The slow, passionate burn of seduction. An inspiring paean to the power of books and reading.
Sounds pretty good, right? But what could seduction + reading have in common? For starters . . . they’re the topics of this week’s contest!
La Seduction: How the French Play the Game of Life by Elaine Sciolino and Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Reading by Nina Sankovitch were both reviewed in BookPage. Our reviewers liked the books so much, we decided to ask Sciolino and Sankovitch a few questions. Here’s a preview:
After so many years as a Paris correspondent, do you consider yourself “seduced” by France?
I never, ever have taken living in Paris for granted. There has never been a day when I haven’t reveled in its beauty, or felt fortunate to live here. So in a sense, perhaps I have been seduced. I love to quote a character in a play by the 19th-century poet and playwright Henri de Bornier: “Every man has two countries, his own and France.”
Read more from Elaine Sciolino’s interview.Have you always been a reader? When did you fall in love with reading?
I have always loved books. One of my earliest memories is of going to the local bookmobile: how the three steps up seemed so huge to me and how good it smelled when I got inside the cramped, dusty space crowded with books. I was too young to read but I could pick out books for myself and look through them on my own at home or have my mother or sisters read them to me. Once I started to read for myself, I always had books around me, next to my bed, piled on the kitchen counter, in my school bag—and I still live that way! I cannot imagine a day without reading or a home without books.
Read more from Nina Sankovitch’s interview.
Want to be seduced by the French? Want further proof on how reading can enrich a life? Enter this week’s contest.
TO ENTER: Leave a comment and tell us the name of your favorite nonfiction book (or your favorite of 2011).
CONTEST DETAILS: The prize is one copy of La Seduction and one copy of Tolstoy and the Purple Chair. Winner will be chosen by random.org from among entries received by 6 pm CST on July 1.
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ETA: Congrats to our winner! Marybeth recently read Get Real: What Kind of World are YOU Buying?, which really got her thinking. She hopes “more YA’s will read this book and start to change the world in which we live.” Very cool, Marybeth!
Contest is now closed.
My favorite nonfiction book recently is IN THE GARDEN OF BEASTS
Favorite non-fiction book: The Meaning of Everything by Simon Winchester.
Favorite of 2011: Duchess of Death by Richard Hack
My favorite nonfiction book so far in 2011 is THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS. I finally got around to reading it and wish I had read it when it firsst came out!
I’m reading Diane Ackerman’s amazing One Hundred Names for Love and find it awe-inspiring.
My favorite so far this year is In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larsen.
My favorite nonfiction book right now is The Main in The White Sharkskin Suit by Lucette Lagnado. Its a moving story of her Sephardic Jewish family’s forced exodus fron Nasser’s Egypt, leaving behind an exotic, well-off existence to wander from country to country searching for a place that would take them in. It is also a wonderful evocation of her beloved father, an outize, romantic figure in Cairo who was never really able to adjust the loss of his beloved Cairo home.
My favorite nonfiction book is Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. It’s an amazing and a very interesting story! My book club had great discussions about this novel.
Alex Zanardi: My Sweetest Victory: A Memoir of Racing Success, Adversity, and Courage by Alex Zanardi, Gianluca Gasparini and Mario Andretti – Just a brilliant book on an amazing person. He should be an inspiration to all people, not just those who have lost limbs, as he’s always so positive, even after coming so close to death.
My favorite nonfiction book is Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. It’s drummed in me that practice, pratice, practice really really really does matter and pay off among other insightful observations.
Devil in the White City by Erik Larsen
“A Singular Woman” by Janny Scott. It is the story of Barack Obama’s mother.
My favorite nonfiction from this past year was The Mind’s Eye by Oliver Sacks. It’s about strange brain conditions that affect sight.
My favorite this year is Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun by
Lois Winston.
The best nonfiction book I read this year was Medium Raw by Anthony Bourdain.
