Author Topic: Non-Fiction (Read 439751 times)

maryz · « **Reply #1920 on:** October 02, 2011, 07:02:13 PM »

TO NONFICTION BOOK TALK

What are you reading? Autobiographies, biographies, history, politics?

Tell us about the book; the good and the bad of it.

Let's talk books!

Discussion Leader: HaroldArnold

I recorded yesterday and just watched the BookTV interview with the author of 1493. Sounds like a book I'll probably get - so I'll need to get 1491, too.

JoanK · « **Reply #1921 on:** October 03, 2011, 06:44:33 PM »

Dates are popular as titles nowadays. Saw 1861 on the library new book shelf.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #1922 on:** October 25, 2011, 10:16:16 PM »

Found another great site for those of us who are knowledge, and/ or history, addicts.

http://www.learnoutloud.com/Free-Audio-Video/History/American-History#self

This is the "free stuff" history site. There are 1000's of other categories in many diiferent issues and for both free and paid. Go to learnoutloud home site. On this history site, if you go to about page 36 of the lists they begin a lot of interviews of authors and many of the In Depth shows from CSPAN.

Enjoy! I consider them a great procrastination against housework.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #1923 on:** October 26, 2011, 02:18:21 AM »

Yes, and here is another that gathers live video from university lectures, debates and other live events.

http://fora.tv/2009/12/08/Chris_Hedges_Empire_of_Illusion#fullprogram

roshanarose · « **Reply #1924 on:** November 15, 2011, 08:04:53 PM »

I think this is the correct category for "The Red Queen" by Phillipa Gregory. For some reason, I know not what, I have been putting off reading about the Plantagenet and Lancaster dynasties and the dire doings of Richard III. What a treat awaited me with Margaret Beaufort, the "Red Queen", the politics and doings of royalty of that time are only rivalled by the Romans! Just the hint of a conspiracy and the lord and ladies of the land all seem to be privy to it at the same moment. I have nearly finished this book. I recommend it highly.

I believe that the book "The White Queen" about the notorious Elizabeth Woodville was the forerunner to "The Red Queen". but no matter as I am sure it is just as interesting as "The Red Queen".

Babi · « **Reply #1925 on:** November 16, 2011, 07:47:21 AM »

I remember reading a fictionalized version of the Elizabeth Woodville story. Probably not all that
accurate, but as I remember she was 'notorious' mainly because she was of inferior rank to have
made the prestigious marriage she did, putting a great many noses out of joint.

ANNIE · « **Reply #1926 on:** November 17, 2011, 06:37:13 AM »

I just received an email about Learnoutloud and have already started on one of the global histories in it with Cathy someone who is a delight to listen to. Now my next trick will be to figure out how to transfer this to my iPod so I can take it to bed and listen before dropping off to sleep.

roshanarose · « **Reply #1927 on:** November 17, 2011, 08:59:00 AM »

Babi - It is true that Gregory doesn't write with the same attention to fact as say Alison Weir, but the Red Queen was very readable. Evidently White Queen and Red Queen are not in a series as such, but more like contemporary characters whose stories are written about in some detail. This technique fills in many viewpoints that may otherwise be missed. Philippa Gregory, herself, admits that her books are not written strictly according to fact, but are often embellished, unlike, as I mentioned, Alison Weir's.

Which do I prefer? I enjoy both authors as they bring English history to life in their own manner.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #1928 on:** November 17, 2011, 12:40:29 PM »

Allison Weir, "The Other Boleyn Girl" and "Mary Boleyn" interview on NPR

http://www.npr.org/2011/10/12/141276812/mary-the-great-and-infamous-other-boleyn

Anna - what is the name of the history you are listening too from LearnOL? The Pre World History from UCSD caught my eye at the bottom of the UCSD list in this week's newsletter, is that it?

