Author Topic: Non-Fiction (Read 439634 times)

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #3000 on:** January 14, 2018, 02:59:07 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!

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #3001 on:** January 14, 2018, 03:03:44 PM »

This came today from my Library of America's weekly read - the first race riot...

http://storyoftheweek.loa.org/2018/01/they-all-fired-at-her.html

Frybabe · « **Reply #3002 on:** January 22, 2018, 03:59:46 PM »

I am, at present, reading A Victorian Gentlewoman in the Far West: The Reminiscences of Mary Hallock Foote, edited by Rodman W. Paul. The first part is a sketch of family, acquaintances, and Quaker life among the New York Quakers, both city and country. They were strong supporters of anti-slavery and women's sufferage. Friends and acquaintances included such prominent New Yorkers as Ellwood Walter (Mercantile Mutual Insurance Company, marine insurance and large landowner), Moses S. Beach (owner of the New York Sun newspaper at the time) and George Haviland (of the Haviland China family), as well as Henry Ward Beecher.

This was an era of expanding advanced educational opportunities for women. Mary Hallock Foote attended The School of Design for Women in New York. It was one of the most advanced schools available to women at that time. The footnotes (probably the editor's) comment on Coopers Union so I gather that the Design School was part of it. Coopers Union was established in 1859. As a side note, Irving College, right here in Mechanicsburg, PA was established in 1856 as a liberal arts college for women. I think they began with two degrees, Bachelor of Arts and Mistress of English Literature.

kidsal · « **Reply #3003 on:** January 30, 2018, 07:23:08 PM »

Reading Spy Princess. True story of an Indian Muslim girl from France who was flown into Paris during WW II as a radio operator. Was captured and died in Dachau.
Also if course Grant by Chernow!

mabel1015j · « **Reply #3004 on:** February 01, 2018, 11:52:22 AM »

Frybabe - do you know what happened to Irving College? I’m from Shippensburg and never heard of a college in M-burg. Did it morph into something else, or just fade away.

That sounds like an interesting book. Imagine how slow progress in social issues would have been without all the pressure from Quaker women and men.

Jean

Frybabe · « **Reply #3005 on:** February 01, 2018, 01:51:54 PM »

Jean, Irving College was in existence from 1856-1929.

https://pahistoricpreservation.com/spotlight-series-national-register-the-irving-female-college/ This site has some automatically scrolling photos part way down the page. I don't know what happened to Columbia Hall, but I believe the President's Residence eventually became part of Seidle Hospital when some of the property was sold after the college closed. When I was growing up, Seidle was known as a women's hospital; I remember that big wrap around veranda from when I was little. Pinnacle bought Seidle, I forget when, built a new building and converted the old building to Doctor's offices. I think the old building has since been torn down. That pretty much just leaves Irving Hall as the last building standing.

http://gardnerlibrary.org/encylopedia/irving-college I included this site because Gardner Digital Library is a Cumberland County Historical Society initiative. I thought you might like to check out some of the other stuff on Cumberland County.

So you can see some of exterior of the Irving building today. They are still using them for appartments. https://www.apartments.com/12-s-filbert-st-mechanicsburg-pa/9n7w7q7/

Frybabe · « **Reply #3006 on:** February 01, 2018, 02:18:42 PM »

On the other note, Jean. I determined that I wasn't going to get my library loan finished before I have to return it so I ordered a hard to find hard cover of the book. It isn't in ebook form, but there are plenty of soft covers available. I try to buy as many of my non-fiction/history books in hard cover as possible. This one, to me, is worth the price; it is that interesting.

It appears that ABE Books has changed the notification process slightly. I was used to the actual book vendor emailing me to let me know they got the order. I kind of remember that ABE's policy was that the books were to ship within 24hrs. of order acceptance. Now it looks like ABE does the update notifications for the vendor and there is no mention in the email about the within 24hr. shipping requirement. I need to look into that to make sure I didn't miss something and that the book is soon on its way. It is supposed to arrive around the 15th of Feb. Can't wait.

PatH · « **Reply #3007 on:** February 01, 2018, 05:39:04 PM »

Abe's policy may vary with the vendor. I ordered a book from them Jan 25th, choosing expedited shipping, 3-6 business days, got two notices from the vendor. It was "shipped" on the 26th, and tracking has it departed from a shipping partner facility on the 30th, and not yet received by the USPS. Good thing it's not urgent.

