Nonfiction Read This Year

     Tracking all the nonfiction I read this year, beginning just after Christmas.

LATE DECEMBER
Do More Better: A Practical Guide to Productivity, by Tim Challies (2015)
     This started out really well. If I was more interested in following his advice I would have gotten more from this.

The Child That Books Built: A Life in Reading, by Francis Spufford (2003)
     Examining what being raised by books and through stories can do for a person. Very readable, if a bit peculiarly English. Mixes in personal examples with scholarly research and a journalist's attention to relevant detail.

Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child, by Anthony Esolen (2010)
     One of the best books on education I have ever read, written in a Screwtape Letters type of way.

The Dangerous Book for Dogs, by Rex and Sparky (actually written by Joe Garden, Janet Ginsburg, Chris Pauls, Anita Serwacki and Scott Sherman) (2008)
     A parody of The Dangerous Book for Boys by writers from WordGirl and The Onion; including such important details as "The Rules of Fetch", "How To Make Your Owner Look Like an Idiot" and "Things You Can Chase". Pretty funny.

The Devious Book for Cats, by Fluffy and Bonkers (actually written by Joe Garden, Janet Ginsburg, Chris Pauls, Anita Serwacki and Scott Sherman) (2008)
     A parody of The Daring Book for Girls, containing important sections as "Cardboard Boxes", "Reasons You Meant To Do That", "An Illustrated Guide to Napping" and "The Pros and Cons of Being Sullen". Felines are much better suited to writing snarky instruction manuals on living than dogs are.

JANUARY
On Writing Well: The Classic Guide for Writing Nonfiction, by William Zinsser (1976)
     This was one of Courtney's internship books that I swiped from her desk. (Before buying a copy of my own.) Not many books on writing deal specifically with nonfiction, so that was interesting to read, especially when he defines what a memoir is and offers suggestions on improving them.

Diary of a Player, by Brad Paisley and David Wild (2011)
     As it's written here, the story of Paisley's life...with some strings attached. (Generally six.) Very, very good memoir/autobiography.

Felines of New York, by Jim Tews (2015)
     Like Humans of New York, but with cats. Very entertaining; and amazing photography.

Chew On This: Everything You Don't Want to Know About Fast Food, by Eric Schlosser and Charles Wilson (2006)
     Written as a "Think about what you're eating!" book aimed at kids, a rewriting of his Fast Food Nation for a younger audience. So for that reason, not as good as it could have been, and a bit preachy.

Baseball and Country Music, by Don Cusic (2003)
     A PBS special-type tone is what this intertwined history of baseball and country music is written in, and despite (or maybe because of) the breeziness the information is delivered in, it made for a really good read. And it was super-quick at just 149 pages, I was finished with it in a little over an hour.

Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat, by Bee Wilson (2012)
     This was a terrific history, because it goes into detail of such taken-for-granted kitchen technology as silverware, ovens, refrigerators(for the longest time British people were suspicious of them!), the kitchen as a separate room and many other useful bits. Plus English people have such an interesting way of looking at the world.

Taming a Liger: Unexpected Spiritual Lessons from Napoleon Dynamite, by Jeff Dunn & Adam Palmer (2005)
     Devotionals are generally stupid and poorly written, especially when they're written at teenagers. But this one was actually pretty good. It was shallow, but what was there was solid. If only the Scripture references weren't from the insipidly weak Message paraphrase....

What Jefferson Read, Ike Watched, and Obama Tweeted: 200 Years of Popular Culture in the White House, by Tevi Troy (2013)
     This book was amazing, written by a historian, who could therefore freely just deliver the facts of the politics that come with media choices of politicians. Also, there are a lot more Presidents that sound like they should be studied(Teddy Roosevelt especially).

Improv Wisdom: Don't Prepare, Just Show Up, by Patricia Ryan Madson (2005)
     A Stanford drama professor gives tips for how to improve improv skills, and life. She's a little strange, but the rules are basic: Show up on time, be kind, listen to other people.

Dave Barry's Book of Bad Songs, by Dave Barry (1997)
     Thankfully, I'm too young to know most of these examples. But they were nearly all awful.