Jean

Babi · « **Reply #1929 on:** November 18, 2011, 08:01:32 AM »

I did enjoy the Philippa Gregory books I read. I don't believe I've read any
of Alison Weir's work.
The UCSD...is that a on-line college site? I've toyed with the idea once of
twice of taking an on-line class somewhere, but generally decided I could read
about a subject if I wanted to, without the expense of a course fee.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #1930 on:** November 18, 2011, 11:34:57 AM »

Babi there are all kinds of free "education" sites online, i love them, here are 3 i like:

The first one speaks for itself in his url

http://www.learnerstv.com/Free-History-video-lecture-courses.htm

This has lectures and info from the Library of Congress, not courses, just presentations.

http://search.loc.gov:8765/webcasts/query.html?sc=0&ws=0&la=en&qm=0&st=1&nh=10&lk=1&rf=0&oq=&si=0&rq=0&qc=&qt=Americans+in+paris&col=webcasts

Learnoutloud is the one that has U of Ca @ San Deigo and other actual college courses.

http://www.learnoutloud.com/Free-Audio-Video

Frybabe · « **Reply #1931 on:** November 18, 2011, 01:39:52 PM »

This is one I have bookmarked. One of these days I must really get back to finishing the Roman Architecture lecture series. I stopped when I started back to school and never got around to finishing it. Shame on me for not finishing it over this past summer.

http://www.academicearth.org/

mabel1015j · « **Reply #1932 on:** November 18, 2011, 05:55:21 PM »

Yes, i'm listening to the Modern Civ course from UCLA.....iT takes some patience to just sit and listen or watch, i usually knit while doing so....... Jean

serenesheila · « **Reply #1933 on:** November 18, 2011, 07:03:35 PM »

JEAN, thank you for the urls. I will look forward to learning morel

Sheila

Babi · « **Reply #1934 on:** November 19, 2011, 08:54:03 AM »

Ah, JEAN, thank you for going to so much trouble. I only wish I could
use those links. What I forgot when talking about online studies is that
all of them seem to feature video lectures, and none of them provide closed
captioning. I suppose that would be a great deal to ask.
The only 'at-home' study I've ever participated in, with great pleasure,
was by mail. They sent written material and assignments; I did the assignments
and mailed them back. Slow, and so out-of-date now.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #1935 on:** November 19, 2011, 01:33:21 PM »

Babi - that sounds like heaven compared to what i am now having to do for the Open University course - everything has to be submitted electronically via their website, and last time it took me longer to 'format' it all than it did to write it. I would so much prefer to print it onto a sheet of paper and post it, but they only allow that 'in special circumstances' and I doubt if middle-aged resistance to technology would count!

Rosemary

Babi · « **Reply #1936 on:** November 20, 2011, 09:34:04 AM »

marjifay · « **Reply #1937 on:** November 20, 2011, 10:26:19 AM »

Rosemary, I really laughed at the thought of your using "middle age resistance to technology" as an excuse. I really sympathize with you. Don't know whether I could handle it.

But I remember so well having to type (on a typewriter) papers several pages long. One time I had to stay up all night in order to re-type something where I'd omitted a couple of paragraphs. What a drag. And I had a rough time staying awake at work the next day.

Also remember having to add long columns of numbers and do other mathematical calculations in my head for tests in my bookkeeping and finance classes. (before pocket calculators were invented)

Marj

nlhome · « **Reply #1938 on:** November 20, 2011, 11:09:00 AM »

Marj, I too think back to those days without the electronics we have now. I remember typing and retyping and retyping my husband's thesis for his masters degree as all the input from his advisors came in, not to mention helping him keypunch all the data. He had to draw all his graphs, etc. using a special tool. This year my son did his thesis, was able to electronically send it for review, then edit and re-edit and produce the final copy so easily. Of course, the fieldwork was just as involved, but the compiling and typing and editing was so much quicker for him.

Of course, we wouldn't have the convolutions of Medicare Part D if it weren't for computers, either....

mabel1015j · « **Reply #1939 on:** November 20, 2011, 11:57:53 AM »

When i teach about women's history, or the 50s, or the Civil Rts movement, i mention the Woman's Political Council in Montgomery Ala, who MIMEOGRAPHED 40,000 flyers overnight to tell Blacks to stay off the buses after Rosa Parks was arrested! Do you remember the purple ink? Can you imagine what their hands and clothes looked like in the morning?

Also i like to tell people about Ada Byron Lovelace, lord Byron's dgt, altho they never knew each other, who was a brilliant mathematician. At 17 she met another brilliant Renaissance man, Charles Babbage, who was working on an "analytical engine". They had a voluminous correspondence. She is credited w/ stating the first algorithm to be used specifically for computer calculations and she is therefore considered the first computer programmer. In her notes is a statement about how the enhancement she suggested could not just do mathematical calculations, but could be used for music, art and other aspects of life.

