Rae: Non-fiction

I learned to love non-fiction when I started reading it for the same reasons you want to, Liz. I didn't particularly like reading it for school classes and only became enamored with it when I looked for books that revolved around things I was personally interested in. I had interests in lots of history, medicine, horse racing, ships, animals, and the Old West. I just looked for books that fit the bill!

The non-fiction being written for the masses today is quite a bit better than in the past. It's much more readable and approachable. I can recommend some favorite authors of mine and you could just look at their books in a library or bookstore to see if anything fits your interests.

Try Simon Winchester, Daniel Boorstin, Bill Bryson, David McCullough, Oliver Sacks, or Neil Postman for starters. They specialize in history, travel, medicine, and social commentary.

I find that I read almost more non-fiction as I age than fiction. And the fiction is more genre and more for entertainment than anything else. I am often dissatisfied with much of the contemporary fiction. I LOVE NON-FICTION. Here's hoping you'll hop on board!

Happy reading!

Abby: Good non-fiction for Liz

Liz, I recommend Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust by Immaculee Ilibagiza. You can tell what it's about from the title. Other than that, it's similar to the Hiding Place in some ways. There is a story line, it's very gripping, and it has a powerful message of forgiveness. Although it is about such an awful time, I still found it uplifting because of her attitude about it.

Something fun & light could be Catch Me If You Can.

I can think of more but the girls need me! More later maybe.

Liz: looking for good non-fiction

Hi everyone!

I have a hard time enjoying non-fiction. I think I've generally always been that way, but more so lately. But now I WANT to read non-fiction. I think I need some mental stimulation and thought-provoking material, and I want to LEARN more. BUT (again) my mental capacities seem to have dwindled at this point in my motherhood. :) I often feel intimidated by non-fiction. Maybe I subconsciously feel like I have to memorize as I read, or I feel like I can't follow the information unless there is some sort of story line. I guess there is non-fiction out there with a storyline; maybe that would be ideal for me. SO do any of you have some good non-fiction you would consider entertaining, fun to read, and very interesting?

Thank you in advance,
Love, Liz

Lulu: Happy Holidays!

Hello, everyone! I will be reading my November choice (Vienna by Eva Menasse) for December, and I'm thinking about reading a book called Two From Galilee: A Love Story (by Marjorie Holmes), which has been recommended to me by two very enthusiastic readers. Anyone know anything about it? Anyone read it? Liked it, loved it, hated it?

Now, since it is December I thought I'd share the text in one of the books from Reed's Scholastic book order that came today. It has lovely illustrations, but the words are sweet and beautiful, so I had to share them. And I thought it was appropriate, given the text of the book, to share this painting (that I've scanned) that Reed made in school.

What Star Is This?
by Joseph Slate
Illustrated by Alison Jay

Far off in space where comets fly
in an icy ring through the deep dark sky,
a tiny comet with a budding tail
is born this night on that frosty trail.

What star is this?

It bounces off its icy berth,
and sails away for the far-off earth.
Down, down--its beam is on the dancing Goat
and the gliding Swan,
the dipping Bear, the leaping Lion,
the flying Horse, and the hunter Orion.

What star is this?

Planets puff and meteors fly,
but the bold little comet ducks right by.
On and on its glowing sail
spreads out like a peacock's tail.
Down, down--its path is sure.
It knows the One it's headed for.
Then over the earth, asleep and still,
the comet blinks, "Good will! Good will!"

And far below, wise men cry,
"What star is this that lights the sky?"

Then suddenly at birth of day,
shepherds hear the angels say:
"Go to the manger! Have no care!
For see, the Star you want is there!"

And there He is, in Mary's bed,
a glowing ring around His head.
"What star is this?" They kneel to see.
The Baby Jesus--it is He!

Lynness: The Mansion FYI

I've never heard of The Mansion- I'll have to give it a try.  If anyone else wants to, just google it.  It's on project gutenberg and googlbe books and other pages with public domain literature.

Lynness: favorite fiction authors

Can anyone/everyone give me some names of their favorite fiction
writers? It's more of a challenge to find well-written, clean,
enjoyable adult fiction these days, so when I find an author I like I
tend to read everything the library has by that author. That said, I
know there are some authors I enjoy who have one or two books that I
will not read (Barbara Kingsolver, Connie Willis, for example) and know
the dangers of giving a blanket recommendation for an author, but it is
a place to start. I don't necessarily want series books, and I'm open
as far as genre. I just want some fresh ideas and I don't want to wade
through a lot of trash to get them.

MIM: Merry Christmas!

Hi All--I know you won't all read Christmas stuff this month, but that's what I'm going to read for our book club and I wanted to announce my choices now just in case somebody else would be reading the same things.  President Monson said he reads The Mansion, by Henry Van Dyke, and Dickens's A Christmas Carol, every Christmas.  I decided to read both of them this year, and also Dickens's The Life of Our Lord.  One good thing about these choices during the busy holiday season is that all of them are quite short.  In fact, I've already read A Christmas Carol this past week.
 
I love A Christmas Carol!  And Dickens.  I hadn't read it since we lived in Preston, when I was probably 11.  I remember finding some stories on the bookshelf that must have been a collection of classics, although I think I had no idea at the time that they were classics, or what a classic was--that people all over the world had read and loved these stories.  Since I didn't know this, I didn't mention to anyone that I was reading A Christmas Carol (in the summertime, I think) till afterwards, when I remember thinking it was so cool that I had to tell Mom and Dad about.  (The Lady or the Tiger was the only other story I remember from the collection.  That one haunted me,  being sort of an unresolved dilemma.)  It's to Mom and Dad's great credit that we could pick up any old thing in the house and read it, and that a lot of stuff was mighty good for us.
 
Anyway, if you've been watching the various Scrooge movies over the years, you probably remember this line from Scrooge regarding the poor, who would rather die than go to debtors' prison:  "If they had rather die, they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population."  That's one of my favorite lines.  But I brought so much more to my reading, after 40+ years, and it was fun to realize that this was a reference to Thomas Malthus who perpetuated the idea of that era that there wasn't enough food on the earth for the too-rapidly increasing population, and I learned about Malthus while I finished my recent BYU degree.  Of course there are a zillion other things I understand better about Dickens's England now too.  And about the things he was documenting.  I love his characterizations.
 
The Life of Our Lord won't be the same kind of a read, not having fictitious characters, but so far I like it well enough.  President Hinckley had some complimentary things to say about it, as well as some reservations (I'm going to look up his comments).  It was written for his children, to teach them about Jesus, and he expressly forbid that they should publish it.  Publication would've spoiled his purposes, I think.  His children did not publish it.  Those of a later generation did.  That made me think of the oath of the Anti-Nephi-Lehies never to take up weapons again, and how their children didn't make that oath so they were free to do what was relevant for their time period.
 
The Mansion is a short story that's hard to find in print.  We found it a couple of years ago in a library and photocopied it to read as a family (because of President Monson's references to it).  We did read it at Christmas time, but it'll be like a new story to me.  Unlike the person who wrote Lyness's little poem about reading, I can't say that the stories I read aren't in the books but are in my head.  Sadly, I forget too much of what I read!  And it was worse with this story because I happened to be very sleepy on some of the evenings we read together, and I dozed off too much!  I hope it wasn't boring.  I kind of wonder why it's out of print . . .  I'll report back.  May you all have at least one cozy evening at home with a book.  Wish I had a fireplace, but at least I have a soft warm kitty.  Love, Mim