Frybabe · « **Reply #3008 on:** February 03, 2018, 06:06:33 AM »

I received my book yesterday. The person who packed the book took great care with it, first wrapping it in paper, then a plastic bag, next came the bubble wrap, and finally the padded envelop. I am very pleased with the condition of the book and the care to see it got to me unharmed. The book itself is a 1st edition board book. It now resides in my collection of US history books. I could have put it with my art books or with the biographies/autobiographies/memoirs, but the US history shelves had some space to fill, whereas, the other two do not.

I am weeding some more of my garden books. I've decided, much as I hate to give them up, I haven't done any intensive gardening in years and can no longer handle major pruning projects. My New York Botanical Gardens booklets are among those to go to the library bookstore. Those I consider rather precious, so they may end up back on my shelf.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #3009 on:** February 03, 2018, 01:27:20 PM »

Thank you for that information Frybabe

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #3010 on:** February 03, 2018, 01:52:17 PM »

Isn't special Frybabe to open a package with a book that has been carefully prepared for shipment - as if the person wrapping the book cared about it as much as we care about a child - lovingly sending their heartfelt goodness with the shipment - love it...

kidsal · « **Reply #3011 on:** February 03, 2018, 02:56:27 PM »

As usual, only responding to the select few. No wonder so few now!!

Frybabe · « **Reply #3012 on:** February 03, 2018, 05:25:49 PM »

Yes, Kidsal. It does seem that sometimes I am "talking" to myself sometimes, but I keep; insisting on posting anyway. I hope that some of my posts are of interest to those who read but do not post. There are a few.

I've been spending a little more time over on our sister site because there are more people posting, but someone mentioned the other day they are losing posters too. Neither site seems to be attracting very many new posters to replace those we've lost. For the most part, my reading interests are not coinciding the group lately. Also, I noticed that we, here, are making most of our posts over in the Library discussion to the neglect of the genre discussions. This one kind of went downhill fast after we lost Ella.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #3013 on:** February 03, 2018, 06:30:38 PM »

I think Frybabe since we are fewer and fewer we are congregating on one site - just share you special thoughts with all of us - we seem to be, 'all together boys how do you like the weather boys' kind of group these days - the younger folks who do read are mostly working demanding jobs and those retiring in their 60s do not like to align themselves with 'Senior' anything - we seem to be a dying breed.

nlhome · « **Reply #3014 on:** February 03, 2018, 10:06:34 PM »

Yes, Kidsal, sometimes it seems as if only a few people chat back and forth.

I am listening to a nonfiction, The Woman Who Smashed Codes. It's interesting, very long to listen to, though. I did some further searching on the internet about names in the book, and I may have to follow up with some other books. Right now the section of the book I'm in is concerning the development of code breaking in WWI. I believe it gets into WWII eventually.

I'm thinking the book you mentioned, Spy Princess, sounds interesting. No copies in our library or on Overdrive, and right now I'm not buying books. But I'll keep checking.

PatH · « **Reply #3015 on:** February 04, 2018, 12:06:39 PM »

Frybabe, you are one of our most prolific posters. I certainly read everything you post, but don't always answer unless I have something to say. For example, I'm half way through that weird WWI pamphlet, and will finish it sometime to see where he's going, but don't have any comments yet.

It's always a problem where to comment on a book; the Library gets more readers, but the genre discussions are more focused.

PatH · « **Reply #3016 on:** February 04, 2018, 12:09:02 PM »

Someone must have heard my complaint about my Abe book. 4 hours after I posted, it was reported as being in a local post office, and I got it in my mail the next day.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #3017 on:** February 04, 2018, 12:55:00 PM »

😀😀😀

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #3018 on:** February 06, 2018, 07:30:17 PM »

A Suffragette is arrested in the street by two Police Officers in London in 1914.

6th February 2018 marks 100 years since some women won the right to vote in Ireland and the UK

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #3019 on:** February 12, 2018, 12:45:16 PM »

I've just caught up with this discussion - I don't come into the Non-Fiction bit often, as I don't read much non-fiction, but it would be so awful if this site folded. I mus be old for my age or something, as I have been on and off seniorlearn for some years now, and I am not even (quite) 60. I love it dearly - everyone is welcoming and also so very well-informed.

