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TheSite.org Book Club - Nominations for July's book (Special Non-Fiction Edition!)

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
edited January 2023 in General Chat
So after our chat on Wednesday, it was decided that for July we're going to have a special, non-fiction month for Book Club! So for this month only, feel free to nominate your favourite biographies, travel diaries, memoirs, and whatever else you can think of!

This doesn't mean we're going to accept things like textbooks, poetry books (though it is tempting...), joke books, and that kind of thing (I'm looking at you, CoatHanger...). Nominated books should be prose/novels only, please! Anything that doesn't fit this will be excluded from the poll, sorry.

Reminder of the rules:

1. Anybody can nominate a book.
2. Books nominated for this month have to be non-fiction (this still means a novel!).
3. Try not to pick anything too hefty. While some of us could probably get through War and Peace in a month, others aren't so fast.
4. Nominations in the below example format, please:

Book: Snuff by Terry Pratchett|Kindle Edition

Synopsis: It is a truth universally acknowledged that a policeman taking a holiday would barely have had time to open his suitcase before he finds his first corpse.

And Commander Sam Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch is on holiday in the pleasant and innocent countryside, but not for him a mere body in the wardrobe. There are many, many bodies and an ancient crime more terrible than murder.

He is out of his jurisdiction, out of his depth, out of bacon sandwiches, occasionally snookered and out of his mind, but never out of guile. Where there is a crime there must be a finding, there must be a chase and there must be a punishment.

They say that in the end all sins are forgiven.

But not quite all...
From Amazon

Reason for Nomination: Any reason you like can go here. The above is an example, and was our book for March, so no nominating!

5. As I did above, if there is a Kindle/e-reader edition, put a separate link to that, please (On Amazon, there is a "Start reading [book] on your Kindle..." link under the image).

Commence nominations! Poll will be put up in one week with all nominations. And just a reminder that Book Club chat are still running monthly - the next one will be Wednesday July 4th for June's book, World War Z :)

Franki
Post edited by JustV on

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Book: A Short History Of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson [Kindle Edition]

    Synopsis: A Short History of Nearly Everything is a popular science book by American author Bill Bryson that explains some areas of science, using a style of language which aims to be more accessible to the general public than many other books dedicated to the subject.
    A Short History deviates from Bryson's popular travel book genre, instead describing general sciences such as chemistry, paleontology, astronomy, and particle physics. In it, he explores time from the Big Bang to the discovery of quantum mechanics, via evolution and geology.
    Bryson tells the story of science through the stories of the people who made the discoveries, such as Edwin Hubble, Isaac Newton, and Albert Einstein.

    Reason for Nomination: Epic introduction to all science
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner (Kindle Edition, ebook)

    Synopsis: A wry, light-hearted look at economic theory applied to social problems (why do drug dealers live with their mothers?).

    Reason for nomination: It doesn't have all the answers but it's great fun and a really good introduction to a subject that we could all do with knowing a bit about!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Why Does E=MC^2 (and why should we care)? by Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw (Kindle edition, ebook)
    Amazon wrote:
    This is an engaging and accessible explanation of Einstein's equation that explores the principles of physics through everyday life. Professor Brian Cox and Professor Jeff Forshaw go on a journey to the frontier of 21st century science to consider the real meaning behind the iconic sequence of symbols that make up Einstein's most famous equation. Breaking down the symbols themselves, they pose a series of questions: What is energy? What is mass? What has the speed of light got to do with energy and mass? In answering these questions, they take us to the site of one of the largest scientific experiments ever conducted. Lying beneath the city of Geneva, straddling the Franco-Swiss boarder, is a 27 km particle accelerator, known as the Large Hadron Collider. Using this gigantic machine - which can recreate conditions in the early Universe fractions of a second after the Big Bang - Cox and Forshaw will describe the current theory behind the origin of mass. Alongside questions of energy and mass, they will consider the third, and perhaps, most intriguing element of the equation: 'c' - or the speed of light. Why is it that the speed of light is the exchange rate? Answering this question is at the heart of the investigation as the authors demonstrate how, in order to truly understand why E=mc2, we first must understand why we must move forward in time and not backwards and how objects in our 3-dimensional world actually move in 4-dimensional space-time. In other words, how the very fabric of our world is constructed. A collaboration between two of the youngest professors in the UK, "Why Does E=MC2?" promises to be one of the most exciting and accessible explanations of the theory of relativity in recent years.

    Reason for nomination: I've read The Quantum Universe by the same authors (and it's excellent and surprisingly accessible), but not their first book. Fiend mentioned in chat that she would also like to read it.

    There is a preview of the print edition on the Kindle page, and a preview of the audio on the ebook page.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Flat Earth News by Nick Davies

    An insight into how the modern media works, or rather fails to.

