Non-Fiction November - Week 1

I've mentioned this before--I think it was last year around this time-- but Nonfiction November is my favorite annual book blogging event.  

I always learn about so many great books and subjects from all of you!

Today's (this week's actually) topic is--My year in Nonfiction.

What was your favorite nonfiction read of the year?  May I have a 4-way tie please?

What nonfiction book have you recommended the most? May I have a 4-way tie again please?  I love, love, love Foodie books, and I love, love, love memoirs, and I love, love, love travel books and I love, love, love history books. So from this year I'd recommend  "Eight Flavors",  "Stingray Afternoons", "At Home in the World" and "Captured". 

What is one topic or type of nonfiction you haven’t read enough of yet? As a rule, I wish I'd read more non-fiction than I do.  But because I love foodie memoirs the most, I guess I can never read 'enough' of them.

What are you hoping to get out of participating in Nonfiction November?  My short answer is above--I always learn about so many great books and subjects from all of you who participate. 

My list of nonfiction for this year is kind of short, but all were very good.  I'll go for quality of quantity for now.

I really liked all of these.

I can't wait to see what everyone else is reading!

Here are our hosts for the month...many thanks to them!!

Katie at Doing Dewey Lory at Emerald City Book Review Sarah at Sarah’s Book Shelves Julz at Julz Reads Kim at Sophisticated Dorkiness

http://www.sophisticateddorkiness.com/

Non-Fiction November FAIL-- kind of

I have failed this year keeping up with Nonfiction November posts.

I was feeling a bit bummed about it, because I really do love to connect with others thru memes/challenges and events, and I really love non-fiction.  I like to find out what's trending and what everyone is recommending  this year.

So yes, I was a bit bummed--until I went to see an author at the library this afternoon.

You might be thinking, yeah, so what, you saw an author. But we live in rural Nevada.

Rural.  Nothing around for miles and miles.  It's not an easy sell for an author.    TJ Stiles is a Pulitzer Prize wining author of nonfiction!  Pulitzer Prize!!  Winnemucca scored!

I had not read his books before today, but was excited to see  him and hear his book talk.

Guess what?

He was such a great speaker and was so interesting to listen to!   He's written  three books and I bought all three.  In fact, our little town bought ALL of the books he brought.  We cleaned him out.

He was just so thoroughly enjoyable.

So I was feeling good--I was able to attend a speaking engagement by a non-fiction author this month and purchase his books to read.

While I was visiting with him as he was  signing my books, I mentioned that it was Non-fiction November and he said  "you have a blog?"  I said that I did.

You all know that I don't identify with being a 'book blogger' right?  I'm just someone who  has a blog and LOVES books.

But today--I was so happy to be included and be a  part of the book blogging world!

So even tho I am failing at the proper way to participate in Nonfiction November, I just feel I scored big!

Off to go read some Non-Fiction!!

Non-Fiction November!

November Nonfiction is back!

I'm so excited to join in my 2nd year with the Nonfiction November peeps.

(is peeps still a word? I never can keep up)

This year NFN is hosted by

Katie at Doing Dewey

Lory at Emerald City Book Review

Sarah at Sarah’s Book Shelves

Rachel at Hibernator’s Library

and Julz at Julz Reads

Mondays questions....

My Year in Nonfiction: Take a look back at your year of nonfiction and reflect on the following questions – What was your favorite nonfiction read of the year? What nonfiction book have you recommended the most? What is one topic or type of nonfiction you haven’t read enough of yet? What are you hoping to get out of participating in Nonfiction November?

1. My favorite Non-Fiction of the year?

This is a hard question to answer, but I loved this one so much, and not just from an emotional standpoint.  I learned all kinds of facts and interesting stories about both bands, which I didn't know before, so I'll have to go with.....

Beatles VS Stones!!

I couldn't sit and read this thru at one sitting--it wasn't a cuddle up on the couch and read kind of book.  It was the kind that I had to share with anyone I could and say "listen to this..."  or "did you know?"

Beatles vs Stones.

It's an on-going argument in my household.

The book was great/amazing!  But the argument has not been settled yet.

(But everyone knows it's the Beatles, right?)

