Nonfiction Book Reviews

Well, as my readers probably remember (and for any first timers, check out my About Me page for more info) I’m going back to school next month to get my Associates in Library Science.  In the long run, this will allow me to advance to a higher-paying job at my local library, so I don’t stay a part-time circulation clerk indefinitely.  (As much as I love my current job, the lack of benefits and the low pay rate doesn’t exactly contribute to long-term wealth).

In the end, going back to school will be worth it.  In the meanwhile though, I’m going to have to cut back on my work schedule.  I can’t continue to work four jobs while going to school full-time.  I happen to like to my sleep a little too much for that.

I’ve debated my options for a while.  My problem is, I like my jobs - that’s why I have them!  I find personal fulfillment from every one of my jobs - I feel as if I am really contributing something to the world by doing them, in my own very small way of course.

My options when it came to my Nonfiction Lover blog were these:

1) Quit completely.  I absolutely do not want to do this, but unfortunately, it is an option.

2) Continue to post as often as I am now, but cut the quality of the posts in half; make the posts shorter and take less time to proofread.  This may be an option to someone else, but in my world, this won’t fly.  I’d rather not post at all than post something that has mistakes in it, and that isn’t actually contributing to the world in the some way.  A quick summary of a book is not why my readers read this blog, and it isn’t what I want to do.

3) Cut the rate of my postings back from almost every day to once or twice a week.  Although this means a lot less books reviewed, at least the quality of the posts being put up would stay the same.  Out of all my non-choices, this was the lesser of the evils, and in the end, was the option I chose.

So starting this week, I will be posting a heck of a lot less than I did before.  I am not quite sure what I’m going to do about Fun Fridays, other than change it to every other Friday or something along those lines.  The kids’ books were supposed to be a small part of this blog, not an every-other-posting on this blog, so I’m definitely going to have to change the frequency of those reviews.  I will continue them in some fashion or another, however - I like reading kids’ books, so I won’t get rid of them entirely.

I’m sad - this blog has been one of the coolest jobs I’ve ever had.  I’m going to miss posting every day, and telling you guys about my great finds (and the horrid misses!)  But at least I’m not going to be forced to give it up altogether, which would break my heart.  I have never enjoyed blogging like I have on here (and I have done plenty of blogging in the past!)

Thanks for sticking with me so far, and I hope you continue to visit, even when my post count drops.  It’s been a lot of fun.

PS I do offer the option to receive an email every time I post a blog, so you don’t have to try to remember to stop by - you will be automatically told every time I post. If you’re interested, make sure to input your email address in the column on the left, and click Subscribe. I abhor spam, so you can be sure that your email address will never be bought or sold. Or if you’d rather, you can also sign up to receive my RSS feed.

I know this is a little late, considering I’ve been blogging here for several weeks now, but I figured this was the start of my first full month at Today, and I wanted to talk a little about why I chose nonfiction as my blog subject.

I actually work at the local library, and when I first started there this past August, I was a fiction reader to the bitter end.  Sure, I had read an occasional nonfiction book, but I remember telling people that nonfiction books were “boring” and that I liked reading fiction because it had plot lines!

The first book to really make me see how wrong I was, was Three Cups of Tea, a book about a guy named Greg Mortenson who went to Afghanistan to climb K2, ends up getting lost (twice!), and finally wanders into a local village on the verge of death.  The villagers saved his life (he almost froze and starved to death) and as he was recuperating, he asked to be shown around the village.

They did so, and as they walked around, he realized that there wasn’t a school.  He asked where the school was located, and they hemmed and hawwed - they really didn’t want to tell him.  They finally gave in, and took him around the corner to see this group of children out in the open, writing on the ground with sticks.  They were quiet, concentrating, and there were no adults in sight.  He was in shock.  He was trying to imagine a group of kids in America, let loose outside and told to go do homework without any adult supervision.  His imagination failed him.  That would never happen in America.

He decided right then and there that he wanted to help build a school in this village.  He had no idea what he just got himself into!  He built that school, and then built hundreds of others.  He’s done absolutely amazing work in Afghanistan, and some of the surrounding countries too.  It was a captivating look at this man’s life, and how he was able to affect so many people’s lives, when at many times during his life, he was actually homeless and completely broke!  I finished the book with a can-do spirit, and a real feeling of “Wow!  That was an amazing book!!!”  And just like that, I was hooked.

I quickly started reading only nonfiction books, and found that I loved a large variety of them.  Some of my favorites are the 921’s - that’s library speak for autobiographies and biographies. (In the Dewey decimal system, all of the auto/biographies are in the 921 section, and at our library, there are whole ROWS of books dedicated to just that decimal.)  I also enjoy cookbooks (I like reading cookbooks.  The strange thing is, I don’t particularly like to cook, although I love to eat.  Hmm….) I love political stuff, and just for kicks and grins, an occasional paranormal story too!  I think you’ll find that my tastes are pretty varied, so hopefully we can find some books in common.

If you’ve read a great nonfiction book that you think I should read and review, please leave a comment on this or any of my posts - I’d love to hear from you.

I’m very excited to be onboard here at Today, and I look forward to many years of bragging about my latest find in the nonfiction world!

Havs