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Beiträge, die mit Nonfiction getaggt sind


"Since the race’s inception, nine pilots had perished from mountainside crashes, unexpected plummets, or rogue lightning storms."

An excerpt from the new Atavist Magazine story, "The Balloon That Fell From the Sky," by Nick Davidson: https://longreads.com/2025/04/03/balloon-race-belarus-disaster/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

#Longreads #Nonfiction #Journalism #TrueStory #Ballooning #Balloon #Race #Belarus


A Balcony Over Jerusalem by John Lyons, 2017

A gripping memoir of life in Jerusalem from one of Australia's most experienced Middle East correspondents.

@bookstodon
#books
#nonfiction
#memoir
#Israel
#Jerusalem
Israel has controlled the West Bank for more than 40 years. For 20 years, John Lyons has been writing about the occupation and the persistence of the conflict around the 'Settlements' - and their broader implications for world peace amid the growing turbulence in the Arab world and the emergence of the Islamic State. This is a book written from the battle-scarred heart of one of the world's most disputed territories. John Lyons lived in Jerusalem for six years, sending his son to a local school and befriending his Israeli neighbours. He has confronted Hamas officials about rockets fired into Israel and Israeli soldiers about tear gas shot at Palestinian children. He has been kidnapped in the line of work. By telling the story of his travels in the region he paints a vivid picture of daily life against the backdrop of the Arab-Israeli conflict, at times dazzling...


My first two reads for #TransRightsReadathon! One fiction and one nonfic (I always read different books at different times of the day).

Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas is the first YA book I have decided to read in AGES. The world and the concept sounded very cool.

Our Lives, Our Words is a collection of life stories from aravani (hijra) women from Tamil Nadu, compiled by one of them. It is touching read.

#bookstodon #AmReading #lgbtq #queer #image #books #transgender #nonfiction #YAfiction
The cover of Our Lives, Our Words: Telling Aravani life stories by A. Revathi.
The cover of Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas.


Our #Longreads Top 5:

- Harm and hope in West Virginia (The Delacorte Review)

- The fast-food fight Ali lost (Defector)

- The day doubt took over (Aeon)

- When fear slithers in (The Bitter Southerner)

- Kitzbühel’s wild side (Outside)

https://longreads.com/2025/03/07/the-top-5-longreads-of-the-week-553/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

#Essay #Reading #Nonfiction #Writing #Journalism #Storytelling


"Hospitals run by lesbian couples during the world wars" is a nonfiction topic I keep coming across, and I am here for it.

#bookstodon #nonfiction #books #AmReading #history #lgbtq #queer #LGBTHistoryMonth


Reporting For The Media by Fred Fedler, John R. Bender, Lucinda Davenport, Michael W. Drager, 2005

https://archive.org/details/reporting-for-the-media

@bookstodon
#books
#nonfiction
#reporting
#journalism
#textbook


#PolymathReadingChallenge book 3 (History of Music)

Honestly I never really got the whole opera thing, but now I am suspecting they were teaching it wrong in Music class. This book was a wild ride, more adventurous than any novel a writer could have come up with. Da Ponte is a holy fool, a hopeless romantic, a charming idiot, an annoying genius, an easy mark, a talented poet, a self-absorbed weirdo, and an all-around fascinating character.

#bookstodon #books #music #opera #history #nonfiction
Cover of the book "The Librettist of Venice: The Remarkable Life of Lorenzo Da Ponte, Mozart's Poet, Casanova's Friend, and Italian Opera's Impresario in America" by Rodney Bolt. The cover features a painting of a Venice lagoon, the portrait of Lorenzo da Ponte, and two other paintings feautring a lady and a group of masked people.


This biography I'm reading has some great asides from the author.

"Traveling to Paris with a letter of recommendation from Marie Antoinette in 1792 might not have been the wisest decision."

#indeed #nonfiction #history #oops


#introduction Hi everyone, I joined a while ago, but didn’t give it much a go, but want to now. All other social media pisses me off. I’m active in #Druidry with #OBOD Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids I #read a pretty wide genre of #books - both #fiction and #nonfiction . I’m from #uk but now live in #tasmania #australia. I’m a retired #mentalhealth #nurse and keen at #photography - pictures to follow. @chestas (my husband) and I both love to #travel


#PolymathReadingChallenge Book 2 (Category is: 17th-18th century)

I was worried at first that this would be a sad read, but it was truly fascinating. A Dutch sea captain brought a tame Indian rhino named Clara to Europe, and toured the entire continent with her for 20 years. She didn't only become the first well-known example of her species - but also the subject of the first viral marketing campaign in history.

#bookstodon #books #AmReading #animals #history #nonfiction
Cover of the book titled "Clara's Grand Tour: Travels with a rhinoceros in eighteenth-century Europe" by Glynis Ridley. Cover features a drawing of a wooden cart carrying a rhinoceros.


