The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

20.6 - Seasoned Reader - Joanna T'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 The Genius Factory: The Curious History of the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank.

For more ideas, these lists might help: (as with all GR lists, make sure the book you pick fits the task)
Microhistories -- Sweeping Social Histories Of Just One Thing
Microhistory
Microhistories - Book List

Approved:
And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic
At Home: A Short History of Private Life
Behind the Veil in Arabia: Women in Oman
Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War
Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex
Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale And Why We Bought It
Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption, and Baseball's Longest Game
Brothel: Mustang Ranch and Its Women
Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture
Candyfreak: A Journey through the Chocolate Underbelly of America
The City of Falling Angels
The Coming of the Third Reich
Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America
The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal
For All the Tea in China: Espionage, Empire and the Secret Formula of the World's Favourite Drink
The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth: Popularity, Quirk Theory and Why Outsiders Thrive After High School
The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic--and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World
Harry, A History: The True Story of a Boy Wizard, His Fans, and Life Inside the Harry Potter Phenomenon
A History of the World in 6 Glasses
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
In Search of Dracula: The History of Dracula and Vampires
The Invention of Air
Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History
Just My Type: A Book about Fonts
K2: Life and Death on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain
London: The Biography
London by Tube: A History of Underground Station Names
Lost in Shangri-la
Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World
The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History
Museum of the Missing: A History of Art Theft
My Beautiful Genome: Discovering Our Genetic Future, One Quirk at a Time
The Natural History of Unicorns
Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void
Pavlov's Dogs and Schrodinger's Cat: Tales from the Living Laboratory
Pistols at Dawn
The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York
The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary
The Purpose of the Past: Reflections on the Uses of History
The Science of Vampires
Seabiscuit: An American Legend
Sex with Kings: 500 Years of Adultery, Power, Rivalry, and Revenge
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
Storm of the Century: The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935
Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things
The Supergirls: Fashion, Feminism, Fantasy, and the History of Comic Book Heroines
Tea: Addiction, Exploitation, and Empire
Thunderstruck
The True History of Chocolate
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail
Witches: The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem
Woman: An Intimate Geography

Not approved:
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin
Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science
Thanks!: How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier
Mwf Seeking Bff: My Yearlong Search For A New Best Friend

This thread is now open.

Will either of these work:

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Seabiscuit: An American Legend was on the first list but I wanted to double check that it would work for this task. Thanks! :)

Hi Joanna - congratulations.

I found The True History of Chocolate on the microhistories book list and wanted to get it preapproved since this is a whole new genre to me.

Chocolate is perfect since I consider it to be one of the basic 4 food groups on the new "Daily Plate".

Would either of these work?
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope
Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board

Would The Natural History of Unicorns work? Many thanks!

Wondering if this book will fit: In Search of Dracula: The History of Dracula and Vampires

I LOVE Microhistories and I'm going to read either Salt: A World History or Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex

Joanna, you must be inside my brain because I was just thinking the other day that this is a great idea for a task. I second April's Mary Roach recommendation - she's fantastic, and I would re-read Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex if I hadn't just loaned out my copy. Right now I'm planning on London: The Biography, subject to approval.

Also, Henry Petroski is another author that's got several that would fit this task.

Found this on the list and wanted to make sure it's ok- Candyfreak: A Journey through the Chocolate Underbelly of America

Beth F. wrote: "Seabiscuit: An American Legend was on the first list but I wanted to double check that it would work for this task. Thanks! :)"

Yes, this works.

Meghanly wrote: "Will either of these work:

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson

In the Garden of Beasts seems more like a general biography than a microhistory to me. If someone who has read it wants to make an argument, let me know.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks ..."

Henrietta Lacks works as a microhistory of HeLa.

Sheila wrote: "Hi Joanna - congratulations.

I found The True History of Chocolate on the microhistories book list and wanted to get it preapproved since this is a whole new genre to me.

Chocolate ..."

Perfect choice.

April wrote: "I LOVE Microhistories and I'm going to read either Salt: A World History or Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex"

Both of these are great choices.

Lahni wrote: "Would either of these work?
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope
[book:Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on th..."

Both of these seem like regular biographies rather than microhistories to me. I really enjoyed The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, but I think it's really the life story of the boy referenced in the title without much of a broader attempt to look for larger trends.

Kate wrote: "Wondering if this book will fit: In Search of Dracula: The History of Dracula and Vampires"

Yes, looks interesting.

Jayalalita wrote: "Would The Natural History of Unicorns work? Many thanks!"

Yes, cool choice.

Fran wrote: "Found this on the list and wanted to make sure it's ok- Candyfreak: A Journey through the Chocolate Underbelly of America"

This is a close one since the description makes it sound mostly like a memoir of the author's personal journey, but it sounds like he spends some time describing the general candy industry as part of the book, so I'll take it.

will this work Thanks!: How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier

Jessica wrote: "London: The Biography"

That works.