The Burn Journals, Whatever you do don’t run, undress me in the temple of heaven, The secret life of a lonely doll are some of my favorites that come to mind…. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle sounds great for 2011!
My favorite non-fiction book I have read this year is STIFF by Mary Roach.
In the Garden of Beasts, Erik Larson
This is an amazing book.
My favorite non-fiction book is Safe Passage by Ida Cook. Beautiful, strong and memorable.
The best non-fiction book this year that I’ve read is
The Secret Gift by Ted Gup. A really good look into people’s
lives during the Depression.
I loved the book The Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah. Although it’s not a nonfiction book, it’s based on some fact.
The Wrong Man by James Neff. It details the Sam Sheppard story.
My Father’s Daughter by Gwyneth Paltrow. Not only a great personal insight to her life, it has wonderful recipes, too.
Laura Hillenbrand’s UNBROKEN is the most recent nonfiction book that I enjoyed the most.
Probably my favorite non-fiction book of all time has to be Devil in the White City by Eric Larsen. I live near Chicago, so it really resonated with me. My favorite book in 2011 has to be The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. An inspiring book…….
Titanic Thompson, The man Who Bet on Everything by Kevin Cook was really interesting!
Most recently I have been enjoying Plain Speaking, an Oral Biography of Harry Truman by Merle Miller
Wowza! To pick my favorite nonfiction…i’m not particularly fond of nonfiction but being in a book club really does help..I’ve read Cicero, Henrietta Lacks, lots of ‘to do’ books, Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley, Killer Angels probably got me started on the road to Gettysburg, so I”m going to pick this fictional nonfiction… by Michael Shaara.
thanks!!
Let’s Take the Long Way Home by Gail Caldwell is an excellent memoir on friendship and a great story about dogs as well
The Paris Wife and Paris Was Ours!
My favorite nonfiction book is The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan. I read it a few years ago but the story has stayed with me. I have recommended it to others who have also loved the book, too.
Anastasia – by Peter Kurth is my favorite non-fiction book. Anna Anderson was really the Grand Duchess Anastasia – I don’t care if the DNA of Prince Philip might show otherwise. Just read Peter Kurth’s book and don’t forget to check out the ears!
My favorite nonfiction book is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
My most recent favorite is State of Wonder by Ann Patchett.
While I concur that State of Wonder and The Paris Wife are great reads, they’re definitely fiction.
My current favorite non-fiction title is David McCullough’s newest, The Greater Journey:Americans In Paris.
Three of my favorite older titles are The Professor and The Madman by Simon Winchester, The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene (although I probably only understood half of it) and A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle
I would love to be seduced by France and dedicate a year to reading. My favorite non-fiction book is Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt. Savannah has a seduction all its own.
DOES THE NOISE IN MY HEAD BOTHER YOU by Steven Tyler.
The Bible, I learn from it every day.
Same Kind of Different As Me.
Without a doubt it was Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand.
My favorite non-fiction book is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks!
My favorite non-fiction book is Night by Elie Wiesel. I have just begun to read In The Garden of Beasts by Eric Larsen.
Devil in the White City by Erik Larsen.
I liked A Year of Magical Thinking.
My favorite work of nonfiction is John Steinbeck’s “Working Day: The Journals of ‘The Grapes of Wrath’” because this documentary material was so instrumental to the creation of my favorite work of fiction “The Grapes of Wrath.”
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt. It proves that fact really is stranger than fiction.
My favorite non-fiction book is “A Passion for Books.”
My favorite that I’ve read this year — it’s a tie between In the Garden of Beasts and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Both are fascinating although very different from each other.
Favorite nonfiction: One Day the Soldiers Came, Voices of Children in War by Charles London….for its eye-opening, heart-breaking narratives
I love Brother, I’m Dying by Edwidge Danticat; a memoir of the author’s family as they emigrate from Haiti to New York, and the powerful bond between her father and uncle. The last paragraphs are the most moving ending to any book I’ve ever read. I have to put Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand up there with this one as well; beautifully written, riveting story of the amazing Louis Zamperini. Love the photo of Louis on a skateboard at age 90-something, still out there loving life with no fear!
