On the Plain of Snakes, Mobituaries, and The Only Plane in the Sky

I read six very good nonfiction books this week. I read the latest graphic novel memoir by Lucy Knisley, Kid Gloves, which tells the story of her journey through a difficult pregnancy. I rode shotgun with Paul Theroux as he visited Mexico in his latest travel book, On the Plain of Snakes. I learned ways to help create a culture of reading in Pamela Paul's How to Raise a Reader. Just for fun, I read Mo Rocca's book of obituaries of odd things and unknown people, Mobituaries. Artists, Writers, Thinkers, Dreamers: Portraits of 50 Famous Folks & All Their Weird Stuff by James Gulliver Hancock is my favorite sort of nonfiction, a quirky visual look at fifty famous people, a type of picture book for big kids. And, finally, I read what may be the best book of the year for me, the powerful, disturbing The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett M. Graff. 

    

I'm continuing to read Big Wonderful Thing: A History of Texas by Stephen Harrigan. It's a big wonderful book at over 900 pages. I'm listening to an audiobook version of Paris, Paris: Journey into the City of Light in which author David Downie visits some of the less well-known spots in Paris. 

I've joined the Thankfully Reading Weekend hosted by Jenn of Jenn's Bookshelves. There are no rules to the weekend; we’re simply hoping to devote a good amount of time to reading, and perhaps meeting some of our reading challenges and goals for the year. We thought it’d be fun if we cheered each other on a bit. If you think you can join in, grab the button and sign up here.

Here are the Nonfiction November posts I have written this month:

Nonfiction November: The Kinds of Nonfiction I Like Best (Plus My Absolute Favorite Top Ten Nonfiction Books)

Nonfiction November: My Year in Nonfiction (So Far)

Nonfiction November: Fiction / Nonfiction Book Pairing: Moby Dick, In the Heart of the Sea and Other Assorted Fiction and Nonfiction About Moby Dick

Nonfiction November: Be the Expert: Books About Nature 

I have one more post to go. It is a list of all the wonderful nonfiction books I've run across during Nonfiction November. Look for it later this week here: Nonfiction I've Added to My TBR.

And speaking of nonfiction, did you see this post? It's The 50 Best Nonfiction Books of the Past 25 Years. I've read a respectable 18/50 and I'm happy to see that the list includes some of my favorites, like We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families; The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down; Random Family; Columbine; The Warmth of Other Suns; and Behind the Beautiful Forevers. I need to add some of the books from this list to my (now huge) nonfiction TBR.

I've read 181 out of 222 Cybils picture books and board books. Books are arriving daily. It still feels like I have a lot to read, with 41 more books to go.

I tried a pie from Pie Squared: Irresistibly Easy Sweet and Savory Slab Pies this week. 

I'm very happy you found your way to the Sunday Salon. I am delighted when you link up here and let us know what you have been doing. I hope you will visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

Some of the things we often talk about here:

• What was your week like?
• Read any good books? Tell us about them.
• What other bookish things did you do? 
• What else is going on in your life?

Other places where you may like to link up are below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

My linkup for Sunday Salon is below. 

Pie Squared: Irresistibly Easy Sweet & Savory Slab Pies

I'm a baker. I couldn't resist visiting the Central Market Cooking Tent at the Texas Book Festival. 

Cathy Barrow, author of Pie Squared: Irresistibly Easy Sweet & Savory Slab Pies, showed us how easy it was to make a slab pie.

What is a slab pie? you might ask. A slab pie is "just like regular pie---only better (and bigger)! An unfussy twist on pie, the slab pie lets you skip the meticulous rolling out and crimping required for a round crust." Barrow goes on to tell us in her book, "a slab pie can make enough dinner or dessert for a crowd." Barrow includes her versions of traditional pies including Yankee Doodle Dandy Sour Cherry Slab Pie, Easy-as-Pie Apple Slab Pie, and Chicken Pot Slab Pie, as well as her own creations including Hawaiian Pizza Slab Pie, Zucchini, Feta, and Kalamata Olive Slab Pie plus No-Campfire-Necessary S'Mores Slab Pie and Grande Mocha Cappuccino Slab Pie.

It was fun to watch how casual Barrow was when she cut out her crust.


I bought the book and I finally got around to making one of the slab pies from the book this week.

