Reading with Style discussion

20.7 Microhistory Joanna's Task-
Microhistory: Microhistories are the study of one small thing, particularly with the goal of searching for answers to larger questions through the examination of a small thing. For this task, read a nonfiction microhistory. Books that fit this task focus on a specific item, event, or city, but are not merely a biography or memoir of a single person or a case study of a single event.

Examples include Salt: A World History, The Secret Life of Lobsters: How Fishermen and Scientists Are Unraveling the Mysteries of Our Favorite Crustacean, and Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers.

For more ideas, these lists might help: (as with all GR lists, make sure the book you pick fits the task)
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/micr...
http://library.austintexas.gov/book-l...

would Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation
or A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books
or The Freemasons: A History of the World's Most Powerful Secret Society
work?

I was worried about this task until I hit that list and found I had 5 on my shelf at home.

Will post for approval once I finish work.

For approval :

The Surgeon of Crowthorne
Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded
The Year 1000: What Life Was Like at the Turn of the First Millennium
The Map That Changed the World
The Island of Lost Maps: A True Story of Cartographic Crime

They were all the titles that I could remember being on my bookshelves when glancing through the first list. Best check to see if there was anything else ...

I would like to check on some books:

Assassination Vacation
Empires Of The Sea: The Final Battle For The Mediterranean, 1521-1580
The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon
Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations

The Invention of Air is on some lists, but would it count? What sets something apart from being a 'mere' biography?

also another website where they are mentioned monohistories in the comments and the post there are quite a few books that would probably count

Rebekah wrote: "would Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation
or A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books
or [book:The Freemasons: A History ..."

I think Founding Brothers does not fit the spirit of this task as it is more biography of the several individuals and specific incidents relating to them.

The other two are fine.

Amanda wrote: "For approval :

The Surgeon of Crowthorne
Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded
The Year 1000: What Life Was Like at the Turn of the First Millennium"

Yes, those work. I have read The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary, I hope you enjoy it.

Eleanor wrote: "The Invention of Air is on some lists, but would it count? What sets something apart from being a 'mere' biography?

also another website where they are mentioned monohistories in th..."

I think this works because the Microhistory list is subtitled "Social histories of just one thing." This work appears to link the research and ideas of the subject person to society as a whole.

Karen Michele wrote: "I would like to check on some books:

Assassination Vacation
Empires Of The Sea: The Final Battle For The Mediterranean, 1521-1580
[book:The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Dea..."

Yes, these work.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Karen Michele wrote: "I would like to check on some books:

Assassination Vacation
Empires Of The Sea: The Final Battle For The Mediterranean, 1521-1580
[book:The Lost Ci..."

Thank you, Elizabeth!

I am planning on reading The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic - and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World. I think it qualifies.

Book Riot has a challenge going with one of the tasks for microhistory. There has been quite a discussion about what constitutes a microhistory. I have read two for that task: At Home: A Short History of Private Life and The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-century Miller.

Book Riots Discussion

Bea wrote: "I am planning on reading The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic - and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World. I think it qualifies.

Book Riot has ..."

I was just about to say something about the Book Riot challenge! It has been quite contentious but interesting nevertheless.

I'm not sure what I'm going to read for this time around, but for Book Riot I read Monongah: The Tragic Story of the 1907 Monongah Mine Disaster, the Worst Industrial Accident in US History. I never checked for confirmation, but I think it fits kind of both the "pop culture" definition and the more academic one. It was very specifically focused on the disaster, but also talked about where it fit within social history as a whole and had a good history of the town as well.

It may have been a mistake for me to read that discussion - that said now I'm looking for an 'academic-defined' microhistory that fits into the DAR task :)

I do have to say I love how varied the tasks always are (mostly because i don't have a to-read list; nowadays i just try to find books that work for a task to earn points :) ). I don't think I've ever read as broadly and randomly as I do now, and I'm loving it

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Yes, those work. I have read The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary, I hope you enjoy it. "

Thanks Elizabeth.

I thought I had read that one, it has been sitting around on our shelves for years, but it seems I hadn't. This style of books was very popular in the shops at one point, so we have quite a few, but it would seem I have only read Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time and The Man Who Invented the Twentieth Century. Oh, and Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love. Not sure that the last two would count, but they were good reads also.

What about A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World from Prehistory to Today William J. Bernstein?

itpdx wrote: "What about A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World from Prehistory to Today William J. Bernstein?"

Yes, that seems to be in spirit of the task.

