nonfiction

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Nonfiction Books to Sink Your Teeth Into

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature brought to you by the awesome ladies at The Broke and the Bookish.

TTT

I think it’s fairly easy to find good fiction books. There are so many out there, covering every topic and genre, and there are more all the time. But sometimes you want a book based on facts, not just one that reveals truths (as I believe fiction does). Sometimes it’s difficult to find good nonfiction. Not because there aren’t plenty of books, but because many books are published because of the author’s credentials and less because of an engaging writing style. They can be some of the most rewarding or some of the most disappointing  books, and finding one you like cis made even more important because nonfiction usually takes longer to read.

I’ve written some posts on nonfiction books for my reading challenge, but I wanted to share some of the nonfiction books I enjoyed before I started blogging. Some, well most, of these books have very specific topics, and I find that the more specific and narrow the book’s focus is, the more interesting details you get. Maybe you’ll find something that sparks your interest.

If you’re in the mood for something sweet try Sweet Invention: A History of Dessert by Michael Krondl.

This book takes you through the origins of desserts by geographic area. It talks about the origins of specific dishes as well as the development of new techniques and increasing availability of ingredients. There are some recipes hidden in there as well. On the whole, an engaging and informative book if you think dessert should come before dinner (and lunch and breakfast).

If you’re in the mood for a book about the kitchen, but have less of a sweet tooth try Consider the Fork by Bee Wilson.

A treatise on all things kitchen, this book talks about the evolution and invention of kitchen mainstays. If you’ve ever been interested of the development of the fork or any kind of cookware, this is the book for you.

If you’re in the mood for learning about another culture, try Dreams of Trespass by Fatima Mernissi.

This memoir about growing up in a Moroccan harem is both challenging and rewarding. It has a lot of insightful, beautiful moments.

It you’re in the mood for a book about the triumph of the human spirit in the face of evil, read From the Ashes of Sobibor by Thoms Tovi Blatt.

A survivor memoir about one of the deadliest WWII concentration camps, this book is a difficult but amazing story that will make you feel so much. I came away from this book feeling awed, inspired, and saddened. It has a lot to say about what humanity is capable of, both good and evil.

If you’re in the mood to learn more about a particular decade try Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion.

Didion’s masterful collection of essays on various aspects of life in the 1960s is my favorite of the 8 books I’ve read by her. She has a gift for nonfiction (if you like this, read The White Album), and she transports you into worlds you could never have entered otherwise.

If you’re in the mood for a forbidden romance try A Venetian Affair by Andrea di Robilant.

This author and his father find a collection of letters from the 18th century and piece together a great family scandal. It’s a veritable Romeo & Juliet tale, but it really happened. Too bad all our attics can’t yield fruit this juicy. I’ve read three books by di Robilant and also highly recommend his book Chasing the Rose, which is all about trying to identify a particular unknown species of rose on his property and the people he meets and the meandering Italian sort of adventure it takes him on. It sounds really weirdly specific, but I know nothing about flowers at all, and I read the book in one sitting.

If you’re in the mood for a more fashionable book, try Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution by Caroline Weber.

You may think that clothes are of little importance, but this book shows that they can ultimately cost you your head. This book delves into the ways that Marie Antoinette shaped French fashion and how her morning’s choices influenced politics. I’ve never read anything like this fashion analysis, which brings a whole new layer to anyone’s study of the French Revolution and French culture of that time or Marie Antoinette specifically. You’ll never look at clothes the same way again.

If you’re in the mood for something to read after watching Downton Abbey, try Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey by the Countess of Carnavron or To Marry an English Lord by Gail MacColl and Carol McD. Wallace

These two books talk about the real women from America who took their money to Europe at the turn of the twentieth century and bought titles.

If you’re in the mood for reading about an author try Built of Books: How Reading Defined the Life of Oscar Wilde by Thomas Weight or The Real Wizard of Oz  by Rebecca Loncraine.