    Reason: We all read the papers, or watch TV news, so surely we should understand better how they are put together as they have such massive impact on our lives and opinions.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The Burden of Power by Alaistair Campbell

    Latest installment of the Cambell diaries covering the peroid after 9/11 until his resignation

    Reason: having read the previous three volume I know what a great insight they are into the machinations behind teh Labour Govt - Blair's relationship with Brown, Prescott and the Labour Party especially. Also been a really good indication into how decisions are made at the very top levels of Govt. I suspect that this volume is the one that people have really been looking forward to.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    You Can't Read This Book: Censorship in an Age of Freedom by Nick Cohen

    From the fall of the Berlin Wall to the advert of the Web, everywhere you turn you are told that we live in age of unparalleled freedom. This is dangerously naïve. From the revolution in Iran that wasn?t to the imposition of super-injunctions from the filthy rich, we still live in a world where you can write a book and end up dead.

    After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of Communism, and the advent of the Web which allowed for even the smallest voice to be heard, everywhere you turned you were told that we were living in an age of unparalleled freedom.
    You Can't Read This Book argues that this view is dangerously naive. From the revolution in Iran that wasn't, to the Great Firewall of China and the imposition of super-injunctions from the filthy rich protecting their privacy, the traditional opponents of freedom of speech - religious fanaticism, plutocratic power and dictatorial states - are thriving, and in many respects finding the world a more comfortable place in the early 21st century than they did in the late 20th.

    This is not an account of interesting but trivial disputes about freedom of speech: the rights and wrongs of shouting 'fire' in a crowded theatre, of playing heavy metal at 3 am in a built-up area or articulating extremist ideas in a school or university. Rather, this is a story that starts with the cataclysmic reaction of the Left and Right to the publication and denunciation of the Satanic Verses in 1988 that saw them jump into bed with radical extremists. It ends at the juncture where even in the transgressive, liberated West, where so much blood had been spilt for Freedom, where rebellion is the conformist style and playing the dissenter the smart career move in the arts and media, you can write a book and end up destroyed or dead.

    Reason: This is about how we are almost bullied into stifling our own opinions for fear of offence or violent reaction. Given that we think we are free, this book is supposed to expose that as a myth.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I want to read all of these!

    Can we re-nominate the Tesla biog from last month?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    piccolo wrote: »
    I want to read all of these!

    Can we re-nominate the Tesla biog from last month?

    Yup :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Oh, also (I'll stop soon, I promise!)...
    Living it Out by Sarah and Rachel Hagger-Holt (no ebook or Kindle edition)

    Synopsis (from the publishers):
    The issue of sexuality is a question with which all mainstream churches are now engaged. Attitudes are changing and it is often a painful journey for all concerned, however they may affected. Here is a practical and affirming book for everyone facing this controversial issue whether as a gay or lesbian Christian seeking to live with integrity, their friends and families, church leaders seeking understanding and guidance. The authors draw on the experiences of a wide circle of friends and acquaintances who have been personally involved with this issue. They use stories, reflections, readings, prayers, cartoons and top tips to suggest practical ways of managing and enriching relationships with God, the church, and other people. Upbeat, brave and open this is based on many Christians' lived experience and includes fifty first hand stories from men and women from all denominations: Brethren, Roman Catholic, high church Anglican, evangelical Anglican, Baptist, Salvation Army, Methodist, Assemblies of God, new church Charismatic, URC, Metropolitan Community Church, Quaker, and liberal Anglo-Catholic.

    Reason for nomination: I have recommended it to a lot of people on TheSite and would be interested to hear what people who aren't Christian/LGB make of it - does it change your view of how 'the church' is dealing with issues of sexuality, for example?

    Website: http://www.livingitout.com/
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Is 8 a record for nominations?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru

    +1

    Am currently reading What's Left: How Liberal Lost Their Way - rather slowly - and it's excellently written and bang on point.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    piccolo wrote: »
    Is 8 a record for nominations?

    You officially nominating Tesla, then?

    Will try and remember to add it to the list...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Book: Tesla: Man Out of Time

    Synopsis In Tesla: Man Out of Time, Margaret Cheney explores the brilliant and prescient mind of one of the twentieth century's greatest scientists and inventors. Called a madman by his enemies, a genius by others, and an enigma by nearly everyone, Nikola Tesla was, without a doubt, a trailblazing inventor who created astonishing, sometimes world-transforming devices that were virtually without theoretical precedent. Tesla not only discovered the rotating magnetic field -- the basis of most alternating-current machinery -- but also introduced us to the fundamentals of robotics, computers, and missile science. Almost supernaturally gifted, unfailingly flamboyant and neurotic, Tesla was troubled by an array of compulsions and phobias and was fond of extravagant, visionary experimentations. He was also a popular man-about-town, admired by men as diverse as Mark Twain and George Westinghouse, and adored by scores of society beauties

    Reason for Nomination: Nikola Tesla is epic. I want to know more about him. And I think it'd be cool to do that with people.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Thanks Fiend!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Am currently reading What's Left: How Liberal Lost Their Way - rather slowly - and it's excellently written and bang on point.