2. What nonfiction book have I recommended the most this year?

I think it has been a tie. I've loved recommending  When  Women Were Birds by Terry Tempest Williams.

(it's hauntingly moving)

And I've recommended just as often, The Oregon Trail (which I discovered from last year's NNF. Thanks JoAnn) by Rinker Buck.

A combination of history and adventure

(as said by my friend JoAnn - but truer words were never said)

3. What is one type of nonfiction I haven't read enough of yet?

Can I write exactly what I wrote last year?

Obviously I read more on the lighter side of non-fiction, but I would have to say---Books on Social Justice written by progressive Christians. 

Seriously.  

And that can be a tuff and really deep subject, so I tend to stay away and stick to easier nonfiction like memoirs and cookbooks.  But I  would like to read more of that type of nonfiction some day. 

It was true last year and it's still true today.

4. What am I hoping to get out of participating in Nonfiction November?    

A ton of new titles to put on my TBR List!

Last year, thru Nonfiction November I was introduced

to so many great titles (and new friends), my eyes

were opened and I saw the light!

(because I hadn't been that aware of how much nonfiction or what kind of nonfiction I had been reading before.)

I am soooo  excited to see what what's coming up this year.

Monkey Town

From Goodreads:

In Evolving in Monkey Town, Rachel Held Evans recounts her experiences growing up in Dayton, Tennessee, a town that epitomized Christian fundamentalism during the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925. With fearless honesty, Evans describes how her faith survived her doubts and challenges readers to re-imagine Christianity in a postmodern context, where knowing all the answers isn t as important as asking the questions."

This book is also available, with this same ISBN entitled "Faith Unraveled: How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask Questions"...with a published date of 2010 by Zondervan...it has the reddish cover, not this cover.

From Me:

3.5 stars!

A very interesting book about  soul searching, questioning, challenging and processing a growing and changing Christianity, within the author's self.

(if that makes any sense)

Jimmy Carter

From Goodreads:

The world's discrimination and violence against women and girls is the most serious, pervasive, and ignored violation of basic human rights: This is President Jimmy Carter's call to action.

President Carter was encouraged to write this book by a wide coalition of leaders of all faiths. His urgent report is current. It covers the plight of women and girls–strangled at birth, forced to suffer servitude, child marriage, genital cutting, deprived of equal opportunity in wealthier nations and "owned" by men in others. And the most vulnerable, along with their children, are trapped in war and violence.

He addresses the adverse impact of distorted religious texts on women, by Protestants, Catholics, Jews, and Muslims. Special verses are often omitted or quoted out of context to exalt the status of men and exclude women. In a remark that is certain to get attention, Carter points out that women are treated more equally in some countries that are atheistic or where governments are strictly separated from religion.

Carter describes his personal observations of the conditions and hardships of women around the world. He describes a trip in Africa with Bill Gates, Sr. and his wife, where they are appalled by visits to enormous brothels. He tells how he joined Nelson Mandela to plead for an end to South Africa's practice of outlawing treatments to protect babies from AIDS-infected mothers.

Throughout, Carter reports on observations of women activists and workers of The Carter Center. This is an informed and passionate charge about human rights abuses against half the world's population. It comes from one of the world's most renowned human rights advocates.

From Me:

3 stars

I love Jimmy Carter, but I only 'liked' this book. And I feel guilty for saying that.

It was very interesting, I learned a lot, but sometimes I felt like he was patting himself on the back.

I know that's not fair because he is a very humble man --- I think it's just the nature of writing a book like this one.

Still----LOVE him!

The Oregon Trail/It's Monday, What are you Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week.  It's a great post to organize yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile!

It's Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date.

I've fallen behind and now I need to post about 6 books before the end of the year.

When you last left me---It was Nonfiction November--at least in my book blogging world. And while I joined in all the challenges and posts (it was a great fun-filled month), I didn't get a chance to finish  this  book until last night ( I read half and set it down when we had company and picked it up again a few days ago):

From Goodreads:

In the bestselling tradition of Bill Bryson and Tony Horwitz, Rinker Buck's "The Oregon Trail" is a major work of participatory history: an epic account of traveling the 2,000-mile length of the Oregon Trail the old-fashioned way, in a covered wagon with a team of mules--which hasn't been done in a century--that also tells the rich history of the trail, the people who made the migration, and its significance to the country. 