This first is a look at the books that Oscar Wilde read, which is a fascinating way to learn about an author. His personal library, reading habits, and relationship to the written word are all discussed. Another interesting author biography is one on L. Frank Baum. Rebecca Loncraine makes plenty of assumptions about details that *may* have influenced Baum’s ultimate creation, but her treatment of the man behind the curtain is still interesting and engaging, even if it has to be taken with a grain (or two) of salt. For a more scholarly treatment on Baum and the Oz books, try L. Frank Baum: Creator of Oz by Katharine M. Rogers. Her book delves further into literary analysis, if that’s interesting to you.

I hope if nothing else this list encourages you to give a nonfiction book a chance. Memoirs, biography, and creative nonfiction are great ways to learn about things that interest us and they give us new perspectives.

Has there been a nonfiction book you’ve found particularly inspiring? Let me know in the comments.

 

 

A Year Reading Women Authors

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Above: The first book of my year reading only women authors.

As I said at the beginning of my challenge, I tend to read women writers in equal measure to male writers. Using Goodreads to measure, I found that I tended to be split down the middle with my reading the three years previous to my challenge (almost exactly 50/50, if not a little more towards women writers).

I undertook this challenge not to push myself totally outside my comfort zone, but to be more conscious about my reading. I wanted to see if I could meet a challenge that limited the books that were available to me and see if I could help dispel some of the myths about female writers.

I don’t know if I’ll be able to change the way people view women who write, but I have a new appreciation for the women who have come before me and for the struggles facing underrepresented authors like women, people of color, and the LGBTQ community.

We’ve come a long way from a view of women writers that prompted Gilbert and Sullivan to denounce lady novelists as some of society’s worst scourges (but the issues with sensitivity in The Mikado certainly do not end or even begin there). However, the idea of women writing for women is still regarded as not serious–and called chick lit.

But this post is less about the state of publishing and more of a discussion of what I learned in 2015 from reading women writers. So let’s jump in.

The most difficult part about this challenge was thinking ahead. No longer could I pick up any old book in the library. I had to put things on hold much more (though this is true of the Boise libraries anyway. Their collection is spread out throughout their branches). I had to check on an author’s bio, especially for authors with names that didn’t immediately proclaim their gender.

I made a lot of new discoveries.  I found Kelly Link, Iris Murdoch, A.S. Byatt, Isabel Allende, Ursula K. LeGuin and many more. It may be safe to say that I would have found these writers at some point, but I’m glad I didn’t have to wait. I branched out more into YA than I have in years. I read less poetry than I wanted, but discovered new poets and delved into Sylvia Plath’s work fully for the first time. I read more short stories than I have since being forced to read many in my writing classes in college. I read across genres, discovered all kinds of interesting protagonists, and fell in love with books all over again.

Some fun stats (I read 75 books, so that’s what percentages are based on, unless noted):

  • 25.33% nonfiction, 72%fiction, 1.33% graphic novels, 1.33% poetry
  • of nonfiction: 42% memoir, 37% biography, 21% other nonfiction
  • of fiction: 22% male protagonist, 59% female protagonist, 19% mult. protagonists, both genders
  • of fiction: 4% mystery, 6% classic (much lower than usual), 9% short stories (higher than usual), 11% YA, 13% Sci-Fi/Fantasy, 20% historical fiction, 37% literary fiction

In short, it wasn’t that different from any other year reading. Except that being more conscious about the writer let me think about the relationship between the writer and the text. Does gender color a person’s work? Personally, I’m not sure. A writer’s experiences and interests certainly have the potential to color their work, but writers can also write about things they’ve never experienced with skill and insight. Gender might color things, but so does economics, education, hobbies, age, ethnicity, ancestry, and religion.  Women write deep, provocative portrayals of both male and female characters. They write about war and human nature, death and tragedy, work and play–in short they are writers. They write about what interests them and what upsets them, what holds them back and sets them free.

