The 52 Book Club: 2025 Challenge discussion

The Dewey Decimal System is a library classification system used for organizing books. This was a category voted upon by our Facebook group, and you all chose the 900s!

http://bpeck.com/references/DDC/ddc_m...

900 World History
910 Geography & Travel
920 Biography & Genealogy
930 History of the Ancient World (to ca. 499)
940 History of Europe
950 History of Asia
960 History of Africa
970 History of North America
980 History of South America
990 History of Other Areas

"Four Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Romanov Grand Duchesses" by Helen Rappaport
I think this was suggested on FB for this prompt, I'll give it a go.

My pick is Levison Wood - Walking the Nile

Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation I really enjoy history, so this should be a fun one!

Going to pick a celebrity bio for this one. Have the recent Willie Nelson one on my TBR.

In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson

My pick is From The Ashes by Jesse Thistle

"Memoirs of a Geisha" by Arthur Golden

The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer

Alexander Hamilton

I'm going to finish up Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. I saw some conflicting Dewey Decimal classifications, but Library of Congress lists it in the 900's so I'm going with it.

Atlas Obscura: An Explorer's Guide to the World's Hidden Wonders

I'll choose one of the biographies I already own

A Promised Land by Barack Obama

Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher

I read Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah, 4 Stars

The History of the World in Fifty Dogs.

The Women of the Cousin’s by Philippa Gregory, David Baldwin & Michael Jones

I am torn between A Black Women's History of the United States or An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States.

Completion Post:

Just finished reading: "The Death and Life of Aida Hernandez: A Border Story" written by Aaron Bobrow-Strain (★★★★☆), it is a biography of Aida Hernandez, an undocumented immigrant, who married and had a child with an American citizen, and was deported to Mexico and not long after, she returned to the United States in an ambulance after she was stabbed and left for dead by a stranger and her life afterwards.

Bobrow-Strain draws from dozens of interviews with the principal characters in the story, including four years of collaboration with Hernandez, providing him an insider’s perspective that elevates the narrative above simple reportage.

So happy the 921s fit in here, I love Biographies! Unfortunately A Very Punchable Face is not a 900 since he's a comedian, but I'm going to read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks for this one.

I think for this category, I'll go with '970: History of North America' and the book 'White Cargo: The Forgotten History Of Britain's White Slaves In America https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...' - by Don Jordan & Michael Walsh, which I picked up recently after someone recommended it to me. In fact I think I might start reading it now as I've been spoilt for choice, trying to decide what my next read will be. There was me thinking that I'd struggle to find something I liked for every category, when in reality, I've got multiple potentials for all of them!

I just finished reading American Like Me: Reflections on Life Between Cultures by America Ferrera.

Uncharted: A Couple's Epic Empty-Nest Adventure Sailing from One Life to Another by Kim Brown Seely https://cdnbookworm.blogspot.com/2021...

I'm going to read The Sex Lives of Cannibals, which is a tongue-in-cheek memoir of a guy who moves to a remote island in the Pacific. I had started it several years ago, now is my chance to finish it :)

I read Homo Deus: A History of Tomorrow

I read Dunkle Geschichten aus Göttingen, 2 stars.

Is Stamped in the 900 of the Dewey Decimal System?

Stamped is in the 300s.

I read The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland by Jim Defede

This book was a 5 star and it reads like a novel and is so inspiring about the goodness in mankind especially in a time of turmoil.

https://titlesurfingwithtraci.blogspo...

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

I read Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. Excellent!

The Year 1000. What life was like at the turn of the first millennium by Robert Lacey and Danny Danziger

I read The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper and hopefully it works for this prompt. I couldn't find where you could look up the Dewey Decimal for a specific book so this was a really hard prompt.

I found that some libraries put, for example, the entertainment biographies, which should be in the 700s, in the 900s where general biographies are usually held - or at least a few people were saying they were going to use an actor or comedian's biography which wouldn't technically count, but they're still using them.

Personally, I did check online at my library to see where the book I wanted to use wash held, but since this whole challenge is basically for bragging rights, I'm sure you're good using many books you want that might not technically be in the 900s. The true crime is in the 300s and biographies are in 900s but hey, this could be considered a true crime biography so go for it!

Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man by Mary L. Trump

Elspeth wrote: "I found that some libraries put, for example, the entertainment biographies, which should be in the 700s, in the 900s where general biographies are usually held - or at least a few people were sayi..."

Thank you for the tip! I didn't even think about that I could check online to see the shelf it's on at my library. That would've saved me so much time lol!

I read Louisiana Haunted Forts by Elaine Coleman

I read (audio)The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett M. Graff. It was well written. The audio version included a cast of 45 people and actual flight control/cockpit recording, phone recordings and presidential speeches. It was very heartbreaking and I had to alternate between it and a lighthearted book or I would’ve cried even more than I did.

Kamala's Way: An American Life by Dan Morain. It discusses Kamala Harris's political career from her early days as a prosecutor in California to her accepting the nomination to be the Vice Presidential candidate in the 2020 election. It was okay, but if you really want to learn more about Harris, I would recommend her own memoir The Truths We Hold: An American Journey.

I read In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick. It is a story of whalers that become stranded in the Pacific ocean. The tale of these whalers inspired Herman Melville to write Moby Dick

Lindsey wrote: "I read Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah, 4 Stars

"

didn't know this fit here! this helps as it's on my to read list - was sooo lost with this prompts LOL

The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin. It's classified at my library as 977, which is General history of North America North central United States. 4 stars.

Is It Just Me? by Miranda Hart.

I read Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019, edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain. Another book I considered, but put aside for now because Four Hundred Souls was more pressing, was The Monk of Mokha by Dave Eggers.

Done: The Real Valkyrie: The Hidden History of Viking Warrior Women by Nancy Marie Brown

A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown
Completed: December 14, 2021