gardening and craft books. The other day I was looking to down-size my collection and pulled out a book I hadn't remembered - Mosaic Knitting by Barbara G. Walker. If you knit you are probably familiar with her two volume set - A Treasury of Knitting Patterns. I was amazed when I bought that book to find that my aunt (who worked for several now defunct publishers in NYC) was her book designer.
Anyway, in looking at the list of other books Barbara G. Walker published I noticed that most of them dealt with feminist symbolism, goddesses, and the like. I had no idea about that, but I might look for some of those books.
A book I LOVED is titled OPEN FOR LUNCH by Robin Russell Gaiser. When she lived near Glens Falls, NY in the southern Adirondacks, she started a habit of asking to sit with strangers while lunching at fast food restaurants. She met amazing people. She tells their stories and also her story - as a music therapist, a struggling empath, an accidental drug addict, and a woman trying to process a difficult childhood with a demanding professional musician mother. Wonderful! And the kindle version is only $3.99
I have a ridiculous collection of knitting books - truly, it's just embarrassing. And now you've just added to it...sigh.
DeleteThese recommendations are so great! Thank you all! I love good nonfiction - Thanks for the plugs for my sister Delia's LEFT ON TENTH! The book I'm looking forward to reading next is one my daughter Molly recommended (I'm waiting for the audio book from the library), and it's fiction and won the Pulitzer: A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD by Jennifer Egan. And I'm trying to read a book my dear friend Patty Jo has recommended multiple times: GILEAD by Marilynne Robinson. I'm happy to be back in a mental state where I can sit down and read.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back, Hallie :) The Covid fog is real - so glad it has lifted!
DeleteHallie, having been inspired here, I searched the NYPL online catalog for your sister's book and you may be interested to know they have 222 holds waiting for 27 copies!
DeleteHALLIE: Take care. Yup COVID brain fog is real. I know!
DeleteI always dip into the books about how Stephen Sondheim wrote: Finishing the Hat, and Look I Made a Hat, and there's a whole new one about how he created Sunday in the Park with George: Putting it Together. It's AMAZING. Also, Todd Purdom wrote a great book about Rogers and Hammerstein--and their collaboration. It's incredible. Rogers wrote the music, and THEN Hammerstein wrote the words! I cannot even imagine how that would work.
ReplyDeleteOh, and do not miss Reacher Said Nothing, by Andy Martin--it's an extremely close-up look at how Lee Child wrote one of his books, and it is riveting and fascinating and revealing. I had low hopes for it, I have to admit. And I was SO wrong.
I have that in my TBR stack somewhere, Hank. I'll made a point to get back to it!
DeleteOh, yes, it's amazing. xx
DeleteAll your suggestions sound so good, Jenn! I lean towards science history and FOOD:-) The last non-fiction book I devoured was Darwin's Armada: Four Voyages and the Battle for the Theory of Evolution by Iain McCalman. This one I read like a novel--couldn't put it down. It's the story of the voyages made by Darwin, Hooker, Huxley, and Wallace, their friendships, and how they changed scientific history.
ReplyDeleteI also love biographies and diaries. I just bought a book called A Notable Woman: The Romantic Journeys of Jean Lucey Pratt. She kept a diary from 1925 when she was 15 until she died in the 80s. I can't wait to dive into this one.
My TBR list is EXPLODING! Our book rec posts are always so bad for my wallet, but so good for my reading. I love to listen to non-fiction, and my most recent faves have been re-listening to DEEP WORK by Cal Newport (I've written about how important this book has been to me this year,) THE HEROINE'S JOURNEY (recc'd to me by Jessica Ellicott and it's already making me think differently about my own reading and writing,) and THE SECRET LIFE OF THE GROWN UP BRAIN by Barbara Strauch. If you're anywhere north of fifty, this last book will make you feel good about your brain (and explain why you can never find your keys!)
ReplyDeleteOhhhh please tell us-I will forget to read it.
DeleteI have such good intentions with non-fiction, but I just don't seem to get to much of it. I'm absolutely interested in non-fiction, and every year I vow to include more in my reading. I do read a lot of short non-fiction articles, but my goal is still to include more books. The one non-fiction book I've read this year is Bone Deep: Untangling the Twisted True Story of the Tragic Betsy Faria Murder Case by Charles Bosworth and Joel Schwartz. I became fascinated with this case after Dateline's coverage of it and then the NBC series called "The Thing About Pam," starring Renee Zellweger. Schwartz was the lawyer for Betsy's husband who got railroaded for his wife's murder due to fabricated evidence from Pam Hupp, who actually committed the murder. It's not my usual non-fiction fare. I just got caught up in the story.
ReplyDeleteSome of my favorite older non-fiction reads from the past have been Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell (about the white man's take over of the Hawaiian islands), My Reading Life by Pat Conroy, Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi (hearing her talk was an amazing experience, too), In the Wake of the Plague by Norman Cantor (a great and readable book about how the Black Death started and spread in Europe), and Places I Never Meant to Be: Original Stories by Censored Writers by Judy Blume. I read bits and parts of non-fiction books, too. Oh, one that I'm still reading bits and is really good is Death in the Air: The True Story of a Serial Killer, the Great London Smog, and the Strangling of a City by Kate Winkler Dawson. It " tells the entwined stories of the Great London Smog of 1952 and a serial killer, John Reginald Christie, who exploited the fog as a cloak for murder."
Some titles that I would love to get to include All About Me: My Remarkable Life in Show Business by Mel Brooks; Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson; Frozen in Time: The Enduring Legacy of the 1961 U.S. Figure Skating Team by Nikki Nichols; and France is a Feast: The Photographic Journal of Paul and Julia Child by Alex Prud'homme.
These posts are good for the mind but bad for the budget! I just ordered Death in the Air. I've been reading a lot about post WWII lately and this sounded fascinating.
DeleteHahaha! I know, Debs. I've got several more books I'm checking out from all the recommendations, too. Oh, and I am fascinated by the fog/smog in London in 1952 that affected so many. During the five days it lasted, it was responsible for at least 4,000 deaths.
DeleteThanks ladies!
ReplyDeleteJust starting VANDERBILT for tomorrow’s book club discussion. Also reading THE HIGH SIERRA by Kim Stanley Robinson.
ReplyDeleteAnd LOVE Miss Tab! Lisa in Long Beach
And, Jenn, thanks for leading with Boromir! Made my morning!
ReplyDelete