If I read any non-fiction i will tell you! Actually I did read Jim Crumley's Autumn last year. He is a wonderful author and a very popular Scottish nature writer. I also read Nature's Architect, his book about beavers and how they should never have been eradicated (he says if they hadn't been we would not have any problems with rivers flooding) - he is involved in somewhat clandestine plots to reintroduce them to Scotland, as he and his friends think the government's project is rubbish. He is a true Scot from Stirling, with a healthy disregard for rules and regulations, and a brilliant ability to watch nature, then write about it is a way that is interesting even for someone like me, brought up in a city, who knows virtually nothing.

Just remembered I also read (I probably mentioned this somewhere else - if so, apologies) Esther Woolfson's Field Notes From A Hidden City, which was fabulous. She lives in the same part of Aberdeen that I inhabited for several years when my children were younger, so I really have no excuse for being so ignorant about wildlife.

Rosemary

Frybabe · « **Reply #3020 on:** February 12, 2018, 04:24:12 PM »

Well, now I learned something. I didn't know beavers existed in Europe and Asia. I always thought they were a North American thing.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #3021 on:** February 12, 2018, 05:04:10 PM »

It seems there were many beavers in this country once, but they were driven out by farmers and landowners who thought they were destructive pests. Now there is an official and rather limited reintroduction scheme - and a network of unofficial 'reintroducers' with their own plans. I really would recommend Jim Crumley's book - he writes not only about beavers but also architecture and jazz, drawing parallels between them, the beavers' impressive construction skills, and their remarkable ability to improvise. He's also written books about eagles, wild swans and wolves.

nlhome · « **Reply #3022 on:** April 01, 2018, 11:31:56 AM »

Rosemary, my husband spent much time during his career in wildlife biology dealing with the damage beavers here caused to roads and dikes. I suggested he read this book, but he said he always has had a healthy respect for the beavers' constructions. He had to deal with government agencies that thought their roads were more important, so he learned early how determined those beavers are. Retired now, but we still roam the state areas he worked on, and he shows me how beavers work to make their environment more livable. Unfortunately, often wildlife take a position way down the list in importance. The eagles here, though, are much cared about, so that some communities on the river north of here have "eagle days" in the winter where they set up viewing spots to watch but not interfere with the eagles. We do see them often as we are out and about.

One bird we watch for every early spring is the sandhill crane. This year they returned early, end of February. It is fun to see them flying and hear their calls. Bet they'll be cold here this week, as we return to lows in the teens for the week.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #3023 on:** April 01, 2018, 08:22:40 PM »

The weather was nice enough here today that I could hide the eggs and candy in the back yard. However the wild life has been very plentiful on our property this spring. I told the grandsons that they needed to come immediately after church so they would beat the deer, rabbits, squirrels and hawk to those colorful, shining objects. 😱

Jean

Frybabe · « **Reply #3024 on:** April 02, 2018, 08:39:35 AM »

I just picked up a copy of Cinelle Barnes book, Monsoon Mansions https://www.cinellebarnes.com/ It looks really interesting, but I don't expect to get to it soon.

maryz · « **Reply #3025 on:** April 02, 2018, 08:45:34 AM »

nlhome, we have sandhill cranes near here by the thousands as they rest on their way north. My daughter and I went on a boat tour to see them when they were here this past January. There is a multi-day "festival" to view/watch the sandhills, snow geese, and other migratory birds where the Hiwassee River flows into the Tennessee River. It's truly an amazing sight!

nlhome · « **Reply #3026 on:** April 02, 2018, 10:39:37 AM »

They are, aren't they, maryz? We traveled to Indiana one fall, Jasper Pulaski Wildlife Area, when they staged for going further south. Beautiful and noisy. My husband did research on sandhills over 40 years ago, so we got up close and personal with some of them then. Now where we live, we see them as we drive through the marshlands and along the river valleys between the bluffs.

Frybabe · « **Reply #3027 on:** April 07, 2018, 06:12:52 AM »

I discovered this book on Amazon (as far as I know the only place it is available) which I am ordering. Song of Praise for a Flower: One Woman's Journey through China's Tumultuous 20th Century, by Fengxian Chu and Charlene Chu, is a biography/memoir. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07791M17S?tag=viglink125204-20 I read some of the excerpt and expect it to be every bit as interesting and wonderfully written as the Chinese Science Fiction that I so admire.