I have one more to check on:

The Trigger: Hunting the Assassin Who Brought the World to War by Tim Butcher

I bought it for my husband, but it looks really good;)

Karen Michele wrote: "I have one more to check on:

The Trigger: Hunting the Assassin Who Brought the World to War by Tim Butcher

I bought it for my husband, but it looks really good;)"

Yes, WorldCat has this as history, not biography, and will work for this task. (And I look forward to your review. I'm always interested in WWI and related books.)

I'm not sure I "get" the differentiation between history and microhistory.

Here are some books I'm looking at for this task:

The Last Camel Charge: The Untold Story of America's Desert Military Experiment (2012) by Forrest Bryant Johnson

The Invention of Air (2008) by Steven Johnson

Mrs. Adams in Winter: A Journey in the Last Days of Napoleon (2010) by Michael O'Brien

The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (2006) by Michael Pollan

The Wordy Shipmates (2008) by Sarah Vowell

Island on Fire: The Extraordinary Story of a Forgotten Volcano That Changed the World (2014) by Alexandra Witze

Deedee wrote: "I'm not sure I "get" the differentiation between history and microhistory.

Here are some books I'm looking at for this task:

[book:Mrs. Adams in Winter: A Journey in the Last Days of Napoleon|672..."

I'm not sure I can explain it, and perhaps Joanna will want to chime in. Microhistory is history in a small way, having to do with a single event or place, rather than multiple events in a large locale or a biography of a single person. I decided Karen's book on the WWI assassin fit. It appears to be not just the biography of the assassin, but also a history of how the assassination - a single event - came to be. I'm willing to admit I might be wrong. ;-)

As to your offerings in #21, I'm going to say the Mrs. Adams in Winter and The Wordy Shipmates do not fit the spirit of the task. I can only go by the descriptions - and a few reviews - but they seem to be more a general history of a broader time rather than a single event.

The Omnivore's Dilemma and Island on Fire are approved for this task.

I would like to get Seabiscuit: An American LegendSeabiscuit: An American Legend approved for this task. It was on the first list in post #2

Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "I would like to get Seabiscuit: An American LegendSeabiscuit: An American Legend approved for this task. It was on the first list in post #2"

Yes - and the movie about this horse was based on this book, it might combo with 10.9!

Are you sure this combos with 10.9? 10.9 is the Six degrees of Kevin Baccon.

Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "Are you sure this combos with 10.9? 10.9 is the Six degrees of Kevin Baccon."

I'm positive. I'll post it for you.

I've been reading a bit of Unnatural: The Heretical Idea of Making People but it's still unfinished. I'm thinking it might fit the task, but am not sure.

Kätlin wrote: "I've been reading a bit of Unnatural: The Heretical Idea of Making People but it's still unfinished. I'm thinking it might fit the task, but am not sure."

Yes, this works.

I was picking up my books from the library today and did a wander up to the non-fiction section and found Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West. I'd remembered I'd seen it at least a couple of times lately and thought I would pick it up in the hope of fitting it in to my schedule.

It's on the listopia list, but my feeling is it may be too broad ?

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Yes, this works."

Thanks Elizabeth!

Amanda wrote: "I was picking up my books from the library today and did a wander up to the non-fiction section and found Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West. I'd rem..."

This just barely qualifies. You can probably find a Kevin Bacon chain for a combo.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bury_My...

Deedee wrote: "I'm not sure I "get" the differentiation between history and microhistory.

Here are some books I'm looking at for this task:

[book:The Last Camel Charge: The Untold Story of America's Desert Mili..."

Deedee, I'm sorry, I missed your edit that added two titles. Both The Last Camel Charge and The Invention of Air qualify for this task.

Can I get approval for The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales? It's on one of the lists indicated and focuses on true stories of persons with neurological impairment.

Theresa~OctoberLace wrote: "Can I get approval for The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales? It's on one of the lists indicated and focuses on true stories of persons with neurological imp..."

Yes, this works. Looking at this, I found another GR list that some might find interesting:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...

Thanks, Elizabeth. That's actually the same list I'd gotten via the second link in message #2 above. I've also found a Kevin Bacon connection for Oliver Sacks that I'll be posting.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "This just barely qualifies. You can probably find a Kevin Bacon chain for a combo.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bury_My...."

Thanks Elizabeth, my feeling from what I could read of it was that it was too broad.

