Recent Non-fiction Reads

I almost always have at least one actual book, one audio book on my iPod, and one book on CD in my car going at any one time.  I can read a good book in 2 days or linger over one for several weeks.  I currently have 16 items checked out on my library card, a combination of printed books, audio books, and DVDs.

Looking for a good non-fiction read?  Try these:

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The Canals of Mars by Gary Fincke (a memoir)
Gary Fincke, a writer and poet, was the Flannery O'Conner Award winner for short fiction in 2004.

Disclosure: I knew the author when we attended the same high school, although we weren't close friends.

Although I'm sure I would have loved this well-written memoir anyway, what made it doubly enjoyable was that I am the same age as the author and grew up in the same suburb of Pittsburgh. Therefore, many of the locations, happenings, and people were familiar to me. Because I didn't recognize any names near the beginning of the book, I thought the author had changed them, but later I recognized a name I remembered from high school and soon I was reading about many of my high school classmates as elementary, junior, and senior high-school students. 

The memoir is not a continuous story of the author's life but individual episodes from his boyhood, that are related by place and time 

I'm sure many readers will recognize the activities and youthful pranks typical of an era before children were confined to supervised activities 24/7, a time when youngsters roamed the local woods, made up games, and resolved problems between themselves without adult interference. It was an era when parents set high standards that none of us could fully achieve. Although I never met the author's parents, I recognized them in my own mother and father who envisioned the same kind of perfection for me as his parents desired for their son and whose impossible expectations resulted in varying degrees of conformity and rebellion. 

Find this and other Gary Fincke books on the author's Amazon page.

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Grant's Final Victory by Charles Bracelen Flood 
I high recommend this and the other books mentioned in this review.

I had recently read historian Geoffrey C. Ward's A Disposition to Be Rich about the author's great-grandfather, Ferdinand Ward, the man who swindled Ullysses Grant (as well as many others) of their wealth, bankrupting the Civil War general and former U.S. President in 1884. Ward, a charming con artist, ran what we now call a Ponzi Scheme, hoodwinking one and all into believing he was a financial genius. 

As a long-time Mark Twain aficionado, I was aware of Twain's part in publishing Grant's memoirs. Grant had been offered a 10% royalty on his proposed book, minus numerous expenses, but Twain offered him an advance and 20% of all sales. In addition, he promoted and sold the book by subscription with a choice of covers, which generated many more sales than would have been possible otherwise. 

It was recommended that everything be placed in his wife's name so that she would receive royalties after Grant's death. Eventually, Grant's wife was paid about $600,000 for Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant, the largest amount ever paid (up to that time.) More about the friendship of two great men of the 19th century can be found in Grant and Twain by Mark Perry which covers the struggle of Grant to complete his memoirs and Twain's struggle to complete Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Grant's Final Victory summarizes Grant's early life and the events that led to his bankruptcy at the hands of Ferdinand Ward. However, the bulk of the book tells the moving story of Grant's decision to write his memories and his struggle to complete his life story, centered on his Civil War experiences, before dying of throat cancer, so that he could provide for his family. Grant had difficulty walking after a fall months earlier. He could barely swallow water, let alone eat. He could speak only in a whisper or not at all. Yet he battled on, completing his writing mere days before his death. 

The Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant became an immediate best-seller and is still considered to be one of the best military memoirs ever written, sometimes compared to Caesar's The Gallic Wars.

 Find this and other Charles Bracelen Flood books on the author's Amazon page.

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Jesus Interrupted by Bart D. Ehrman 
Ehrman is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor and Chair of Religious Studies and a professor specializing in the New Testament at the U. of N. Carolina, Chapel Hill. He is a fundamentalist Moody Bible Institute graduate. He was warned against furthering his education at Wheaton College because that Christian school was not "Christian enough." Later those at Wheaton warned him that Princeton's theological program was full of professors who weren't "real" Christians either.

This book is subtitled: "Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don't Know About Them)"

For over a century, Biblical scholars at seminaries have known and been teaching about the contradictions in the Bible and how it was written, yet it seems that as soon as ministers are ordained, they are afraid of imparting this knowledge to their congregations. Are they afraid believers will rebel? Are they afraid congregants will begin to doubt? Are they afraid of losing their jobs?

Ehrman expands on Biblical problems discussed in his Misquoting Jesus which explains how Biblical stories were first transmitted orally, then later copied by individual scribes. There was no standardized spelling. Sometimes one person read from a page and several scribes wrote from the oral reading. Some words were written incorrectly resulting in misunderstanding the intention of the text. Some were misheard. Mistakes were made, some accidentally and some to promote a particular view of an early Christian sect. In addition, the literacy rate was extremely low, so almost no one was able to read religious papers or texts.

No one knows who actually wrote the Gospels, the first four books of the New Testament.  The names Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were given to the books to give them the aura of authenticity. Many people believe they are first-hand accounts of Jesus's life, but they were written decades after Jesus's death and most certainly were not eye-witness accounts. It is unlikely that any of the disciples could read or write.  They spoke Aramaic while the Gospels were written in Greek. None are written in the first person. 

Some of the books of the New Testament were forged (claimed to have been written by someone other than the original writer) or misattributed. Scholars believe that only some of the books attributed to Paul were written by him. Besides great differences in style and word usage, several books espouse views in direct opposition to the views in other books that are believed to have been written by Paul. Paul never met Jesus, so most of his writings are mere opinions of what he thought Jesus believed.  

The books that make up the New Testament were chosen and put together in 367 CE ---centuries after the death of Jesus. Many religious texts were rejected. And of course, those chosen or rejected, where decided upon by a very human committee. 

Ehrman suggests that one should read the Gospels horizontally instead of vertically. That is, one should read each Gospel's story of a particular event (the resurrection for example) side-by-side, instead of reading each complete Gospel from beginning to end, and from the first to the last Gospel. That way, one sees the contradictions and impossibilities in the stories. I would even suggest one try to write a time-line of the individual events of those Biblical stories to determine what happened when and where.  Each Gospel has some differences, some minor and some major. The stories we know as the nativity, crucifixion or resurrection stories are really a compilation of the various stories in the four Gospels ---or sometimes three ---as all four do not relate all of the same events. 

Erhman used to believe in the Bible's inerrancy, but has since come to believe it is a very human book. He understands that the authors lived at different times in different places and each had a different opinion of what may have happened.  

Ehrman writes in an easy manner, making his in-depth scholarship accessible to a wide audience. He is not interested in convincing anyone to give up on religious beliefs, but rather to impart the historical information that has been left out of most Biblical studies or church sermons. Although the author is critical of the withholding of that information to the general public, he is respectful of religion and those who choose to believe. He hopes readers will fully understand and think about how Christianity began and grew based on historical evidence.

 Find this and other Bart D. Ehrman books on the author's Amazon page.

WHAT I LEARNED IN 2012

What I learned in 2012 was mostly from reading.  I've been an avid reader since I was a child. If there were a black belt in reading, I would have earned mine in elementary school. 

I usually have an audio book in my car and another on my ipod and at least one real book handy to pick up at any time. But I learned, too, from personal experience, from TV, from documentaries and other films, from taking free credited classes (for seniors) at my community college.

IN 2012 I LEARNED:

That my point and shoot camera is convenient to carry, but doesn’t take great photos. But I still don’t want to be burdened with a huge camera and lenses. (Community College class in Digital photography.)

That Edgar Allen Poe bores me. (Community College class in Intro to Fiction.)

That Beatrix Potter was a very independent thinker and a mycologist ---an expert in fungi ---as well as the author and illustrator of children’s books. (From an online biography and the movie “Miss Potter.”)

That George Washington was a humble man of few words who set the tone that prevented our presidents from becoming lifelong monarchs. (A biography by Ron Chernow)   

That about one-third of humans never fart. (“Packing for Mars” by Mary Roach.)

That William Still, who few have heard of, was one of the most successful Underground Railroad operators. (PBS video.)

That author André Dubus III grew up in terrible circumstances and became violent in his teens and as a young adult. (From his memoir, “Townie.”)

That Michael Moore received so many threats that his family had to live with armed guards after he made remarks about President Bush at the Academy Awards when he won an Oscar for “Bowling for Columbine” ---remarks which turned out to be true. (His memoir “Here Comes Trouble”)

That Patrick Bronte, the father of the Bronte sisters, outlived his wife and all six of his children. (TV mini-series "Brontes of Haworth")

That J.D. Salinger was even stranger than I had imagined.  He loved very young women and became a religious fanatic and recluse. He found his second wife repugnant while she was pregnant. (Biography by Kenneth Slawenski and a memoir by Salinger’s daughter)

The pun has been around for millennia and is NOT the lowest form of humor. (“The Pun Also Rises” by John Pollack)

That even though Pearl Buck was the daughter and wife of missionaries, she disapproved of attempts to convert people instead of teaching them new agricultural methods and other useful skills. (“Pearl Buck in China” by Hilary Spurling)

That Roger Ebert is not gay, as I had always thought. Due to cancer and several operations, he can no longer speak, but can still write. He contracted a Scottish company to use old tapes from his TV shows to create a computer voice that sounds like his own. (His memoir “Life Itself”)

That Grand Central Station is a great monument to American progress and beauty. (Video “Inside Grand Central”)

That Frank Schaeffer proves that a former member of the Religious Right can become a reasonable, rational, and humorous person. (His memoirs "Sex, Mom, and God" and "Crazy for God")

That Thomas Jefferson had more negative qualities and John Adams had more positive qualities than I formerly thought. That Alexander Hamilton was possibly the person principally responsible for the U.S. being the greedy, warmongering country it is today. (Several books about the early years of our country)

That I hate politics. And even though there is enough guilt to go around, I dislike the Republicans more than the Democrats. (From two years of ceaseless campaigning)

That in Michael Connelly’s series about the Lincoln Lawyer, that the protagonist (at least so far) has always discovered that the person he managed to acquit, was guilty after all. Connelly needs to mix it up so these novels aren’t so predictable. I still love his Harry Bosch series.

That the War of the Roses went on for decades in England and were basically fights between the houses of Lancaster and York, whose symbols were the red and white rose. They sound much like the fighting between various faction of Muslims ---Shiites and Sunni’s. (“The Red Queen” and “The White Queen” by Philippa Gregory. These are novels, but do include a lot of real history. However, I suggest reading the true stories as well as the fictional versions.) 

That I would never want to be a monarch, wife of a monarch, or president. (Books and videos on various monarchs, presidents and the endless 2012 election)

Despite popular belief that Mark Twain's final years were sad and bitter, that they were not. (“Man in White” by Michael Sheldon ---a good read)

That I liked Jeff Bridges in “True Grit" much better than John Wayne. Actually, I don’t like John Wayne in much of anything.

That I am in love with British TV crime: “A Touch of Frost,” “Midsommer Murders,” “The Last Detective,” "Inspector Lewis,” “New Tricks,” “Hetty Wainthropp Investigates.” “Inspector Lynley,” “Inspector Alleyn Mysteries,” “Murphy’s Law,” ”George Gently” ---among others.  I’m enjoying seeing all the “Prime Suspect” shows with Helen Mirren again.

My current favorite TV shows are “Person of Interest” and “Elementary.”  Although I have found most sit-coms to be lame and haven't watched them for years, I am enjoying "The Big Bang Theory" and "Three and a Half Men" which I started to watch for the first time in September of 2012. Lucky for me, they all air on Thursdays, so that is my TV night.

I still love “Jeopardy.” I wish I had applied when I was younger.  Now that I am a senior citizen, I still know a lot of answers, but could never be quick enough to beat younger contestants on the show. 

I will probably never watch live TV again.  I record what I want to watch and view the shows after midnight. Through most of my life I've been a frustrated night owl who had to be up by 6:00 a.m. ---so now that I'm retired, I stay up as late as I want.

That even after reading the entire Encyclopedia Brittanica and doing everything possible to become fit and healthy, one cannot know everything and can still die young. ("The Know-It-All" and "Drop Dead Healthy" by A.J. Jacobs ---both informative and humorous reads)

That I never want to be in a mental institution. (“Voluntary Madness” by  Norah Vincent)

LIFE PURSUITS and FALLING FOR FALL

This post is in response to two writing prompts

at Mama’s Losin’ It

"If you could only focus on three things in life and pursue them fully, leaving everything else, what would they be and why?"

and

“Your Fall Favorites”

"AUTUMN LIGHT" ©2009, C.J. Peiffer

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LIFE PURSUITS

If I could pursue only three things in life, they would be:

1. Creating art work

2. Writing

3. Reading

Why? Because they are the most fun and personally-rewarding things I do.

Note that all three would also include blogging, because ---in case you haven't noticed ---most of this blog's posts are either my art (including photography) and my writing ---and of course, I read other blogs.

I might never use up all the art supplies I already have and I create a lot of images on the computer. I write on the computer and usually submit writing via email. And I have stopped buying books. I always borrow them from the library. So, as an added bonus, my favorite pursuits are not free, but very close to being so.

FALLING FOR FALL

I don't like cold weather, but neither do I enjoy heat. My favorite weather is what I call "sweatshirt weather."

I love fall clothes in my favorite shades ---a soft brown pullover, golden tan corduroy slacks, a cozy light-brown sweater with a colorful leaf design, heavy socks and taupe suede boots.

As an artist, I love the fall colors of nature, golden dried stalks of corn and yellow and red autumn leaves. I snap lots of photos so I can create drawings or paintings from them. (See image above.) We live just beyond the suburbs surrounded by farm land and wooded areas. The countryside will be beautiful around the third week of October.

I like autumn much better than I used to, now that I am retired from teaching. It wasn't so much the going back to school that I hated, but it was that I would be losing my freedom to spend lazy afternoons reading in my hammock and that all the things I had planned to do over the summer hadn't been completed ---probably due to those lazy afternoons in a hammock.

Now retired, on autumn days I can look forward to curling up with a good book and a cup of tea on the porch, if weather permits, or in a comfy spot in the house with a cat on my lap.

But there are also things that I don't like about fall. I would be happy if I never saw nor heard anything about football ever again. I miss the birds that gathered at our feeders all summer. Some still come, but most will be gone. I miss the bright flowers in our yard and the long daylight hours. I miss sleeping with the windows open. I know that cold weather is just around the corner, which will mean high heating bills, shoveling snow, driving on icy roads, and bone-chilling winds.

As soon as the crisp, colorful fall days disappear and turn into gray winter ones, I look forward to my other favorite season, spring, when everything will be green and bright and new again.

(©2009. C.J. Peiffer)

THE BEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF READING

In response to a writing prompt on Mama’s Losin’ It blog:

What made your childhood bearable?

        My childhood was not normally unbearable. Of course there were moments that weren’t great and I especially hated taking piano lessons from my father who was a pianist and organist. My hating to practice caused a lot of friction in the family. Of course we had chores to do and my parents were rather strict, discipline-wise, but I had a lot of fun things to do to keep me busy: making crafts, riding my bike, playing softball. Growing up, the other neighborhood kids and I played in the woods by ourselves for hours and no one seemed to worry about our safety.
        Even with all those fun things to do, I may not have survived childhood if I had not been able to read, for reading took me to another time and place. It made me forget my own petty childhood  problems. 
        The local library was about a half mile from our house. I walked or rode my bike there. I read every juvenile mystery in the library before I was in fourth grade. I had to have a special note from my mother to sign out books from the adult collection. My mother, of course, looked through the books before I read them to make sure they were approprriate for me. At that time, the adult collection wasn’t “adult” in the sense we think of today. Most mystery books were rather “cozy” such as those by Agatha Christie or Mary Roberts Rinehart ---where there was little or no blood and all the violence happened “off screen” so to speak.
       My grandmother gave us her old Reader’s Digest condensed books and I read most of those. I read every book my parents had in the house. I poured over my parents National Geographic magazines and continued to read detective and mystery novels.
       At the library, I picked up a list of books one should read before college. I read as many of those classics as I could squeeze into my summers: Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Little Women, Gone With the Wind, Portrait of a Lady, My Antonia, The Great Gatsby, Robinson Crusoe, The Red Badge of Courage, The Scarlet Letter, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Alice in Wonderland, To Kill a Mocking Bird, Lord of the Flies, Look Homeward Angel, Main Street, The Three Musketeers, Jane Eyre and many more.
        I had a book with me almost all the time. Sometimes my mother had to pull it from my fingers and hide it until my chores were done. I often placed a book on the steps to the upstairs with the door closed at the bottom of the steps. There it was out-of-sight but handy once I completed my chores, and also ready to be carried upstairs if I were going to my room. No matter how often I asked her not to do it, my sister, who was a neatnik, would see my book on the steps and take it to my room, so when I went to grab it from the stairs it would be gone. I remember being angry at her a lot, because even the three minutes it took to run upstairs for my book meant three minutes I wasn't reading.
        We had a porch on the east side of the house, so it was shady on hot afternoons. I loved sitting there reading, but I also had ----not a tree house ----a tree “seat” my father had nailed to the limbs of the apple tree in the backyard, so I could read there, high in the branches unable to be seen from the house.
        I have never lost my love for reading. My husband and I make a weekly trip to the library. Reading is still my favorite escape from personal challenges or when I want to forget the problems of the world.  I learn from every book I read, fiction or nonfiction. Books enlighten me. They lighten the load.

      Mystery and detective novels are still among my favorites, but I read more non-fiction than I did when I was younger. Mark Twain has become a passion. I will be attending another Twain conference this coming summer.

        Although I still have real books within arm's reach, I listen to many audio books while I drive, do laundry or work in the garden. Audio books are a book lover’s dream ---to be able to do something else and “read” at the same time. Ah! That is paradise.

(©2009,C.J. Peiffer)