Frybabe · « **Reply #3028 on:** April 08, 2018, 08:06:05 AM »

I hit the jackpot this morning with Project Gutenberg. Along with a book of Robin Hood stories, etc. there is this narrative of the Scott expedition to Antarctica by one of the survivors of the 1910-1913 expedition. The author includes photos and maps. The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14363

My Mom was always fascinated by the Antarctic expeditions, but her focus was on those of Shackleton and the Endurance. This is curious because I always thought she said one of our relatives was aboard one of the northern pole expeditions, not the South Pole. At the time she mentioned it, I hadn't paid much attention, plus she didn't know much other he was a member of one of the expeditions. Too bad I hardly recall what little bit she did know. I don't even know whether he was from the Evans or Clapham side of the family.

Jonathan · « **Reply #3029 on:** April 08, 2018, 12:10:01 PM »

WOW, Frybabe!! You certainly did hit the jackpot with The Worst Journey in the World. A few years ago it topped National Geographic's list of the 100 greatest adventure books of all time. It's tops with me. I've read it several times. It was reccomended by our first-year philosophy professor, as a good example of human resourcefulness and endurance. There's also a good biography of the author by Sara Wheeler: Cherry: A Life of Apsley Cherry-Garrrard. Awesome reading.

Frybabe · « **Reply #3030 on:** April 08, 2018, 03:02:13 PM »

Thanks, Jonathan. I had never heard of Apsley Cherry-Garrard before this morning. What a name. There must be a story there, all by itself

Frybabe · « **Reply #3031 on:** April 12, 2018, 06:10:24 AM »

In yet another effort to understand Quantum Physics, I am now reading What Is Real?: The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics by astrophysicist Adam Becker.

So far, which isn't at all far yet, I am finding the book very readable and interesting. Already I have learned about a very common misconception about the Schrodinger's Cat mind experiment. Schrodinger said that the cat would either be dead or alive but we wouldn't know until we opened the box. But many physicists decided to go with the idea that the cat was both and alive and the end result was decided when the box is opened, a seemingly slight, but important, distinction. Einstein got it, but Bohr and the majority of the physicists favored the second approach.

My main question, at the moment, is what is the transition point at which standard physics and quantum physics intersect. What is the catalyst? Apparently, that is a question the author is asking too.

I have always thought of Quantum Physics as someone's idea of a cosmic joke. However, now we have Quantum computers and such that actually work.

Uh, oh! Speaking of Quantum Physics, my Quantum cat just appeared. Shan has an uncanny ability to play now you see him, now you don't. He seems to transport himself from one place to another, instantly. He even comes with a Star Trek like communicator twitter.

PatH · « **Reply #3032 on:** April 12, 2018, 04:01:06 PM »

That about what to expect from a cat that wears a galactic Master Trader ring.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #3033 on:** April 13, 2018, 10:59:58 AM »

Seems like I recieved "notification" when someone posted here, but hadn't seen one in ages. I decided that I would check all the groups that I used to be "notified" about; Movies & Books into Movies; Fiction, Old, New, Best Sellers and Mystery Corner. (I get regular input from The Library) It is true that there are so few postings in any of the above, and one starts to wonder if interest has been lost or if we have lost so many of "our people". I subscribe to TBD-Bookoholics and over the past 6 months, readership (and poster-ship, LOL) has dropped off to nearly nothing, with the leader's comment "should we close this down". That brought a lot of us "out of the woodwork" for a bit. Mostly it's a matter of age and the ensuing "busyness" that's keeping us from regular posting; i.e. doctor's appts., family concerns, ad infinitum. I think I will pop into the SL boards I mentioned earlier and at least say "hi". (Hey, it's not that I am NOT reading...I have so many books from my library, and so many on my TBR stack, and hundreds on my KindleFire, that some days I feel that all I am doing is reading!) Addendum: I am taking a short class at one of my Community Colleges, on the Films of Alfred Hitchcock which led me to check out (on my own) four Non Fiction books about his films. That is keeping me busy for my nighttime reading!

Frybabe · « **Reply #3034 on:** April 13, 2018, 11:13:09 AM »

Glad to see you back TomeReader. I sometimes think I've posting to myself these few months. But then, I haven't joined into any of the specifice book discussions in a while either. That is where everyone has been lately.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #3035 on:** April 14, 2018, 12:57:48 PM »

Our recent discussion at the library on women’s history was about Mary Lincoln and Jackie K Onassis. I facilitate the discussions and I picked the two women only to talk about the myths surrounding them and the assasinations, but what a surprise I got as I formed a question of “how were they similar?”.......They were a lot more alike than I suspected, both of them restoring the White House and being criticized for spending so much money.

