I’ve got to be careful. I have a bit of a gut feeling that in my attempt to quiet my meme obsession, I’m going to spend 2007 taking on all sorts of challenges I can’t possibly finish. However, one of my blogging goals this year is to be less afraid of challenges, so it might be a good idea if I take on at least one and see what happens. I was inspired by this Nonfiction Five Challenge I discovered through Ms. Blossom over at The Library Ladder , basically because I read an awful lot of nonfiction as it is, so the task didn’t seem too daunting. I had a very hard time making my decisions, but I’ve finally come up with five titles I plan to read.
Bait and Switch by Barbara Ehrenreich. I read Nickel and Dimed last year and just loved it, not only because I love Ehrenreich’s wry take on things, but also because I learned so much about the hard lives of working class Americans in this day and age (who says we rid ourselves of slavery in the 19th century?). Oh yes, and then there's that whole thing that always fascinates me: getting to pretend you're something you're not and then writing a book about what happens.
The Lady and the Panda by Vicki Constantine Croke. As I’ve mentioned a few times on this blog, I love pandas. How could I possibly resist a story, featuring pandas, of a 1930s dress designer who decided to take over her dead husband’s expedition to China?
The Math Gene: How Mathematical Thinking Evolved and Why Numbers Are Like Gossip by Keith Devlin – sounds like a fascinating take on math, and if I don’t make it part of a challenge, fascinating or not, I’m afraid I’ll never get around to reading it.
Pleasure of Ruins by Rose Macaulay. I read Macaulay’s Towers of Trebizond years ago, which is a wonderful read, for anyone who likes to read novels about independent, hilariously slightly mad women traveling about with their entourage. I haven’t read anything else by her, but a friend of mine recently lent me this and two of her other books. Macaulay, I am sure, will make a wonderful armchair traveling companion for sites of dead cities and palaces.
Salvador by Joan Didion. The same friend who lent me Macaulay also gave me all his Joan Didion books. I’ve read a few others by her (if you’ve been wondering, The Year of Magical Thinking is well-deserving of all the praise it received. That book and her thoughts will stick with you forever. I paired my reading of it with C. S. Lewis’s A Grief Observed, which made for a great combination, as one was about the death of a spouse after many years of marriage and one was about the death of a spouse after very few years of marriage). I know nothing about El Salvador, so hope to and should learn quite a bit from this one.
Anyone else want to take on the challenge?
9 comments:
Sounds like an interesting challenge. I am committed to not committing to any challeges, and this would hardly be a challenge since I've been reading far more non-fiction than fiction for the last several months. I have had Bait and Switch for awhile but have not read. What if we both agree to a date & we can post on it at the same time?
I haven't read Didion's latest, but I went through a phase in the mid-80's where I read every book that she had published. I don't recall much about Salvador, but I know I read it. I loaned my copy of it and about 7 other Didion books to a student and they never were returned. Maybe he didn't like his grade? It wasnt' long after that I quit teaching (unrelated to losing my prize Didion texts though).
Pandas! That one sounds really good!! All your choices sound interesting, even the (gasp) math one!
Cam, thank you for so kindly offering to help me with my goal of embracing my inner litblogger. I'd love to read the book and post on the same day. How does March 30th sound?
Ms. Blossom, while I'm embracing my inner litblogger, I think I ought to do some more math posts to help any math phobes out their embrace their inner math genes. Everyone has them, they just tend to get "taught into hiding" by the traditional methods used to teach math. Maybe this book will give me some ideas.
You're tempting me! But I think I have enough lists to work with -- I'm worried about feeling too often that I'm reading because I have to and not because I want to. I did recently list a bunch of nonfiction I want to read, actually, but I'm not going to call it a challenge. Good for you, though, to take this one on! That math book sounds very interesting.
I think March 30th sounds great. I'll put something about this on my blog too and see if anyone else wants to join us. Ehrenreich has an interesting blog btw.
Dorr, if the math book turns out to be good, I'll lend it to you.
Cam, could we please move that date to April 4th? I completely forgot I'm not going to be here on March 30, and in the event I'm stuck in some hotel where the internet connection doesn't work...
I shall follow your challenge with interest as I'm trying to work out what makes the perfect non-fiction read. Will you think about that for me as you work your way through the list? You know I trust your judgement, Emily!
Emily, 4/4 it is. I so understand about hotel internet connections. It took me several tries to post my comment the other day due to dodgy connectivity.
Litlove, by all means, I'll keep that in mind while reading, and, Cam, glad you understand. Looking forward to seeing what you have to say on 4/4. Does posting on this book on a certain day count as my second challange of the year?
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