Check out my GR photo-moniker, and it should come as no surprise that I'm going with Tea: Addiction, Exploitation, and Empire by Roy Moxham.

I think I will read Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers.

I was wondering if one of these would work. This one took me some time to narrow down! I like that. Good task, I love having to do a bit of a search. :)

Lost in Shangri-la or The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary

If neither work, I have a couple back-up plans, including Salt, which you mentioned. Thanks!

Behind the Veil in Arabia: Women in Oman - it appears to be about multiple women and their experiences, which could be generalized to the stricter forms of islam in other countries

Joanna wrote: "Fran wrote: "Found this on the list and wanted to make sure it's ok- Candyfreak: A Journey through the Chocolate Underbelly of America"

This is a close one since the description makes..."

Thanks Joanna, I'll either read that one or Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex- my library has both and they both look good.

I notice that Bill Bryson's At Home: A Short History of Private Life appears on the lists. Is that acceptable? (Because I already have it an audio!)

Will this one work?
The Supergirls: Fashion, Feminism, Fantasy, and the History of Comic Book Heroines

How about
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating

I guess I need some help understanding the difference between
Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board (not approved) and Seabiscuit: An American Legend (approved) so I know what to look for. This is a new genre for me!

Jody wrote: "How about
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating"

i just finished this last month and it is one of the loveliest books i've ever read. i hope you enjoy it when you get around to it! :)

Can I read Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void for this task?

Wondering about both Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies and Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture.

Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things - is this OK?

Would either or work?

I'm a bit lost here, to be honest. Would a book on how a world in a series was created etc, like for instance Harry, A History: The True Story of a Boy Wizard, His Fans, and Life Inside the Harry Potter Phenomenon be considered a microhistory? Or does it need to be on "real" events?

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson was on the GR Microhistories - Sweeping Social Histories of Just One Thing List and I just want to make sure it's okay.

Thank you.

I thought of another one I have on my TBR shelf: Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption, and Baseball's Longest Game
It's about a single baseball game that lasted 33 innings.

"Books that fit this task focus on a specific event,but not merely a case study of a single event."

I'm just not getting this. That seems like a contradiction to me! So would a book about a specific mountain climbing expedition or disaster work? Or a book about the events of 9/11 work?

I'm having trouble with this one, too. Can I use The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth: Popularity, Quirk Theory and Why Outsiders Thrive After High School
or what about something political, like liberals vs conservatives or how media communicates or favors certain politics, or some such?

Is Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale And Why We Bought It OK?

This is a tough one because it's a genre more easily defined by example than anything else. Wikipedia puts it nicely, though: "Microhistory is the intensive historical investigation of a well defined smaller unit of research (most often a single event, the community of a village, a family or a person). In its ambition, however, microhistory can be distinguished from a simple case study insofar microhistory aspires to "search for answers to large questions in small places", to use the definition given by Charles Joyner."

Here are a few I feel pretty confident fit the bill, subject to Joanna's stamp of approval:

Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World
The Invention of Air
A History of the World in 6 Glasses
The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology

How about Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal?

What about this one for a microhistory of an event? Black Hawk Down

Nick wrote: "Check out my GR photo-moniker, and it should come as no surprise that I'm going with Tea: Addiction, Exploitation, and Empire by Roy Moxham."

Looks good.

Jessica wrote: "This is a tough one because it's a genre more easily defined by example than anything else. Wikipedia puts it nicely, though: "Microhistory is the intensive historical investigation of a well defiined smaller unit of research (most often a single event, the community of a village, a family or a person). In its ambition, however, microhistory can be distinguished from a simple case study insofar microhistory aspires to "search for answers to large questions in small places", to use the definition given by Charles Joyner."

Here are a few I feel pretty confident fit the bill, subject to Joanna's stamp of approval:

Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World
The Invention of Air
A History of the World in 6 Glasses
The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology ..."

These are all great examples.

The way that I see the distinction is that a microhistory is an examination of a specific item or event that is more than just a biography of a single person or single group. Most often, it's about a "thing" (like salt, beer, a dictionary, etc.). The way I'd distinguish between Soul Surfer, mentioned above, and Seabiscuit is that the Soul Surfer book seems to be a biography of the individual surfer, not an examination of surfers through history or surfers in the larger context or surfers in general. My reading of the description of Seabiscuit is that it used the history of the one horse to examine horse racing more generally and to talk about the larger social implications of horse raising and racing.

Connie wrote: "Is Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale And Why We Bought It OK?"

Yes.

Jody wrote: "How about
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating"

This one seems sort of close to the edge to me. The description reads like it's really more of a memoir than a true history or examination of the snail, but since it's a close examination of a thing rather just a person's experience, I'll take it.