Every Cat's Survival Guide to Living With a Neurotic Owner, by Beth Adelman (2003)
     "Dear Tabby" columns are useful. What would cats do without her advice? And even humans can learn some stuff.

The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: College, by Joshua Piven, David Borgenicht and Jennifer Worick (2004)
     These are generally useful. And it was cool to read about the problems faced in the typical college experience, since I have obviously not had that. One or two of the suggestions might be worth taking.

Me, Myself, and Bob: A True Story About Dreams, God, and Talking Vegetables, by Phil Vischer (2006)
     In some ways this is a memoir, in others an autobiography, and it could maybe even be classified as a business book. But it's definitely worth reading. It's hard to read about the collapse of Big Idea, but the "building up" part is so inspiring! He met Mike Nawrocki in college when they were teammates in a drama ministry, which was awesome to find out. Also, he accidentally insulted John Lasseter to his face during an animation conference in the late 80's.

Home Town Tales, by Philip Gulley (1998)
     Sort of a blend of G.K. Chesterton and Andy Griffith, Gulley's writing is always entertaining, but it also makes you think. This is his second collection of essays.

FEBRUARY
Endangered Words: A Collection of Rare Gems for Book Lovers, by Simon Hertnon (2009)
     A listing of 100 obscure and delightful underused words, complete with definition(s), etymology when available, and an example used in a sentence. It's amazing.

Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee, by Charles J. Shields (2006)
     This was a very well-researched biography of Harper Lee, which would have been unimaginably difficult to write. As a biography, it was fine; there just isn't much material to work with when you're dealing with such an ordinary person as she was.

The Art of Cars, by Michael and Suzanne Wallis (2006)
     A photo-essay book of sketches and paintings used to create Pixar's terrific movie Cars, along with reference photos and soundbite-sized recaps of the researching process. It. Was. Amazing.

Dating For Dummies, by Joy Browne (1997)
     Reading a Dummies book is always a bit shameful, simply because of the title, but they are usually helpful. And it was nice to read an explanation of how everything works when it comes to dating. A lot of things have changed in the last twenty years, though.

MARCH
Disney, Pixar, and the Hidden Messages of Children's Films, by M. Keith Booker (2009)
     This guy is an English professor at Arkansas, and he states right up front that he is very much a liberal. So it was interesting to see the thought processes of someone who leans so far left as he does. One of his frequent snippy attacks says that middle-class white people(basically, conservatives) lack any concept that there are people in the world who disagree with them, which might be right. And it was good to see someone take children's films so seriously. Because of his views, he tends to enjoy DreamWorks movies, since they typically focus on the power of communal activity as opposed to Disney/Pixar's emphasis on the individual's triumph. The endings of DreamWorks movies also frequently upend the social order, while Disney movies tend to keep things at the status quo. For these reasons, he especially loves the Shrek series, which I find appalling(for those same reasons). The book was a little boring, since it was so academic, but I'm glad I read it.

Thriving at College, by Alex Chediak (2011)
     This would have been much more useful if I had known it existed before I started college. As a senior, it was vaguely interesting, if nothing else than because the author is a professor.

Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man's Fundamentals for Delicious Living, by Nick Offerman (2013)
     This memoir was weird. His Midwestwern background makes his growing-up and most of his ways of thinking easy to understand, but the (many) tangential rants can get old fast. Especially the extended railing against Christianity. Anyway, it was interesting to know the man behind Ron Swanson's mustache.

APRIL
Mystery and Manners, by Flannery O'Connor (1969)
     She was a very unusual, but very good, writer most people have never heard of. In these essays, she talks about everything from the habits of peacocks to the Christian writer's approach to fiction, and many other things as well.

Under the Overpass: A Journey of Faith on the Streets of America, by Mike Yankoski (2005)
     A college student voluntarily becomes homeless for six months in order to better understand how to minister to homeless people. It's fine, but he didn't really come to any conclusions, so that was frustrating. Also, he kinda whitewashed the whole experience, which isn't all that helpful. (Of course, at the time I was currently starring in Tales From Tent City, a play about homelessness and the effects of whitewashing it, so that was definitely on my mind more.) David Wilkerson's Cross and the Switchblade has a lot of weird Pentecostal rantings, but it does a better picture of painting what big-city street life is like.