When there were differences, I mainly found them in nonfiction. Obviously if I was reading memoir or autobiography the focus was on women or a woman. And many scholarly nonfiction writers I read were focused on the biographies of women or subjects that were associated with feminism or women’s rights. This might have been more a result of my own biases in choosing reading material than anything. But it also makes sense that women might focus more closely on female subjects given that many of them have been ignored or downplayed in the past.

There were also far fewer classics available to me, especially those that I had not already read. Normally I read at least a good-sized handful of classics a year, so 3 is way lower than normal, prompting me to think about how it’s only fairly recently that so many women writers are published with their male contemporaries.

So while I may not have had a reading epiphany last year, narrowing my reading focus helped me think about the way I read and the way I want to write. It showed me that as a writer, one that will hopefully be published one day, I’m in very good company.

 

Did you make any reading discoveries last year? Let me know in the comments!

Women Writers Reading Challenge: #68-75 The End

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At first I was going to post the rest of the reading challenge one book at a time, like I did for all the rest of the books, but then I decided that would take weeks to get them all out there, and meanwhile I wouldn’t be able to start posting this year’s books. So I decided to do one great big post with all of the last 8 books.

Next week, I’ll do a retrospective post on my year reading women.

#68: The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher by Hilary Mantel

This book of short stories was really great: clever, tongue-in-cheek, and a bit dark. Her writing is immensely controlled and each word feels deliberate. The title story was one of my favorites, where Margaret Thatcher’s would-be assassin breaks into a house so he can take aim from a good vantage point and has a very telling conversation with the house’s owner. Her stories are really well done and I recommend them for anyone who:

  • likes to read writers who are just.so.talented.
  • likes English authors and English settings
  • is intrigued by the title (that’s why I picked up the book in the first place)

 

#69: From Whitechapel by Melanie Clegg

This particular book was on my currently-reading list for ages, not because the book was terribly long, but because it was an e-book, and I’m awful at finishing those. I just don’t like to read on screens all that much. Unless it’s a blog or an article. Anyway, Melanie Clegg is a terrific blogger and her blog Madame Guillotine has me constantly drooling over potential trips to the UK. The story here is about Jack the Ripper, and in particular the effect that his serial killing has on some of the women who know the victims. The story (despite its subject matter) is very sweet and fun, and the women are interesting and feisty. I wish that Clegg had a better copy-editor–the book could use a closer look–but it’s pretty good for being self-published historical fiction, and is a great way to while away some time.

For people who:

  • like historical fiction of the seedy side of London variety
  • want to support indie authors
  • need a book to put on their e-reader for their next vacation

 

#70: We Two: Victoria and Albert: Rulers, Partners, Rivals by Gillian Gill

Victoria and the Victorian era are endlessly fascinating to me. I love strong women, and Victoria is caught up in a rare and crazy time–she is one of the most powerful women in the world and yet she’s constantly being told that her place is behind a man’s. She reinforced these traditional values in her own life, and so by its very nature her life is full of dualities and strange connections to power. Her relationship with Albert is the stuff of legend, and yet it was not a simple relationship by any means. Gill takes a deep look into the backgrounds of the young girl who was never supposed to be queen and the young man who shouldn’t have been important enough to be an English monarch’s consort. She talks through their courtship and subsequent marriage in a way that is engaging, highly interesting, and obviously well-researched. This was one of the most engaging biographies I’ve read in a long time, and I love the tension that having two subjects produces and the ultimate balance that Gill achieves.

For anyone who:

  • Loves those crazy Victorians despite all their flaws
  • Needs a good biography to read, stat
  • Is interested in the European monarchy, politics before the first World War, women’s rights, or great love affairs

#71: The Collected Poems by Sylvia Plath

I don’t think there’s that much that needs to be said about Sylvia Plath’s poems–she’s one of those poets that’s famous enough to be known by the general public, even those that don’t read poetry. Some of her poems are magnificent, many of them are very powerful, and the majority of them are very dark. Her early poems in particular seem to be in love with words (to the point of being sometimes a little difficult to read aloud), and I find that most of the time I’m not in the correct frame of mind to totally appreciate them (too happy). However, I respect her talent a lot, and I’m sad that died so young. I think her work could have only improved with time.

