Nonfiction Bingo Challenge - 2015

[Chloé]

Autobiography

[Susan C]

Updated message 26




Autobiography and Biography - Steve Jobs read 4/21/2015
Art and Photography - The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History read 9/24/2015
Women’s Issues - Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil read 7/16/2015
Science and Technology - A Short History of Nearly Everything read 3/10/2015
Health and Medical - Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness read 1/9/2015

20/24
5 Bingos

[Cassandra]

You're so close, Susan! Which do you think will be the most difficult category for you?

[Susan C]

Cassandra wrote: "You're so close, Susan! Which do you think will be the most difficult category for you?"

I'm pretty sure that the Gift or Coffee Table book will be the most challenging. I have books identified for the other three categories (subject to change, of course), but right now, I don't have a clue for the Gift/Coffee Table book. Any suggestions?

[Cassandra]

Hmm... That's tricky, and I'm not a fan of "decorative" books. There are a couple of listopias on here that might be helpful:

Best Coffee Table Books
Coffee Table Books

Any large photography/art book with lots of pictures would probably count.

I'm also thinking you could interpret the category as "a nonfiction book you would give as a gift," if that helps at all.

[Chloé]

One more book. Still no Bingo.
Read:

[Lori]

UPDATE: BINGO!

8 squares , 2 bingos
Progress: 7 squares, 1 bingos

OOXOO
XXXXX
OOXOO
OOOOO
OOXOO

Pop Culture and Celebrity: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

[Meg]

I have a whole lot more to add - now on 20/25 squares

History One Summer: America, 1927
Memoir Bad Feminist: Essays
Biography The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Psychology 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works
Sports Yoga XXL
Health/Medical Yoga for Pain Relief: Simple Practices to Calm Your Mind and Heal Your Chronic Pain
Relationships Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality
Pop Culture Celebrity The Fictional Woman
Self Help Manage Your Pain 3rd Edition
Science What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
Philosophy The Mindfulness Solution to Pain: Step-By-Step Techniques for Chronic Pain Management
Religion/Spirituality How to Be Sick: A Buddhist-Inspired Guide for the Chronically Ill and Their Caregivers

I also am now on 7 bingos! 3 across, 3 down, and one diagonal
XXXOX
XXXXX
XXFXX
OXXOX
XXXXX

[Cassandra]

Great job, nonfiction challengers!

If any of you have ideas for a nonfiction challenge for 2016, feel free to reach out to me.

[Meg]

Cassandra wrote: If any of you have ideas for a nonfiction challenge for 2016, feel free to reach out to me."

I've been trying to think of something too! One idea is an alphabet of genres, e.g. A for Anthropology, B for Business, C for Cats, D for Daring feats of adventure.... You could get as creative as you like with categories. Not sure what would be possible for X though, unless anyone can recommend a good Xylophonist biography.

[Chloé]

Women Issues:

[ChrisP]

Bingo!








Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies** O-4 History
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything*** I-1 Business
The Illustrious Dead: The Terrifying Story of How Typhus Killed Napoleon's Greatest Army*** B-4 Health & Medical
The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival***I-2
The Accountant's Story: Inside the Violent World of the Medellín Cartel***G-2 True Crime
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game***** O-5 Sports
Night**** N-4 Biography
Rebel Yell: The Violence, Passion, and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson*****I-4 Military
The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History***B-1 Art &Photograpy
The Diary of a Young Girl****A-5 Diary or Memoirs
Jewels: A Secret History**B-5 Travel

[Susan C]

Updated message 26



True Adventure - Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World read 11/22/2015

21 books read
5 Bingos

[Cassandra]

Susan and Chris - Nice job! Have you found any non-fiction books that you would recommend?

[Meg]

Two more to add

Journalism You're Never Weird on the Internet
Travel Pole to Pole

Now just 3 to go to get a full sweep of the board!

[Susan]

Current Affairs/Politics- The Green Book by Muammar al-Qaddafi

Food and Lifestyle- It Rains Fishes: Legends, Traditions, and the Joys of Thai Cooking by Kasma Loha-Unchit

True Adventure- Noa Noa by Paul Gauguin

11 Squares/ 0 Bingos

Hopefully I will get a Bingo by the end of the year.

[Susan]

I missed the poll, but I want to say this is my favorite challenge of the year. I liked the nonfiction and the Bingo cards. I wouldn't mind continuing filling my card or doing this again next year in some way.

[Cassandra]

That's good to know, Susan! We won't be bringing back this particular yearly challenge (we typically only do one nonfiction challenge per year), but we might be able to work something into a quarterly challenge. You're also welcome to continue it on your own, of course!

