Nonfiction November Week 4: Become the Expert

Today’s Nonfiction November (hosted by Katie at Doing Dewey, Lory at Emerald City Book Review, Rachel at Hibernator’s Library, Julz at Julz Reads, and Sarah's Book Shelves) topic is book experts:

Be The Expert/Ask the Expert/Become the Expert: Three ways to join in this week! You can either share 3 or more books on a single topic that you have read and can recommend (be the expert), you can put the call out for good nonfiction on a specific topic that you have been dying to read (ask the expert), or you can create your own list of books on a topic that you’d like to read (become the expert).

I'm choosing to become the expert on genetics since one of my nonfiction goals is to read more science nonfiction and these books have been on my to read list for awhile. 

The Violinist's Thumb: And Other Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code
by Sam Kean

Kean explores the wonders of the magical building block of life: DNA. There are genes to explain crazy cat ladies, why other people have no fingerprints, and why some people survive nuclear bombs. Genes illuminate everything from JFK's bronze skin (it wasn't a tan) to Einstein's genius. They prove that Neanderthals and humans bred thousands of years more recently than any of us would feel comfortable thinking. They can even allow some people, because of the exceptional flexibility of their thumbs and fingers, to become truly singular violinists. Kean's vibrant storytelling once again makes science entertaining, explaining human history and whimsy while showing how DNA will influence our species' future.

Your Inner Fish: A Journey Into the 3.5 Billion Year History of the Human Body
by Neil Shubin

Neil Shubin, a leading paleontologist and professor of anatomy who discovered Tiktaalik--the "missing link" that made headlines around the world in April 2006--tells the story of evolution by tracing the organs of the human body back millions of years, long before the first creatures walked the earth. By examining fossils and DNA, Shubin shows us that our hands actually resemble fish fins, our head is organized like that of a long-extinct jawless fish, and major parts of our genome look and function like those of worms and bacteria.

The Gene: An Intimate History 
by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Weaving science, social history, and personal narrative to tell us the story of one of the most important conceptual breakthroughs of modern times, Mukherjee animates the quest to understand human heredity and its surprising influence on our lives, personalities, identities, fates, and choices. Throughout the narrative, the story of Mukherjee's own family—with its tragic and bewildering history of mental illness—cuts like a bright, red line, reminding us of the many questions that hang over our ability to translate the science of genetics from the laboratory to the real world. 

Books By Theme: Espionage

"One mark of Elizabethan success is that the queen survived to die in her bed in 1603.

But it was a near-run thing."

~ from Stephen Alford's The Watchers

The Watchers: A Secret History of the Reign of Elizabeth I
by Stephen Alford

Catholic foes at home and abroad plotted tirelessly to murder or overthrow England's Queen Elizabeth I; in turn, her chief "spymaster," Sir Francis Walsingham, established a dazzlingly complex network of agents who safeguarded her long reign with ruthless cunning and efficiency. The Watchers illuminates 16th-century spygames in an action-packed narrative laced with masterful understanding of Elizabethan society's greatest hopes and fears. Fans of the period will love this "irresistible" (Booklist) read; political history buffs interested in the roots of modern espionage -- or the fine line between national security and repression -- will, too.

The Good Spy: The Life and Death of Robert Ames 
by Kai Bird

In The Good Spy, author Kai Bird builds a comprehensive profile of CIA intelligence officer Robert Ames, who died in the 1983 bombing of the American Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. Ames specialized in Arabic language and Arab history and politics, becoming a recognized expert who served as a key policy advisor to U.S. decision makers. Committed to finding solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Ames emphasized fact-finding and rational policy analysis despite American partisan political pressures and decreasing stability in Lebanon and Iran. This page-turner portrays a family man and dedicated professional within a detailed history of the region, along with information about the bombers and where they were as of the book's 2014 publication.

The Spy Who Loved: The Secrets and Lives of Christine Granville 
by Clare Mulley

In The Spy Who Loved, author Clare Mulley vividly depicts the exploits of Christine Granville, one of the few female British special agents operating behind enemy lines during World War II. Despite the British Intelligence Service's opposition to women's participation, she provided invaluable assistance to the Allied cause, employing her remarkable facility with languages, considerable courage and physical ability, and charismatic personality. Mulley did extensive documentary research on Granville (who was murdered in 1952), making up for her associates' reluctance to supply personal recollections of her exploits. For additional page-turning accounts of female British intelligence agents, try Sarah Helm's A Life in Secrets or Marcus Binney's The Women Who Lived for Danger.

Good Hunting: An American Spymaster's Story
by Jack Devine with Vernon Loeb

Jack Devine, who retired in 1999 as the associate director of overseas operations for the CIA, served under U.S. presidents from Richard Nixon to Bill Clinton. In this compelling memoir, he relates the history of covert actions during that period, details several instances of mole-hunting in the Agency, and discusses the state of intelligence work since his retirement: he continues to support the use of covert operations while expressing doubt about the current emphasis on paramilitary actions. Whether you're fascinated by spycraft or more interested in the undercover history of the late 20th century, you'll find Good Hunting an engaging and informative read. 

