Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to mark your completion of the April challenge for the prompt: a book by or about a journalist. You can join the group read or read a book of your choice.

Please include the following:

Title:
Author:
Would you recommend this book?
Was this fiction or non-fiction / was this a real journalist or a fictional journalist?
Would you have read this book anyway, if not for this Reading Challenge?

I'll start! :-)

Title: It's What I Do: A Photographer's Life of Love and War
Author: Lynsey Addario
Would you recommend this book? YES!
Was this fiction or non-fiction / was this a real journalist or a fictional journalist? This was a non-fiction memoir written by a war photographer (I don't call her a photojournalist since she usually worked with a journalist and her photos supported their stories)
Would you have read this book anyway, if not for this Reading Challenge? No, I never would have picked up this book, and I'm really glad I did, I really liked this book. I listened to the audiobook, and it was great (not what you would expect when a book is about taking photos).

Title: She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement
Author: Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey
Would you recommend this book? Yes
Was this fiction or non-fiction / was this a real journalist or a fictional journalist? Non-fiction about the real expose on Harvey Weinstein.
Would you have read this book anyway, if not for this Reading Challenge? Probably, since it was in the news so much.

Title: Trailblazer: A Pioneering Journalist's Fight to Make the Media Look More Like America
Author: Dorothy Butler Gilliam
Would you recommend this book? Yes, especially if you grew up with The Washington Post in your house like I did :)
Was this fiction or non-fiction / was this a real journalist or a fictional journalist? This was a non-fiction memoir written by the first African American female journalist hired by The Washington Post, where she worked as a reporter, editor, and columnist. The memoir covers what it was like growing up in the segregated South, her early days as a reporter, and her time at the Post.
Would you have read this book anyway, if not for this Reading Challenge? Yes, I had added this to my TBR list when I first heard about it.

Title: The Fall of Richard Nixon: A Reporter Remembers Watergate
Author: Tom Brokaw
Would you recommend this book? That is big old depends as the book itself doesn't do big new shocking revelation more of one man's experience of "where was I" while this historical event was happening and it does have a context of reflection upon that time.
Was this fiction or non-fiction / was this a real journalist or a fictional journalist? Non-Fiction by a real journalist
Would you have read this book anyway, if not for this Reading Challenge? Also a solid maybe as I had enjoyed Brokaw's The Time of Our Lives: A conversation about America; Who we are, where we've been, and where we need to go now, to recapture the American dream and last year this book had catched my eye, the reading promtp provided the impetous to read it however.

Title: Chase Darkness with Me: How One True-Crime Writer Started Solving Murders
Author: Billy Jensen
Would you recommend this book? Yes, especially if you are a MFM fan.
Was this fiction or non-fiction / was this a real journalist or a fictional journalist? Non-fiction book written by a journalist who has spent his career working to solve unsolved murders.
Would you have read this book anyway, if not for this Reading Challenge? Yes because I love true crime, but it probably would have sat on my TBR shelf for longer.

Title: A Visit from the Goon Squad
Author: Jennifer Egan
Would you recommend this book? Maybe. It was just okay.
Was this fiction or non-fiction / was this a real journalist or a fictional journalist? Fiction written by a real journalist
Would you have read this book anyway, if not for this Reading Challenge? Eventually. I try to read Pulitzer Prize winning books on occasion, and this was also on a well-read list I'm slowing working through.

Title: F In Exams Complete Failure Edition
Author:Richard Benson
Would you recommend this book?Nah this book was trash
Was this fiction or non-fiction / was this a real journalist or a fictional journalist? fiction, (although he'd like you to believe real students answered like this) and the author is a journalist
Would you have read this book anyway, if not for this Reading Challenge? I picked it up because I had wanted to read it and it was at my library and it just so happened the author was a journalist.

Title: TEN DAYS IN A MAD-HOUSE
Author: Nellie Bly

Would you recommend this book? Yes. The language is dated, but the research was done and the book was written in the 1880s.

Was this fiction or non-fiction / was this a real journalist or a fictional journalist? This is a non-fiction book by a real journalist. Serious props to Nelly Bly for doing an undercover expose of the treatment of women with mental illness, and getting herself committed to the notorious Blackwell's Island Insane Asylum.

Would you have read this book anyway, if not for this Reading Challenge? At some point, yes. We have come very far in the treatment of persons with mental illness and behavioral disorders. Even in my lifetime in the field, we have learned and applied so much. We have not progressed as far as our treatment of women, and people in poverty or people who speak a language other than English. Well done by a woman, a rarity in 1880's journalism!

Title: Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town
Author:Jon Krakauer
Would you recommend this book? Yes
Was this fiction or non-fiction? Nonfiction; this book tells the true stories of the college rape scene in Missoula, Montana and the trials that ensued.
Would you have read this book anyway, if not for this Reading Challenge? It has been on my TBR for a while so the challenge was welcome!

Title: The Broken Girls
Author: Simone St. James
Would you recommend this book? Yes! The book is fantastic!
Was this fiction or non-fiction / was this a real journalist or a fictional journalist? Fiction. The main character is a journalist investigating deaths on the grounds of a haunted girls' boarding school.
Would you have read this book anyway, if not for this Reading Challenge? Yes, I would have read this eventually. It's been on my TBR for awhile.