Spanning 2,000 miles and traversing six states from Missouri to the Pacific Ocean, the Oregon Trail is the route that made America. In the fifteen years before the Civil War, when 400,000 pioneers used it to emigrate West--historians still regard this as the largest land migration of all time--the trail united the coasts, doubled the size of the country, and laid the groundwork for the railroads. The trail years also solidified the American character: our plucky determination in the face of adversity, our impetuous cycle of financial bubbles and busts, the fractious clash of ethnic populations competing for the same jobs and space. Today, amazingly, the trail is all but forgotten. 
Rinker Buck is no stranger to grand adventures. "The New Yorker "described his first travel narrative, "Flight of Passage," as "a funny, cocky gem of a book," and with "The Oregon Trail "he seeks to bring the most important road in American history back to life. At once a majestic American journey, a significant work of history, and a personal saga reminiscent of bestsellers by Bill Bryson and Cheryl Strayed, the book tells the story of Buck's 2,000-mile expedition across the plains with tremendous humor and heart. He was accompanied by three cantankerous mules, his boisterous brother, Nick, and an "incurably filthy" Jack Russell terrier named Olive Oyl. Along the way, Buck dodges thunderstorms in Nebraska, chases his runaway mules across miles of Wyoming plains, scouts more than five hundred miles of nearly vanished trail on foot, crosses the Rockies, makes desperate fifty-mile forced marches for water, and repairs so many broken wheels and axels that he nearly reinvents the art of wagon travel itself. Apart from charting his own geographical and emotional adventure, Buck introduces readers to the evangelists, shysters, natives, trailblazers, and everyday dreamers who were among the first of the pioneers to make the journey west. With a rare narrative power, a refreshing candor about his own weakness and mistakes, and an extremely attractive obsession for history and travel, "The Oregon Trail" draws readers into the journey of a lifetime.

From Me:

I loved this book.

Can I steal from my friend JoAnn at Lakeside Musing and just say it was an entertaining combination of history and adventure?

That pretty much says it all.

I would recommend this book without any reservation at all.

To be frank, I got very sentimental at the end of the book--that author ended his route at a place in Oregon that we pass a few times each  year, and I never knew I was so close to history!   I guess I just never thought about it---we don't pay much attention to what is in our own backyards.

The original wagon ruts are still there, near Baker City, Oregon.  On our next trip thru, we are stopping and standing on part of the original Oregon Trail!

There was so much about this book that was 'sentimental' for me.  I live in the west and this book was all about--heading that way!

My great-grandparents came out on a covered wagon and homesteaded in north-east Oregon---not far from Baker City.

When we were newly married we lived in Walla Walla, Washington, the  home of the Whitman Mission--Narcissa Whitman was mentioned more than once in the book.

And the kindness and the generosity and hospitality of the western people mentioned by the author was very gracious.

So, yes, I did get sentimental at the end of the book.

Oh...and I have a crush on mules now.

Thanks JoAnn for reading the book and bringing it to my attention.

4 stars!

Nonfiction November - Week 3--Non-Traditional Nonfiction Reads

Week 3 is hosted by Becca at Lost in Books.

This week we will be focusing on the nontraditional side of reading nonfiction.  Nonfiction comes in many forms  There are the traditional hardcover or paperback print books, of course, but then you also have e-books, audiobooks, illustrated and graphic nonfiction, oversized folios, miniatures, internet publishing, nonfiction short stories, and enhanced books (book itself includes artifacts, audio, historical documents, images, etc.) So many choices! Do you find yourself drawn to or away from nontraditional nonfiction? Do you enjoy some nontraditional formats, but not others? Perhaps you have recommendations for readers who want to dive into nontraditional formats.  We want to hear all about it this week!  

Non-Traditional.  Hmmmm.
I have noticed that there are a lot of good blog posts this week about audio books.  Of course, that too, is my favorite non-traditional type of reading  nonfiction, but I don't feel I can add to anything that isn't already out there, so I will share my weird love of COFFEE TABLE BOOKS with you. Oversized wonderful, glorious, amazing books you put on your coffee table.  If you have a coffee table, that is.

