  • LibraryThing
  • Book discussions
  • Your LibraryThing
  • Join to start using.

June 2011 reads

Non-Fiction Readers

Join LibraryThing to post.

This topic is currently marked as "dormant"—the last message is more than 90 days old. You can revive it by posting a reply.

1LyzzyBee
Jun 4, 2011, 1:50am

Really, no thread for this yet?

I'm reading The Story of England (no touchstone???) by Michael Wood, looking at England's history as it played out in one village, and Nine Wartime Lives which is about Mass Observation and WWII and is fascinating. Also How I Wrote My First Novel which is an e-book of slightly more limited interest...

2TooBusyReading
Jun 4, 2011, 10:46am

I was fortunate to get an e-book ARC of Karl Marlantes's What It is Like to Go to War, and started it last night. It is not going to be an easy read for me, and is a very serious topic, but so far, I'm really liking it. It takes me a lot longer to read nonfiction than it does fiction though -- takes more concentration from my scattered little brainwaves.

3Seajack
Jun 4, 2011, 11:24am

Last night, I started Boozehound (On the Trail of the Rare, the Obscure, and the Overrated in Spirits) -- one of those where I was skeptical of the glowing reviews until I actually began reading and was hooked almost immediately.

4LynnB
Jun 4, 2011, 2:16pm

I'm starting my ER book, A Matter of Conscience by Sherry Lee Hoppe

5snash
Jun 4, 2011, 6:07pm

I finished The Red Queen which is an interesting presentation of the roll of sex in evolution, and the evolution of sex. It provided much food for thought, but towards the end, it seemed schools of thought were flippantly tossed on the trash heap rather than more thoughtfully analyzed.

6TooBusyReading
Jun 7, 2011, 10:34am

I finished Karl Marlantes's book What It is Like to Go to War and was very impressed. It isn't going to be published until September, but I do recommend it. It was a much quicker read than I was expecting, and very powerful. Just my opinion, of course.

7techeditor
Jun 7, 2011, 11:25am

I just finished a wonderful book: Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. I highly recommend it.

8txpam
Edited: Jun 7, 2011, 4:06pm

I'm a big nonfiction fan. Just finished In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Eric Larson and was disappointed. I loved two of his other titles though.

9txpam
Jun 7, 2011, 4:07pm

thanks LyzzyBee for starting the thread. What are some favorite nonfiction titles? Anyone?

10Seajack
Jun 9, 2011, 6:30pm

Started Tony Perottet's The Sinner's Grand Tour: A Journey Through the Historical Underbelly of Europe - I'm a fan of his writing, and it's an interesting premise.

11Ignotu
Jun 11, 2011, 12:37pm

I’m reading Ideas That Matter by A. C. Grayling, also The Oxford Handbook of Bioethics edited by Bonnie Steinbock and A History of Rome by M. Cary and H. H. Scullard.

#9
I just finished The Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes. It’s a tremendous book about science investigation and discovery in the late 18th and early 19th century, revealing as well the poetic and romantic aspirations of those early scientists.

12jfetting
Jun 11, 2011, 12:40pm

I'm starting Cleopatra: a life by Stacy Schiff just as soon as I pick it up from the library. I've heard mixed reviews, so I'm not sure what to expect.

13LynnB
Jun 12, 2011, 11:21am

jfetting, my book club will be reading that next year. Hope it's good!

14TooBusyReading
Jun 12, 2011, 12:42pm

For those who may be interested, Erik Larson will be discussing his book In the Garden of Beasts on BookTV. The dates and times, copied from http://booktv.org, are:

Sunday, June 12th at 11pm (ET)
Sunday, June 19th at 10:45am (ET)

15whymaggiemay
Jun 12, 2011, 3:00pm

Started Innocents Abroad yesterday. This is a book which is listed on both the fiction and non-fiction shelves of the library and, in reading it, that's exactly what we're getting -- a little non-fiction mixed with a little fiction, especially satire.

I'm also still reading At Dawn We Slept which, I'm sure, I'll still be reading well through July and into August. I'm only just 1/4 through after reading for weeks (but, when one reads 3-5 books at a time, one has to expect that in a 700+ page history book).