Ham and Gruyere Slab Pie

With an All-Butter Crust

All-Butter Crust

2 1/2 cups plus 2 T. all-purpose flour

16 T. butter, cubed and frozen for 20 minutes

1/2 t. salt

1/2 cup ice water

For the crust: In the food processor, pulse the flour, butter, and salt until the fats are in small pieces coated with flour, about 15 times. Add the water all at once and process until the mixture almost forms a ball. Form the dough into a 6-by-4-inch rectangle using plastic wrap and a bench scraper to firmly press the dough into a cohesive form. Wrap tightly and refrigerate a minimum of 4 hours.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and allow it to warm slightly. Divide the dough into two pieces, one slightly larger than the other. Roll out the larger piece to 11 by 15 inches and place in the slab pie pan, pressing it into the corners of the pan and allowing the excess to drape over the sides. Refrigerate. Roll out the second piece of dough to 10 by 14 inches, place it on a lightly floured sheet of parchment, and refrigerate.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place a baking stone on the center rack to heat. 

Filling

5 large eggs

1 c. half-and-half

3 T. honey

1 T. snipped fresh chives

1 t. fresh thyme leaves

1 t. salt

3 T. Dijon mustard

8 oz. sliced smoked ham, chopped

8 oz. Gruyere cheese, grated

For the filling: Whisk the eggs and half-and-half until frothy. Add the honey, chives, thyme, and salt and whisk again. Spread the mustard thickly across the bottom crust. Scatter the ham and cheese evenly across the mustard, and pour in the egg mixture. Cover with the top crust and crimp and slash. Bake  on top of the stone until a knife plunged into the center of the custard comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes.

Delicious!

For more wordless photos, go to Wordless Wednesday.

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by A Web of Stories. To participate in Saturday Snapshot: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken and then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky at A Web of Stories.

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads and is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post.

Changes in My Reading Life

I started reading when I was two. Spontaneously. No one could quite explain it.

I've always read since then.

But I have gone through several distinct phases in my reading life.

PICTURE BOOKS PHASE: Ages 2-6

I read any picture books that came my way. My mom subscribed to an I-Can-Read children's bookbox for me. I got a couple of easy readers each month, including all the Dr. Seuss books as well as my first favorite book, Go, Dog, Go. The bookmobile came to our town a couple of times a month, and I could get a few books there.

MAGICAL BOOKS PHASE: Ages 6-12

As a child, I fell in love with books with magic in the story. My favorite writer was Edward Eager, and my favorite book was Half Magic. I gradually expanded that to include science fiction and fantasy, reading the Miss Pickerell books, the Danny Dunn books, The Forgotten Door by Alexander Key, culminating in my favorite childhood read, A Wrinkle in Time. I remember being annoyed when I'd pick out a book with magic in the title and discovering it was realistic fiction when I started reading. 

THE GOTHIC NOVEL PHASE: Ages 12-14

When I was twelve, I discovered I could read my mom's books. My mom subscribed to Book-of-the-Month club, and when she realized I was reading books she had laid around the house and that I was starting to ask a lot of questions, she canceled her subscription to BOTM and started reading gothic novels. Gothic novels are all the same: a beautiful young woman comes to a dark estate to work for a handsome but mysterious man...the woman initially suspects the man of wrongdoing, but all is made right in the end and the woman and man fall in love and marry. I. hated. these. books. But they were all my mom would let me read. I read every book ever written by Phyllis Whitney, Dorothy Eden, and Victoria Holt.

CLASSIC BOOK PHASE: High School 

I was given a list of classics everyone should read before college when I was in high school. Though Somehow I was able to talk my mom into letting me these instead of the gothic novels. I would have been willing to read anything at all other than gothic novels. I found my way to Main Street and It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis; John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men and Grapes of Wrath; In Cold Blood by Truman Capote; Don Quixote; The Good Earth; Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis; and To Kill a Mockingbird.

SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY REDUX: Young Adult

I met my husband when I was eighteen. He and I were reading the same Ray Bradbury book. For most of my twenties, I read classic science fiction and fantasy of the 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s, including all of Ray Bradbury, Robert Silverberg, Robert Heinlein, Alfred Bester, Lester del Rey, Philip K. Dick, Fritz Leiber, and Theodore Sturgeon. 

LITERARY FICTION AND GOOD NONFICTION: Young Adult to the Present

And then I found online book clubs. It was dial-up and my connection often got broken right in the middle of discussions, but online book clubs opened my eyes to a brand, new world of excellent books. It wasn't long before I could order books online, too, and soon I had lovely stacks of my TBR and long lists of books I wanted to read...and I lived happily ever after.

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday That Artsy Reader Girl assigns a topic and then post her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.

Nonfiction November: The Kinds of Nonfiction I Like Best (Plus My Absolute Favorite Top Ten Nonfiction Books!)