Can’t have too many books about Paris! So far, my two favorite nonfiction books of 2011 are Patti Smith’s KIDS LIKE US and Gabrielle Hamilton’s delicious BLOOD, BONES & BUTTER
The Paris Wife.
So far in 2011 it would be Unbroken.
Marley and Me. Love dogs.
My favorite nonfiction book so far this year is an old one but definitely worth the read: Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides. It’s made me add all his books to my TBR list!
The best non-fiction book I’ve read this year is Desert Solitare by Edward Abbey.
My favorite book was “Still Alice” by Lisa Genova. Although fiction it is likely patterned after several patients with Alzheimer’s. A great discussion by our book club.
My favorite is Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt.
My favorite book so far this year is The Magicians by Lev Grossman. That’s one reason your tagline, “On seduction and magical reading”, caught my eye. There’s magic and seduction in that one
My favorite non fiction book of the year so far has been Th Spirit catches you and You Fall Down by Mai Na M. Lee. Waiting for my turn to spend a year reading!! So many books to get to!
White House Diary (President Jimmy Carter)
Decision Points by George W. Bush is my recent favorite. Very informative and well worth reading!
I loved Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin.
Heaven is for Real
I love Malcolm Gladwell’s books, but right now I’m reading (and loving) Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner!
I generally do not read non-fiction but the best non-fiction book that I ever read was the Devil in the White City by Erik Larson.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and The Paris Wife have been my favorites so far this year. Unbroken is next up on my list.
Fortune’s Rocks by Anita Shreve and The Help by Kathryn Stockett are two of the best books I have read recently. I found myself unable to put these books down when I was reading them. As a matter of fact I just re-read Fortune’s Rocks and can honestly say I enjoyed it just as much the second time around!
June 27, 2011
My favorite non-fiction book is not the usual one. SMARTER by SUNDAY presented by THE NEW YORK TIMES. This is a book that lasts for a year. Pick your day to read a chapter (appx. 10 pages), you learn something new, or you might review something you have not thought of for some time. If you have a curious mind, this is a book for you.
Fave nonfiction: “Life” by Keith Richards
My favorite nonfiction work is The Happiness Project by Gretchin Rubin. It is so inspiring and uplifting!
My favorite non-fiction book is The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller. I work in a library and her book instills confidence in the journey to plant the seed of reading for a lifetime. I haven’t read many non-fiction books but have several on my current “to-read” list.
My favorite is Cleopatra: A Life.Found it fasinating!
MY FAVORITE IS DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY BY ERIK LARSON.
Fav nonfiction book of 2011: Heaven is for Real
My favorite nonfiction book at the moment is Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss. Punctuation has never been so hilarious!
My favorite non-fiction this year so far is “Let’s Take the Long Way Home” by Gail Caldwell. I’m currently reading “A Tale of Love and Darkness” by Amos Oz which may prove to be just as good though very different.
I loved UNBROKEN by Laura Hillenbrand. About a WWII soldier who survived unimaginable conditions. Very inspiring!
Hands down it’s In The Garden of Beasts
My favorite is Heatwave The Life and Career of Ethel Waters. I learned a lot about Ethel and black musicians of the 20′s and 30′s I had never heard of. It is a fantastic read.
TheDevil’s Teeth by Susan Casey
My favorite non-fiction book is a recent one-In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson. It was a page turner that I couldn’t put down and at the same time I learned so much about an interesting time period.
My favorite non-fiction book is “Royal Feud.” It’s the story of the emnity between Wallis Simpson and Queen Elizabeth (wife of George VI and mother of Queen Elizabeth II). Elizabeth blamed Wallis for forcing her husband to become king and for his early death. Wallis saw Elizabeth’s hand in everything bad that happened to her after Edward VIII abdicated and married her. It was fascinating to read about the lives of these very different women and how they handled adversity. I picked up the book at a used book sale because I needed something to read and it was only $1. It was money well spent.
