Sunday, November 12, 2017

Non-Fiction November Week 3: Be the Expert, Ask the Expert, Become the Expert


It's already week three of Non-Fiction November -- the month is positively flying by! This week's link-up prompt is Be The Expert (share books you've read and would recommend), Ask the Expert (ask for suggestions on a specific topic), Become the Expert (create a list of books on a subject you'd like to read).

This was a bit of an overwhelming topic for me because, as it turns out, my non-fiction reading is all over the place. There aren't one or two topics that I find especially interesting -- I've got everything from the Middle East and North Korea to celebrity memoirs to books about race and the invention of the birth control pill on my lists, and I really could not bear to narrow things down.

So instead, I put my own little twist on the prompt. I chose eight subjects and listed one book I've read and would recommend, along with three that are on my to-read list (and even this was difficult to whittle down -- I have sooooo many good-looking non-fiction books on my TBR!). And if you have any recommendations based on the books below, I would absolutely love to hear them!

Today's link-up is hosted by Kim at Sophisticated Dorkiness.

dogs

Read and recommend:
Until Tuesday: A Wounded Warrior and the Golden Retriever Who Saved Him by Luis Carlos Montalvan (review)

Want to read:
A Dog Called Hope: A Wounded Warrior and the Service Dog Who Saved Him by Jason Morgan
Pit Bull: The Battle Over an American Icon by Bronwen Dickey
No Better Friend: One Man, One Dog, and Their Extraordinary Story of Courage and Survival in WWII by Robert Weintraub

animals

Read and recommend:
The Daily Coyote: A Story of Love, Survival and Trust in the Wilds of Wyoming by Shreve Stockton

Want to read:
American Wolf: The True Story of Survival and Obsession in the West by Nate Blakeslee
All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot
A Sting in the Tale: My Adventures With Bumblebees by Dave Goulson

exploration

Read and recommend:
The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann (review)

Want to read:
In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeanette by Hampton Sides
Walking the Nile by Levison Wood
Mother of God: An Extraordinary Journey Into the Uncharted Tributaries of the Western Amazon by Paul Rosolie

history

Read and recommend:
Maus: A Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegelman

Want to read:
How to Be a Victorian by Ruth Goodman
The Radium Girls: The Dark History of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore
The Last Castle: The Epic Story of Love, Loss, and American Royalty in the Nation's Largest Home by Denise Kiernan

medicine

Read and recommend:
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (review)

Want to read:
Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner by Judy Melinek
The Skeleton Cupboard: The Making of a Clinical Psychologist by Tanya Byron
The Real Doctor Will See You Now: A Physician's First Year by Matt McCarthy

science

Read and recommend:
Lab Girl by Hope Jahren (review)

Want to read:
Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach
Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History by Bill Schutt
I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life by Ed Young

travel

Read and recommend:
My Life in France by Julia Child (review)

Want to read:
Notes on a Foreign Country: An American Abroad in a Post-American World by Suzy Hansen
Bears in the Streets: Three Journeys Across a Changing Russia by Lisa Dickey
The Road to Little Dribbling: Adventures of an American in Britain by Bill Bryson

war

Read and recommend:
Unbroken: A WWII Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand (review)

Want to read:
Ashley's War: The Untold Stry of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution by Nathaniel Philbrick
Tough As They Come by SSG Travis Mills

5 comments:

  1. I'd say medicine, science and travel are the topics I'm most interested in when it comes to non-fiction. Also biographies... I read 'When Breath Becomes Air' this year and in my edition was a commercial for 'Do No Harm' by neurosurgeon Henry Marsh. Totally unexpectedly this became a 5 star read for me, I was really fascinated. Another 5 star read for me this year was Trevor Noah's 'Born A Crime'.

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  2. Wow, that's a lot of ideas! I love your topics, and recognize a few books.

    Try Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowatt for the wolf/coyote section. Written in the 1960s set in northern Canada.

    Loved I Contain Multitudes and Packing for Mars! You should enjoy them. I also loved Lab Girl.

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  3. I recommend Pit Bull, How To Be a Victorian, and Packing for Mars, though I'm not an expert on any of those topics (or anything whatsoever, come to think of it.)

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  4. This is such a comprehensive post! Any one of these could have been an excellent list alone -- and many are ones I am curious about myself. I love the way a great nonfiction book can send you down a rabbit hole to find other books on similar topics. The Last Castle was a really fun read. Thanks for joining us for Nonfiction November this week!

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  5. Valiant Ambition was a good one! I will be adding I Contain Multitudes to my TBR. Have you heard of The Poisoner's Handbook? That might be a good addition to your Science section.

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