Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
2018 Challenge Prompts-Advanced
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8. A microhistory
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a great one for this prompt. You may also want to look at Mark Kurlansky and Mary Roach, who each have several titles that would qualify.
Mod
I have absolutely no idea what to read for this prompt. This seems like a comprehensive list of microhistories, but so far, none of the books on there has peaked my interest tbh.https://www.popsugar.com/entertainmen...
Looks like it's time to finally read Altamont: The Rolling Stones, the Hells Angels, and the Inside Story of Rock's Darkest Day. It counts, seeing as "a single event" seems to fall under it...
Here's the Goodreads Microhistory page.https://www.goodreads.com/genres/most...
I'm kinda intrigued by The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: Mass Delusion and the Dark Side of Cute, but I already own The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary so I'll probably go with that one.
I can personally recommend When Books Went to War: The Stories that Helped Us Win World War II.
This is an intriguing prompt. Would a book about witch trials in the UK/US count as a microhistory?
Oh, great, a prompt that is geared towards non-fiction - and more specifically history! I probably have several unread books on my shelves that would fit this prompt. I have two books on electric cars in the early 20th century that would probably fit the bill, but I've read them already.
Would Paris Sewers and Sewermen: Realities and Representations qualify? It's not that "micro" in my opinion but then again, I'm picky!
Alain Corbin's Le Village Des Cannibales would be perfect (recounts one specific incident in one specific village during one specific day, and tries to build more general insight on French XIXth Century rural societies - but of course I know that because I've read it before!
Finally! A category to satisfy my love of all things Erik Larson! Looks like I will finally be able to pick Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania back up and finish it. I recommend The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America and Thunderstruck.Oh! And then there's Mary Roach! I nearly listened to my copy of Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void the other day but saved it. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers was fantastic.
I also enjoyed:
The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic - and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World
I plan to read a Peter FitzSimons book. He does in-depth books on individuals. I’m thinking maybe Burke and Wills: The triumph and tragedy of Australia's most famous explorers or Ned Kelly: The Story of Australia's Most Notorious Legend
A Night to Remember is on sale today for $1.99 on Kindle. It's about the Titanic sinking. I think that works, yes?
Sara wrote: "A Night to Remember is on sale today for $1.99 on Kindle. It's about the Titanic sinking. I think that works, yes?"I would think so, if not it would fit for Book that takes place on the ocean!
Nadine wrote: "I've been meaning to read Salt: A World History for quite some time now. Is 2018 the year I finally read it? Maybe!"Get out of my head! I've had it on my list for a while now.
A few years back I read Flushed: How the Plumber Saved Civilization, and it was pretty good.
I got Montaillou: The Promised Land of Error from my friend who had an extra. It sounds quite interesting.
I’m contemplating Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World, At Home: A Short History of Private Life, or The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars.
Mod
Yes! both of those look really interesting to me, too!! My problem with this category is deciding which ONE book to read! I usually read fiction, but I always want to read more non-fiction, and quite a few microhistories have caught my eye over the past few years ... I am so happy to have this extra little prod to read one.
I actually purchased these three in various Kindle sales, so I feel like I should give priority to:
Salt: A World History
The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars
The Drunken Botanist: The Plants That Create the World's Great Drinks
But I also am eying:
Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World
Potato: A History of the Propitious Esculent
A History of the World in 6 Glasses
Milk: The Surprising Story of Milk Through the Ages
The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance
The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York
and I'm not sure if these fit?
Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America
The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
Thunderstruck
Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916
Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America
I've read Stiff by Mary Roach and have The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks on audiobook but don't want to read it. These are the microhistory books I'm considering...Columbine
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory
At Home: A Short History of Private Life
A Square Meal: A Culinary History of the Great Depression
Writing on the Wall: Social Media - The First 2,000 Years
Vaccinated: One Man's Quest to Defeat the World's Deadliest Diseases
What the F: What Swearing Reveals About Our Language, Our Brains, and Ourselves
Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex
Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War
Nadine wrote: "Chinook wrote: "I’m contemplating Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World, At Home: A Short History of Private Life, or The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of..."I can confirm and *highly* recommend The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon, Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, and Thunderstruck.
I have so many microhistories on my TBR shelf.
That's from the first half of my tbr. I don't think this will be a difficult prompt for me ;)
Mod
Sometimes the difficulty is deciding which ONE to read!!
Maybe either The Lost King of France: How DNA Solved the Mystery of the Murdered Son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette or Red: A History of the Redhead? Do you think either of them would count for this?
I have never read such a book and I wasn't even aware of this genre. Now I'm trying to get inspired here and found:Theresa wrote: "Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World defintely fits category."
However, that's unavailable from Amazon here.. I'll look for it in the library or ask for some suggestions there.
Just from my TBR (though sometimes I'm not sure where the line is on microhistory):e: the Story of a Number
The Victorian Internet
Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World
The Secret Piano: From Mao's Labor Camps to Bach's Goldberg Variations
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time
How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming
Mint Juleps with Teddy Roosevelt: The Complete History of Presidential Drinking
At the Heart of the White Rose: Letters and Diaries of Hans and Sophie Scholl
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage
Evidence Not Seen: A Woman's Miraculous Faith in the Jungles of World War II
Thirty Years that Shook Physics: The Story of Quantum Theory
The Last Man Who Knew Everything: Thomas Young, the Anonymous Polymath Who Proved Newton Wrong, Explained How We See, Cured the Sick, and Deciphered the Rosetta Stone, Among Other Feats of Genius
The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science
But know I'm really intrigued by other books mentioned here like Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World!