The Autobiography of G.K. Chesterton, by G.K. Chesterton (1936)
     Wonderfully Chestertony. So it rambles a bit, but for the most part it's a good rambling. And certainly worth reading.

Excelsior! The Amazing Life of Stan Lee, by Stan Lee and George Mair (2002)
     This semi-autobiography is very Chestertonian in the way it skips lightly hither and yon, yet makes a great read. When it comes down to it, Stan Lee is just a wonderful storyteller. (Also interesting from a "Wow, things have changed" pop-cultural perspective, the first of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy hadn't been released yet when this book was published.)

Superman On the Couch: What Superheroes Really Tell Us about Ourselves and Our Society, by Danny Fingeroth (2004)
     This book strikes a nice balance between academic and readable, pondering basic questions about what superheroes say about our society and what we value, both in morals and in storytelling.

The Pun Also Rises: How the Humble Pun Revolutionized Language, Changed History, and Made Wordplay More than Some Antics, by John Pollack (2011)
     A very indepth overview of the pun, as a unit of language, from a neuroscientific perspective, and also a history of its usage through time. Really interesting book.

VO: Tales and Techniques of a Voice-over Actor, by Harlan Hogan (2002)
     This is partially a memoir and partially a how-to book, written by (apparently) one of the most famous voice actors of the last forty years. Since voice acting is mostly anonymous, though, we'll have to take his word for it. (And a quick Google search confirms this.) Anyway, it was a cool read.

MAY
War of Words: Getting to the Heart of Your Communication Struggles, by Paul David Tripp (2001)
     This (really convicting) book takes a look at how often our communication with other (sinful) humans can be displeasing and not-glorifying to God, as it talks of the power, both positive and negative, of our words. Bought several years ago from Grace and Truth Books with the high-school graduation gift certificate from GBC.

Late Edition: A Love Story, by Bob Greene (2009)
     This really is a love story; of a teenager recalling his first job, from the summers of 1964-68 at the Columbus Citizen-Journal, he recounts with masterful detail the personalities of coworkers and the societal attitudes towards newpapering. It was an amazing book, but with a meloncholy sadness, of knowing that world is gone forever.

Homecoming: When the Soldiers Returned From Vietnam, by Bob Greene (1989)
     In one of his columns, Bob Greene asked whether the rumors he heard were true, that Vietnam veterans had really been spat on when they returned home. He received over a thousand letters answering that question, and he quickly determined that there were far too many responses to deal with adequately as a series of columns. So he edited many of them into this book, after some further reporting. Not knowing anything, really, about the war, it confirmed about the only thing I did know: Everyone lost. It was hard to read at points, knowing that these words were real emotions written by real people.

Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google?: Trick Questions, Zen-like Riddles, Insanely Difficult Puzzles, and Other Devious Interviewing Techniques You Need to Know to Get a Job Anywhere in the New Economy, by William Poundstone (2012)
     That subtitle pretty much sums this book up. It's aimed at technology-minded people. And the answer (for me, anyway) is: probably not.

Once Upon a Town: The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen, by Bob Greene (2002)
     During WWII, a small city in southwest Nebraska devoted all its spare time to raising the morale of the troops passing through, becoming a legendary symbol of hope and home for those overseas.

Seabiscuit: An American Legend, by Laura Hillenbrand (2001)
     A thrilling, EXTREMELY well researched biography of three remarkable men and the remarkable racehorse which united them and nearly divided the country during the tail end of the Great Depression.

JUNE
The Elements of Eloquence: How to Turn the Perfect English Phrase, by Mark Forsyth (2013)
     An entertaining (British, of course) deconstruction of many stylistic elements of writing good sentences. Roughly a third of them I knew from Dr. Mackie's poetry classes, and a couple others I had been using without realizing it, but it was fun to explore through all these new tools to play with.

