What we're reading in Nonfiction

What're you working on? How are you finding it? Anything interesting planned?

A place to talk about nonfiction reads of the year!

Most of my books will fall into this category! Currently, I'm almost finished with WV's Covered Bridges. I picked this one up at a second-hand book store, and its already about 20 years outdated. However, there's lots of good info on the history of covered bridges and the history of the turnpike system in WV...plus info on one of the VERY few covered bridges left standing in my state--luckily which is located about 10 miles from me.

I'm continuing my nonfiction binge with some more migration related works, as well as trying to engage with some contemporary social theory.

Currently on the go:

Lifestyle Migration: Expectations, Aspirations and Experiences by Michaela Benson and Karen O'Reilly
Out of Harm's Way : The Wartime Evacuation of Children from Britain by Jessica Mann
The Art of Life by Zygmunt Bauman
Transnational Lives : Expatriates in Indonesia by Anne-Meike Fechter

I'm reading Agent Zigzag, the story of a WWII double agent.

Then I'm moving onto Wonders of the Solar System by Professor Brian Cox; a beautiful book I received for Christmas.

Following that I may move onto MI6: The History of the Secret Intelligence Service by Professor Keith jeffery.

I do like the sound of Agent Zigzag!

#5 It's an interesting story, and reading the book gives me the same feeling I have when I'm watching an old war time film.

I have just started the fascinating Rats : a year with New York's most unwanted inhabitants by Robert Sullivan.

I don't read much non-fiction, but I do make an exception for Mary Roach. I started her Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex this morning.

8 I have yet to try that one, Stiff is still my favourite.

The Second World War, Volume 1: The Gathering Storm by Winston Churchill; reading as a result of rereading The Winds of War; gets added to my chunkster pile as well

That First Season: How Vince Lombardi Took the Worst Team in the NFL and Set It on the Path to Glory by John Eisenberg; saw this reviewed somewhere and thought it sounded good... I have a love-hate relationship with American football...

I'm reading a nonfiction book called At Day's Close: Night in Times Past. It is a history of nighttime, and what it was like before the advent of the electric light. So far, lots of thieves and fires.

#11> At Day's Close sounds fascinating! What a great idea for a book, but I do hope there's more than just thieves and fires. :)

At Day's Close is shooting to the top of my wishlist!

Right now, though, I have a few different non-fiction books I'm working through:
a. A book on American Old West collectibles and antiques
b. a book on the history and hauntings of the Ohio State Reformatory
c. a book about Lexington, VA hauntings

It ended up being really, really interesting. I wish I could see the night sky the way they did back then. I'm lucky if I can manage to see all the stars in Orion.

As I said up in #8, I don't read much non-fiction, but I make an exception for Mary Roach.

This time, it's Packing for Mars, which I've got as an ILL, so have to finish it by this weekend (shouldn't be a problem).

I know iansales made some scathing comments about this book on his thread a little while ago, but I'm enjoying it. (Although I was jarred by the comment that locomotives didn't go faster than 15 miles/hour in 1943 too!) It's more about the people (and the physiological/psychological implications of being in space) than about the technical aspects of getting into space, which I'm finding a very interesting angle on it all.

What went wrong with economics is a "common sense" look at the way the economic crash happened. I got it to review and am about halfway through it. It is proving quite good. I'm looking forward to the arguments presented in the latter half of the book.

I just finished The Horse Boy: A Memoir of Healing by Rupert Isaacson I saw the documentary of Isaacson's trip to Mongolia to heal his son and saw the author speak. I found the book about a year later. Both book and film were very moving.

17 I have Horse Boy on my TBR;

also I just bought Gotham: A History of New York to 1898 off of Kindle's daily deal for ~$2... just what I need... yet another chunkster! At least this one isn't clogging up my headboard/bookshelf. Looked too good to pass up...

I am currently reading a wonderful book entitled Outwitting History by Aaron Lansky and it is about a young gentleman who set out on his own (gathering friends and help along the way) to save the written Yiddish works. He went door to door, made calls, sent out letters, got word out any way he could about what he was attempting to do. He would receive calls from children and grandchildren of the Holocaust whose parents & grandparents had left them with all of these books that they could not read. It is an amazing story, for Hitler had all Yiddish books burned on a weekly basis. Fascinating stuff.
I think that anyone who had/has an interest in WWII, the Holocaust, the Jewish people would really like this book.

Belva, I hadn't heard of that one! I shall look for it, it certainly sounds interesting.

ETA: And hurrah, the library has it! Have added it to my wishlist there...