Thursday, February 21, 2008

Non-fiction meme

I accepted Maggie's tag on everybody for guatami's Non-fiction meme.

What issues/topic interests you most in non-fiction, i.e, cooking, knitting, stitching, there are infinite topics that has nothing to do with novels? I try to read a whole range of non-fiction. There are some genres that pop up frequently: international relations, especially those relating to human rights and refugees and/or immigration; "social commentary" books; and armchair travel reading . Others appear less frequently, and can be a bit more diverse: cooking, art books, books about various women in history, books about historical events, parenting books (last year it was pregnancy and breastfeeding books), adventure books, and books ab0ut world religions.

B) Would you like to review books concerning those? I review all the books I read, non-fiction included.

C) Would you like to be paid or do it as interest or hobby? Tell reasons for whatever you choose. I do occasionally reveiw ARC copies of forthcoming publications. Payment is usually in the form of a free copy of the book and sometimes an Amazon gift card. It would be kind of neat to really get paid, but then things such as deadlines come into play. Not really interested in that kind of pressure at the moment!

D) Would you recommend those to your friends and how? Yes, and I do. Whenever I read a book (fiction or non-fiction), if someone comes to mind whom I think would enjoy it, I always recommend it if it is good.

E) If you have already done something like this, link it to your post. My most recent non-fiction reviews are The Translator: A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur; The Sky Isn't Visible From Here; Living A Jewish Life; and Secrets of the Baby Whisperer. The next non-fiction book I plan on reading is Barabara Kingsolver's Animal. Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life.

F) Please don’t forget to link back here or whoever tags you. See the beginning of the post.

If you haven't done this one yet and would like to, you're it!

6 comments:

maggie moran said...

I love it! Thanks for playing! I'll be ordering Living a Jewish Life and not ordering Secrets of the Baby Whisperer for our library.

I hate to say I joined the Jewish Challenge, but haven't read a thing. I really want to but my reading has been bookclub driven these past months. I haven't even installed the widget on my blog, bad blog!

Reference the Baby Whisperer, the last comment you got was a little out of order. You are entitled to your opinion of a book, and frankly I get it. The book doesn't work for you.

A lot of times, a book filled with testimonials and less with useful tips is equilvalent to an "as seen on TV" ad. The author is literally padding the book and enjoying success from his/her name. (Teach like Your Hair is on Fire comes to mind) The Baby Whisperer is a catchy name, but the original Horse Whisperer had less to prove with testimonials and more instructional advice.

I also thought the "rest in peace" was a low blow. One is supposed to endorse a book out of sympathy for a dead author?!? If that was true, there would be no criticism for the classics. :)

maggie moran said...

I love it! Thanks for playing! I'll be ordering Living a Jewish Life and not ordering Secrets of the Baby Whisperer for our library.

I hate to say I joined the Jewish Challenge, but haven't read a thing. I really want to but my reading has been bookclub driven these past months. I haven't even installed the widget on my blog, bad blog!

Reference the Baby Whisperer, the last comment you got was a little out of order. You are entitled to your opinion of a book, and frankly I get it. The book doesn't work for you.

A lot of times, a book filled with testimonials and less with useful tips is equilvalent to an "as seen on TV" ad. The author is literally padding the book and enjoying success from his/her name. (Teach like Your Hair is on Fire comes to mind) The Baby Whisperer is a catchy name, but the original Horse Whisperer had less to prove with testimonials and more instructional advice.

I also thought the "rest in peace" was a low blow. One is supposed to endorse a book out of sympathy for a dead author?!? If that was true, there would be no criticism for the classics. :)

Nyssaneala said...

Maggie - That person commented a few weeks after I posted my review. I didn't think it deemed a response. :)

I have joined a bunch of challenges this year I don't expect to finish. And, I would be guilty as well, I joined the short story challenge and haven't done a single thing!

Literary Feline said...

My challenge record this year isn't looking so good at this point either. :-)

I enjoyed reading your answers to this meme. I keep meaning to tell you how much I enjoy your blog. I appreciate your insight and well written reviews very much.

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