Welcome to the Non-Fiction Group.

[Neoma]

This discussion thread is pinned.

Feel free to make reviews, recommendations or ask questions about books, history, science, chess, languages or whatever you need help on. I'll try to dig up answers. I hope book challenges and a book group will be successful in inspiring non-fiction readers to learn and read more.

That said, introduce yourself!

[arcane1]

1. Arcane1 here, and I'm a non-fiction-aholic

[Neoma]

2. I mostly hear, "I'm a bibliophile!"

From other book groups. That word might suit all of us here.

[bemildred]

3. And welcome to Neoma the host.

[Neoma]

4. I admit, I'm really excited.

Now there's a good reason to push myself harder as far as reading books goes. And hopefully make new friends along the way.

[Soylent Brice]

5. i'll be lurking like a mofo.

[Neoma]

6. That's alright.

Might come across good book suggestions.

[polly7]

7. I am here, but mostly to get recommendations and read the

commentary. So, hey.

And, to welcome Neoma as host!

[lovemydog]

8. Hi, lovemydog here.

I love reading, and read tons of nonfiction.

[kag]

9. Hi Neoma!

I read non-fiction almost exclusively. I also write non-fiction (my sig-line links to my webpage for my book). My favorite is Alison Weir.

[Neoma]

12. Like the 1500's a lot?

I might have read one of her books, but I'm not certain.

[whathehell]

10. Sounds good, Neoma, I'm reading something new at the moment called "The Servant Class" detailing

how America got from THERE, as it were, to HERE...It's very readable thus far and I would recommend it

I'll be back to give more details and answer any questions, okay?

[Neoma]

11. You can start a new thread with info, sure.

I recommend putting "spoiler alert" in the title, if it's too telling. Should I add that as a rule? I know how upset Harry Potter fans were when people would drive by the theatre and yelled what happens. These aren't fiction books, but I was spoiled and that wasn't fun.

I mean, memoirs, and sometimes biographies read like novels. On some occasions there are scientific and history books that read like novels too. What do you think?

[NRaleighLiberal]

13. Hi all! Glad to see this....big time reader of non-fiction, primarily

science, history, gardening, etc (bird books, nature books...). Great idea to have this group.

By the way, I will soon be making a contribution - just about to sign a contract with Storey publishing to write my first tomato book! (don't hold your breath - will take 2 years total to come out, I've been told.....but let the writing begin!).

[Neoma]

14. Wait a minute...

You're the tomato man aren't you? I saw that video.

[NRaleighLiberal]

15. yeah, that's me.....

hopefully a book will provide the credibility that the silly video didn't!

[IdaBriggs]

25. Link, please.

How did I miss a video by you?

[NRaleighLiberal]

26. OK - here it is

http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/travel/video/11356136/#/vid11356136

[xtraxritical]

16. I quit fiction years ago. You learn about your world from non-fiction.

[Neoma]

17. Except maybe the hard-core historical fiction.

[octoberlib]

18. Hello!

I'm a new DU member and a bookworm , so I'm excited about this group!

[Neoma]

19. Welcome home!

Figuratively speaking.

[Marta Steele PR]

20. This account's first post

We bought our first ad at DU. Anyway, this seems a good place to fluff up the metaphorical cushions and settle in for a conversation or two. Being a doppelgänger for an author is no picnic but this identity has nothing to do with me.

[Zorro]

21. Just finished reading "The Honeycomb" by Adela Rogers St. Johns

Highly recommended autobiography I picked up used off Amazon.

She was the daughter of Earl Rogers (extraordinary LA lawyer at the turn of the last century) and was one of the first -- if not the first -- "girl reporters" for WR Hearst.

Lots of interesting and insightful anecdotes about early Hollywood, key stories of the era (Lindbergh kidnapping, Edward's abdication, etc.), and major personalities of the age (Valentino, Mary Pickford, Hearst, and others).

Her biography of her father is likewise fascinating (Final Verdict).

[Adsos Letter]

22. Hello!

I'm a guy in my late 50's and I've been a reader since I was a kid. I read fiction only occasionally (more so when I was younger). I primarily like historical studies (I earned BA and MA in History from a CSU campus), and investigative reporting.

One wife, two daughters, three dogs, one cat, one bird, and a remodel that never seems to get finished.

[Neoma]

23. Howdy.

Going to college for that sounds like fun.

[Lamonte]

24. Good reads

Once Upon a Secret: My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and Its Aftermath
Mimi Alford
Kindle Edition

The Faithful Executioner: Life and Death, Honor and Shame in the Turbulent Sixteenth Century
Joel F. Harrington
Kindle Edition
S
The Happy Isles of Oceania: Paddling the Pacific
Paul Theroux
Kindle Edition
Sold by Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
The Fatal Shore: The epic of Australia's founding (Vintage)
Robert Hughes
Kindle Edition
Lost in Shangri-La: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II
Mitchell Zuckoff
Kindle Edition
The last one is my favorite.

