What Non-Fiction are you reading in May, 2017?

Started Complexity: A Guided Tour by Melanie Mitchell - a look at the science that seeks to explain how large-scale, organized behaviour can emerge from simple interactions among collections of individuals.

Just finished Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign - highly recommended for those who wonder "How could this have happened?" For others, it's a terrific, objective look at the campaign. The "doomed" part might seem biased, but in this case it has to do with problems that were ignored or overlooked, including how things stood behind the scenes before she officially announced her candidacy.

Nearly finished The absent super power.Zahair predicts the U S will be self sufficient in oil by 2017 due to shale fragmentation replacing regular crude .His military arguments are persuasive regarding the US withdrawing from role of world policeman and letting world police itself but for one matter he studiously avoids,nuclear weapons proliferation.The world can force the U S to retain its role as nuclear war will affect it as well as the north Asian four,the south east Asian five,F.S.U,India,Pakistan etc.She will have to keep sea lanes open in order to prevent herself from being blown up along with the rest of the world.

Pretty hard to see how she and the media could have been so wrong.Gives me the creepy feeling I'm living in a bubble where there is no sensory connection to realty.

Working through Michelle Alexander's 'The New Jim Crow'. It's heavy and painful to read, but so well written and insightful!

I finished up Bruce Springsteen's autobiography, Born to Run. It was quite informative in many ways, and enjoyable, although I ended feeling there were (understandable, but still . . . ) holes in the presentation. Nevertheless, well worth reading for any fan of Springsteen specifically and good autobiography in general.

>6 rocketjk: I've got that on the TBR, although a long way away yet. Glad to hear it's a decent one.

Something New: Tales from a Makeshift Bride
Lucy Knisley
4/5 stars
Lucy Knisley, graphic novelist, writes and draws about her engagement and marriage to her on and off boyfriend John. Told through pictures and words, we follow the ups and downs of their relationship and the planning of an unorthodox and unique wedding in modern day. This is another delightful graphic novel for Knisley who has done several travelogues, a web comic series and her wonderful graphic memoir Relish- My Life in the Kitchen. Looking forward to her next project!

Almost done with Shadows of the Workhouse by Jennifer Worth, the second installment in the Call the Midwife series. Very interesting and informative document of life in the impoverished East End of London in the 1950s.

>7 LyzzyBee: Yes, I'd say it's a lot better than decent, especially if Springsteen is an important artist to you. You do spend a lot of time inside his head, and it's not always a pretty picture, so you have to care about Springsteen the person as well as Springsteen the musician to get the most out of the book.

My non-fiction reading for May (so far): Berlin Rules: Europe and the German Way by Paul Lever, Virgin: The Untouched History by Hanne Blank, and Reading Allowed: True Stories and Curious Incidents from a Provincial Library by Chris Paling.

2/3rds of the way through In Search of Shakespeare by Michael Wood.

I'm enjoying it more than the last book about Shakespeare I read. That was Will in the World which struck me as far too speculative and tried to find text for each supposed incident in Shakespeare's life. This one is less speculative and less intent on finding his life reflected in his work.

I'm about to read Angela Merkel: Europe's Most Influential Leader by Matthew Qvortrup.

I finished a LTER, Beyond $15. A union led campaign for $15 minimum wage does not sound like an engaging topic. but it was well written with plenty of personal anecdotes. The book also presented a possible mechanism to address the inequity inherent in capitalism, recognizing that neither traditional unions or political forces will provide a solution without a broad based social justice movement.

Started 1000 Years of Annoying the French yesterday and it's pretty interesting, entertaining and full of lovely English wit.

>15 Bookmarque: that must be the abridged version. >;-)

I've finished In search of Shakespeare It sort of finished quite abruptly, but was a good read and an informative book aside from that small remark.
I will not read the "further reading" or I'll end up adding to the TBR list...

I'm reading Banker to the Poor which is about the Grameen bank and micro-lending. Fascinating stuff but very small print ...

Even This I Get to Experience
Norman Lear
4/5 stars
Norman Lear, TV/film producer writes about his life and shows how even growing up in the poorest of circumstances that sometimes life gets better with hard work, ambition and talent. Not happy to just get rich, he has not left his life go by without impacting others by becoming a philanthropist and getting involved in political causes.

Chasing Spring
About 3 stars
A nice, timely read, although it's a bit dated, especially, unfortunately his climate change descriptions. Things are even worse at Glacier National Park and throughout the USA.

I'm reading The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Son on Life, Love, and Loss by Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt.

Just started The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century by Ian Mortimer. A history book that doesn't focus on kings and battles, but on daily life for ordinary folk.

Just finished Robert Massie's marvellous biography of Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman, a rich and absorbing read, as all his books have been for me.

Finished Civil War Stories which was a collection of short stories from the civil war by Ambrose Bierce who was there. Too gruesome and enamored with war for my taste. Stories end with an ironic twist but often the same twist.