Task 6: Read a Biography (Not a Memoir or Autobiography)

[Tina]

[Katie]

Currently reading Joss Whedon: The Biography, since it has lived on my bookshelf since it's release because I wanted to watch all of his works first. After journeying through everything he has made last year, I finally felt ready to read this book.
If you are a fan of Buffy, Avengers, Firefly, Dollhouse, or any of his creations I highly recommend this. I have learned so much and am left with quite a bit more admiration for Joss Whedon.

[Mary]

What do y'all think about Hamilton: The Revolution for this one? My daughter and I are doing the challenge together and she's getting bogged down... this might be just the book to reignite her!

[quietprofanity]

Mary wrote: "What do y'all think about Hamilton: The Revolution for this one? My daughter and I are doing the challenge together and she's getting bogged down... this might be just the book to r..."

That's basically annotations to to the musical. I'd love to read it myself (my to-read list is too long at the moment) but I don't think I could classify it as biography. Maybe try a graphic novel biography like in the Panels challenge if she wants something shorter?

[Danielle]

I read Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad for this challenge. The book is equally a biography of Dmitri Shostakovich (a famous Russian composer) and the horrors that Leningrad (St. Petersburg) went through when the Nazi's put up a blockade during WWII. It is a wonderful book that tells the life of a great man, but also the horrors of WWII that many Americans may not know. I recommend it.

[Toria]

Thank you for the recommendation. I have this on my to-read/buy list now.

[Krista]

Has anyone read The Woman Who Would Be King: Hatshepsut's Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt for this? I discovered, late to the game, how easy it is to check out audiobooks from my local library on line and download them to my phone. I was browsing through what they had in the biography section and this sounded good to me.

[S]

I'll be reading Rajesh Khanna: The untold story of India's first superstar for this. One of India's great actors.

[Christie]

Krista wrote: "Has anyone read The Woman Who Would Be King: Hatshepsut's Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt for this? I discovered, late to the game, how easy it is to check out audiobooks from my loc..."

I read this a couple years ago. Its pretty good if a little repetitive.

[Brandy]

Krista wrote: "Has anyone read The Woman Who Would Be King: Hatshepsut's Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt for this? I discovered, late to the game, how easy it is to check out audiobooks from my loc..."

I saw the author speak recently. She's really interesting. But this book is somewhat fictionalized, I think.

[Brandy]

I suppose The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journeyby Candice Millard is more of a microhistory? She does give a fair bit of biographical detail about Teddy Roosevelt, and Kermit, and the other members of the expedition.

[Mary Sue]

I chose The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test for this task. I found it very tough to get through.

[Teresa]

Brandy, I wasn't paying full attention while I read your comment and my first thought was 'Why is Kermit the Frog in a book about Teddy Roosevelt?' Lololol

[Julia]

I counted Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle for my biography, but it's more the history of a house. I liked it while I was reading it, especially comparing the women in Lady Almina to the characters in 'Downton Abbey,' when I read it back in February.

I enjoyed more Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik, which I counted for #19, feminism.

I read The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey a couple of years ago with my RL book club. I think you are right that it is a microhistory, but if you have already read it as a biography, I think you should go with it.

Books surprise us sometimes, which I think is good!

[Edwina]

Just finished So Young to Die: The Story of Hannah Senesh.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

[Nadine in California]

Mary Sue wrote: "I chose The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test for this task. I found it very tough to get through."

I liked this one a lot when I read it in 1973 ;) Not so sure I'd feel the same today!

[Sophia]

I read and loved Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg for this task. She is an amazing woman.

[Rainey]

Sophia wrote: "I read and loved Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg for this task. She is an amazing woman."

This book was the amazon.com kindle daily deal today for $1.99. Glad I bought it.

[Megan]

I read Bolivar: American Liberator by Marie Arana for this category. I'd had this one sitting in my TBR pile for far too long -- it was incredible! While it also checked the box for a book over 500 pages long (it's 600+ pages) and a book about politics (fiction or non-fiction), I've decided to double up for those categories as an extra challenge to myself.

[Jaime]

Going to read Washington: A Life.

I'm going to read a bunch of presidential biographies when the challenge is over. Might as well start at the beginning.

[Mindy]

I am currently reading "Rebel Yell: The Violence, Passion, and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson" by S.C. Gwynne. I'm a few hundred pages in and already have learned quite a bit about him that I didn't know - which comes from being schooled in the north. We don't tend to learn as much about the southern generals as the northern (or at least, we didn't in public schools in the 1980s).

[Nadine in California]

Rainey wrote: "Sophia wrote: "I read and loved Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg for this task. She is an amazing woman."

This book was the amazon.com kindle daily deal tod..."

I also read it as a Kindle Daily Deal ebook, and when I saw the print version I realized how much was lost in the conversion. The creative layout of the print is so important, and without it parts of the ebook didn't even make sense. My suggestion is not to waste your time on the ebook and find a way to get yourself the print. At least you're only out a couple of bucks, like me!

[Nina]

I heard good things about Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin on a podcast yesterday and was wondering if this counts as a biography or is it more of a micro-history? It's hard to tell, having only read the back of the book. Biography isn't my genre, and I'm more used to memoir so this category has been tricky for me.

If anyone has suggestions of bios about women in history or female artists, I'd happily take those as well.

[Rachel]

I read Radioactive: Marie and Pierre Curie, A Tale of Love and Fallout. What a strange book, stylistically at least.

[Abigail]

I'm curious what everyone thinks about Gumption: Relighting the Torch of Freedom with America's Gutsiest Troublemakers as a biography? I'm currently listening to it and it is mini-biographies of multiple people. Goodreads does list it in the biography section so I'm thinking I might use this to meet that criteria.. thoughts?

[Snowynight]

I finished Hitler's Spy, a book about a double-sided agent in WWII UK, which gives me insight into how murky and morally dubious the espionage and the war can be.

[[deleted user]]

If anyone is behind like I am and looking for some quick reads, I found this great list of graphic biographies:
http://www.avclub.com/article/rebels-...

Not included in the list are two I found on my own, Andre the Giant: Life and Legend and Robert Moses: The Master Builder of New York City