Tag: nonfiction november

Nonfiction November: Week 3: Ask the Experts

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized40 Comments

Week 3 is hosted by Rennie @ What’s Nonfiction

I am a nonfiction newbie. I really only started to read nonfiction in the last few years, and then this year my reading has been a little wonky and off. So, I am turning to you all as experts this week!

There are some books calling my name lately.. books set in areas near the cold coast of the Atlantic Ocean. I am not sure what this is about really. Maybe I have spent too much time reading woodland books, and I want to explore the deep. Maybe it is because I am a water sign, born in November, just a few days after the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior. My ancestors were shipbuilders in England before coming to America, and they continued to be shipbuilders here in Detroit; my great-uncle worked on the Edmund Fitzgerald, and my mom even attended the launch. So, maybe there is a bit of sea in my soul somewhere. (I did have a palm reader in New Orleans tell me I had been a ship’s captain who went down with his ship in a past life..) Anyway, I am making a list of books that fit this sort of profile and I have three on my list so far, and I would love any other suggestions before I dive in to this topic. (pun intended)

These are the books I have lined up so far.

Any other suggestions out there? I will take nonfiction, and fiction too! And on both sides of the Atlantic, not just the UK side. Anyone read these and have thoughts on them? I know The Salt Path is a big favorite, and I plan to read it very soon.

Thanks! I look forward to your comments and visiting your posts!

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Nonfiction November: Bonus Book Pairing Post

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized15 Comments

Nonfiction November this week is all about book pairings, and I did mine on The Simplicity of Cider and The Cider Revival; however, when I was considering books for that particular post, I thought about adding a second pair and decided not too. I haven’t read the nonfiction half yet, although it is on my TBR for this winter. But then I got an email that made me change my mind. But, books first!

I loved this series by Nevada Barr, and my favorite was Winter Study, set in my own home state of Michigan. I love to read books set here, and I have always been fascinated by Isle Royale, it’s remoteness, and it’s animal inhabitants, especially the wolves. Then a few years ago while at the zoo, we talked to a few scientists who had a table set up about this very topic, the wolves and moose of Isle Royale. They had spent months there studying the population of both, their relationship, and all that good stuff. It was fascinating to talk to them, and afterwards I added this Rolf Peterson book to my TBR.

Which leads me to today when I received an email from the Wolf Conservation Center in New York. (we “adopt” a wolf there every year- this year we adopted Deven) This email was about a free webinar being given by Dr. Rolf Peterson, about the wolf restoration happening on Isle Royale. I just thought the timing was so coincidental, since I had just been thinking about this topic this week! I immediately signed up of course, and I am excitedly looking forward to it. It is November 19th at 6 pm EST, if anyone is interested in signing up as well!

If you do, let me know!

Nonfiction November- Wk 2: Book Pairings

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized30 Comments

This week of #NonFicNov is hosted by Julz of JulzReads

This week, pair up a nonfiction book with a fiction title. It can be a “If you loved this book, read this!” or just two titles that you think would go well together. Maybe it’s a historical novel and you’d like to get the real history by reading a nonfiction version of the story.

This one was such a fun one last year!

“The beauty of cider lies in its simplicity..” The Cider Revival: Dispatches from the Orchard

The Simplicity of Cider is one of my favorite books – I love Amy E. Reichert, and this book was a delight to read, full of cider and apples and family and magic. I have been having my own little love affair with cider this year, so when The Cider Revival recently hit my radar, I gobbled it up. Like, just read the heck out of it and then regaled my husband and family with a multitude of cider facts for days. I feel so well-versed in the world of cider!

This book even inspired a cider tasting and fire night with my brother and sister-in-law this weekend!

Nonfiction November: Week 1 – A Year in Nonfiction

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn nonfiction november44 Comments

It is my second year participating in this challenge and I am very excited about it! I feel more prepared this year – last year was such an amazing experience and I was like a crazy kid let loose in a candy shop – all the books!! Week one takes a look back at your year in nonfiction, and is hosted by Leann @ Shelf Aware.