I read A Perfect Red in September and it was so fascinating. Basically it's about how the Spanish used to control the access to the cochineal beetle (the source of the best red pigment in the world before the synthetic dyes arrived) and how the rest of the world tried to get in on the action.I'm definitely reading Salt and/or Stiff next year.
Mod
Get Well Soon: History's Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them"
Yes I would think so - it looks really interesting too!
I think I'm gonna try A History of the World in 6 Glasses. My dad loves this book, so I'll have someone to discuss it with!
Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital would fit this prompt. It's about a hospital in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hit and the decisions that were made there. It would also fit the prompt for celebrity book club pick as I found it on Sarah Jessica Parker's list:
https://goop.com/style/decorating-des...
Definitely have to read "What the F" for this one!
Does Sapiens and HomoDeus by Yuval Noah Harari come under this genre? These have been on my tbr since a long time
Brandyn wrote: "Here's the Goodreads Microhistory page.https://www.goodreads.com/genres/most...
I'm kinda intrigued by [book:The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: Mass Delusion and the Dark Side of Cute|..."
As a librarian, I may have to read The Card Catalog which is mentioned on this list.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
I read And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails a few years ago and found it fascinating.
I'm still unsure about this category. Please weigh in on my possible choices. TIA!1. The Culper Ring: The History and Legacy of the Revolutionary War’s Most Famous Spy Ring
2. The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women - the women who first worked with and were exposed to radium
3. The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary
4. Shakespeare's Tremor and Orwell's Cough: The Medical Lives of Famous Writers
5. A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness - the connection between mental illness and leaders like JFK, Lincoln, and Churchill
6. Get Well Soon: History's Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them
7. Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols & Other Typographical Marks
Love this category! So many I own that I could read for this; Herring: A History of the Silver Darlings, The Sinbad Voyage are two strong contenders!
I don't think this one has been mentioned yet, but I bought the Kindle version of this book recently, and I think I'm going to use it for this prompt: Me, My Hair, and I: Twenty-seven Women Untangle an Obsession
Severed: A History of Heads Lost and Heads Found by Frances Larson looks good for this one.
I think I'll be reading Stoned: Jewelry, Obsession, and How Desire Shapes the World. I had already put that on my to be read list and it seems like it would fit perfectly into this prompt.
Mod
"I've been reading that (I'm about 2/5 of the way in) and I recommend it - it's not a "narrative nonfiction" if someone is hoping for that, it's more of an encyclopedia of plants. I love Stewart's writing style and I love the tidbits of trivia she has packed into this book!! For example: did you know that researchers believe that Native Americans originally grew corn for the sugars in the corn stalk, not for the ears of grain??? When Europeans came tromping in bringing sugar cane, corn fell in popularity as a source of sugar. Also, agave was originally grown as a food source, they roasted the tuber I think. And, originally Russians (and others) sneered at the use of potatoes to make vodka, potatoes were cheap and the resulting vodka was looked down on as cheap.
Also, I bought this book for my mom for xmas, I hope she likes it as much as I have!!
Can anyone recommend a microhistory that deals with psychology or mental institutions?
Krissy wrote: "I'll be reading:Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
"Krissy, we have such similar taste in books! I've been wanting to read this one for quite some time.
Nadine wrote: "Deborah wrote: "Just noticed this one on a friends page;"I've been reading that (I'm about 2/5 of the wa..."
Now I am even more interested in reading it, corn stalks for their sugar? Intriguing, that is the sort of random information that I find fascinating.
Crumb wrote: "Can anyone recommend a microhistory that deals with psychology or mental institutions?"I haven't read it, but plan to. Bellevue: Three Centuries of Medicine and Mayhem at America's Most Storied Hospital
Mod
You will love it then! it's organized into three parts: plants used to make alcohol (like corn and potatoes and agave), plants used during the process that add flavor, and plants used as mixers in cocktails (this third part looks like the slimmest, since she's already covered so many plants, but I haven't gotten there yet). Each section is alphabetical, so agave comes first, followed by apple, then barley, and so on. And for each plant she talks about the history, clues that archaeologists have found about how the first people used the plant and how the fermentation may have first been used, how the plant is processed, how it is fermented, how it is grown, different popular varieties of the plant, with sidebars about other interesting things like insects that may be associated with the plant, and finally a recipe for a drink. I'm not in it for the recipes because I have little interest in anything but straight up beer or wine, but it's still fun to read the recipes.
This is my third book by Amy Stewart, and each one has been so much fun to read. Her book about earthworms is one of my favorite books, and I know that's a crazy thing to say! She really seems like someone I'd want to hang out with.
Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers (other topics)British Poetry and the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars: Visions of Conflict (other topics)
I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer (other topics)
British Poetry and the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars: Visions of Conflict (other topics)
British Poetry and the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars: Visions of Conflict (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Mary Roach (other topics)Alan Brennert (other topics)
Amy Kaufman (other topics)
Hillary Rodham Clinton (other topics)
Hillary Rodham Clinton (other topics)
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Here's a description of a microhistory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microhi...