Nonfiction November is hosted this year by Julie (JulzReads), Sarah (Sarah’s Book Shelves), Katie (Doing Dewey), Rennie (What’s Nonfiction) — is a month-long celebration of everything nonfiction. Each week, they’ll be a different prompt and a different host looking at different ideas about reading and loving nonfiction.

Week 4 (Nov. 18 to Nov. 22)

Nonfiction Favorites (Hosted by Leann at There, There, Read This)We’ve talked about how you pick nonfiction books in previous years, but this week I’m excited to talk about what makes a book you’ve read one of your favorites. Is the topic pretty much all that matters? Are there particular ways a story can be told or particular writing styles that you love? Do you look for a light, humorous approach or do you prefer a more serious tone? Let us know what qualities make you add a nonfiction book to your list of favorites.

What Kinds of Nonfiction Do I Like Best?

What makes a nonfiction book a favorite?

To answer this question, I first gathered data.
How many books, fiction and nonfiction, have I listed as favorites on Goodreads? 162
How many of my favorite reads are nonfiction? 50

title 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life-Changing List 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten American Wolf And the Pursuit of Happiness Art of the Pie: A Practical Guide to Homemade Crusts, Fillings, and Life Atlas Obscura: An Explorer's Guide to the World's Hidden Wonders Bibliophile: An Illustrated Miscellany Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life Blue Highways The Body: A Guide for Occupants Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community Civility: Manners, Morals, and the Etiquette of Democracy Eiffel's Tower for Young People Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience Hiding Place: The Triumphant True Story of Corrie Ten Boom Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen If the World Were a Village: A Book about the World's People The Last Shot: City Streets, Basketball Dreams Letters of Note: An Eclectic Collection of Correspondence Deserving of a Wider Audience Life-Size Zoo: From Tiny Rodents to Gigantic Elephants, An Actual Size Animal Encyclopedia Lives of the Artists: Masterpieces, Messes Lives of the Writers: Comedies, Tragedies Lonely Planet's Beautiful World Material World: A Global Family Portrait Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World My Ideal Bookshelf Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure Paris to the Moon The Principles of Uncertainty The Roads to Sata: A 2000-Mile Walk Through Japan Shooting the Boh: A Woman's Voyage Down the Wildest River in Borneo A Short History of Nearly Everything Some Writer!: The Story of E. B. White Strong Measures: Contemporary American Poetry in Traditional Form The Sufi Book of Life: 99 Pathways of the Heart for the Modern Dervish Touchstone Anthology of Contemporary Creative Nonfiction: Work from 1970 to the Present The Travel Book: A Journey Through Every Country in the World Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption The Undefeated Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World's Fastest Woman Woman: An Intimate Geography Working: People Talk about What They Do All Day and How They Feel about What They Do Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values

What percentage of my favorite books are nonfiction? 31%
What are the common themes in my books?

To figure out the common themes in my nonfiction books, I noted the shelves I'd assigned each book. Then I looked for common themes. The top ten themes I found in my favorite nonfiction are:

Unusual formats/creativity/surprise 15.0%

Problems-ideas/healing/quest 14.3%

Best-of 11.6%

Happiness/small moments 11.6%

Memoir/biography/history 11.6%

Travel/around-the-world 10.2%

Art/photography/picture books 8.2%

Science/nature 7.5%

Philosophy/spirituality 6.1%

Books-about-books 4.1%

I was surprised to find that 15% of my favorite nonfiction books had an unusual format or a creative focus. I was also surprised to see that over 8% of my books were visual, illustrated with either extensive art or photographs. Over 14% of my favorite nonfiction books dealt with problems and solutions or quests and healing. Almost 12% of my books were some version of a Best-Of book, such as the best children's books to read or the best places to visit in the world. I expected to see that lots of my favorite books would be memoir/biography/history (almost 12%); travel books (10%); science/nature books (7.5%); books with themes of philosophy/spirituality (6%); and books-about books (4%).

Let's be specific here, shall we? You want to see a list of my all-time favorite nonfiction reads, I think. Here goes.

My Absolute Favorite Top Ten Nonfiction Books

(in alphabetical order)

And the Pursuit of Happiness by Maira Kalman

Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason by Nancy Pearl

Letters of Note: An Eclectic Collection of Correspondence Deserving of a Wider Audience by Shaun Usher

Material World: A Global Family Portrait by Peter Menzel

The Roads to Sata: A 2000-Mile Walk Through Japan by Alan Booth

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

Some Writer!: The Story of E. B. White by Melissa Sweet

Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott

Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values by Robert Pirsig

What sorts of nonfiction do you find yourself drawn toward?

Do you and I have any common themes in our favorite nonfiction?