I have had a weird year of reading this year – I just couldn’t always focus on reading like normal. I still managed to read some fantastic books this year, including more nonfiction than I normally read.

Not tons, but I feel like this was a good amount for the reading year I had this year. By far, my favorite and most recommended nonfiction read this year was The Call of the Wild and Free. It was a book that resonated in my bones, and I knew that this was the journey I wanted to start with my son. I had a feeling we would be homeschooling this year, and then when I read Arment’s book, it brought everything together for me. Wyatt has cerebral palsy that mainly affects his mobility, with some developmental delays, and Arment said something in her book that just rang so true for me – that in the classroom, the focus is on the disability; at home, the focus is on ability. (I am paraphrasing here) I know that this is not the right solution or experience for everyone, but it works for us, at least right now.

It sparked a year of reading more books about homeschool and alternative types of schooling, about creativity and adventure. And I still have two more of this type on my shelf, waiting to be read. I have found inspiration not just for our homeschool, but also for our everyday lives in these books. It just works for us!

Last year, I was introduced to just how many fabulous nonfiction topics are out there waiting to be explored. There really is a book out there for everything, and for everyone. I think this year, I am just excited to see what everyone else is reading, what their interests are, and to maybe find a few new topics of interest to learn about as well. I also “met” so many new people and found new blogs – the community that arises from this event is incredible, and I am looking forward to that aspect as well!

Nonfiction Nov – Week 5 – New to TBR

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn books and reading, Uncategorized27 Comments

I made it to Week 5, the final week! This has been a wonderful month of finding not just new reads but whole new blogs and people! My only regret is that I didn’t have enough time to visit everyone and reply all the time. My blogging hours are limited to when my son is in school three mornings a week, which is usually an acceptable amount of time, but this challenge needed a little more than that. I do plan on trying to go back and comment, and finish visiting those I missed though over the next week or so.

Also, because I am a person who takes notes on the backs of envelopes and random bits of paper, I lost one of my lists of reads and also a list with the names of the blogs I got books from. So… if you are reading this and see a book here that I have said I added but didn’t add the blogger and it is you, let me know so I can link back! I feel awful about it. Next year I will be more organized and better prepared. This was my first year, and I learned a lot and really enjoyed myself! Thanks to everyone who hosted and set this challenge up!

Which leads us to this last week, all of our new books added to our TBR, hosted by Rennie at What’s Nonfiction:

Week 5: (Nov. 25 to 30) – New to My TBR – Rennie @ What’s Nonfiction : It’s been a month full of amazing nonfiction books! Which ones have made it onto your TBR? Be sure to link back to the original blogger who posted about that book!

Memoir/Essays

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone : Books Are My Favorite and Best

Pancakes in Paris – Musings of a Literary Wanderer

Kitchen Yarns – Unruly Reader

Apple Island Wife – Secret Library Site

Where the Hornbeam Grows – What Cathy Read Next

Out East – Novel Visits

The Reluctant Hotelkeeper – Superfluous Reading

An Elephant in My Kitchen – Superfluous Reading

Educated – Cozy Reading Nook

The Man Who Climbs Trees – Booksplease

The Stranger in the Woods – Book Lovers Pizza

As You Wish – Sincerely Stacie

The Salt Path – Booker Talk

My Wedding Dress – Ex Urbanis

North of Normal – Kristin Kraves Books

Home Cooking – Cozy Reading Nook

Letters from Iceland – Liz D.

Iceland Defrosted – Liz D.

The Solace of Wide Open Spaces – What’s Nonfiction

Spirituality/Self Help

Welcoming the Unwelcome – Lovely Book Shelf

Tiny Beautiful Things – Book Lovers Pizza

Thriving as an Empath – Lisa Notes

The Road Back to You – Lisa Notes

If at Birth You Don’t Succeed – Based on a True Story

History

Expeditions Unpacked – Julz Reads

The Witches: Salem, 1692

A Bite-Sized History of France – Deb @ Readerbuzz

The Evolution of Useful Things

Poe: A Life Cut Short : Katenread

The Five – Doing Dewey Decimal

Letters of a Woman Homesteader – Hopewells Library of Life

Dead Wake – The Paperback Princess

I also think Bryan’s post for expert week was pretty important – so I just added the whole list. One More Page as well