Of course the engine was not made and used during her lifetime, she died in the mid-19th century, but the Dept of Defense recognized her contribution to computer history by naming the "language" they use ADA.

More about "the first programmer" ......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_Lovelace

I always say "technology is womderful, when it works" .......otherwise it's very frustrating!

Jean

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #1940 on:** November 20, 2011, 01:17:16 PM »

Jean

My daughter read a children's book about her a while ago and enjoyed it. I haven't read it myself, but this is a link to it:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ada-Lovelace-Computer-Victorian-England/dp/1904095763

Rosemary

ANNIE · « **Reply #1941 on:** November 20, 2011, 01:28:04 PM »

I think we have discussed her before. Right?

JoanK · « **Reply #1942 on:** November 20, 2011, 06:21:46 PM »

I love stories about Lovelace. At one time, I was able to get a copy of her computer "program" and decided that it had "bugs" in it. But she never got a chance to "debug" it, since Babbage never finished his computer. Every great inventor needs a great engineer to carry out his ideas, and Babbage never found his. Later, a Swedish scientist built a model of Babbages computer, but I don't know if anyone has ver tried to "run" Lovelace's program. Unfortunately, she died young.

Babi · « **Reply #1943 on:** November 21, 2011, 08:55:11 AM »

Let's face it folks. If all our modern technology ever collapses, those who can
cook and bake from scratch, make cloth and leather, and grow food like great-granddad did, will be our most valuable resources. We'll protect them with our lives!

JEAN, I love those little gems you give us. I have never heard of many of the women
you bring to our attention, and the things they have accomplished. It always gives
me a boost to know they are finally being acknowledged.

Frybabe · « **Reply #1944 on:** November 21, 2011, 09:45:37 AM »

Quote

Let's face it folks. If all our modern technology ever collapses, those who can
cook and bake from scratch, make cloth and leather, and grow food like great-granddad did, will be our most valuable resources. We'll protect them with our lives!

Babi, you just reminded me of a comment I heard on a program I watched/heard a month or two ago. The commentator who was talking to a fellow who runs an apparel manufacturing place (in Oregon, I think) observed that most of the sewing machine operators were Asian. The manager replied that was because they are still taught sewing skills in school in Asia whereas here, we are not. HomeEc, here, is a thing of the past. I don't think Mansfield University has had their college level Home Economics courses for some time now either.

marjifay · « **Reply #1945 on:** November 21, 2011, 10:19:40 AM »

OMG, Nihome, I'd forgotten the class I took where I had to keypunch cards and then turn them in to be printed, and hope after all that keypunching that my program worked. Often it didn't, and I had to figure out where I'd goofed and start all over again. Aaagh...

And yes, Mabel, I remember that awful purple ink on those mimeograph machines. (Interesting about the printing of 40,000 flyers to warn black people to boycott the busses.)

Thank goodness for our modern machines. And thank goodness for my son who is a computer genius and helps me when things go wrong.

Marj

Babi · « **Reply #1946 on:** November 22, 2011, 08:45:07 AM »

My son is super-intelligent as well, ..always has been. That doesn't mean he
has any kind of rapport with machinery. Definitely NOT one of those guys who can fix anything. Nowadays, every family could use a good computer
geek and techie nerd...our heroes of tomorrow!

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #1947 on:** November 22, 2011, 01:23:09 PM »

Babi - my friend's son is posted in Afghanistan, and in order to find out how to use her DVD player, she had to take a photo of the controls and send it to him, asking him to call her and talk her through it!

Rosemary

nlhome · « **Reply #1948 on:** November 22, 2011, 09:28:27 PM »

Rosemary, that story about the DVD player made me laugh.

Whenever I have to disconnect my computer and its various parts, I take photos of everything, print them and mark them so I know how to reconstruct my set up. My son can come along, toss the pictures and put it all together is 2 minutes.

Babi · « **Reply #1949 on:** November 23, 2011, 08:29:16 AM »

I seem to absorb better reading than listening. Generally, I can follow a
manual and figure something out, if it's not so abstruse I don't even know what they're referring to. Actually, I find it maddening if someone
insists on 'explaining' something instead of letting me read the instructions.
Let me read it first, then ask any questions I may have. (That has become much less of a problem since I became deaf.