The Horologicon: A Day's Jaunt Through the Lost Words of the English Language, by Mark Forsyth (2012)
     Forsyth's middle book details lots of wonderfully strange words, usually slang of some kind of another, or archaic medieval words needing a comeback. Also delightfully obscure terms for things like a hidden puddle(aka "beau's trap," because it would get the men's nice courting trousers doused.) This would inevitably happen while the woman was "putting out bait" (a very direct term for doing makeup), which included applying "pucker paint" (1940s American slang). Also, the handle of a teacup or coffee mug is a zarf. This is structured based on the average person's actions during each hour of the day; thus the title, which could be translated as "a lexicon for all hours."

The Eymologicon: A Circular Stroll Through the Hidden Connections of the English Language, by Mark Forsyth (2011)
     Forsyth's first book deals mainly with etymology, in his quirky, irrelevent and memorable way. For example, we learn of the history of "magazine", which was Arabic for "storehouse" (usually military). This is also why the term applies to that place where bullets are stored in guns.  Anyway, then the term was adopted by the French, and then stolen into English. And the man who set up the first magazine wanted it to be a storehouse of information.

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio, by Terry Ryan (2001)
     This memoir paints the daily lives of a large and accident-prone Ohio family held together by advertising jingles, as the mother deals with her alcoholic husband. A redneck version of Cheaper by the Dozen set forty years later, kind of. It's a FANTASTIC read.

Born to Win: Keeping Your Firstborn Edge Without Losing Your Balance, by Kevin Lehman (2008)
     I like birth-order books, because they're highly structured and well-organized. Sort of like MBTI types that way.

JULY
Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich, by Mark Kriegel (2007)
     A really good biography of Pete Maravich, who was my second-most basketball hero after Michael Jordan when I was little.

When Gadgets Betray Us: The Dark Side of Our Infatuation with New Technologies, by Robert Vamosi (2011)
     This book is hard to categorize, but it was really interesting. It makes me a little leery of the things that could go wrong with gadgets, but also makes me want to learn tech-stuff well enough to hack into things in a productive manner, like numerous scenes describe.

Repairing the Ruins, edited by Douglas Wilson (1996)
     This is a series of essays on how to run a Christian school, which was interesting.

You've GOT to Read This Book!: 55 People Tell the Story of the Book That Changed Their Life, edited by Jack Canfield and Gay Hendricks (2006)
      Isn't this a cool idea? Most of the books didn't sound very interesting, as they were selected from Southern California residents, but I'm glad I read it. And Tim Ferriss was one of those interviewed.

Dream Team: How Michael, Magic, Larry, Charles, and the Greatest Team of All Time Conquered the World and Changed the Game of Basketball Forever, by Jack McCallum (2012)
      It's hard to find a really well-written sports book. But this is one of them. I learned a ton of stuff I didn't know before about the Dream Team.

The Bodacious Ozarks: True Tales of the Backhills, by Charles Morrow Wilson (1959)
     A journalist looks back at the country of the Arkansas Ozarks that he grew up in during the early twentieth century, and explains the customs and ways of the people for those who were not familiar with the area. His relatives played a large role in settling most of northwest Arkansas. Well worth reading for a book-sale find.

Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God's Will, by Kevin DeYoung (2009)
     The subtitle pretty much sums this book up.

AUGUST
Outliers: The Story of Success, by Malcolm Gladwell (2008)
     Borrowed from the DeSpains' shelf, this book looks at the trends and attitudes that go into being successful at many different tasks - from playing hockey to designing websites, solving math problems or rice farming. It's pretty much a must-read for any homeschooler or homeschooling parent.

The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich, by Timothy Ferriss (2007)
     This was amazing and super-motivational, though for what exactly I'm not sure. But it gave a lot of good ideas for how to run a business efficiently and effectively, and also had a lot of neat travel tips.

Sports Illustrated Table Tennis, by Dick Moore (1974)
     Less than a hundred pages, it talks about the basics of playing table tennis. Part of a series sponsored by Sports Illustrated, maybe as a way to increase readership in young people by showcasing a variety of sports? Found in the mysterious wilderness that are the shelves of the RSU library.