They both saw that making their mark in history was possible through marrying a man who would be president. They were both, of course, traumatized by the assassinations and loss of children, and both suffered what we would now call PTSD. You’ve probably heard the stories of Mary Lincoln’s obessessions with fear of being in poverty and her fighting to get a pension from the gov’t and that her only surviving son had her committed to an asylum, but Jackie’s family was very fearful for a long time that she would kill herself. She asked a priest if she would be with Jack “on the other side” if she killed herself.

Jackie eventually, after Ari’s death, became her own person and had a happy last third of her life. Mary never was got to that point.

These are the two books I read about them (every participant in the group can read whatever they wish and contribute information to the discussion - it’s called “History Mosaic.”) 😊

The Lincolns : portrait of a marriage / Daniel Mark Epstein.
Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis : the untold story / Barbara Leading

I enjoyed them both. They are both 21st century books.

Jean

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #3036 on:** April 14, 2018, 03:57:50 PM »

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/delmonicos-womens-lunch?

Jean, I saw this very interesting article on AtlasObscura, which is a fascinating website. Hope you will visit this and read about the Women's Club Lunch at Delmonico's. I thought of you when I read it!

mabel1015j · « **Reply #3037 on:** April 16, 2018, 01:12:26 PM »

Thank you Tome for sharing that. We have come a long way.

There are stories of thousands and thousands of women who stepped out of their comfort zone to push women’s rights forward, even if for just an inch, or just in their vicinity. Thank goodness their stories are now being dug out and shared so we can understand the struggle and our power.

Jean

mabel1015j · « **Reply #3038 on:** May 05, 2018, 01:16:33 PM »

I found a delightful group of free ebooks while doing some research for my library presentation on “First Ladies of Influence” - Dolley Madison.

Dolly Madison /Maud Wilder Goodwin, 1896; a free ebook on Google books, one of a series Scribner’s Sons published titled Women of Colonial and Revolutionary Times; each is well-researched. Notice that the title spells her name incorrectly, and the author does so throughout the book.

I live in south Jersey and have a presentation on Women in the Neighborhood. In this book I discovered that Dolley had relatives in Haddonfield - a town about five miles from me - and spent a lot of time there. I guess I have to add her to that presentation! I LOVE the INTERNET!

mabel1015j · « **Reply #3039 on:** May 08, 2018, 11:32:23 PM »

I’m also reading a very good book titled Civil War Wives: Angelina Grimke Weld, Varina Davis (Jefferson’s wife), Julia Dent Grant (Gen Grant’s wife) by Carol Berkin. Berkin is a prof at CUNY and a historian you may have seen onCSPAN especially when talking about 18th and 19th century. I enjoy her writing.

The Grimke sisters are two of my favorite women in American history. They were born on a plantation in the Carolinas which had slaves. As young adults they moved to Philadelphia and became some of the first women to speak to coed audiences as abolitionists, telling of their facts about slavery. She married another abolitionist Theodore Weld.

Varina Davis has a life that you should read about when you think you are having a bad day. She was 18 when she married Jeff, who was 18 yrs older than her. Others spoke of her as an intellectual and charming and witty person, but that was not appropriate behavior for a southern belle and Jefferson chastised her infront of others about her behavior. She moved to his family’s home and was very lonely and homesick, resulting in frequent physical illnesse. As with many couples at the time she and JD lost several children to illness. She nursed Jefferson through several illnesses that were aggravated by stress. She traveled, under very tough conditions, to be with him in Washington, back and forth several times. When he became the Confederate president she traveled for 4 days with 4 children sitting on a train to get to Richmond, the capitol of the Confederacy. Then there were all the trials and trauma of the war which was followed by 2 yrs of her working and lobbying deligently to get better prison conditions for JD and eventually got him out on bail, having just had a new baby as the war was ending and sending four older children to Canada, fearing for them to live in the U S!!!

Haven’t read the Julia Grant section yet, but what I already know about her, she had a much nicer and easier life than Varina.

Do any of you who have ipads find that after a some time the touch screen takes more pressure than orginally? My spacebar is much less sensitive than when I had first had it. Actually, I’m trying to discern if the screen is not working as well, or if my touch is not as strong.......could be. ...

Jean

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Author Topic: Non-Fiction (Read 439634 times)