Read Women discussion

Hi all, I have just been thinking that judging by the amount of nominations, range of interests and the active engament with the topic for May, maybe we should consider including a Non-fiction challenge in the group...It seems that many of us already read fiction and non-fiction indistinctively and it feels that one essay a year is maybe too little? I post it here not to interrupt the nominations messages, I didn´t know how to bring this up..

I'm glad you started the thread. I'd love to see some discussion. I read nonfiction occasionally, but I'm not ready to make a challenge for myself - at least not this year. I think there are some in the group who would take you up on it, though.

One author I've read relatively recently, and would certainly read again is Candice Millard. I read her The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey. Because the central figure is a former US president, Theodore Roosevelt, some might think it is sort of a political novel. Not in the least! For me it was more of an adventure novel, where Roosevelt was one member of group who explored what at that time was an almost mythical South American river.

Yes, I understand that yet a non-fiction book per month can be a bit too much, and I had thought about a paralel, voluntary challenge, like the Reading from around the world, or maybe even just a book every two or three months. I read almost as much non-fiction as fiction, and am currently almost obsessed by Rebecca Solnit´s writing. I feel her sensibility and way to approach her topics and interests very close to mine. Also for this year I have lined up At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails, A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women: Essays on Art, Sex, and the Mind and several Susan Sontag. I´m interested in politics, philosophy and psychology, also in fiction.

I like more biographical type things and history. Will absolutely not read politics, philosophy, psychology type things. But the world is wide.

EDIT: at least not on purpose - I suspect a few things turn out to be in those categories.

I rarely read nonfiction books, because I read a tremendous amount at work, and throughout the day in terms of news, and my personal reading is to fill my mind with something else so it doesn't spin around work or problem-solving.

Having said that, I might well participate in 2 - 3 group reads with this group per year of a non-fiction book. One suggestion for group reads of non-fiction is that we narrow the topic so that it's not wide-open, katy-bar-the-door. Maybe select a theme (or you could go through the same nomination, voting process for themes if you wanted to, but it's more work for the mod/s): "politics" "travel" "feminism" "philosophy" "human trafficking" "human rights" "social justice". Whatever.

That's a good idea, Carol. I like that Louise is trying this, and, if I read her intro right, it looks as if she intends this to be an every other month offering, alternating with Read Around the World. I would add to your categories "biography", "history", and "autobiography/memoir" - with the mods choosing the categories and rotation.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "That's a good idea, Carol. I like that Louise is trying this, and, if I read her intro right, it looks as if she intends this to be an every other month offering, alternating with Read Around the W..."

Absolutely. And I was thinking of those categories as examples, only, not limits or comprehensive. I like your suggested adds, and no doubt there are more. Even a "published since 2000" or "published before 1950" would be interesting from time to time.

My adds would be archaeology and anthropology which are of particular interest to me.

Science and Medicine
Art, Music and Literature
Religion
Animals

Perhaps another option is to group 2 or 3 themes together .... Good thing the decision is above my paygrade.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "That's a good idea, Carol. I like that Louise is trying this, and, if I read her intro right, it looks as if she intends this to be an every other month offering, alternating with Read Around the W..."


You do read into my intro right! May was going to be my test run to see if there was enough interest but the sheer no (and variety!) of the nominations there, and this thread here, make me think that there should be enough to get this off the ground.

And yes, I was going to try to rotate in a number of themes/genres to ensure variety, I will get a thread up in announcements soon. I can make it into a challenge if people want that as well, though I'll probably sit it out myself as I already have a non-fiction challenge elsewhere.

Personally, I really enjoy a good non-fiction and read a few non-fiction books a year, nowhere near half of my reading though! I have found myself reading a lot more since being out of uni though. I think it's cause I just really love learning/knowing stuff and I no longer have non-fiction burnout from having to constantly read academia for essay and dissertation research. Though I do miss that at times.

My own main areas of interest are history, archaeology, natural history, and biographies of people I didn't really learn about in History. Also museology, but that one is way too specific (and tending towards dry and academic) to force other people to read.

Louise wrote: "Also museology, but that one is way too specific (and tending towards dry and academic) to force other people to read. "

Interestingly, GR has a shelf for museology. I tripped over this looking at my own shelves for another challenge.

https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "I like more biographical type things and history. Will absolutely not read politics, philosophy, psychology type things. But the world is wide.

EDIT: at least not on purpose - I suspect a few thin..."

I dislike political books as well.

I would be interested in more non-fiction selections for our book choices. I've read very little non-fiction and would like to change that.

I don't read enough non-fiction books myself and welcome the challenge. Like other writers above me, I'm not interested in any political books including autobiographies or biographies of politicians.

History always fascinates me so perhaps we can pick a specific period in history and nominate some eras that people are interested in reading. Elizabethan England is a complex era and I enjoy reading about the conflicts that Henry VIII passed on to his heir.

Travel journals may be a broad stretch for non-fiction but perhaps the genre may open some of eyes of traveling places where we haven't traveled.

While I might not be interested in reading current political non-fiction, I certainly wouldn't suggest that because I don't want to read it, it shouldn't be chosen as a group read. I *am* interested in history, and that might or might not involve politics. I guess one could say that as far back as Henry VIII is just history, but it's hard for me to think there was anything non-political about a king deciding he could just chuck the pope and become head of his own church.

I'm interested in non-fiction, especially non fiction about periods and/or biographies of characters in ancient history.

I am currently reading Hatchepsut: The Female Pharaoh by Joyce A. Tyldesley. Hatchepsut was a very successful pharaoh who dressed like a man and wore a false pharaoh's beard to make herself acceptable. After her death, there were systematic efforts to destroy all traces of her--including her monuments and portraits. It's fascinating. It's also political.

