Thursday, August 2, 2007

Odds and Ends

Whew-the poetry challenge is fun, but posting the poems makes it difficult to do my regular blogging posts! So, I'm double-posting. :D

+In case y'all don't know about Dogeared, it's the blog recording a super-cool project. Sonya is travelling around the US by Greyhound and taking pictures of people reading! Lately, she posted an entry that was an extended interview with the owner of an independent book store. I highly recommend it: go here and be prepared to smile!

+You might have noticed the Nonfiction Challenge button appear in my side bar. This is a personal challenge for me; in order to get anywhere near the fic:nonfic ratio I wanted back in my New Year's resolution, I need to read seven nonfic books a month for the rest of the year. So, that's what I'm attempting to do.

+Speaking of which, here is the latest bookpile! A mix of bookmooch, book store, and library. One thing in common: they're all nonfiction. :)



From Book Mooch: Joseph Campbell's The Power of Myth. I love Campbell, and this edition of the book is just gorgeous; it has tons of pictures.

From B&N: all summer, they've been displaying the 3 for 2 table, but there've never been 3 books that I wanted. But, finally there were! Confessions of an Economic Hitman (because I'm an international relations-i.r.-major), Spook (it's all about science trying to figure out the afterlife; I also have Roach's Stiff on the way via bookmooch), and The Ancestor's Tale (I enjoy pop science).

From the Library: I went browsing through the non-fic stacks, since I don't know the Dewey system that well (too used to LC). I found: The Persian Puzzle (once again i.r.), Waiting for Daisy (about adoption-I've always been interested), A Gentle Madness (all about people like us! that is, bibliophiles), The Supreme Court (trying to become a good citizen), and Does America Need a Foreign Policy? (did I mention I'm an i.r. girl?).

I also really want to review The Witching Hour and America's Secret War. *sigh* I suppose that'll have to wait until next week!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

That Dogeared blog is awesome! I'll have to spend a bit more time reading it later this weekend.
So how many non-fic books are you challenging yourself to read? I think that's great. I'm not much of a non-fiction reader although I do try to get in a couple every year.

Anonymous said...

I look forward to hearing what you thought of Confessions of an Economic Hitman and Spook. I've seen them on the shelves and been intrigued time and again, but never picked them up!

Eva said...

Iliana, isn't it cool? I'm challenging myself to read 35 (7 for the next 5 months), but I'm not sure if I'll meet that. I figure, aim high!

Sarah, I'll definitely let you know! I have high hopes for both of them. :D

Dewey said...

We might have similar fic:nonfic problems. I get so much nonfiction, but I read it so slowly compared to fiction that my TBR pile ends up being mostly nonfiction. And I see from your list that several of the books you included in your challenge are book I want to read. So maybe your reviews will be inspiring. :)

Eva said...

Dewey, we do have the same problem! I tend to race through fiction, while non-fic I take one or two chapters at a time. Since I'm trying to increase my nonfic reads, my current strategy is to be reading at least 2, preferably more, nonfic books on unrelated topics at a time. That way, if I read a chapter or two of each a day, I'm progressing!