I already have the Kevin Bacon link ;)

would like to check the following
Our Harsh Logic: Israeli Soldiers' Testimonies from the Occupied Territories, 2000-2010

Under Fire: Untold Stories From The Front Line Of The Iraq War

Into the Fire: A Firsthand Account of the Most Extraordinary Battle in the Afghan War

City of Fire: The 24 June 2004 Battle for Mosul Iraq.

Against All Enemies

Here's to Not Catching Our Hair on Fire: An Absent-Minded Tale of Life with Giftedness and Attention Deficit - Oh Look! A Chicken!

The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O'Neill

The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing

General Grant and the Rewriting of History: How the Destruction of General William S. Rosecrans Influenced Our Understanding of the Civil War

Rebekah wrote: "would like to check the following
Our Harsh Logic: Israeli Soldiers' Testimonies from the Occupied Territories, 2000-2010

..."

Hi Rebekah the Moderators have conferred, and we feel that only the final book in your proposed list fits the task.

Approved:
General Grant and the Rewriting of History: How the Destruction of General William S. Rosecrans Influenced Our Understanding of the Civil War

The rest of the books are either too broad in time span, book focus, or aren't actually a microhistory (Homework book and memoir about ADHD).

This is a rather ambiguous task that's hard to nail down exactly just from the task description.

Thanks for posting your proposed books!

Glock: The Rise of America's Gun by Paul M. Barrett is a $1.99 deal on Kindle today.

I post this as an example of what I think works for the microhistory task. It's a about the development of a single product, and how it's existence has changed US society.

I'm not advocating that folks read this book (I haven't read it) but I saw it on the Book Bub email today (which shows Kindle deals) and thought that it was a good example of what I think of as a microhistory.

All of the following are focused on a specific place, but I don't want to presume to completely understand the task without checking, so when you guys have a chance, could you check out the following? I probably won't get to more than one, but I have all of them on my shelf, so...

Meet You in Hell: Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and the Bitter Partnership That Changed America
Bodies of Work: Civic Display and Labor in Industrial Pittsburgh
Killing Time: Leisure and Culture in Southwestern Pennsylvania, 1800-1850
Making Their Own Way: Southern Blacks' Migration to Pittsburgh, 1916-30
Palace of Culture: Andrew Carnegie's Museums and Library in Pittsburgh
The Steel Workers
Work Accidents & The Law
Women and the Trades: Pittsburgh, 1907–1908
Before Renaissance: Planning in Pittsburgh, 1889-1943

Phew.

Cory Day wrote: "All of the following are focused on a specific place, but I don't want to presume to completely understand the task without checking, so when you guys have a chance, could you check out the followi..."

Cory, these all work. I couldn't find enough on Work Accidents to know for sure, but I did find an original publication date that allowed me to see that it wasn't recent "history" or some legal essays focusing on the present. If I were still doing a lot of genealogy, I might be interested in the Killing Time one, since a branch of my family settled in Allegheny County about that time.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Cory Day wrote: "All of the following are focused on a specific place, but I don't want to presume to completely understand the task without checking, so when you guys have a chance, could you chec..."

Yeah, the Work Accidents one is a little weird because it was written closer in time to when it was investigating. I'll probably pick one of the others just in case :)

Thanks!

Krista wrote: "Rebekah wrote: "would like to check the following
Our Harsh Logic: Israeli Soldiers' Testimonies from the Occupied Territories, 2000-2010

..."

Hi Rebekah the Moderators have con..."

my micro min gets so confused! I thought I saw on the list a woman's memoir of a year of mental illness. Okay I'll stick with the ones that have been approved.

I saw this on a list and want to make sure
Coal: A Human History by Barbara Freese

Rebekah wrote: "I saw this on a list and want to make sure
Coal: A Human History by Barbara Freese"

Yes!

I'm just reading through this thread now. I agree with the mods on their calls so far. I know the task is a little squishy, but this is one of my favorite nonfiction genres. I'm thinking of reading Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World's Most Revered and Reviled Bird.

I think this would work -- Detroit City Is the Place to Be: The Afterlife of an American Metropolis -- and looks really interesting. Would it in fact work?

In case I have time for this task(!) is this book ok?

The Owl Papers by Jonathan Evan Maslow

Valerie wrote: "In case I have time for this task(!) is this book ok?

The Owl Papers by Jonathan Evan Maslow"

Yes. Hopefully there is more history than just the ecology of the bird's environment, and I look forward to a review!

I just want to confirm that Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo works. It is listed in the linked lists.

Thanks