Non-fiction

Just for fun...here is this week's

It is quite an appropriate Leslie question considering the last book I finished:)

Non-fiction

This week's questions were suggested by Christine.

1. Do you read non-fiction books for pleasure, not counting books required for courses or for work? But of course. I am just wierd like that and do enjoy reading non-fiction just for fun.
   
2. If so, what areas of non-fiction interest you the most? If not, why not? I am particularly fond of history, biography, religious studies (for those who don't know, in addition to a psychology major in college, I had a second major in religious studies and a concentration in Medieval Studies. Goodness was I a nerd!)
   
3. What are some of your favorite books from those areas? Let's see, a few of my favorites...
1. A Distant Mirror by Barbara Tuchmann-great review of the Hundred Years War. Throughout the book she follows one family which really drew me in and made it easier to put myself in the midset of a person living in that era.
2. Six Wives by David Starkey-go figure a biography of Henry VIII's six wives. I also enjoyed the companion documentary piece he did.
3. Standing Again at Sinai by Judith Plaskow-writings on the changing roles of women in Judaism.

There are ever so many more, but that is just a few of my favs that are within sight at the current moment. I so enjoy reading non-fiction that I have a separate "wishlist" of biographies, histories, etc. It is also interesting to note that my preferred fiction genre is the historical mystery. I am partial to those written by authors that put a good deal of time into their research and provide an accurate backdrop for their protagonists. I have been know to sit with a history text while reading a novel to verify historical accuracy and place people and events in a broader context. I even have a geneological book of European royal families that I will often reference while reading a mystery. Again, I am a huge nerd:)