16snash
Jun 12, 2011, 3:30pm

I just finished Stan Musial. My sense is that the book did the best it could with a difficult subject. It gave a good picture of the man and the times. The problem was that Stan Musial was a public man with very little private man available, even to himself. So it seemed anyway. Vecsey tried very hard to find more depth to him but could only get tiny glimpses. That said, his grace, congeniality, and humor came through clearly. A man of another era.

17burgett7
Jun 13, 2011, 7:49am

Just finished The Sisters of Sinai, an entertaining account of two Scotch sisters search for ancient biblical manuscripts. Starting Freedom for the Thought That We Hate by Anthony Lewis.

18nhlsecord
Jun 13, 2011, 8:03am

I've enjoyed The Sisters of Sinai also. I'm now reading Day of Honey by Annia Ciezadlo. It's about her marriage to a Lebanese Shiite Muslim (from New York) and their stay in the Middle East after 9/11. And it's about FOOD, wonderful FOOD! She's a very good writer.

19fdholt
Jun 13, 2011, 8:20am

I am adding The sisters of Sinai to my wishlist which gets longer by the day! Thanks to all LT members for enriching my reading.

This month I finished:
The story of utopias by Lewis Mumford
The mindbody prescription : healing the body, healing the pain by John E. Sarno

I am now reading my LTER book:
American College of Sports Medicine complete guide to fitness & health edited by Barbara Bushman

20Polaris-
Jun 13, 2011, 1:34pm

Just embarking on the superb Israeli historian Tom Segev's 1967: Israel, the War, and the Year that Transformed the Middle East. Just flicking through it at the start, it looks every bit as good as his excellent pre-1948 history One Palestine Complete which I highly recommend for anyone looking for an objective analysis of the period of turmoil in Palestine under British rule (1918-1948).

21TooBusyReading
Jun 13, 2011, 2:15pm

I finished Erik Larson's In the Garden of Beasts this morning, and really enjoyed reading it. I knew nothing of Ambassador Dodd's service in Germany during Hitler's rise, so I was both entertained and educated.

I know that some other people have been disappointed with the book in light of the author's earlier works. I haven't yet read those so I have no basis for comparison, but I a glad I read this one.

23TooBusyReading
Jun 14, 2011, 10:49am

I thoroughly enjoyed Running the Books, LynnB, but some of my online friends who read mostly nonfiction and whose tastes are generally like mine didn't care for it. I'll be curious to see what you think once you've finished it

24mstrust
Jun 14, 2011, 11:18am

I'm reading Alice Waters and Chez Panisse, about how Waters formed her attitude about cooking that led to her opening the famous restaurant.

25Seajack
Jun 16, 2011, 11:06pm

I'm about halfway through Twenty-Five Books that Shaped America - although I'm not keen on reading most of the actual entries, I like the author's style in describing them.

26LynnB
Jun 17, 2011, 10:50am

I finished Running the Books this morning and found it "ok", not great. The writing is disjointed and I found myself sometimes confused as to the sequence of events. Also, I lost track of who some of the characters were. On the bright side, there were some unique insights. There are so many books written by or from the perspective of inmates, guards, lawyers and (somewhat less often) by social workers. A young librarian's voice adds another perspective to issues of cirme and punishment and getting along in society.

27DeadFred
Jun 17, 2011, 3:26pm

28Bill_Masom
Jun 17, 2011, 3:48pm

Just finished American Caesar, Douglas MacArthur, 1880-1964 by William Manchester

My review of it here: http://www.librarything.com/work/38899/reviews/66508061

Do not know what I am reading next.

Bill Masom

29LyzzyBee
Jun 18, 2011, 11:36am

Oh no! I've just realised I'm still reading the same books I started the thread with! I have added Laxdaela Saga to the How I wrote book on the Kindle, but that's just when I'm commuting. Must get on with the other two. The unfortunate casualty when I started my own business has been my own reading :(

30mkboylan
Jun 18, 2011, 12:30pm

Hi Group - Is it customary in this group to double post if you are also posting on the What Are You Reading this Week group? If so:

Just finished Making the Connection Between Brain and Behavior Coping with Parkinson's Disease by Joseph H. Friedman. One of my favorite Parkinson's books so far. My mom has Parkinson's and I can't wait for her to read this. She continually feels guilty because she thinks she should be handling it better and I hope this book will help. She handles it VERY well, but this book examines the connections between Parkinson's and feelings of guilt, depression, anxiety, indecisivessness (can't decide how to spell that!) and brain issues. That is, does PD itsel fcause the guilt and depression, or are they a reaction to dealing with the physical symptoms. Great book and I hope it will be helpful for many. If you or someone you care about has Parkinson's, check it out. oh wait wait! Especially intersting - it addresses the fact that some people with PD who have been lifelong readers, like my mom, no longer enjoy reading - such a big loss at a time when she can rarely get out. - some associated problems effecting reading - tremors, difficulty turning pages, difficulty staying awake, soft speech that makes it hard to discuss your reading with others (there are book groups where she is living). Now THAT hurts!

31Seajack
Jun 18, 2011, 12:58pm

30 mkboylan --

I sometimes post here and audiobooks for non-fictions that I'm listening to at the time. My dad has Parkinsons, and on bad days it's nearly impossible for him to communicate much at all. He does read quite a bit as he loves history and memoir/autobiography. I don't think he feels so much guilty,as frustrated often.

32DugsBooks
Jun 19, 2011, 5:24pm

I just finished A planet of Viruses by Carl Zimmer published in 2011.
The book is a short 100 pages that is an easy read but touches on a lot of facts that I was unaware of since I have been out of school a good while. A good historical timeline of our discovery of viral facts is woven into the chapters which are each about particular types of viruses. No graphs or tabular tables just scanning electron microscope photos to introduce each chapter.

I also posted this in the Science LT {see link} section and there someone pointed out that Zimmer is an LT author.
http://www.librarything.com/topic/78548

33qebo
Jun 22, 2011, 9:20am

29: Oh no! I've just realised I'm still reading the same books I started the thread with! :-) Been there.

32: Oooh, A Planet of Viruses leapt over the wishlist and went straight to the shopping cart.

34LynnB
Jun 27, 2011, 12:26pm

I'm reading My Heart is Africa: A Flying Adventure by Scott Griffin. It tells of his time in Africa, working for a medical NGO and exploring in his Cessna 180.

35Samantha_kathy
Jun 28, 2011, 12:43pm

I'm currently reading Introduction to Ecological Genomics by Nico van Straalen and Dick Roelofs. It's for an exam I have later this week and the two authors are my professors, which makes it all very interesting. The book is fairly readable, for people with enough background in genetics anyway.

36DugsBooks
Edited: Jun 28, 2011, 3:19pm

Sam, mentioned on your exam that I went out and bought 2 copies of the book, in case I wear one out reading it repeatedly. ;-) Maybe a bonus point for that.

BTW is what J. Craig Venter is doing, sailing around the world taking water samples and analyzing the genes in the soup, considered "ecological genomics"?

37Samantha_kathy
Jun 28, 2011, 3:45pm

36> I'll do that, can't hurt :D

About J. Craig Venter: yes and no. No in the sense that just inventarizing (sp?) the genes (and sometimes the organisms) in his water samples are not ecology. Yes in the sense that what he's doing will enable ecologists to ask and perhaps answer questions that are ecological in nature.

Like with most things in biology, it's not so much what you do as which question you're asking and how you answer it that determines which field you're working in. A simple example of this:

I want to know how a population of fruitflies (D. melanogaster) reacts to extreme heat. This question in and of itself is fairly ecological. But how I answer it can change a lot:

1. I try to see which genes are expressed differently between a control population and a population exposed to extreme heat --> ecological genomics
2. I examine which proteins are active in the cells of the exposed population and not in the control population --> molecular biology
3. I look at which behavioral changes the exposed population exhibits --> behavioral ecology
4. I try to determine which mechanisms are responsible for their ability to sustain themselves (or not sustain themselves) as a population when under extreme heat and where in the evolution those traits could have come from --> evolutionary ecology

So as you can see, different ways of looking at the same problem can lead you into wildy varying fields. (And I didn't even give all the examples I could come up with.)