My fave is The Book Whisperer(Donalyn Miller)nice to see that readind/books mean alot to many..have them everywhere.
One of my favorites: Alice In Wonderland and Philosophy
My favorite nonfiction book this year has been The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
I just finished My Life With the Saints by James Martin and found it to be one of the best books I’ve ever read. I’m recommending it to everyone…
I just finished “The Heroines Bookshelf: Life Lessons from Jane Austen to Laura Ingalls Wilder” by Erin Blackmore. Although the subject matter is about fiction the non-fiction work is fantastic. Anyone who has read these favorites covered in this book should find new material to ponder regarding the authors and their works that are so famous and loved.
Fortune’s Rocks is my favorite and favorite authors…Anita Shreve
My favorite 2011 book is Smokin’ Seventeen by Janet Evanovich!!
Loved Hell’s Angels by Hunter Thompson.
Thank you.
My favorite so far is In the Garden of the Beast by Erik Larsen. Although I am looking forward to reading Unbroken with my reading group.
Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott!!!
mostly reading parenting NF books lately, and for that, Kids, Parents, and Power Struggles, by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka, and also How to Talk so Kids Will Listen, and Listen So Kids Will Talk by Faber/Mazlish.
American Rose by Karen Abbott
I just loved “I Was a Dancer”, Jacques D’Amboise’s memoir – he has an amazing story and told it so vividly!
Known & Unknown
My favorite non fiction book is WAR by Sebastian Junger.
I recently read “Get Real: What Kind of World ar YOU Buying?” by Mara Rockliff. I can’t say I really “enjoyed” it, but it has made me think twice about what I buy, where it comes from and how it gets to me. I hope more YA’s will read this book and start to change the world in which we live.
Ooh, hard one. I love non-fiction. I’ll go with a recent favorite. I just finished Oogy. Loved the fact that it was a dog story (I’m a sucker for animal stories), but it has a happy ending. I always dread reading the end of those books, just waiting for the dog to die.
My favorite non-fiction book this year is: “The Wave”.
I,M A BIG HISTORY FAN , LIKE CIVIL WAR . GENE
Sounds interesting.
Favorite NEW non-fiction title is THUNDER DOG by Michael Hingson. It’s a great story of teamwork and triumph during 9/11. It comes out officially in August, but I read a galley. It’s awesome!
My favorite book at this point of my life and on this day is the 17 day diet!! It works!!
Favorite non-fiction is Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot made quite an impression on me. When our book group read it, we had quite a discussion, and one of our members is a biologist who had actually worked with Hela cells.
Heaven is for Real – the story of the little boy who after being in an accident said he went to heaven.
One of my favorite nonfiction books is by Barbara Ehrenreich titled: Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting By in America. Really eye-opening!
My favorite nonfiction to read is the Bible, and the only nonfiction I’ve read recently is The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. That one was sometimes very hard to get through!
I loved Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt. RIP dear Frank.
These both sound like fun reads. My favorite non-fiction is a toss up between Mary Roach’s Stiff and Sarah Vowell’s Assassination Vacation – I guess I have a thing for dry non-fiction topics that succeed in being humorous.
Hi! Hard to just pick one nonfiction book. The one that stands out in my mind is a book about Jesse James that came out in 1989. I don’t remember the author,sorry.
My favorite non-fiction book is The Game of Life and How to Play It by Florence Scovel Shinn.
Last Journey by Darrell Griffen Sr
The last non-fiction book I finished was “On Walden Pond”, but I am currently reading “Infidel” which is very interesting. Now fiction is more up my alley, I loved Jim Butcher’s “Changes”, as I have all of his books and I am sure I will love George R R Martin’s newest coming out this July. So excited.
My favorite Non-Fiction books of 2011 would be: Heaven Is For Real by Lynn Vincent. It is a quick but powerful read.