Books By Theme: Politics

"No one knows where he has been and who he has met, and he is in no hurry to tell them."

~ from Hilary Mantel's Bring Up the Bodies

The Emancipator's Wife

by Barbara Hambly

She survived the Civil War and the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, as well as her husband's assassination and the deaths of three of her four children. Now, her sole surviving son is attempting to have her declared legally insane -- a ruling that would commit her to an institution for the rest of her days. One could forgive Mary Todd Lincoln for her despair. But how did it come to this? The Emancipator's Wife follows its flawed-but-sympathetic protagonist from her childhood in Kentucky as the daughter of a prominent Lexington family through her marriage to up-and-coming Illinois lawyer Abraham Lincoln, and beyond.

Watergate: A Novel

by Thomas Mallon

A break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters, located in Washington, D.C.'s Watergate Complex, ignites a political scandal that brings down the Nixon administration and causes a constitutional crisis. This witty, character-driven novel depicts multiple viewpoints including those of the President and First Lady; Nixon's loyal secretary Rose Mary Woods; presidential aide and "bagman" Fred LaRue; ex-CIA operative-turned-novelist E. Howard Hunt; nonagenarian socialite Alice Roosevelt Longworth, and more. Fans of Tom Wolfe's Radical Chic should enjoy this behind-the-scenes look at insider politics.

Bring Up The Bodies: A Novel

by Hilary Mantel

This sequel to Hilary Mantel's Booker Prize-winning Wolf Hall continues the story of ambitious courtier Thomas Cromwell's career. Having achieved the pinnacle of success as King Henry VIII's chief minister, Cromwell -- who used cunning and political gamesmanship to secure the annulment that dissolved the King's marriage to Catherine of Aragon and severed the bonds between the Anglican Church and Rome -- must once again appease his sovereign. This time, his task is to replace Anne Boleyn, who has failed to produce a male heir to the throne, with Henry's latest obsession, Jane Seymour. However, dispensing with yet another queen is a tricky business, and one false step could cost Cromwell everything.

Becoming Madame Mao

by Anchee Min

Something of a social chameleon, the future Madame Mao begins her life as Yuhne, the unwanted daughter of a concubine who subjects her, at the age of four, to foot-binding and, later, to an arranged marriage, before the girl runs off to pursue a career on the Shanghai stage. Changing her name to Lan Ping, she enjoys moderate success as an actress before "subversive" activities lead to a stint in prison -- and to her involvement with China's communist party. Assuming yet another identity, she becomes the mistress and ultimately the wife of communist leader Chairman Mao Zedong. Anchee Min's "stunning, powerful portrait" (Booklist) of a controversial yet undeniably complicated and passionate woman also provides insight into China's tumultuous Cultural Revolution.

Books By Theme: Quit Your Job! Travel Instead!

The Lost Girls
by Jennifer Baggett, Holly Corbett, and Amanda Pressner
Harper Perennial (2011)

If you're a 20-something working and living in New York City, you're living the dream -- right? Not if you're Jennifer Baggett, Holly Corbett, or Amanda Pressner. The trio of friends -- wondering if the paths they were on were the right ones -- left their apartments, jobs, and boyfriends to embark on a year-long adventure around the world, visiting more than ten countries on four continents, including Peru, Vietnam, India, and Australia. Though there are difficulties (could you hang out with your two besties for a year without getting on each other's nerves?), there are also a lot of amazing experiences, such as traveling down the Amazon and volunteering at a girls' orphanage in Kenya.


Until I Say Goodbye
by Susan Spencer-Wendel with Bret Witter
Harper (2014)

This isn't your typical travelogue. Until I Say Good-Bye unsentimentally chronicles the final year of a 45-year-old journalist and mother with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, an irreversible condition that progressively destroys nerves that control muscles. Once she was diagnosed, it wasn't long before Spencer-Wendel decided to quit her job (though she loved it) and use some of her remaining days traveling to such places as the Yukon, Hungary, the Bahamas, and Cyprus with friends and family, including individual trips with each of her three children. Readers joining her on her poignant, powerful journey will be inspired to find joy in their own situations.

Educating Alice
by Alice Steinbach
Random House (2005)

In Without Reservations, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Alice Steinbach chronicled taking a leave of absence from the Baltimore Sun to travel and learn about herself. Several years later, she completely quit her job and set off again. In Educating Alice, she enrolls in a French cooking class in Paris, attends border collie training in Scotland, learns traditional Japanese arts in Kyoto, studies art and architecture in Havana, and more, while meeting a wide range of interesting people along the way. With vividly depicted settings and keen observations and insights, this memoir is a charming delight.