I just happen to have a coffee table in my living room, and right now I have three ---

They are nonfiction books about--letter writing and cursive handwriting. I love writing letters--old fashioned snail mail letters--I think it's really important, but  that's another story.  

Right now if you come to my house you can easily glance thru these books above, or  this one below, if you are in my Den/TV room:

An interesting history on the evolution the gas station.

I really miss the gas stations of my youth!

  If you take a quick look on my bookshelves you might see these:

This one is really interesting---the power of the headline!  Back when we got our news from the newspaper.

This is a great pictorial tour of back roads and signs that might 'save' us, in the American Landscape.  I find it interesting that most of these type of signs are in rural settings -- not to say that city dwelling people don't agree, they just don't feel the need to write it on old trash cans, etc,  I guess.

I LOVE the  coffee table book!!  You can find one on almost any subject imaginable.   They are easy to read in short spurts of time. A little bit here, a little bit the next time you sit down on the couch.  I think they are lovely, wonderful, interesting, intriguing, beautiful.

They are not for everybody though.  I have friends who say that books lying around on coffee tables look messy to them ( Fair enough.)   And they are pricey sometimes. Lots of glossy photographs in color = more money to produce and then ya gotta pay for it.  And they are the kind of books that were in the 'reference' library, not to be checked out, but only looked at. (at least when we were kids), and some people feel they can only look once--that's enough for them. 

I guess in a way, they are like photo-journalism to me...and I always did love National Geographic and  the old photo-magazines, Look and Life. I'm dating myself, I know.

So....does a coffee table book date me too?  Do only old ladies have coffee table books?

Now, having said that, (and I might joke about being old, but I'm really NOT ) here is a list of some  coffee table books I want--just in case anyone feels they want to send me a Christmas present:

Between the World and Me

 

From Goodreads:

In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden?

Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’s attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son—and readers—the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the world through a series of revelatory experiences, from Howard University to Civil War battlefields, from the South Side of Chicago to Paris, from his childhood home to the living rooms of mothers whose children’s lives were taken as American plunder. Beautifully woven from personal narrative, reimagined history, and fresh, emotionally charged reportage, Between the World and Me clearly illuminates the past, bracingly confronts our present, and offers a transcendent vision for a way forward.

 

From Me:

4 stars.

Yes, it is powerful.

Yes, it is eye opening.

Yes, it is thought provoking.

Yes, it is well written and well spoken.

Yes, I think everyone should read it.

 

While I might have disagreed with a couple of his observations, I choose not to, because I have never walked in his shoes.

 

I just hope that somehow he can also share a sense of joy about the world to his son.

In some way.  Somehow.

 

The author narrated his own book and I think he did an outstanding job.

 

I chose to read this because I am participating in Nonfiction November and I've seen this on a blog or two and it got great reviews from the bloggers.  I'm so glad that I've taken part in this event--it has opened my eyes to so many great reads that I was unaware of.

 

 

Nonfiction November Week 2

Welcome to the second week of Nonfiction November. Our host this week is Leslie (Regular Rumination)

 

For the second week of Nonfiction November, we are discussing Book Pairings. The original intention of this week’s theme was put together a fiction book and a nonfiction book that go well together. If you decide to pair two nonfiction books together, that works too! It could be two (or more!) books you’ve read, one book you’ve read and one you have not, or two books that you’ve added to your TBR and want to read that you think will complement and inform each other.

 

I have to be honest--when I first read week #2 topic, I read what non-fiction book would you pair with a movie.

I've been racking my brain to figure that one out.

  It' what I get for reading too fast.

 

So...let me give you my recommendations for a pairing or two.

I am reading the Oregon Trail (almost done) for NFN and I'm loving it.

 

 

I think a good Fiction pairing for this book would be:

 

 

 

A Louis L'Amour book.

(My grandfather's favorite author.)

This happens to be the only L'Amour book I've ever read, and I read it because it's a great read-a-loud!   I was a determined and passionate READ-Aloud parent!

 I read it to my boys when they were younger.

It's about 2 children who survive a massacre on the Oregon Trail.