This week's top 5 #longreads:

• Trader No’s? (Fast Company)
• Carnivorous curiosity (Alta Journal)
• A meditation on power (Switchyard)
• The overlooked sense of smell (Nautilus)
• Riding bulls in Manhattan (The Paris Review)

https://longreads.com/2025/01/17/the-top-5-longreads-of-the-week-546/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

#Longreads #Reading #Nonfiction #Essay #Writing #Journalism


Alright, here it is:

#PolymathReadingChallenge 2025

Read 12 #NONFICTION books

Rules:
- you can read them in any order
- (auto)biographies count
- write a review of each (here or on Bookwyrm)
- use the # when posting about the challenge

Categories: See next toot in this thread.

Everyone gets their 12th category randomly through WikiRoulette. If you want to take part, respond to this thread and I'll give you one.

Feel free to use # for recommendations

#bookstodon #reading #ReadingChallenge


So, this year I inherited the Polymath Reading Challenge from its creator. 📚

It is a yearly 12-book nonfiction reading challenge. You read books of your choice for 12 categories, and post your reviews of them. I have had immense fun finding books for topics I otherwise wouldn't read.

Would people want to join in if I also ran it on Mastodon?

#PolymathReadingChallenge #Reading #books #bookstodon #ReadingChallenge #nonfiction


A DEEPLY RESEARCHED, PASSIONATELY argued, and unfortunately timely deep dive into the political impact of the broad coalition of groups identifying themselves as the US’s “Christian Right.” Eye-opening and unsettling. A MINUS

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wild-faith-talia-lavin/1144796270?ean=9780306829192

@bookstodon

#book #Books #bookreview #bookreviews #nonfiction #journalism #culture #religion #politics #UnitedStates #Evangelical_Christianity


My BookWyrm 2024!

Funniest book: It's a tie between The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff and Running Close to the Wind by Alexandra Rowland. The first is hella feminist and is set in contemporary north India. The latter is hella queer and is set in a fantasy version of the Caribbean (gay pirates!)

Best scifi adventure: Echo of Worlds by M. R. Carey

Best thought-provoking scifi: Julia by Sandra Newman

(Scifi is my main genre so I have to divide it up)

Best non-fiction: The Balfour Declaration by Jonathan Schneer. It has the best writing imo. Closely followed by Late Victorian Holocausts by Mike Davis.

All of these books are good; if I don't like a book then I usually don't finish it and am even less likely to review it.

My bookwyrm handle is just @SallyStrange@bookwyrm.social! I will probably be posting about even more books in 2025, as I've now really gotten into the habit of using Bookwyrm.

http://bookwyrm.social/user/SallyStrange/2024-in-the-books?key=c51bab9e5ea146ae94fdf18b29939a55

#books #scifi #SFF #nonfiction
@bookstodon


We've enjoyed reading and sharing our favorite #longreads on the web this year!

In today's list, we've compiled our 10 most-read editors' picks of 2024, including stories about a warthog, cruise ships, an adult autism diagnosis, and more.

https://longreads.com/2024/12/17/the-most-popular-editors-picks-of-the-year/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

#Longreads #Writing #Journalism #Nonfiction #Reporting


Today's Longreads Top 5:

-Reclaiming soil—and one family’s story
-A club of country collectors
-The rise of Big Headlight
-How saints are made
-An alphabetical ode to felines

https://longreads.com/2024/12/06/the-top-5-longreads-of-the-week-542/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

#Longreads #Essay #Journalism #Nonfiction #Reading


Agent Zo: The Untold Story of a Fearless World War II Resistance Fighter by Clare Mulley, 2024

The incredible and inspiring story of Elzbieta Zawacka, the World War II female resistance fighter known as Agent Zo.

@bookstodon
#books
#nonfiction
#biography
#women
#Poland
#Britain
#WWII
#resistance
During World War II, Elzbieta Zawacka—the WW2 female resistance fighter known as Agent Zo—was the only woman to reach London as an emissary of the Polish Home Army command. In Britain, she became the only woman to join the Polish elite Special Forces, known as the "Silent Unseen.” She was secretly trained in the British countryside, and then she was the only female member of these forces to be parachuted back behind enemy lines to Nazi-occupied Poland. There, while being hunted by the Gestapo (who arrested her entire family), she took a leading role in the Warsaw Uprising and the liberation of Poland. After the war, she was discharged as one of the most highly decorated women in Polish history. Yet the Soviet-backed post-war Communist regime not only imprisoned (and tortured) her, but also ensured that her remarkable story remained hidden for over forty years. Now, through new archival research and exclusive interviews with people who knew and fought alongside Agent Zo, Clare Mulley brings this forgotten heroine back to brilliant life—while transforming how we value the history of women resistance fighters during World War II.