Title: Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee

Author: Casey Cep

Would you recommend this book? Highly! The writing is very rich, literary, and engaging (especially for nonfiction!). It is clear that Ms. Cep thoroughly researched the three central stories and went through tons of primary sources. An immersive and exciting read covering everything from the history of the life insurance industry to a political history of Alabama from Reconstruction onward to Harper Lee's odyssey toward publication of To Kill A Mockingbird.

Was this fiction or non-fiction / was this a real journalist or a fictional journalist? Non-fiction, by a journalist who has written for The New Yorker and other media outlets. And Harper Lee, who is one of the 3 central people covered in this book, was herself a writer and journalist/researcher. I have never read In Cold Blood by Truman Capote and did not know that he and Harper Lee were childhood neighbors, nor that Harper Lee conducted a lot of the research and interviews for the book.

Would you have read this book anyway, if not for this Reading Challenge? Some of the subject matter was covered in an episode of the podcast Criminal, and it was intriguing enough that I wanted the full story. I'll admit I may not have been quite as motivated to read it had it not fit so neatly into several Challenge categories this year though :) But this was one of my favorite reads so far this year, and I don't tend to read a lot of nonfiction that is not memoir.

Title: The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories
Author: Ernest Hemingway

Would you recommend this book? Tricky - some of the stories I enjoyed, some I didn't. More of a man's book

Was this fiction or non-fiction / was this a real journalist or a fictional journalist? Fiction by a real journalist.

Would you have read this book anyway, if not for this Reading Challenge? Yes, as we were planning to visit his house in Key West.

Title: The Righteous Men
Author: Sam Bourne

Would you recommend this book? Absolutely!
Was this fiction or non-fiction / was this a real journalist or a fictional journalist? A fictional journalist who goes through a thrilling experience pursuing a story.
Would you have read this book anyway, if not for this Reading Challenge? Yes, it was on my TBR list.

I finished!

Title: Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town

Author: Jon Krakauer

Would you recommend this book? YES if you like nonfiction

Was this fiction or non-fiction? Nonfiction

Would you have read this book anyway, if not for this Reading Challenge? YES...

Title: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Would you recommend this book? Yes! I loved it.
Was this fiction or non-fiction / was this a real journalist or a fictional journalist? Fiction with a fictional journalist
Would you have read this book anyway, if not for this Reading Challenge? Yes, it’s been on my TBR for a few years.

Title: Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time
Author: Greg Mortenson
Would you recommend this book? Yes. It was good, not great.
Was this fiction or non-fiction / was this a real journalist or a fictional journalist? Non-Fiction || Real Journalist
Would you have read this book anyway, if not for this Reading Challenge? Yes, I owned a copy of this book that I had picked up and heard so much hype about it.

Title: The Great Pretender: The Undercover Mission That Changed Our Understanding of Madness
Author: Susannah Cahalan
Would you recommend this book? Yes
Was this fiction or non-fiction / was this a real journalist or a fictional journalist? Real journalist
Would you have read this book anyway, if not for this Reading Challenge? Yes, it was my BOTM pick a few months ago.

title : Dangerous Games
author: Danielle Steel
Its an easy read, typical fast moving adventure.
fictional story of a TV journalist who exposes a powerful and corrupt politician. The ending has a bit of a romantic turn, but overall its ok for a quick read. I would have read this book, I had it on my shelf. I usually read Danielle Steel books in between or together with other serious/ nonfiction literature.

Title: The Library Book
Author: Susan Orlean

Would you recommend this book? Yes, I loved it!

Was this fiction or non-fiction / was this a real journalist or a fictional journalist? Non-fiction/ real journalist

Would you have read this book anyway, if not for this Reading Challenge? Yes, I had already purchased this book.

Title: Life Among the Apaches
Author: John C. Cremony
Would you recommend this book? No, probably not to the general reader. It was really dry. But, if you're really interested in the subject, it's definitely worth a read
Was this fiction or non-fiction / was this a real journalist or a fictional journalist? This was a non-fiction book by a real journalist.
Would you have read this book anyway, if not for this Reading Challenge? I bought it a couple of years ago, so yes.

Title: Cocktails for Three

Author: Madeleine Wickham

Would you recommend this book? Yes if you like the shopoholic series or anything by Sophie Kinsella. Sophie Kinsella is the pen name of Madeleine Wickham's.

Was this fiction or non-fiction / was this a real journalist or a fictional journalist? This is a fiction book about three women who are journalists at the Londoner. Also the author is a former financial journalist.

Would you have read this book anyway, if not for this Reading Challenge? Yep, I bought it at the library sale because I wanted to read it.

Title: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Would you recommend this book? Yes

Was this fiction or non-fiction / was this a real journalist or a fictional journalist? This is a fiction about a fictional journalist.

Would you have read this book anyway, if not for this Reading Challenge? I probably would have read this anyway because the title sounds interesting and because it's highly rated on Goodreads.

Title: Death of a Kitchen Diva
Author: Lee Hollis
Would you recommend this book? Yes, if you like cozy mysteries.
Was this fiction or non-fiction / was this a real journalist or a fictional journalist? Fictional journalist.
Would you have read this book anyway, if not for this Reading Challenge? Yes. I actually read it for a cozy mystery challenge, and it happened to fit here as well.

I read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and loved it!!! I will be recommending this book to all of my friends!!! Five stars for sure!!!