I don't see how you can read about any period or person in history without getting into the politics of the time.

Hey all,

You might be interested to know the group will be instigating bimonthly non-fic reads from July. Announcement thread here.

Hi. If anyone is interested in reading a short, contemporary non-fiction book, check out Busting Clichés. It's about common clichés and how they affect our life choices. With cartoons, popular music references, and personal experiences of famous and regular folks, it is sure to grab you by the eyeballs. Please go here to take a look:

https://www.amazon.com/Busting-Cliche...

PS It's available for free on Kindle till Monday. And yes, I am the author, but this recommendation is pretty unbiased :)

Mahevash wrote: "PS It's available for free on Kindle till Monday. And yes, I am the author, but this recommendation is pretty unbiased :) "

But not allowed according to group rules.

Really sorry about that! It's been a long week thus the gaffe.

While reading the NYTimes Book Review today, I learned of The Stonewall Reader: Edited by The New York Public Library released to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the uprising. (I feel so old, but that’s beside the point, one supposes).


I understand from reviews that the audiobook is the way to go, for those who find audio appealing. Original interviews and the like.

I’d love to buddy read this later this year if anyone is interested. Right now I’m overcommitted and overwhelmed, but no doubt that’s a momentary state.

LitHub's Fall Nonfiction previews are available online today and could be a great place to start if anyone wants to propose a buddy read, share recommendations, add to their holiday list of requested gift books (if you or your fam celebrate a year-end holiday by gift exchanges) or simply augment your TBR ...

History:
https://lithub.com/lit-hubs-fall-2019...

The Lost Art of Scripture by Karen Armstrong (release date 5Nov)

The Compatriots: The Brutal and Chaotic History of Russia's Exiles, Émigrés, and Agents Abroad by Irina Borogan and Andrei Soldatov. (release date 8 October)

Highway of Tears: A True Story of Racism, Indifference and the Pursuit of Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls by Jessica McDiarmid (release date 12Nov)

Mudlark: In Search of London's Past Along the River Thames by Lara Maiklem (release date 5Nov)

Maoism: A Global History by Julia Lovell (release date 3Sept)

America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United States by Erika Lee (release date 26November)

Biography

https://lithub.com/lit-hubs-fall-2019...

Passionate Spirit: The Life of Alma Mahler by Cate Haste (release date 10Sept)

Still Here: The Madcap, Nervy, Singular Life of Elaine Stritch by Alexandra Jacobs (release date 22Oct)

The In-Betweens: The Spiritualists, Mediums, and Legends of Camp Etna by Mira Ptacin (release date 29October)

Black Radical: The Life and Times of William Monroe Trotter by Kerri K. Greenidge (release date 19Nov)

She Came to Slay: The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman by Erica Armstrong Dunbar (release date 5Nov)

All the President's Women: Donald Trump and the Making of a Predator by Monique El-Faizy and Barry Levine. (release date 22October)

Condé Nast: The Man and His Empire -- A Biography by Susan Ronald. (release date 3Sept)

and more topics/lists:

Technology:
https://lithub.com/lit-hubs-fall-2019...

Social Science
https://lithub.com/lit-hubs-fall-2019...

Politics

https://lithub.com/lit-hubs-fall-2019...

Five non-fiction reads I'm excited about this fall are:

Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers: Monstrosity, Patriarchy, and the Fear of Female Power (already mentioned in the essays thread)

Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language byGretchen McCulloch

Buzz, Sting, Bite: Why We Need Insects by Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson

Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language by Amanda Montell

No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg

2storyheart - I'm really looking forward to Wordslut and Dead Blondes. Thanks for sharing this list!

For anyone on NetGalley, The Black Cabinet: The Untold Story of African Americans and Politics During the Age of Roosevelt by Jill Watts is available to request. Its release date is May 22, 2020.

I'm also interested in American Radicals: How Nineteenth-Century Protest Shaped the Nation by Holly Jackson. Release date is October 8.

I’m intrigued by a new (April) release featured in the NYT this morning, Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life by Lulu Miller. She’s an NPR science reporter and this, her debut, is a biography of David Starr Jordan of Stanford and eugenics fame. If it wasn’t so new, I’d nominate it for our upcoming science-oriented group read. As it is, I’ll just seek it out for myself. Here’s a review that presents sufficient detail to determine if it’s one to add to your TBR or pass on.

https://chireviewofbooks.com/2020/04/...

Sounds interesting, Carol.

I'm also reading an arc I wish I could nominate for our upcoming science-oriented group read: The Reindeer Chronicles: And Other Inspiring Stories of Working with Nature to Heal the Earth by Judith D. Schwartz. I'm about halfway through and it's fascinating. Who knew soil science and the water cycle could be so interesting?

Story❤ wrote: "Sounds interesting, Carol.

I'm also reading an arc I wish I could nominate for our upcoming science-oriented group read: [book:The Reindeer Chronicles: And Other Inspiring Stories of Working with..."

Reindeer Chronicles sounds so interesting! I just requested an ARC, fingers crossed.

Oh! I hope you get a copy, Nadine. It's so rare to read a hopeful environmental book.

Story❤ wrote: "Sounds interesting, Carol.

I'm also reading an arc I wish I could nominate for our upcoming science-oriented group read: [book:The Reindeer Chronicles: And Other Inspiring Stories of Working with..."

wow - this sounds great! I know. right? The non-fiction book that has stayed with me the most over the last 18 months is one i read about the Flint water crisis. I still find myself accosting strangers to discuss aging pipes in industrial cities, environmental justice and the like. -- none of which are typical excitement for this english and psych major whose eyes glaze over at the mention of chemistry, physics, biology, geology, etc.