[ChrisR]

Finished People of the Deer to get a Bingo on both cards at once.

(view spoiler)[Social Justice: main theme is the Canadian Govt had disrupted the Eskimos' way of life and decimated their population. This book shamed the Govt into saving the few remaining Inuit of the Ihalmiut tribe.

"When any financial advantage can accrue to us through the destruction of the lifeblood of the arctic peoples, we do not scruple to destroy it."

Outdoor Adventuring: he is living in igloos and hunting for caribou. (hide spoiler)]







Challenge complete. Probably won't get another bingo before the end of the year.

[Cassandra]

Congratulations, Chris! It looks like you've read a lot of interesting nonfiction. Are there any you would particularly recommend?

[ChrisR]

The two best that I read were:
1. The most light-hearted one. That Quail, Robert. The story of raising a pet quail.
2. And also the most depressing one. Voices from Chernobyl. The author was awarded the Nobel Prize this year.

[Cassandra]

Good to know! I have Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster on my to-read list.

[SibylM]

I did my bingos -- sort of. After I generated my card, using my Goodreads shelves, I went back and unthinkingly edited my shelves and took out some of the shelves that had actually ended up in my card. So, when I had a card space with a shelf that no longer exists for me, I substituted the nearest non-fiction shelf in my list of shelves and used that instead. Hope that makes sense.

Here are the books I used for each of the nonfiction card spaces that contributed to a bingo:
Law:

Graphic Books:

Social Issues:

Psychology:

China (no longer exists - substituted Cities & Houses instead):

Food:

Middle East:

Biography:

Appalachia (no longer exists - substituted Animals instead):

Travel:

Asia:

This was harder than I thought it was going to be! If this challenge shows up again, I am dialing it back to one bingo.

[Cassandra]

It looked pretty challenging! I like reading nonfiction, but I would have a hard time branching out to some of the categories to get a bingo rather than just a bunch of squares. Great job with the two bingos, though!

We won't be bringing back this specific challenge, but you're welcome, of course, to do it on your own as a personal challenge. 2016's nonfiction challenge is From Fiction to Reality.

[Susan C]

Updated message 26 with my final three books for this challenge





Gift Book or Coffee Table Book - Sh*t My Dad Says read 12/9/2015
Home Decorating and Design - Room Rescues: Decorating Solutions For Awkward Spaces read 12/4/2015
How To - Gardening For Dummies read 12/13/2015

24/24
12 Bingos - BLACKOUT!
Challenge completed!

[Cassandra]

Wow, a blackout! Congratulations Susan, that's a great accomplishment.

[ChrisP]

Bingo!








Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies** O-4 History
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything*** I-1 Business
The Illustrious Dead: The Terrifying Story of How Typhus Killed Napoleon's Greatest Army*** B-4 Health & Medical
The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival***I-2
The Accountant's Story: Inside the Violent World of the Medellín Cartel***G-2 True Crime
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game***** O-5 Sports
Night**** N-4 Biography
Rebel Yell: The Violence, Passion, and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson*****I-4 Military
The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History***B-1 Art &Photograpy
The Diary of a Young Girl****A-5 Diary or Memoirs
Jewels: A Secret History**B-5 Travel
Don't Put Me In, Coach: My Incredible NCAA Journey from the End of the Bench to the End of the Bench

13 Squares

[ChrisP]

Thank you Cassandra for the challenge I never new how much I enjoy non fiction until this year.

Of the group of books I would recommend are:

Don't Put Me In, Coach: My Incredible NCAA Journey from the End of the Bench to the End of the BenchHilarious college basketball book that took place around 2007 many names and experiences I remember vividly.

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game - For the baseball fans. An amazing look on how the game changed 10 years ago and why it didn't change 30 yrs ago.

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything - A humorous look at misconceptions by using statistics. Don't let the stats scare you away it was made so the average person can understand.

Rebel Yell: The Violence, Passion, and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson - For the civil war buffs a inside look at a great general that was playing chess while everyone else was playing checkers.

Jewels: A Secret History - This book was a fantastic experience of learning about each particular jewel - the history of the jewel, where and how it is mined and the ugly background of it and how the current markets see the jewel.

I'm not breaking down The Diary of a Young Girl and Night - which are must reads because everyone needs to learn about the cruelty of those events so they never happen again.

[Cassandra]

That's awesome, Chris! Thank you for giving your recommendations as well.

[Susan]

BINGO

Journalism- The Emperor by Ryszard Kapuscinski

12 Squares/ 1 Bingo

I didn't read as much as I had hoped for this challenge, but this was a good way finish the year. This was a fun idea. Thanks for making this challenge.

[Cassandra]

Great job, Susan! Congratulations on your bingo. :)