The Road to Jonestown – Scifantastor

Nature

The Hidden Life of Trees – Deb @ Readerbuzz

The Wild Remedy – Jade @ Reading with Jade

Last Child in the Woods

The Big Year – Deb @ Readerbuzz

North on the Wing – Deb @ Readerbuzz

Weird and Wild Beauty – Deb @ Readerbuzz

H is for Hawk – Deb @ Readerbuzz

Wilderness Essays John Muir – Deb @ Readerbuzz

The Soul of an Octopus – Shelleyrae @ Book’d Out

21st-Century Yokel – Secret Library Site (which I already bought and read!)

Gathering Moss – An Adventure in Reading – (pretty sure this is next on my list)

Under Land – Doing Dewey Decimal

Around the World in 80 Trees – Superfluous Reading

Braving It – Musings of a Literary Wanderer

Forest Bathing – Readerbuzz

Birders – Tale of a Tribe – Liz D.

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek – What’s Nonfiction

Humor

#IMOMSOHARD – Never Enough Novels

True Crime

The Crimes of Paris – What’s Nonfiction

The Poisoner’s Handbook

The Family Next Door

After the Eclipse – Rather Too Fond of Books

Then Shelleyrae had a crazy good list of women serial killers (does that sound weird? lol)

Decor

Cozy White Cottage – Unruly Reader

Cozy Minimalist Home – Unruly Reader

Travel

The Stopping Places

50 Great American Places

Don’t Make Me Pull Over

Science

Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? – Maphead’s Book Blog

Tamed – Kate Vane

Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife – What’s Nonfiction

Bad Science – What’s Nonfiction

Quiet – Booksplease

Gender

The Gender Agenda – Rather Too Fond of Books

Books about Books

The Novel Cure – Books are my favorite and best

Fiction

Split Tooth – Lovely Bookshelf 

Cape May – Novel Visits

Podcasts

Redhanded – What’s Nonfiction

Nonfiction November – Ask the Experts!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized39 Comments

Wow, week 3 already! I have been finding so many great books – I am so glad that I participated this year. This week’s prompt is:

Be The Expert/Ask the Expert/Become the Expert (Hosted by Katie at Doing Dewey)
Three ways to join in this week! You can either share three or more books on a single topic that you have read and can recommend (be the expert), you can put the call out for good nonfiction on a specific topic that you have been dying to read (ask the expert), or you can create your own list of books on a topic that you’d like to read (become the expert).

This is the week I was really nervous about. In the past few years I haven’t read much nonfiction. Not enough to consider myself an expert at anything. Maybe years ago, when I was reading more. But now, not so much. So, I am opting for a blend of the remaining two options! I am asking for recommendations as well as sharing a list of the books I had already started. If you have a suggestion on my topic, I would love to hear it! If you have an opinion on any of the books I am sharing, I would love to hear that too! And finally, if you don’t have one on this particular topic exactly, I would love your suggestions for nature reading!

Rewilding/Wilding our Family

For much of my adult life, I have suffered from anxiety. When things began to pile up, I would find a walk in the woods always made me feel so much better. Years later, I have learned that this is something that has been studied and scientists are finding that nature and a connection to nature is so important to our health, mental and physical. My son has cerebral palsy, so sometimes finding the accessibility is tough, so I have joined a million groups online and read all sorts of different philosophies to find different ideas that I can adapt. I really believe that some of his progress is due to the way we are trying to raise him, with a closeness to nature. Yes, he has multiple therapy appointments a week, and monthly doctors appointments, but I believe this nature connection is providing a healthy balance to that world, and they are working in tandem. So,with all that being said, I need your suggestions! I have read a few already, like The Nature Fix and There is No Such Thing as Bad Weather, but I am looking for more!

These are the few I have found but I would love to hear your recommendations or suggestions! If you don’t have a rewilding/widling specific book suggestion, I would love to hear your nature book suggestions!