2011 NONFICTION READING CHALLENGE

This challenge is open to anyone who wants to participate, it's a way to encourage ourselves to read more nonfiction books in a wider range of topics.

To complete the full challenge, read one book from each of 10 categories (out of the following 13).  To complete the lite challenge, read one book from each of 5 categories (out of the following 13).  The 13th category is Reader's Choice, which means you can choose a category not already listed, or read a second book in a favorite category, if you prefer.

Arts/Recreation

Philosophy

World Religions/Spirituality

General Science/Math/Technology

Biographies/Memoirs

Social Science

Current Events

Medicine/Health

Geography/History

Nature/Animals

Sports/Entertainment

Travel

Reader's Choice

Please use this thread only for your lists, use the DISCUSSION thread for any comments or questions.

Arts/Recreation    Weep, Shudder, Die/Robert Levine  finished  8/10/11   

                                 Who Owns Antiquity/James Cuno

Philosophy  The Practice of Philosophy-A Handbook for Beginners/Jay F. Rosenberg  finished 12/4/11

World Religions/Spirituality  The World's Religions/Huston Smith  finished 2/27/11

General Science/Math/Technology   Bright Earth/Philip Ball  finished 4/25/11

Biographies/Memoirs   Ascending Peculiarity/Edward Gorey  finished 9/15/11

                                           What I Thought I Knew/Alice Eve Cohen  finished 6/4/11

                                           29 Gifts/Cami Walker  finished 9/2/11

Social Science   The Loss of Sadness/Horwitz & Wakefield  finished 11/16/11

Current Events   The Post American World/Fareed Zakaria  finished 4/27/11

                                Now or Never/Tim Flannery  finished 5/11/11

Medicine/Health   Head Cases/Michael Paul Mason finished 1/20/11

                                 Critical Care finished 5/8/11

                                 Comfortably Numb/Charles Barber  finished 8/25/11

                                 Powerful Medicines/Jerry Avorn, M.D. 

Geography/History  The Girls Who Went Away/Ann Fessler  finished 6/20/11

                                      A People's History of the United States/Howard Zinn 

Nature/Animals  Tree, A Life Story/Davide Suzuki & Wayne Grady  finished 11/28/11

                                      The World Without Us/Alan Weisman

Sports/Entertainment   Let Freedom Swing/Howard Reich  finished 11/5/11

Travel  Incontinent on the Continent/Jane Christmas finished 2/6/11

Reader's Choice  Body of Work/Christine Montross finished 3/7/11

Here's my list:

Arts/Recreation

Philosophy

World Religions/Spirituality

General Science/Math/Technology

Biographies/Memoirs

Social Science

Current Events

Medicine/Health

Geography/History

Nature/Animals

Sports/Entertainment

Travel

Reader's Choice

Arts/Recreation:

Philosophy:

Spirituality:   Grace: God's Unmerited Favor (C. H. Spurgeon) and/or What's So Amazing About Grace? (Philip Yancy)

General Science/Math/Technology:

Biographies/Memoirs: The Amazing Adventures of Diet Girl ~Shauna Reid (FINISHED 2/1/11)

Social Science:  I Can Read You Like a Book: How to Spot the Messages & Emotions People are Really Sending With Their Body Language ~Gregory Hartley (FINISHED 2/24/11)

Current Events:

Medicine/Health: The Secrets of People Who Never Get Sick ~Gene Stone (FINISHED 4/1/11)

Geography/History: something about the Holocaust-- no book chosen yet

Nature/Animals:

Sports/Entertainment:

Travel:

Reader's Choice: 7 Kinds of Smart: Identifying & Developing Your Multiple Intelligences  ~Thomas Armstrong, Ph.D. (FINISHED 1/23/11)

Completed 4/13

Here is my list:

Arts/Recreation: The Kings of New York: A Year Among the Geeks, Oddballs, and Geniuses Who Make Up America's Top High School Chess Team by Michael Weinreb (Completed Jan. 26, 2011) Rating 2.5 out of 5

Philosophy How to Practice: The Way to a Meaningful Life by The Holiness the Dalai Lama (Translated and Edited by Jeffrey Hopkins, Ph.D.)

World Religions/Spirituality: Don't Make Me Come Up There!: Quiet Moments for Busy Moms by Kristen Welch

General Science/Math/Technology

Biographies/Memoirs Before Scarlett: The Girlhood Writings of Margaret Mitchell edited by Jane Eskridge

Social Science: Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps by Allan & Barbara Pease

Current Events

Medicine/Health The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (completed 03/02/2011) Rating 4 out of 5

Geography/History

Nature/Animals

Sports/Entertainment

Travel: We've Always Had Paris...And Provence: A Scrapbook of Our Life in France by Patricia and Walter Wells

Reader's Choice The Dream Manager by Matthew Kelly (according to library catalog this book under technology and applied science)

I'm afraid that I have to bow out of this challenge, though I was looking forward to it!  Good luck and happy reading to all of you!

