NONFICTION NOVEMBER: New to My TBR

Week 5: (Nov. 26 to 30) – New to My TBR (Katie @ Doing Dewey): It’s been a month full of amazing nonfiction books! Which ones have made it onto your TBR? Be sure to link back to the original blogger who posted about that book

Ah, the best part of Nonfiction November is getting those recommendations based on other readers. A few of these books were on my radar, but reading about other bloggers opinions makes it an easier decision. A few other books I had never heard of and I was intrigued. Thanks for all the great Nonfiction Sharing and thanks to the hosts for once again running Nonfiction November.

A quick glance at last years New to My TBR post shows I haven't read a single one, so I am not exactly sure how effective these lists are. I have Bad Blood on request at the library, so surely I'll read it sooner than later.

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Start Up by John Carreyrou

- Doing Dewey

Educated: a Memoir by Tara Westover

 Literary quicksand

Princesses Behaving Badly: Real Stories from History Without the Fairy-Tale Endings by Linda Rodriguez McRobbie

musings of a literary wanderer

Any Ordinary Day: What Happens After the Worst Day of Your Life? by Leigh Sales

Nancy Elin

Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy Heather Thompson

Nancy Elin

A Mountain of Crumbs by Elena Gorokhova  (Russian memoir)

Rennie at What's Nonfiction

Any of these books look interesting to you?

REQUEST: Virtual Advent Sign-ups

It's the most wonderful time, of the year - the Virtual Advent Tour. Check out sprite writes if you are interested in joining in to our virtual countdown. Sprite is keeping everyone organized, and the more the merrier. 

Share your customs, Christmas or otherwise, tell a story, be creative, or write a memory. Let Sprite know which date you would like to participate on and be sure to read all the wonderful posts. I've got December 6th picked out!

My kids from last December

In 2017, I shared a local song from a charity album, and, a physics Christmas haiku activity

In 2016, I shared the lights of my town, and a recipe for Spumoni shortbreads

In 2015, I shared my Christmas decorations in our new home

In 2014, there was no tour

In 2013, I shared a Christmas series of novellas by Anne Perry that I listened in audio

In 2012, I posted some favourite Christmas mystery  books

In 2011, I posted a 'recipe' for fruitcake that my grandmother had given me.

In 2010, I took a humorous look at some local events on Prince Edward Island.

In 2009, we played 'guess the carol'
In 2008, I played a game of 'guess the movie', and my favorite Christmas picture ever.
In 2007, it was the original 'guess the carol' game, with your vocabulary tested, and my whipped shortbread cookie recipe.

NONFICTION NOVEMBER: Be the Expert

Week 3: (Nov. 12 to 16) – Be The Expert/Ask the Expert/Become the Expert (Julie @ JulzReads): Three ways to join in this week! You can either share three or more books on a single topic that you have read and can recommend (be the expert), you can put the call out for good nonfiction on a specific topic that you have been dying to read (ask the expert), or you can create your own list of books on a topic that you’d like to read (become the expert).



I'm going with option  1 and 3 - a list of books on a topic I've read and I'd like to read and become the expert. Would you believe I've chosen Mathematics?

I found three books I've already read, and then looked around. I found a bunch more on this topic that I'd like to explore and read, and had to limit myself to the ones I have listed. 

Have you read any of these? Any you would recommend? Sorry if I've put you off with my geekiness.

Mathematics

Weapons of Math Destruction by Cathy O'Neil

my review

The Calculus Diaries by Jennifer Oullette

my review

The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure by Hans Magnus Enzenberger

my review

And the books that look interesting....

Love & Math: The Heart of Hidden Reality

 by Edward Frenkel

The Indisputable Existence of Santa Claus: The Mathematics of Christmas

by Dr Hannah Fry and Dr Michael Oleron Evans

The Mathematics of Everyday Life

by Alfred S Posamethier

The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives

by Leonard Mlodinow

A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash

by Sylvia Nasar

Chaos: Making a New Science

by James Gleick

Our Days are Numbered: How Mathematics Orders Our Lives

by Jason Brown

TOP TEN TUESDAY: Backlist books

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted each week at That Artsy Reader Girl. The topic this week is to list those books that you have bought or been given that have been languishing on your shelves. This is an easy topic as it seems to be easier to buy books than to get them read. Sigh.

Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld

Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante

book 3 in this Italian series

The Blythes are Quoted by LM Montgomery

Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh

Deep Waters by Barbara Nadel

a mystery series set in Turkey

Diamond Dreams by Stephen Brunt

nonfiction sports book

Notes on a Small Island by Bill Bryson

The Diviners by Margaret Laurence

Entry Island by Peter May

Sovereign by CJ Sansom

book 3 in the Tudor era series

Any of these highly recommended? 

NON-FICTION NOVEMBER: Book Pairings

Week 2: (Nov. 5 to 9) – Fiction / Nonfiction Book Pairing (Sarah’s Book Shelves): This week, pair up a nonfiction book with a fiction title. It can be a “If you loved this book, read this!” or just two titles that you think would go well together. Maybe it’s a historical novel and you’d like to get the real history by reading a nonfiction version of the story.

I try to pick nonfiction books I've read this year, and hopefully even a fiction that pairs with it from this year. Not always possible.

Puritan-era Witches

Witches:Salem 1692 by Stacy Schiff
This nonfiction book was, long. It was very detailed, and was 22 audio parts long. Wow, that was really long. I had been picking away at it, listening on a high speed, but it all blurred together to me. This may have been better to read in a paper book? Anyway, I was listening to this when I had iPhone issues, and ended up losing all the YA Sync books I hadn't read yet. I'll confess, I wasn't too disappointed to lose this one, and even though I only listened to half, I feel like I got the jist. Women = bad. Witches = bad. Men spouting religion persecuting women. Rinse and repeat.


You can try instead: 

The Witch of Blackbird Pond - Elizabeth George Speare 

I've not been a fan of Puritan literature, beginning and ending with The Scarlet Letter. The whole attitude in the 1600s America is infuriating. However, I tried this children's book, The Witch of Blackbird Pond and I quite liked it. It was sweet, without being too perfect.  Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks was also okay, but I liked this one better. 




or possibly:

How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather (paired with the Scarlet Letter)

How to Hang a Witch is a book from this year's YA Sync that I was disappointed to lose. I haven't read it yet, but I have requested it and will get from my library soon. I was going to give The Scarlet Letter another try, but it also got deleted. 






Are you interested in the nature of time? I have two great books for you

The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli
I listened to Benedict Cumberbatch read Rovelli's second physics book, the first being Seven Brief Lessons on Physics. Theoretical physics books are interesting, and I probably couldn't tell you a single thing after I them. As I listen or read, I nod my head and (mostly) understand what the ideas are. Then, poof, gone. But I keep trying, hoping something will stick. Plus, listening to Cumberbatch for a few hours is delightful.

The Order of Time reminded me very much of the fictional book, Einstein's Dreams.

Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman
Any chance I have to promote this sweet little book, I do. Many of the ideas of time from The Order of Time, I was familiar with due to Einstein's Dreams. I've written about it more than once, but here's my original blog post about it.

Imagine Einstein is having dreams about different versions of time as he struggles to finish his Theory of Relativity. Each chapter is a different dream about time.




Have you read any of these? What else (fiction or nonfiction) would go with my selections?