For anyone who:

  • Likes their poems like they like their coffee/tea–very dark with no sweetener
  • Anyone who’s intrigued by Plath’s legend and wants to know more
  • Is in a dark place and needs someone to understand how they feel (Public Service Announcement: we all get in those moods sometimes, but–please reach out to loved ones if you need help… Plath had so much to offer the world, and so do you)

 

#72: The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova

Even though this book is decently long, I thought it went by pretty quickly. It’s not exactly a book I’d call action-packed, but its characters are interesting and complex and the writing is good. It has to do with a man who attacks a painting at a National Gallery, only to be caught and taken to a psychiatric facility. The psychiatrist tries to help his patient, who has decided to remain mute for almost a year, so he reaches out to the patient’s loved ones to start reconstructing his life. Along the way, he discovers a dark secret in fine art’s history.

For people who:

  • like books that say a lot about human nature, even if the plot moves slowly
  • are interested in (fictional) art history, contemporary art, Impressionists, and painting
  • are interested in psychology

 

#73: Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link

Can I just say I want to be Kelly Link when I grow up? I think this woman is single-handedly responsible for making me fall in love with short stories. Well, Link and Angela Carter. I’m in love with her particular brand of magical realism, and I can’t get enough of her writing.

For people who:

  • like all the trappings of magical realism, including witches, zombies, and things that are hard to describe, that you’ve never seen, and that you really, really want to be real (or are afraid just might be)
  • want to see a great writer at work
  • who want to give short stories a try (she’s one to start with, especially if you like magic)

 

#74: Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell

I’ve long since run out of Austen books, but I like reading novels from a roughly contemporary time period. This is Gaskell’s last book, and it’s actually unfinished (though she only stopped about a chapter from the end, so it’s easy to tell what happens). Not all of the characters are very likable, especially from a modern perspective, but Gaskell really draws on this, embraces it, and her characters end up being very well drawn and never shirk from displaying their foibles. Her drawing room scenes are done with such delicateness; they are exquisite. She is a master of the nineteenth century polite burn. This book is long, but is well worth the time investment.

For people who:

  • like classics and have run out of Austen or Bronte novels
  • need to retreat back in time
  • like Masterpiece and/or BBC mini-series

 

#75: The Shipping News by Annie Proulx

This book won both the Pulitzer and the National Book Award, which is quite unusual, but it definitely deserves the acclaim. It’s written in a style that I could describe as newspaper or headline-esque. The sentences are short and clipped (though not lacking in detail or description), with an emphasis on verbs and a reduction of some of the more traditional sentence structures. It’s a very interesting style, though it can take a while to get into. The story follows Quoyle, a third-rate newspaperman as he loses his cheating wife in a car accident and decides to move back to his ancestral (though never before seen by him) home in Newfoundland.

For people who:

  • are looking for something different with great writing
  • are interested in journalism, ships, Canada, or the way we rebuild ourselves after loss
  • who like stories that take place in unforgiving landscapes

 

And there you have it. My last 8 read of 2015. I hope some of these books make it onto your 2016 reading list. Have you read any of these books or writers? Which would you be most interested in? Let me know in the comments.

 

 

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Books I Wouldn’t Mind Finding Under My Tree

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature  brought to you by the Broke and the Bookish.

I think my mom was heartbroken when I asked her if Santa was real in the second grade. She loved the magic of it. She told me that while Santa and fairies might not be real, the magic of Christmas and giving was. My mom told me that it was my job not to spoil the magic for anyone else, and I solemnly vowed not to reveal Santa’s mythical origins to anyone who believed.