[Marbgd1]

27. Irresistable!!

Thank you.

DU has been an area of interest for my inquiries for a while now.

Non-fiction for me has largely been history and biographies. A great comfort it has been, to seek a greater understanding of the past while the present/future has been so parlous.

Just a quick shout-out, "A World Lit only by Fire" by William Manchester. Purports to be a history of the circumnavigation of the Earth by Magellan. Instead it begins by presenting the world that he was a product of. Imagine...

In 205 pages, the author lays out in extremely accessible prose, what it meant for a Europe to endure "The Dark Ages" tm. and to undergo the upheavals of the Renaissance (co-current with ) a Reformation, leading to a Reaffirmation ( can we say Inquisition?) of Church Doctrine in the only places that were truly loyal to the Spanish Empire. And why that those places needed to by created by Ferdinand Magellen despite whatever reality was tossed his way. Or, vice-verse. All leading to the emergence of a European Modernity as a way of thought. Powerful, enlightening, and guiltily entertaining. Euro-centric? Perhaps. It is however, broad enough to give an inkling of what the rise of and crash of colonial empires would cost humanity. And, just good fun!

Brilliant and accessible writing by a gifted historian near his Prime. See "The Arms of Krupp" and "An American Caesar; Douglas MacArthur 1880-1964, and for span try "The Last Lion, Winston Churchill". He also did a good one of Dwight Eisenhower. I believe that the author was unfailingly FAIR with his subjects.

Pure gold is "The Glory and the Dream; A Narrative Political History of the United States 1932-1972 (two volumes) . This happens to correspond to the "age of awareness" of my father growing up, especially Volume I. Vietnam was my Dad's third war. Very useful in understanding who we came from to be what we are today, or at least what we should be. Vol. II introduced me to the use by American media, pundit-ocracy, and certain brands of reactionary political types of the conjoined noun "Democrat Party" beginning in the 1950s. This lived on until by the mid '60s by which time any expression of racial intolerance would lead legislatures and governors to loudly condemn that the even the Students weren't stupid enough to bring back these odious planks, but
There is so much good reading out there, and so little time to get it done. Oh.

Choose well, get happy.

[RealityChik]

28. Judging from the date of the latest post...

I guess I'm a little late to this party. I hope everyone hasn't gone "home" and I'm the only one left in the room!

Like others, I'm a voracious reader with an insatiable appetite for non-fiction--politics, history and neuroscience being among but not limited to my list of favorite subjects. Even looking up a word in the dictionary can become a delightful hour long reading excursion for me.

That said, I hope you all haven't been so traumatized by the imposter in the White House, that staying informed with current events has left you too exhausted to read for pleasure.

Saying "Hi" anyway, just to be sure.

[The King of Prussia]

29. Belatedly introducing myself

I'm a 57-year old English male - married, one son, two cats.
Most of my non-fiction reading is music biographies, English history, and US history (pretty much restricted to the period between JFK's assasination and Nixon's resignation).

Best non-fiction I have recently read is "Next to a Letter from Home" - Geoffrey Butcher's account of Glenn Miller's wartime band. Highly recommended (if it's still available). Next up is "Early Jazz" by Gunther Schuller.

And a confession... I read a LOT of fiction too.

[Larissa]

30. Say Nothing

Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe. This book clarified for me the dynamics of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, during the 1970's-1980's, more than anything I have ever read. I could not put it down.

The New York Times: Say Nothing Illuminates the Bitter Conflict in Northern Ireland

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/22/books/review/say-nothing-patrick-radden-keefe.html

[dawg day]

31. hi, I'm Dawg Day-- reading Begin Again--

by Eddie Glaude, Jr.

It's very good, but complex - he is re-reading James Baldwin and exploring those great essays and books and relating to the Trump era. I'm listening to the audiobook, and it's narrated very well. Bu tI think this is one of those books that need to be read in print, so I can flip back and forth.

[DesertAuthor]

32. Hello from a non-fiction author.

I'm new to the boards so I'll try to keep this within the boundaries of the TOS.

I quit writing fiction because of the zoo that is Amazon and the futility of marketing a novel. Since then I've written one non fiction book and working on my second. If there are any other non-fiction writers on here I'd like to talk to them to compare notes about the craft.

[intheflow]

33. Librarian, here!

I adore nonfiction and it's my greatest joy in life getting to use taxpayer money to buy truthful titles for our shelves. I also have one adult son, two older dogs, and three fantastic grandchildren.