Arts/Recreation:  HEAT by Bill Buford

World Religions/Spirituality: Faith and Betrayal: A Pioneer Woman's Passage In the American West by Sally Denton

General Science/Math/Technology: Silent Spring by Rachel Carson

Biographies/Memoirs: All But My Life by Gerda Weissmann Klein

Social Science:  The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Courty by Jeffrey Toobin

Current Events: Homes Fires Burning: Married to the Military--for better or worse by Karen Houppert

Health: Mindless Eating: Why we Eat More Than we Think by Brian wansink, Ph.D.

History:  Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled his Greatness by Joshua Wolf Shenk

Nature/Animals: One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey by Sam Keith

Sports/Entertainment: I've Been Around by Tania Aebi

Travel: Dancing in the No-Fly zone by Hadani Ditmars

Reader's Choice: Leaving Mother Lake by Yang Erche Namu and Christine Mathieu

Not sure how I'm going to pick out the first book I'm going to read though ...

MY  TENTATIVE LIST:      CHALLENGE COMPLETED 8/8/11  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Arts/Recreation 
Ascending Peculiarity: Edward Gorey on Edward Gorey  interviews selected & edited by Karen Wilkin  COMPLETED

Philosophy   

World Religions/Spirituality 
The New Atheism: Taking a Stand for Science and Reason  by Victor Stenger   COMPLETED

General Science/Math/Technology

Hyperspace  by Michio Kaku COMPLETED
 

Biographies/Memoirs 
Cochrane: the Real Master and Commander   by David Cordingly    COMPLETED

Social Science 
 Canyon de Chelly: Its People and Rock Art  by Campbell Grant     COMPLETED

Current Events  
 The Long Thaw: How Humans are Changing the Next 100,000 Years of Earth's Climate  by David Archer COMPLETED

Medicine/Health

Geography/History 
 Mill City: A Visual History of the Minneapolis Mill District    edited by Shannon M. Pennefeather COMPLETED

Nature/Animals
 Eels: An Exploration, from New Zealand to the Sargasso, of the World's Most Mysterious Fish by James Prosek  COMPLETED

Sports/Entertainment
 

Travel 

 A Russian Journal   by John Steinbeck  COMPLETED

Reader's Choice
Sexy Orchids Make Lousy Lovers  by Marty Crump   COMPLETED

**Subject to change at any whim**

Arts/Recreation - Sex, Love, and Fashion: A Memoir of a Male Model by Bruce Hulse

Philosophy

World Religions/Spirituality - Write These Laws on Your Children: Inside the World of Conservative Christian Homeschooling by Robert Kunzman

General Science/Math/Technology

Biographies/Memoirs - Confessions of a Prep School Mommy Handler: a Memoir by Wade Rouse

Social Science - The Childless Revolution by Madelyn Cain

Current Events

Medicine/Health - Prozac Diary by Lauren Slater

Geography/History - The Cage by Ruth Minsky Sender (1/4/11)

Nature/Animals

Sports/Entertainment - Broken Music by Sting

Travel

Reader's Choice - Heaven and Hell: My Life in the Eagles by Don Felder

2011 NONFICTION READING CHALLENGE

This challenge is open to anyone who wants to participate, it's a way to encourage ourselves to read more nonfiction books in a wider range of topics.

To complete the full challenge, read one book from each of 10 categories (out of the following 13).  To complete the lite challenge, read one book from each of 5 categories (out of the following 13).  The 13th category is Reader's Choice, which means you can choose a category not already listed, or read a second book in a favorite category, if you prefer.