In 2025 I am renewing my resolution to listen to long-form #journalism and audio #nonfiction to the exclusion of avoidable #news.


Balcony Over Jerusalem: A Middle East Memoir - Israel, Palestine and Beyond by John Lyons, 2017

A gripping memoir of life in Jerusalem from one of Australia's most experienced Middle East correspondents. Leading Australian journalist John Lyons will take readers on a fascinating personal journey through the wonders and dangers of the Middle East.

@bookstodon
#books
#nonfiction
#memoir
#MiddleEast
#Jerusalem
#Israel
#Palestine
From the sheer excitement of arriving in Jerusalem with his wife and eight-year-old son, to the fall of dictators and his gripping account of what it feels like to be taken by Egyptian soldiers, blindfolded and interrogated, this is a memoir of the Middle East like no other. Drawing on a 20-year interest in the Middle East, Lyons has had extraordinary access - he's interviewed everyone from Israel's former Prime Ministers Shimon Peres and Ehud Olmert to key figures from Hezbollah and Hamas. He's witnessed the brutal Iranian Revolutionary Guard up close and was one of the last foreign journalists in Iran during the violent crackdown against the 'Green Revolution'. He's confronted Hamas officials about why they fire rockets into Israel and Israeli soldiers about why they fire tear gas at Palestinian school children. By telling the story of his family travelling through the region, this book is extremely readable and entertaining, full of humour, colour. It is sometimes dazzling in its detail, sometimes tragic. Lyons says he has written it in a way that readers can feel they are there with him - so they can smell the wonderful markets of the Middle East and feel the fear of what it is like to be blindfolded and have your hands bound with electrical cord. Lyons also looks at 50 years of Israeli occupation of the West Bank - the mechanics of how this works and the effect it now has on both Israelis and Palestinians.


Just posted for my paid Substack subscribers a guide to 50 of the best nonfiction books I've reviewed as the book critic for Glamour, a large newspaper, or a freelancer.

I'd have posted it on @medium before #Medium greatly discouraged it with a post saying that even if you spend days on a thoughtful piece, you could get denied a boost for something trivial like profanity. It just made no sense, so hello, Substack.

#books #culture #literature #nonfiction #journalism

https://jansplaining.substack.com/p/100-books-i-like-part-2-nonfiction?r=i4bz


A Very Short History of the Israel–Palestine Conflict by Ilan Pappe, 2024

An indispensable guide to understanding the Israel–Palestine conflict, and how we might yet still find a way out of it.

@bookstodon
@palestine
#books
#nonfiction
#history
#Palestine
#Israel
#IlanPappe
The devastation of 7 October 2023 and the horrors that followed astounded the world. But the Israel–Palestine conflict didn't start on 7 October. It didn't start in 1967 either, when Israel occupied the West Bank, or in 1948 when the state of Israel was declared. It started in 1882, when the first Zionist settlers arrived in what was then Ottoman Palestine. Ilan Pappe untangles the history of two peoples, now sharing one land. Going back to the founding fathers of Zionism, Pappe expertly takes us through the twists and turns of international policy towards Israel–Palestine, Palestinian resistance to occupation, and the changes taking place in Israel itself.


And finally
12. Farkasvölgy

(The last category in the challenge is always randomly selected for everyone)

I read a collection of primary sources about the history of Budapest's XII. district. It started at the Ottoman Wars, and went all the way to the Communist Era, with court records, newspaper articles, personal diaries, letters, and other interesting contemporary sources. Great local history publication.

https://www.antikvarium.hu/konyv/hegyvideki-olvasokonyv-655153-0

#books #bookstodon #Hungarian #nonfiction


11. Hoaxes and secrets

Sultan of Zanzibar: The Bizarre World and Spectacular Hoaxes of Horace de Vere Cole (Martyn Downer)

Known mostly for the infamus Dreadnaught Hoax (feat. Virginia Woolf) Horace Cole was a fascinating figure in the early 20th century. A real life trickster as well as a tragic figure whose world changed drastically due to historic events. Downer does a great job with this biography, giving a realistic picture of him.

https://www.amazon.com/Sultan-Zanzibar-Bizarre-Spectacular-Hoaxes/dp/0948238461

#books #bookstodon #nonfiction


10. Addiction

Repülős Gizi, a tolvajok királynője (Bodnár Gizella)
[Flying Gizi, Queen of Thieves]

The autobiography of the famous Hungarian thief Bodnár Gizella (Flying Gizi). An honest and fascinating read about addiction, living through the entire 20th century as a woman, struggles, poverty, and life in prison. Being a talented thief is the least memorable thing about this woman's story.