Honky Tonk Gospel: The Story of Sin and Salvation in Country Music, by Gene Edward Veith and Thomas L. Wilmeth (2002)
     Two Christian English professors at a Wisconsin university teamed up to write this history/cultural analysis of the intertwining themes of sin and salvation in country music. It got a bit academic at times, but it was pretty good overall.

SEPTEMBER
Damn! Why Didn't I Write That?: How Ordinary People are Raking In $100,000 or More Writing Nonfiction Books, and How You Can Too!, by Marc McCutcheon (2001)
     One of this year's Okmulgee Library book-sale finds, I loved the title, though that subtitle is pretty horrendously clunky. Straightfoward, easy to read and inspirational! Good information, too.

Three Weeks With My Brother, by Nicholas Sparks (2004)
     This is both a terrific travelogue and a fantastic memoir of the Sparks family, particularly their growing up all over the western states getting into mischief. His experiences as a kid are similar to Stephen King's twenty years before on the other side of the country. And like King's On Writing, it humanizes the famous author so that we recognize that he's an ordinary person, too, who got where he was because of a ton of hard work.

Dear Readers and Riders, by Marguerite Henry (1969)
     A question-and-answer book filled with notes written to Marguerite Henry and her replies. Very worth looking into, if you haven't yet.

OCTOBER
Will Rogers Says..., edited by Reba Collins (1993)
     A collection of Will Rogers quotes, as chosen by members and employees of the Will Rogers Memorial Society.

The Church Awakening: An Urgent Call for Renewal, by Charles R. Swindoll (2010)
     Exactly what it sounds like - Chuck Swindoll explaining what the church ought to look like, why it doesn't, and suggestions on how to fix that.

NOVEMBER
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, by Eric Schlosser (2001)
     The author previously worked for The Atlantic, and it shows here. And that's a great thing. This critical look at all aspects of the fast-food industry is hard to read at points, but the information needs to get out there somehow. It's very well written, and meticulously well researched. Though because of that, I came away somewhat discouraged, as my Creative Nonfiction course wasn't going well, and I was convinced that I could never write anything of this quality.

DECEMBER
How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe, by Thomas Cahill (1995)
     The first of his "Hinges of History" series, where he examines the pieces of history that fall through the cracks - like, what happened after the Roman empire fell apart, but before the Dark Ages took over? And how was the world's literature preserved, anyway? This was written very well.

Catnip for the Soul, by Woody and Friends, as told to Jane O'Boyle (1999)
     This Chicken Soup parody is written by cats for cats, with entries on such enticing topics as the Cat's Bill of Rights, how to properly act during a party, good reasons for fighting, and chicken soup. Also lots of emphasis on the importance of sleep.

Strings Attached: One Tough Teacher and the Power of Great Expectations, by Joanne Lipman and Melanie Kupchynsky (2013)
     Two childhood friends relive their memories of their excessively strict music teacher and what he taught them, along with chronicling life in East Brunswick, New Jersey, in the late 1970's/early 1980's.

Rhinoceros Success: The Secret to Charging Full Speed Ahead to Every Opportunity, by Scott Alexander (1980)
     The favorite book of Bear Grylls, it's over-the-top and ridiculous, but in a very motivating way.

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, by J.D. Vance (2016)
     Given the rise of Trump's campaign over the summer, this was the summer's biggest book as analysts tried to understand his popularity. In this memoir, the author recounts his experiences growing up, and the culture of hillbillies in general, which makes up a large portion of the U.S. It all felt really familiar.

Ruined by Reading: A Life in Books, by Lynne Sharon Schwartz (1996)
     This is a 119-page essay on what it means to love reading and the power stories can hold over us, especially as kids. It wasn't the best work of this type that I've ever read, but there were several passages that I'll probably copy down.

Cheaper by the Dozen, by Frank Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey (1948)
     After growing up in a family of twelve kids in the early 20th century New Jersey, two of the siblings became authors, teaming up to write this memoir. It's fantastic, and I've read it so many times I've almost memorized it, as proved by how frequently Gilbreth concepts or ideas pop into my head at random times on a daily basis.