On The Same Page discussion

I know I read more than ten non-fiction last year, but I will set my challenge at 10.

*1) Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century finished 1/10; 3 stars

*2) The Way Through the Woods: Of Mushrooms and Mourning finished 1/17; 4 stars

*3) Why We Swim finished 2/9; 4 stars

*4) Vesper Flights (essays) finished 3/2; 4 stars

*5) Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family finished 3/4; 4 stars

6) A Honeybee Heart Has Five Openings finished 3/15; 4 stars

7) These Precious Days: Essays finished 3/21; 4 stars

8) Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted finished 4/11; 4 stars

9) Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art finished 4/17; 4 stars

10) The Other Dr. Gilmer: Two Men, a Murder, and an Unlikely Fight for Justice finished 5/20; 4 stars

11) Matthew: The Coming of the King finished 5/13; 4 stars

12) Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty finished 5/26; 4 stars

13) The Way of the Righteous in the Muck of Life: Psalms 1–12 finished 7/13; 5 stars

14) 2 Samuel: Out of Every Adversity finished 7/20; 5 stars

15) King Leopold's Ghost finished 7/26; 4 stars

16) Ten Words to Live by: Delighting in and Doing What God Commands finished 8/26; 5 stars

Patricia wrote: "I know I read more than ten non-fiction last year, but I will set my challenge at 10.

1) Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century

2) [book:King Leopold's Ghost|409..."

I look forward to your thoughts on Nomadland.

Bill wrote: "I look forward to your thoughts on Nomadland."

Me too, it's on my TBR.

I'll be reading it for one of my library book groups next month, so need to start it soon.

I finished Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century. I found it interesting, well-written, eye-opening, and pretty depressing. Made for a good discussion with our book group. Still meeting on Zoom (unfortunately).

Finished The Way Through the Woods: Of Mushrooms and Mourning. This might seem like a strange pairing (mushrooms and mourning), but Woon does a good job of writing on her grief on losing her husband and becoming involved in mushroom hunting. A new hobby with new friends (she even goes so far to pass a mushroom inspector course), Woon works through her grief by finding and learning about mushroom hunting, mostly in Norway where she lives, but she also travels to other countries.

Finished Why We Swim yesterday. I love to swim. I find it good exercise & relaxing. I never learned to swim well enough to be competitive & most of the time, I'm glad about that. Tsui tells about the history of swimming around the world; interviews different swimmers, most notably one who began to swim to overcome a serious injury. She not only began swimming but she began doing long-distance challenges. Another man began giving swimming lessons while serving the army in Iraq. An interesting & informative look about why we swim and how much means to people around the world.

I finished two books this week. The first, a book of essays, Vesper Flights, I wrote about in that thread (essays, poetry, etc). Today I finished Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family. This tells the story of a family with 12 children. Of their ten sons, six were struck with schizophrenia. Not only was the family studied in an attempt to discover what causes schizophrenia as well as how it might be treated, the book also covers how scientists have worked through the years in trying to understand this disease. Very well written and held my interest in spite of the heart-breaking tale.

I finished two nonfiction books in April.
Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted A young woman is diagnosed with cancer while still trying to figure out how she wants to live. An honest telling of what a dire diagnosis can do to, not only one life, but to all those who love and care for this person.


Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art
Madeleine L'Engle was a wise woman and this is a book that shares some of what she learned as both a writer and a Christian.

I realized last night I had not updated this post. In fact, I have 7 non-fiction titles since I last posted here. However, all books were reviewed in my independent challenge, so I won't repeat them all.
Anyway, my goal was 10 and I've completed 16, so pleased with that.

Patricia wrote: "I realized last night I had not updated this post. In fact, I have 7 non-fiction titles since I last posted here. However, all books were reviewed in my independent challenge, so I won't repeat the..."

That is excellent, Patricia. I need to read a few more before year's end.