Arts/Recreation

Philosophy - The Moral Landscape by Sam Harris (finished 1/26/11)

World Religions/Spirituality - The Language God Talks by Herman Wouk (finished 5/7/11)

General Science/Math/Technology - Why Evolution is True by Jerry A. Coyne (finished 2/5/11)

Biographies/Memoirs - No One Left To Lie To by Christopher Hitchens (finished 7/2/11)

Social Science - 

Current Events - The End of Faith by Sam Harris (finished 2/11/11)

Medicine/Health - The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson (finished 5/20/11)

Geography/History - The Unbelievers by S.T. Joshi (finished 5/19/11)

Nature/Animals

Sports/Entertainment - Run! by Dean Karnazes (finished 4/17/11)

Travel

Reader's Choice - The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan (finished 1/31/11)

Here is My List for the 2011 NONFICTION READING CHALLENGE:

6 of 13 Categories Completed

Arts/Recreation  The Green Gardener's Guide by Joe Lamp'l

Philosophy

World Religions/Spirituality

General Science/Math/Technology

Biographies/Memoirs  Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines by Nic Sheff

Social Science  What a Way to Go The Guillotine the Pendulum the Thousand Cuts the Spanish Donkey and 66 Other Ways of Putting Someone to Death

Current Events

Medicine/Health  In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto (Large Print) by Michael Pollan

Geography/History   We Saw Lincoln Shot: One Hundred Eyewitness Accounts by Timothy S. Good

Nature/Animals

Sports/Entertainment   The Woman I Was Born to Be: My Story by Susan Boyle

Travel

Reader's Choice

Claiming my space!

Arts/Recreation

Philosophy

World Religions/Spirituality

General Science/Math/Technology

Biographies/Memoirs - Happens Every Day by Isabel Gillies, finished 1/10/11

Social Science

Current Events

Medicine/Health

Geography/History

Nature/Animals

Sports/Entertainment - Unbearable Lightness by Portia de Rossi - finished 3/16/11

Travel

Reader's Choice

Arts/Recreation

Philosophy

World Religions/Spirituality

General Science/Math/Technology

Biographies/Memoirs

Social Science

Current Events

Medicine/Health

Geography/History

Nature/Animals

Sports/Entertainment

Travel

Reader's Choice

Arts/Recreation Yoshino. A Thousand Times More Fair：What Shakespeare's Plays Teach Us About Justice (8/10)

Philosophy  Montaigne. Essays (10/21)

World Religions/Spirituality  Bell. Love Wins (4/20)

General Science/Math/Technology  Best. Stat-Spotting: A Field Guide to Identifying Dubious Data (3/26)

Biographies/Memoirs Redniss. Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie - A Tale of Love and Fallout   (5/28)  

Social Science   Smith. Less than Human: Why We Demean, Enslave, and Exterminate Others (5/25)

Current Events Dugard. A Stolen Life (10/1)

Medicine/Health  Pollan. In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto (3/28)

Geography/History  Jacoby. Bloodlust: On the Roots of Violence from Cain and Abel to the Present (6/28)

Nature/Animals  Palmer. Shooting in the Wild (1/9)

Sports/Entertainment  Nickell. Secrets of the Sideshows (9/20)

Travel  Ure. Pilgrimages: The Great Adventure of the Middle Ages (4/19)

Reader's Choice Frost. Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things (10/12)

Arts/Recreation   - Provenance How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art, 
                                  The Art of Gaman: Arts & Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps 1942-1946

Philosophy      The World Without Us

World Religions/Spirituality  Psychic: My Life in Two Worlds

General Science     Snowball Earth The Story of a Maverick Scientist and His Theory of the Global Catastrophe That Spawned Life As We Know It
                                    T. Rex and the Crater of Doom (Vintage)

/Math/Technology

Biographies/Memoirs    Under a Wing : A Memoir, Wyatt Earp The Life Behind the Legend ,  First Into Nagasaki The Censored Eyewitness Dispatches on Post-Atomic Japan and Its Prisoners of War ,    We Bought a Zoo The Amazing True Story of a Young Family a Broken Down Zoo and the 200 Wild Animals that Changed Their Lives Forever,   Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport, What my heart wants to tell,
Love, Alice : My Life as a Honeymooner, I'm Looking Through You: Growing Up Haunted

Social Science   Enrique's Journey ,  The Mole People Life in the Tunnels Beneath New York City,   Women of the Northern Plains : Gender and Settlement on the Homestead Frontier, 1870-1930

Current Events    Report from Ground Zero (Paperback),     We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families Stories from Rwanda ,  Our Story

Medicine/Health    Babyface A Story of Heart and Bones ,  Where Is the Mango Princess?

Geography/History   The Girl in the Picture The Story of Kim Phuc the Photograph and the Vietnam War ,  Ordinary Men Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland ,  The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story,  Killing Custer: The Battle of the Little Bighorn and the Fate of the Plains Indians
The Last Seven Months of Anne Frank, Maus I (

Nature/Animals    The Rhino with Glue-On Shoes: And Other Surprising True Stories of Zoo Vets and their Patients, A Buffalo in the House: The True Story of a Man, an Animal, and the American West

Sports/Entertainment     It's Good to Be the King The Seriously Funny Life of Mel Brooks ,  High Exposure An Enduring Passion for Everest and Unforgiving Places,  Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated
 

Travel    The Worst Journey in the World ,   My Lead Dog Was A Lesbian : Mushing Across Alaska in the Iditarod--the World's Most Grueling Race (Vintage Departures)

Reader's Choice   Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter,   Free-Range Knitter: The Yarn Harlot Writes Again,  Cape May Court House: A Death in the Night

I don't understand, I thought we are supposed to CURRENTLY read a nonfiction book.  People seem to be listing every book they ever read.

I am CURRENTLY reading:

POLITICS--Trickle Up Poverty by Michael Savage

SPIRITUALITY--"Come Be My Follower"--(Christian book, bible based)

Finally a challenge that fits in my normal reading habits :)

Arts/Recreation

Philosophy - An Introduction to Sri Aurobindo's Philosophy by Joan Price 6/11/11

World Religions/Spirituality - Acedia Me A Marriage Monks and a Writer's Life Author: Kathleen Norris 4/17/11

General Science/Math/Technology - The Seven Daughters of Eve by Bryan Sykes 4/9/11

Biographies/Memoirs - Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne and James D Houston.  1/3/11

Social Science - Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali 2/5/11

Current Events - The Ayatollah Begs to Differ: The Paradox of Modern Iran by Hooman Majd 1/29/11

Medicine/Health

Geography/History - Wine & War: The French, the Nazis & the Battle for France's Greatest Treasure by Don & Petie Kladstrup

Nature/Animals

Sports/Entertainment

Travel

Reader's Choice

Lupie, we are supposed to find books to start reading in January 2011.

I'm going to attempt this one since I can find a book for most of the categories off mt. tbr.

Arts/Recreation

Philosophy  Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea : Why the Greeks Matter by Thomas Cahill completed 2/24/11

World Religions/SpiritualityPlain Wisdom: An Invitation into an Amish Home and the Hearts of Two Women by Cindy Woodsmall completed 4/11/11

General Science/Math/Technology Uncle Tungsten : Memories of a Chemical Boyhood (Vintage) by Oliver Sacks

Biographies/MemoirsLet's Take the Long Way Home: A Memoir of Friendship by Gail Caldwell completed 2/07/11

Social Science  At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson completed 1/29/11

Current Events The Storyteller's Daughter : One Woman's Return to Her Lost Homeland by Saira Shah completed 5/1/11

Medicine/Health Girl, Interruptedby Susanna Kaysen completed 2/18/11

Geography/History The Swamp: The Everglades, Florida, and the Politics of Paradise by Michael Grunwald completed 2/27/11

Nature/Animals Goat Song: A Seasonal Life, A Short History of Herding, and the Art of Making Cheese by Brad Kessler completed 6/6/11

Sports/EntertainmentPlay Their Hearts Out: A Coach, His Star Recruit, and the Youth Basketball Machine by George Dohrmann completed 4/17/11

Travel Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: The Extraordinary True Story of Shackleton and the Endurance by Jenifer Armstrong.  I called this one "travel" because the crew travels from England to S. America and then to Antartica and then drifts across the ocean in an open boat before rescue. completed 1/30/11

Reader's Choice Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory by Bill Macintyre completed 2/12/11

I'm going to give this a go!

Arts/Recreation

Philosophy

World Religions/Spirituality

I'm Perfect, You're Doomed: Tales from a Jehovah's Witness Upbringing :: Kyria Abrahams January 2011

General Science/Math/Technology

Biographies/Memoirs

Social Science

 Mean Girls Grown Up: Adult Women Who Are Still Queen Bees, Middle Bees, and Afraid-to-Bees :: Cheryl, PhD Dellasega February 2011

Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town :: Nick Reding June 2011

Current Events

Infidel :: Ayaan Hirsi Ali April 2011

Medicine/Health

Geography/History

Nature/Animals

Sports/Entertainment

Travel

Reader's Choice

I would like to try this as well.

Arts/Recreation

Philosophy

World Religions/Spirituality...........The Purpose Driven Life  (Warren)

General Science/Math/Technology

Biographies/Memoirs............The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry by Kathleen Flinn   (Jan. 2011);  Into the Wild

Social Science

Current Events

Medicine/Health

Geography/History

Nature/Animals

Sports/Entertainment

Travel

Reader's Choice

OK. I am in.

Arts/Recreation

Philosophy

World Religions/Spirituality

General Science/Math/Technology

Biographies/Memoirs

Social Science

Current Events

Medicine/Health

Geography/History

Nature/Animals

Sports/Entertainment

Travel

Reader's Choice