But, while some parts of J. Craig Venter's work can be called ecological genomics, I don't think there's a biologist working in that field that actually would. :D

38Bill_Masom
Edited: Jun 29, 2011, 3:24am

Just finished Woman in the Mists by Farley Mowat

Review here: http://www.librarything.com/work/238444/reviews/9134081

Not sure what is next.

Bill Masom

41Robreads
Jun 29, 2011, 7:49pm

I just read (twice in a row) Just Kids by Patti Smith, a loving portrait of her relationship with a very young and surprisingly contradictory Robert Mapplethorpe and their development as artists.

42Zozette
Jun 30, 2011, 1:37am

The Circus Fire: A True Story of an American Tragedy by Stewart O'Nan. About the fire in Hartford back in 1944 that killed 167 people.

43LynnB
Jun 30, 2011, 2:38pm

I'm about to start Zeitoun by Dave Eggers.

44PokPok
Jun 30, 2011, 2:58pm

I've not been online much this month, and hope that this late post doesn't get lost.

I read the ten star, "elevated to my top 5 books ever" Abortion: the clash of Absolutes by Laurence Tribe. As a constitutional scholar, Tribe covers the abortion debate from a legal and historical perspective with near impartiality. (You can tell he is pro-choice, but he absolutely pokes holes in the logic of that side, as well.) In fact, his central premise is that both sides are arguing "absolutes". There are logical and philosophical holes with each, and in order to move forward as a country, we need to accept that there must be compromise.

Also, I devoured in 3 days, Columbine. A very good, 9 star book about the school shootings. It alternates in time between the perpetrators back story, their parents, other students backstory, etc, and the time post-shooting. It is not gossipy in the least, in fact it blasts many of the myths as untrue. (Misty Bernall, and the "trench coat mafia", both of which rang untrue to me at the time.

PokPok

45Samantha_kathy
Jun 30, 2011, 3:11pm

44> Abortion: the clash of absolutes is now definitely on my TBR list. It's a subject that every woman should know about, I think, but impartial (or as impartial as one ever gets) books are virtually non-existent. So this is a rare find that I'll definitely read!

46mkboylan
Jun 30, 2011, 4:45pm

43 - I so enjoyed zeitun - wonderful book!

47mkboylan
Jun 30, 2011, 4:54pm

44 and 45 - good point on the clash of absolutes. There was a brief period of time when some pro-choice people and some pro-life people were working together to create a world with free birth.control and free or cheap health care and childcare instead of fighting each other. anyone remember that group? I don't know what happened to them. I loved the idea - the third choice that is always available and better than the other choices. That idea is presented beautifully in the book The Magic of Conflict.

48TooBusyReading
Jun 30, 2011, 6:10pm

I read (but not this month) both Zeitoun and Columbine and thought both were excellent books. Both are about very disturbing subjects and both handled, IMHO, very well.

49kageeh
Jul 2, 2011, 8:19pm

I'm reading The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth by Alexandra Robbins. It seems that high school hasn't changed all that much in the past 47 years. It also seems that no one really loved high school, even those you were sure were having the best times of their lives. It's comforting to know that those on the fringe end up being the most contented and successful as adults but that doesn't make those four years any less a circle of hell.

Group: Non-Fiction Readers

2,721 members

7,344 messages

About

This topic is not marked as primarily about any work, author or other topic.

Touchstones

Works

Authors

Help/FAQs | About | Privacy/Terms | Blog | Contact | APIs | WikiThing | Common Knowledge | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | 82,537,308 books!
http://www.librarything.com/topic/118473
www.librarything.com
crawl=CC-MAIN-2013-20
59247
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:A37V4TIBWGO4G6ZVBR55VO4QJXUKXD5Y
<urn:uuid:d7a261a5-90ec-496e-a1d4-2bd8de7c9235>
2013-06-19T13:21:29Z
74.201.105.31
sha1:ALT6YF25QVKZD7GI7JN7YDWJYMHHXL5R
<urn:uuid:78d73008-0d90-47b6-86c8-b7735d8520a6>
http://www.librarything.com/topic/118473
response
<urn:uuid:7453335c-9d7e-43a3-ab07-5afe6e08969d>
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)/CC WarcExport 1.0
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2013-20
operator: CommonCrawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web with URLs provided by Blekko for Spring 2013
publisher: CommonCrawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf