A Non-Fiction Adventure

This challenge is hosted by me.  Visit the dedicated blog HERE to sign up.

Taking the lead from the awesome creators of the Fill in the Gaps: 100 Project and The Classics Club, I have decided to create a similar challenge focusing on non-fiction books.  The fruition of this idea came to me yesterday as I was looking at my shelves of non-fiction books.  In my library of 3000+ books, non-fiction makes up about 1000+ of that total.  I focus so heavily on fiction I never take the time to squeeze in some non-fiction reads which I do love to read.  So I thought, why not follow the lead of those I mentioned above and create this challenge for the non-fiction genre.

Here are the guidelines:

• choose 50+ non-fiction books; the number is up to you.  Choose 50, 75, 100, 200.  It's entirely your choice
• Books must be non-fiction--biography, autobiography, history, memoir, cooking, travel, science, etc.
• list them at your blog (or on Goodreads or another social media site, if you do not have a blog)
• choose your completion goal date five years in the future and make note of it with your list of titles (like this:  reading goal--50 books  goal dates--March 20, 2012 - March 20, 2017)
• come back here and post the link to your list in the linky below
• write a review (or a short summary) on the book when finished and link it to the title in your list (or link to your review on Goodreads, again, if you don't have a blog)
• there will be pages posted at the top of the blog for you to link your reviews
• when you have completed the challenge, come add your link to the Completed Challenges page
• there will be a blog roll in the sidebar where I will list you/your blog linked to your lists
• grab the button in the right sidebar and link it back to this blog
• check out this PAGE which contains links to various online sources with lists of reading ideas
• I might host a read-a-long from time to time.  If you are hosting one, or an event or challenge surrounding a non-fiction title, post about it at this PAGE

A couple more important details:

• this challenge can be crossed over with any other challenges
• your link in the linky below must lead to your list, not just your main blog address.  Any links that are blog links only will be deleted

Updates:
*I was asked if the list has to be made in advance.  The idea is to work toward reading non-fiction that you've been wanting to read so the list is mandatory. However, the list does not have to be set in stone. You can change out titles as the mood suits you.

I hope I haven't forgotten anything.  If you think I missed something, please let me know.  I'm aiming to make this challenge as low maintenance as possible.  There will be no mini-challenges or prizes.  This challenge is all about challenging ourselves to read more and to expand our horizons.  I truly hope you will join me on this adventure.

If you're interested in reading the classics or filling in the gaps in your regular reading, why not check out the two challenges I mentioned above.  I'm participating in both and they are both great concepts in challenges.

My list:

Okay, so my original plan was to make a list of 50 to read over the 5 years, but...well, you know...once I started listing, I was like a kid in a candy store.  ;O)  My intent:


Revised list below. New additions marked with an *

Read the 97 Non-Fiction books listed 
Time frame:  April 2, 2012 - April 2, 2017  January 3, 2016 - January 3, 2026

The List 
Categorized, but in no particular order. As in the Classics Club, I own every book on this list.

Biography/Memoir
1.   Art and Madness: A Memoir of Lust without Reason by Anne Roiphe
2.   David Bowie: Starman by Paul Trynka
3.   Benjamin Franklin by Edmund S. Morgan
4.   Catherine the Great by Robert K. Massie
5.   John Adams by David McCullough
6.   King Arthur by Norma Lorre Goodrich
7.   Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women by Harriet Riesen Read 2015 - not reviewed
8.   Lucrezia Borgia by Sarah Bradford
Alison Weir
9.   Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings (Weir)
10. Queen Isabella (Weir)
11. The Princes in the Tower (Weir)
12. Marie Antoinette by Evelyne Lever
13. Poe: A Life Cut Short by Peter Ackroyd
15. Vincent Price by Victoria Price
16. Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Biography by Marion Meade
17. Will in the World by Stephen Greenblatt
18. The Brothers Grimm: Two Lives, One Legacy by Donald R. Hettinga  Read 2015 - not reviewed
19. Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman
20. The Girl Who Walked Home Alone: Bette Davis-A Personal Biography by Charlotte Chandler
21. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
22. A Rip in Heaven: A Memoir of Murder and Its Aftermath by Jeanine Cummins
23. Madame de Pompadour by Nancy Mitford*
24. Tolstoy and the Purple Chair by Nina Sankovitch*
25. Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup*
26. All Roads Lead to Austen: A Yearlong Journey with Jane by Amy Elizabeth Smith*
27. Jane's Fame: How Jane Austen Conquered the World by Claire Harman*
28. The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life by Amy Tan*
29. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand*

Customs/Folklore/Mythology
30. Sagas of Icelanders
31. In Search of Dracula: History of Dracula and Vampires by Raymond T. McNally and Radu Florescu
32. Mythology by Edith Hamilton*

History
33. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown
34. The Burning of Bridget Cleary by Angela Bourke
35. Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
36. In the Footsteps of Alexander by Michael Wood
37. The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston
38. The Murder of Helen Jewitt by Patricia Cline Cohen
39. The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester
40. The Queen's Necklace by Frances Mossiker
41. Starvation Heights by Gregg Olsen  Read 2015 -  not reviewed
42. She-Wolves by Helen Castor
43. The Vikings by Robert Ferguson
44. The Life and Death of a Druid Prince by Anne Ross and Don Robins
45. Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick
46. The Gangs of New York by Herbert Asbury
47. Royal Panoply: Brief Lives of the English Monarchs by Carolly Erickson
48. The Ancient Celts by Barry Cunliffe
49. Chronicle of the Roman Republic by Philip Matyszak
50. Chronicle of the Pharaohs by Peter A. Clayton
51. Imagining Atlantis by Richard Ellis
52. Finding Atlantis: A True Story of Genius, Madness, and an Extraordinary Quest for a Lost World by David King
53. The Vanished Library: A Wonder of the Ancient World by Luciano Canfora
54. The Year 1000: What Life Was Like at the Turn of the First Millennium by Robert Lacey and Danny Danziger
55. How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill
56. Fingerprints of the Gods by Graham Hancock
57. The Enemy Within: 2000 Years of Witch Hunting in the Western World by John Demos
58. The Salem Witch Trials: A Day by Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege by Marilynne K. Roach
59. The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time by John Kelly*
60. The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann*
61. The Histories by Herodotus*
62. Frozen in Time: An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II by Mitchell Zuckoff*
63. Lost in Shangri-la: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II by Mitchell Zuckoff*
64. In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick*

Parapsychology/Occultism
65. A History of Ghosts by Peter Ackroyd
66. On Haunted Ground: The Green Ghost and Other Spirits of Cemetery Road by Lisa Rogers
67.

Philosophy
George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Lectures on the History of Philosophy
68. Greek Philosophy to Plato (Hegel)
69. Plato and the Platonists (Hegel)
70. Medieval and Modern Philosophy (Hegel)
71. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
72. Writings by Thomas Jefferson

Religion
73. Living the Secular Life by Phil Zuckerman
74. Forged: Writing in the Name of God by Bart D. Ehrman
75. God's Problem by Bart D. Ehrman
76. Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Harry Lincoln
77. The Jesus Mysteries by Tim Freke and Peter Gandy
78. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
79. Hostage to the Devil: The Possession and Exorcism of Five Contemporary Americans by Malachi Martin
80. Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism: A Bishop Rethinks the Meaning of Scripture by John Shelby Spong*
81. Jesus for the Non-Religious by John Shelby Spong*

Science
82. Blood Work: A Tale of Medicine and Murder by Holly Tucker
83. Gods, Graves, and Scholars: The Story of Archaeology by C.W. Ceram
84. The Future of Life by Edward O. Wilson
85. The Illustrated Origin of Species by Charles Darwin--Abridged and Introduced by Richard E. Leakey (will read in conjunction with the original Origin of Species)
86. Only a Theory: Evolution and the Battle for America's Soul by Kenneth R. Miller
87. The Lost Tomb by Kent R. Weeks, Ph.D.
88. The Ancestor's Tale by Richard Dawkins
89. Neanderthal: Neanderthal Man and the Story of Human Origins by Paul Jordan
90. Dinosaur Hunters: Eccentric Amateurs and Obsessed Professionals by David A.E. Spalding

Travel/Geography
91. Venice: Pure City by Peter Ackroyd

Women's Studies 
92. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft
93. A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
94. Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Miscellaneous
95. 13 Ways of Looking at the Novel by Jane Smiley
96. The Secret History of the World by Mark Booth
97. History of American Literature by Reuben Post Halleck, MA (my edition was printed in 1911! It's a wonderful old book.)

Additions or Alternates 
98. Werewolf by Montague Summers
99. Vampires and Vampirism by Montague Summers
100. The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius
101. Gospel Fictions by Randall Helms
102. Temples, Tombs & Hieroglyphs: A Popular History of Ancient Egypt by Barbara Mertz
103. Good Wives: Image and Reality in the Lives of Women in Northern New England, 1650-1750 by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

Agatha Christie Book Club

Organized by Vicky at Books, Biscuits, and Tea, the Agatha Christie Book Club involves the reading of AC's works in order of original publication date, one book per month.  Here are the details as outlined by Vicky:

How it works:

• I know how busy everyone is with work, school, blogging, and well… life in general, so we will only read one book each month, which is I think a fairly manageable amount. 
• We’ll read the books in order of the original publication date, i.e. we’ll start with Christie’s first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. If you’d like to see the whole list of works in order, click here.
• At the end of each month, we’ll do an online “tea party” where we discuss the book in question and have some fun
• As for the discussion, we’ll always try to find a date which suits everyone but ideally, it should be sometime at the end of the month.
• If you’re on Twitter, feel free to use the #ACBC hashtag for your Agatha Christie related updates or simply in order to communicate with fellow book club members.

Requirements:

• A passion for mysteries 
• You do not have to be a blogger in order to participate – everyone is welcome!
• Books! Please note that we will not send you the reading material – everyone is responsible for purchasing or borrowing their own copy of the book.
• Skype. This is where the discussion will be held at the end of each month. Don’t worry if you don’t have a camera or a microphone, that’s not necessary. (If you don’t have Skype yet, you can download it by clicking here)

Schedule:

• May: The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920) – download the ebook for free here
• June: The Secret Adversary (1922)
• July: The Murder on the Links (1923)
• August: The Man in the Brown Suit (1924)
• September: Poirot Investigates (1924)
• October: The Secret of Chimneys (1925)
• November: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926)
• December: The Big Four (1927)

To sign up, click HERE.

A Victorian Celebration

I just couldn't pass this up, especially considering that it goes along so well with The Classics Club and the Fill in the Gaps: 100 Project which I'm participating in.  Allie at A Literary Odyssey is hosting this reading event and it will run throughout June and July.  Here are some of the details as outlined by Allie:

The Victorian era in literature refers to the time that Queen Victoria was ruling in Britain (1837-1901). It was a time period of great peace and prosperity for Britain and allowed for a lot of artistic and literary expression. Generally speaking, Victorians are only the British authors who published during this time period. However, some like to group American writers and others into the mix since their work can be closely tied together.

To give you an idea of what writers I am talking about, some of the most well-known Victorian writers include: Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Wilkie Collins, William Makepeace Thackeray, Anthony Trollope, and the Bronte sisters. Others include Lewis Carroll, Robert Louis Stevenson, Anna Sewell, and the Brownings. There are countless more, but these are the big hitters and those most commonly referred to as Victorians.

For this event, the goal is to read as many Victorian pieces as you wish during the months of June and July. I will have posts going up throughout the event on different authors, as well as my own reviews on Victorian pieces and biographies of writers. There will also be prizes (lots of them) that will go up throughout the two month event. If you are going to participate, you can read a novel from the era, a biography on a writer or Queen Victoria herself, or anything else pertaining to the era. All posts will help you qualify for prizes, which I'll explain as we get closer to the event's starting line!

To sign up, click HERE or click the button at the top of the post.

A list of books I will consider reading for the event.  I know I will not get to all, but I will choose from this list:


North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
Middlemarch by George Eliot (currently reading)
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Uncle Silas by Sheridan Le Fanu
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

I may add to or subtract from this list at my own discretion.