https://www.libri.hu/konyv/Repulos-Gizi-A-tolvajok-kiralynoje-16.html

#nonfiction #books #bookstodon #Hungarian #crime #biography


9. Famous women

The search for Omm Sety (Jonathan Cott)

The fascinating biography of a woman who was declared dead at age 3, and came back to life remembering her previous life in Ancient Egypt. She dedicated her entire life to studying Egypt, moved there, helped archaeologists, and remembered a lot of things that later were discovered to be true...

https://www.amazon.com/Search-Omm-Sety-Jonathan-Cott/dp/0446390402

#nonfiction #books #bookstodon #history #Egypt #women


8. Mental health

Medical Muses: Hysteria in Nineteenth-Century Paris (Asti Hustvedt)

The book explores the heyday of the study of "hysteria", through the lives of three women who were exhibitied in Paris as model hysterics. Sometimes very dark and sometimes amusing, the author goes beyond trying to diagnose them, focusing on the cultural context of "hysteria".

https://www.amazon.com/Medical-Muses-Hysteria-Nineteenth-Century-Paris/dp/0393025608

#nonfiction #books #bookstodon #MentalHealth #history


7. Movies, cartoons, television

Are You Not Entertained?: Mapping the Gladiator Across Visual Media (Lindsay Steenberg)

Really fun read with all the gladiator stuff coming out this year. The author explores the gladiator as an archetype, and the arena fight as a trope, across various movies and TV shows (even outside historical movies, e.g. Hunger Games, Gamer, Fight Club etc). Lots of good insight into gender, nostalgia etc.

https://www.amazon.com/Are-You-Not-Entertained-Gladiator/dp/1350120073

#nonfiction #books #bookstodon #gladiator


6. Human relationships

The Divorce Colony: How Women Revolutionized Marriage and Found Freedom on the American Frontier (April White)

In the late 19th century, traveling to Sioux Falls was the easiest way to get a divorce - after only 90 days of residency. So the city's largest hotel turned into a "divorce colony" of women (and some men) waiting for their freedom. The book is an awesome read, full of personal stories.

https://www.amazon.com/Divorce-Colony-Revolutionized-Marriage-American/dp/0306827662

#books #bookstodon #nonfiction #divorce #AmReading


5. Crime and criminology

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession (Allison Hoover Bartlett)

The story of a man who used credit card scams to buy extremely expensive rare books and hoard them. The author explores the world of rare book collecting, buyers and sellers and scammers alike. 📚

https://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Loved-Books-Much/dp/1594484813

#bookstodon #books #nonfiction #AmReading


4. Russia

The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them (Elif Batuman)

Shorter essays about people who engage with Russian literature, including the author herself. Stories like organizing a Russian literature conference in California, or her summer study in Uzbekistan, or the history of the Ice Palace. Interesting read, although I didn't always like the author's personal attitude.

https://www.amazon.com/Possessed-Adventures-Russian-Books-People/dp/0374532184

#books #bookstodon #nonfiction #Russia #literature


3. History outside Europe

Sparks: China's Underground Historians and their Battle for the Future (Ian Johnson)

Highly recommended read. The author traces the work of underground historians, archivists, and documentary filmmakers in China who try to keep records of history that has been erased or changed by the party. They often literally risk their life and freedom to do it.

https://www.amazon.com/Sparks-Chinas-Underground-Historians-Battle/dp/0197575501

#history #China #nonfiction #bookstodon #books


2. Language, linguistics

The Invention of Clouds: How an Amateur Meteorologist Forged the Language of the Skies (Richard Hamblyn)

The story of how cloud types were named by Luke Howard at the turn of the 19th century. The book gives great historical context starting from the 1600s, about the birth of meteorology and the difficulties of cloud classification. I finally learned how the categories work.

https://www.amazon.com/Invention-Clouds-Amateur-Meteorologist-Language/dp/0312420013

#cloud #language #linguistics #nonfiction #history #books #bookstodon


1. Gastronomy

The Land Where Lemons Grow (Helena Attlee)

The author travels across Italy, exploring the history of various citrus fruits. I never knew citrus could be such a fascinating topic, but the book was an amazing read. From the connections of lemons to the Sicilian mafia, through the orange-throwing carnival of Ivrea, all the way to Renaissance hybrid citrus collections. 🍋 🍊

(Sorry for the Amazon links)
https://www.amazon.com/Land-Where-Lemons-Grow-Citrus/dp/0241952573

#nonfiction #books #bookstodon #AmReading #food #Italy


I finished this year's Polymath Reading Challenge early!
It was exciting as usual, and led me to some great #nonfiction books. So, I'm going to share my reading list. No one asked, but here it is.

Thread. 📚

#AmReading #Books #bookstodon #ReadingChallenge #science #history