Whether or not you still believe in Santa, there’s no denying that a book is a perfect Christmas present. For more on how books started modern Christmas gift giving, read this.

I try to be really choosy with the books I ask for. I’ve either read the book before, or I’m pretty certain that it will meet the criteria to stay on my bookshelves after I’ve read it (it’s good enough to reread or I would recommend it to someone else).

So here are ten books I asked for this holiday season:

  • The Last Love Song Tracy  Daugherty– This biography of Joan Didion (who is amazing by the way–read her books, especially her first collection of essays) was written by a college professor of mine. I took his Joan Didion class and found it interesting and illuminating. No doubt the book will be the same.
  • The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Alan Moore–Another professor talked to me about this book when she was trying to convince me to think about graduate school. She said I could find an illustrator for some awesome idea I’d yet to come up with.
  • The next books in Lauren Willig’s Pink Carnation series that I don’t have.  I consider these books to be a guilty pleasure–historical fiction replete with spies, dashing escapades, and the right amount of romance.
  • A collection of Oscar Wilde’s plays–The Importance of Being Earnest is probably my favorite play of all time. Wilde’s wit just spews forth like a fountain. I wish real life were as clever as this play.
  • Leaves of Grass Walt Whitman–I enjoy Whitman’s poems whenever I read them, but I don’t have this book. I love broadening my poetry collection, and I almost always keep poetry books, even if they’re not my absolute favorites.
  • The Master and Margarita Mikhail Bulgakov–This book is fantastic. I want to read it again, and I want to recommend it to everyone.
  • The Princess Bride William Goldman–ditto
  • As You Wish Cary Elwes–I’m really eager to read this, even if it doesn’t make the bookshelf.
  • Royal Wedding Meg Cabot–I got rid of all my YA books when I went to college, so now I’m borrowing the Princess Diaries series from the library so that I’m ready for this book, you know, mentally.
  • The complete Lord of the Rings series–I haven’t read these, only The Hobbit, and I really want to do so next year.

How do you choose books for people? Do you ask what they want? Have the perfect formula? Give the same perfect book? Let me know in the comments (and also link you own TTT’s if you made one).

Women Writers Reading Challenge #65: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

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You may have noticed this book popped up on my favorites list for Top Ten Tuesday. There were actually a number of books on that list that I haven’t done a post about yet, but they will all be coming I promise.

This book came out about five years ago, but it’s lost none of its relevance or potency. I usually enjoy books about medicine and science history, especially when they intersect social history, political history, and civil rights issues (sex and sexual identity, gender, race, religion, and so forth). Rebecca Skloot’s work encompasses all of these issues. It is the story of a family, of a discovery that changed the face of biological and medical history, and of the woman that made it all possible. And it’s also the story of another woman’s search for truth and the book she constructed.

The writing is totally absorbing. This may just be the quickest paced nonfiction book I’ve read in a long time. It will move you, anger you, and inspire you. I think everyone ought to read this book; it has amazing things to say that are relevant for all of us.

Women Writers Reading Challenge #54: Constance: The Tragic and Scandalous Life of Mrs. Oscar Wilde by Franny Moyle

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I was really eager to read the story of a woman whose accomplishments and failures were totally overshadowed by those of her husband. While that was not necessarily unusual for women of the period, it seems a bit strange that we should do so for Constance Wilde if only because of the scrutiny her husband has received over the years. And it’s really too bad because Constance was an interesting writer and activist in her own right.

While I really enjoyed reading about Constance, I wasn’t really enamored with this particular book. I think that Franny Moyle has an excellent eye for research, but I wish she had condensed her quotes. Some of the long passages from various letters are really interesting, but most of them could easily have been summarized to a similar effect or at least shortened. I also felt that Moyle was really quick to label certain incidents as “the biggest mistake s/he would make,” as if they should have definitely known better. Sometimes, of course, that’s true, but I felt she was a little judgmental of Oscar and Constance, or that she wished they had done things differently. Both of these might be true, but I don’t feel like a biography is about those opinions. I think with better editing, this book could have been more moving–because their lives really are sad and tragic. I didn’t really connect with this book, though I’m still glad I read it in order to have a better understanding of Constance, who I’d never spared much thought for before this. If you’re a Wilde fanatic, you’ll probably like this book, but if you’re just in search of an interesting piece of nonfiction reading with a slightly feminist bent, I’d recommend Jill Lepore’s history of Wonder Woman instead.