)

mabel1015j · « **Reply #1950 on:** November 23, 2011, 01:18:14 PM »

I'm starting 1493 (read 1491 about 4 months ago) . Just 50 pages in, i think i'll recommend it to our book group. It's 400 pages, but we could do it in 2 sessions of 200 pages each. We're a chatty group and will have plenty to say, so one session will not do it. The book divides nicely at that point. We might want to think about it for our book discussion here. I'll give you some bits and pieces as i go along, but not right now, the book is upstairs by my bed.....

.... And lord knows i can't remember any quotes at this age!

I can tell you he's going to talk alot about the Columbian exchange of foods and the consequences of more than just people having something new to eat.

I think my first question would be "what do you remember learning about Columbus and how was the situation of the two worlds coming together presented to you?"

maryz · « **Reply #1951 on:** November 23, 2011, 01:34:15 PM »

Jean, I'm about 25% into 1491, and really enjoying it (on the Kindle). I've gotten 1493 also. Fascinating stuff - and learning a lot I didn't know.

Babi · « **Reply #1952 on:** November 25, 2011, 08:31:30 AM »

I love your profile quote from Hubbard MARYZ. I think everyone is entitled to be a d--- fool
occasionally; I just hate to be one publicly.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #1953 on:** November 27, 2011, 01:23:15 AM »

From The History Channel's daily history:

On November 27, 1095, Pope Urban II makes perhaps the most influential speech of the Middle Ages, giving rise to the Crusades by calling all Christians in Europe to war against Muslims in order to reclaim the Holy Land, with a cry of "Deus vult!" or "God wills it!"
[]

One answer as to why we should study history......... guess we're still getting our comeuppence from that speech!

Frybabe · « **Reply #1954 on:** December 03, 2011, 06:06:02 PM »

I am in the mood to read a biography. Haven't decided which to pick up. Lots of choices sitting in my TBR piles and on the shelves: Lafayette, one about his wife, Champlain, Lord Nelson, Gertrude Bell, Winston Churchill, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and more.

I am waiting on a book to arrive next week called Into the American Woods: Negotiations on the Pennsylvania Frontier, by James H. Merrell. Merrell in an award winning scholar on American Indian history. It looks like he focuses on Indian/Colonist interactions and negotiations, mostly here in the East. His latest book is about the Lancaster Treaty of 1744.

Babi · « **Reply #1955 on:** December 04, 2011, 09:10:53 AM »

I've always thought Lord Nelson was an interesting person, and Winston
Churchill as well. I love the examples of his wit I've run across in my reading.

Frybabe · « **Reply #1956 on:** December 15, 2011, 08:27:28 PM »

My current nonfiction read is The Ripple Effect by Alex Prud'homme. It's not about a person, but a thing - water. Prud'homme looks at the stat of our water resources and includes water quality, flood, drought, and what we might expect in the future. http://www.alexprudhomme.com/books/the-ripple-effect/ What Mr. Prud'homme doesn't tell you in his bio is that Julia Child is his great aunt through Paul Child's side of the family.

JoanK · « **Reply #1957 on:** December 16, 2011, 07:22:43 PM »

Fry: that sounds interesting.

When I looked it up on Amazon, I also got "The Ripple Effect: How Better Sex can ....." Ohhkaaay.

Frybabe · « **Reply #1958 on:** December 16, 2011, 07:53:42 PM »

bellemere · « **Reply #1959 on:** December 21, 2011, 08:27:27 PM »

New to this site, but love good nonfiction. Currently "The Swerve" by Greenblatt - how an ancient book, rediscovered in the 15th century kicked off the Renaissance, and changed civilization. Fascinating. Now I wish I had stuck with the Latin!
De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things) is the book, a long poem by Lucretius. sounds deadly, doesn't it? But it really is highly readable, thanks to Professor Greenblatt.
Just finished "In the Garden of Beasts" and like it, althought not as much as Erik Larsen's "Devil in the White City" Hitler's consolidation of power and his methods of instiling fear in people help me to understand how the most literate and liberal society of Europe went so crazy.

News:

Author Topic: Non-Fiction (Read 439751 times)