After the massacre Hardy and Betty Sue were left with only a horse and a knife with which to face the long battle against the wilderness. A seven-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl, stranded on the limitless prairie. They were up against starvation, marauding Indians, savage outlaws, and wild animals. They were mighty stubborn, but the odds were against them--and their luck was about to run out.

 

If you are passionate about reading aloud to your kids (or nieces or nephews or grandchildren) this is a great book!  It's for a little bit older/experienced readers/listeners, but well worth it.

I think it fits the 'If you liked this, you might like this" topic.

 

I also think these would make a good pairing---

The Aviator's Wife and  Lindbergh.

He was an intriguing and very interesting man. 

His wife (according the Aviator's Wife) a saint.

While I haven't read 'Lindbergh', I think it would be a great read-- to see what fact was mingled in with the fiction read.

 

 

 

And now, because I'm a dork and can't read right---do you want to know my non-fiction book to movie pairing?

It's a subject that is fascinating to me.

 

This Book:

 

 

And this Movie:

 

 

And those are my pairings!

Off to read!

 

 

 

Nonfiction November - Week 1

Apparently I suck at non-fiction reading.   You'll soon see....
But first...

This is my first year for Nonfiction November.  I'M SO EXCITED!  (because...I just am) I'm looking forward to finishing a couple of non-fiction books I've begun and reading a brand new one too!  In my mind, it will be a wonderful, calm (before the storm),  sitting by the fire, curling up with some good books, drinking good coffee, smelling pumpkin spice and turkey kind of month. In reality I feel November flies by, so I am hoping that this will help me be calm and relaxed---which is what I've always wanted for November.
Thanks to Kim (Sophisticated Dorkiness), Becca (I'm Lost in Books),  Lu (Regular Rumination)  and Katie (Doing Dewey) for hosting!

Our first week is hosted by Kim and the topic is (by the way, there will be different topics each week in November):
Your Year in Nonfiction: Take a look back at your year of nonfiction and reflect on the following questions – What was your favorite nonfiction read of the year? What nonfiction book have you recommended the most? What is one topic or type of nonfiction you haven’t read enough of yet? What are you hoping to get out of participating in Nonfiction November?

As I said, apparently I suck!  I've only read 5--FIVE nonfiction books this year.  And that makes me kind of sad.  Although, I am a fan of coffee table books. Does that count?  I've bought a couple and read them. That could up my count total. Hmmmmm?  Or cookbooks?  Do they count?  I've read a ton of cookbooks!

What was your favorite nonfiction read of the year?
My favorite has to be A River Lost: The Life and Death of the Columbia

 

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, in the shadow of the Columbia River. And I loved this book and I love this river.

 

 

What nonfiction book have you recommended the most?

I would have to say Amy Poehler's  "Yes Please".   She is brilliant---in a comedic sort of way. And since I've only read 5 nonfiction so far this year, my pickings are slim.  Not to say that I wouldn't recommend this one anyway.  I loved it.

 

I know her humor is not for everyone, but I listened to the audio, narrated by Poehler herself and the timing was spot on--of course.  I have watched the PBS documentary about the Comedians and just find it amazing how women comics broke thru the 'man's world',  so I have a soft spot in my heart, I guess, for women comedians.

AND--I wish I was that witty.  I'm the one who goes home and play something over in my mind for a day or two and THEN, only THEN do I come up with a witty comeback.

 

 

What is one topic or type of nonfiction you haven’t read enough of yet?

Obviously I read more on the lighter side of non-fiction, but I would have to say---Books on Social Justice written by progressive Christians. 

Seriously.  

And that can be a tuff and really deep subject, so I tend to stay away and stick to easier nonfiction like memoirs and cookbooks.  But I  would like to read more of that type of nonfiction some day.  Heaven must be a big library, right?

 

 

What are you hoping to get out of participating in Nonfiction November?

I'm just hoping to get a lot of good recommendations, visit some new-to-me blogs, making new friends and getting enthused about nonfiction!  Adding to my TBR list!!!

 

 

Signing off to read now....  The Oregon Trail!  (it's nonfiction!)   (I know you knew that---I was being silly)  (see?  Not that witty---I feel I have to explain myself--Poehler would never do that)