Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon discussion

Read a non-fiction book.

This could be a biography, a history, microhistory, philosophy, science, a textbook, .... There are so many different non-fiction books. In fact a well stocked public library has a HUGE nonfiction section, almost all those Dewey Decimal System numbered books. Some are dry, tedious, or otherwise nearly unreadable, but many are quite good and a nice break from a reading diet heavy in fiction. Some of my favorite books of all time are non-fiction.
What are you reading for this prompt? What are some of your favorite non-fiction books?

I read lots of nonfiction. This year I have two personal challenges: 21 All About Texas in 2021 & Women in World War II (10 titles).

For the readathon, I might read

a collection of short biographies Texas Women on the Cattle Trails edited by Sara R. Massey

a travelogue Flâneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice and London by Lauren Elkin

a memior of New Orleans street performing Dreamtime Alice by Mandy Sayer

i try to read 1-2 non fiction each month - some of my all-time favorites:

A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II - about virginia hall (US spy during WW2)

Fifteen Days: Stories of Bravery, Friendship, Life and Death from Inside the New Canadian Army - i was bawling when i was listening to this but really good

When Breath Becomes Air - memoir of a surgeon diagnosed with brain cancer

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption - memoir of bryan stevenson who represents death penalty cases in the Deep South

The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row - about a death row inmate who was released after 20+ years on death row when his conviction was overturned (he was represented by Bryan Stevenson from the above Just Mercy)

What Stands in a Storm: Three Days in the Worst Superstorm to Hit the South's Tornado Alley - i remember all these tornado's hitting

Ashley's War: The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield - about the female CST teams that worked with the special forces in afghanistan and the first female killed - going to be a miniseries I've heard

I'm gonna read The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel that Scandalized the World so I'll prolly be depressed for a couple of days

I'm reading Know My Name by Chanel Miller (know in the media as Emily Doe). Fabulous so far and such an important perspective. (TW: discussion of sexual assault, mental health struggles, trauma, etc.)

I have Andrew McCarthy's memoir in my audio queue. So this is my book for this one.

I just finished Meaty by Samantha Irby. Hilarious essay collection.

Finished this morning

I read The Unreasonable Virtue of Fly Fishing, by Mark Kurlansky, for this one. I really like Kurlansky's books that I've read so far, so while I remain skeptical about fly fishing I figured maybe he could convince me of the merits of this odd hobby. I enjoyed the book, even though fly fishing still seems silly and cruel.

My favorite nonfiction books include a couple by Kurlansky- Salt: A World History and Paper: Paging Through History.

I am finishing Texas Women on the Cattle Trails by Sara R. Massey, and I am just about settling on different nonfiction books, some that will be easy for me to read, I hope.

Dreamtime Alice by Mandy Sayer Memior about being street performer in New York and New Orleans.

Our Mothers' War: American Women at Home and at the Front During World War II Light overview of women's tasks during WWII.

The Drive: Searching for Lost Memories on the Pan-American Highway Memior of drive into South America



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I'm listening to The Stonewall Reader, which is various letters and eyewitness accounts from the New York City Library's LGBTQ exhibition. It doesn't just cover the Stonewall riots/uprising, but also the civil rights activism the preceded it. There's different narrators for each person's account. I don't know if I'll finish it in time as I am a slow listener and there's so much info to take in. But I definitely recommend it.