30 in 30: A Nonfiction Book

[fivecats]

Open
January 2010 Outside Raleighwood, NC
____________________________________

Day 14→A non-fictional book

I grew up reading fiction. Standard kidlit transformed into mysteries (many passed along by my father as soon as he finished them) and then a bit of scifi and fantasy as they were passed along by various friends. The closest I got to wandering the non-fiction stacks in the library I grew up going to was during a time when I was reading Plays.

Other than that, non-fiction was the stuff of text books, which meant school, which meant invariably dull, dry resitations of facts, dates and events. No thanks.

In recent years, thanks in part to Bonn's influence, I've been reading more non-fiction than fiction. And of those non-fiction books, the ones written by Simon Winchester stand far and above the rest as not only the most informative, but the most well-written and the best at putting an event/thing/whatever in a full context. Winchester clearly knows his history, but even more importantly, he knows how to tell a story. And that's the beauty of all of his books, they're all stories, they're told in ways that make the times, the people and the bare facts come alive.

I started with the audio version of The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary a story that starts off with a senseless murder and matches it up with the creation of the OED. I followed that up with The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology, A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906 and Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883. Each book is very different from the other, but each book was told just as well and each held my attention throughout the story.

Winchester is one of the few authors I feel confident about reading whatever they've written with the full expectation of learning something new and enjoying whatever he's writing about.

(NOTE: I've listened to Winchester read the unabridged versions of each of these titles and definitely recommend the audio versions)


Oh, and I should mention that the non-highway use diesel pump is only a few miles away from the local mini auto race track. They race on Friday nights and one night I'd like to take my camera and head over there sometime.

...

Comments

[basefinder.livejournal.com]

What's the name of your local track? I think you'll find it to be a fascinating photo op.

[fivecats.livejournal.com]

http://wakecountyspeedway.com/

i doubt i could get bonn to go with me, though.

...

[basefinder.livejournal.com]

Looks like fun, very similar to the local track I've mentioned up here.

Just be ready for some "interesting" people. Short-track crowds make NASCAR crowds look like a bunch of elegant tea-sippers.

:-)