    Yeah, it's really good. Am I right in thinking it pre-dates the last election? I feel like I read it ages ago. But time under ConDem is slower than ever ;)

    Whatever we end up reading from this list will be excellent. I'm excited!
  • AuroraAurora Posts: 11,722 An Original Mixlorian
    Freedom Writers Diary : How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them.

    Book Description
    Publication Date: 2 Mar 2007
    Shocked by the teenage violence she witnessed during the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles, Erin Gruwell became a teacher at a high school rampant with hostility and racial intolerance. For many of these students–whose ranks included substance abusers, gang members, the homeless, and victims of abuse–Gruwell was the first person to treat them with dignity, to believe in their potential and help them see it themselves. Soon, their loyalty towards their teacher and burning enthusiasm to help end violence and intolerance became a force of its own. Inspired by reading The Diary of Anne Frank and meeting Zlata Filipovic (the eleven-year old girl who wrote of her life in Sarajevo during the civil war), the students began a joint diary of their inner-city upbringings. Told through anonymous entries to protect their identities and allow for complete candor, The Freedom Writers Diary is filled with astounding vignettes from 150 students who, like civil rights activist Rosa Parks and the Freedom Riders, heard society tell them where to go–and refused to listen.

    Reason for Nomination : I really enjoyed reading the book, it was gripping, and how one teacher can change so many lives, well basically nominating this book because I enjoyed reading it, and would love to read it again! And Proceeds from this book benefit the Freedom Writers Foundation, an organization set up to provide scholarships for underprivieged youth and to train teachers


    http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Freedom-Writers-Diary-Themselves/dp/0767924908/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1339438700&sr=8-2
  • AuroraAurora Posts: 11,722 An Original Mixlorian
    Go Ask Alice : Anonymous

    Amazon :
    Book Description
    Publication Date: Jan 2006
    This is the story of a 15-year-old American drug addict. Based on the pages of her diary, it tells how Alice discovered drugs, sex and the kind of freedom her parents only disapproved of. Sometimes she worries about what is happening to her; sometimes she resorts to subterfuge to avoid worrying her family; and sometimes she confides all her anxieties, joys and sorrows to the one friend she can trust - her diary.

    Good Reads Book Description :
    January 24th After you've had it, there isn't even life without drugs.... It started when she was served a soft drink laced with LSD in a dangerous party game. Within months, she was hooked, trapped in a downward spiral that took her from her comfortable home and loving family to the mean streets of an unforgiving city. It was a journey that would rob her of her innocence, her youth -- and ultimately her life. Read her diary. Enter her world.
    You will never forget her. For thirty-five years, the acclaimed, bestselling first-person account of a teenage girl's harrowing decent into the nightmarish world of drugs has left an indelible mark on generations of teen readers. As powerful -- and as timely -- today as ever, Go Ask Alice remains the definitive book on the horrors of addiction

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Go-Ask-Alice-Anonymous/dp/1417734744/ref=sr_1_28?ie=UTF8&qid=1339439180&sr=8-28

    Why I nominate this book : ...I have no idea...It's actually a really good book to be honest!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Great nominations so far! :yippe:

    Book: Affluenza - Oliver James
    Paperback

    Synopsis from Amazon: There is currently an epidemic of 'affluenza' throughout the world - an obsessive, envious, keeping-up-with-the-Joneses - that has resulted in huge increases in depression and anxiety among millions. Over a nine-month period, bestselling author Oliver James travelled around the world to try and find out why. He discovered how, despite very different cultures and levels of wealth, affluenza is spreading. Cities he visited include Sydney, Singapore, Moscow, Copenhagen, New York and Shanghai, and in each place he interviewed several groups of people in the hope of finding out not only why this is happening, but also how one can increase the strength of one's emotional immune system. He asks: why do so many more people want what they haven't got and want to be someone they're not, despite being richer and freer from traditional restraints? And, in so doing, uncovers the answer to how to reconnect with what really matters and learn to value what you've already got. In other words, how to be successful and stay sane.

    Why this book? I read this ages ago. One thing the book opened my eyes to was to live within your means and satisfy your needs; not your wants. I still don't fully do this myself but I think we should all at least try...!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Going to be closing nominations a little early because I probably won't get a chance tomorrow. You have until like 4:30 if you want to nominate any more!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Last one, promise. On phone so can't link or format.

    Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick

    Subtitled, 'real lives in N. Korea', won the Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction in 2010.

    Apparently amazing.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    piccolo wrote: »
    Last one, promise. On phone so can't link or format.

    Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick

    Subtitled, 'real lives in N. Korea', won the Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction in 2010.

    Apparently amazing.

    Ooooh you just got in! Will look on Amazon for a link when I do the poll :)
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