Has there been a book lately that’s slightly disappointed you?

Women Writers Reading Challenge #51: The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore

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So the early Wonder Woman? Yeah, she was kind of a badass. And she is descended from some of the most influential suffragettes and women’s rights leaders of the early twentieth century, owing debts to Margaret Sanger and Emmeline Pankhurst. Her creator also invented the lie detector (though the patented invention–the polygraph–would be created by someone else). It’s a strange road that leads to Wonder Woman, and Jill Lepore navigates crazy amounts of available materials to bring her history to life. Well paired with images, Lepore’s text is engaging, with just the right kinds of details. The history behind this character is…complicated, and the author explores her subject with enthusiasm and without judgment. I really enjoyed this book and all the wonderful, hidden, almost-forgotten stories that Lepore uncovers. If you’re interested in comics or feminism, consider giving this history a try; I think it will make you see this popular heroine just a little differently.

Who is your favorite superhero?

Women Writers Reading Challenge #48: A Scented Palace by Elisabeth de Feydeau

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The full title of this work on non-fiction is A Scented Palace: The Secret History of Marie Antoinette’s Perfumer, which really helps to explain the whole premise of the biography. Jean-Louis Fargeon was a man with Republican leanings and an aristocratic clientele, and his story gives insight into how the country was split by the French Revolution. The entire court was captivated by perfume, and perfumers were kept busy creating different scents for different times of day and a million different occasions. If you’re interested in the intimate workings of fashion and finery in Marie Antoinette’s court, this book will give you a unique look. (And the other book you should read if you’re interested in Marie Antoinette and fashion is Queen of Fashion by Caroline Weber).

Marie Antoinette is one of those subjects that I find totally fascinating. No matter how many accounts I read of her, I can’t help but be enchanted with the doomed queen. She’s one of a few historical figures that I can’t get enough of: Marie Antoinette, Cleopatra, Marilyn Monroe, and Coco Chanel are just a few of my obsessions.

Anybody else have any historical figure obsessions?

Women Writers Reading Challenge #45: Joan of Arc by Helen Castor

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I do not advise trying to read this book early in the morning before you’re fully awake because if you’re anything like me (i.e. you don’t speak French) the sheer amount of French names/places in this book will make your head spin. However, once you’re fully awake, if you’re interested in the history of this very special person, this book is definitely worth the read. What Helen Castor’s amazingly well-researched novel does particularly well is put the events of Joan’s tumultuous life into context. She starts the book, not with Joan’s appearance at court, but 15 years earlier, and by doing so she tries to show how Joan as a phenomenon–her epic rise and fall–was not only possible but plausible. As Castor says, the really interesting thing about Joan of Arc is her broad appeal–everyone can find something that appeals in her story. Castor attempts to rescue the woman out of the legend and the result is a portrait of a strong-willed, determined, and powerful woman. A good choice for anyone interested in European history.

Women Writers Reading Challenge #38: Princesses Behaving Badly by Linda Rodriguez McRobbie

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I listened to this book on a road trip with my grandparents. Nana and Papa came to visit us in Boise and then I drove back with them to spend more time with family and a girlfriend who flew in from out of town.

The book was everything you could want from a trip read–it was engaging enough to keep me occupied from both a writing and subject matter standpoint. Where it falls short is in its historical detail–the sources just aren’t available for many of the subjects, which reduces their lives to summary. The stories however are quite interesting, and it’s certainly worth the read if you’re interested in some real life (though not all of them are real) princesses.