My delayed-mammogram results came back fine, as did my delayed-pap results, as did all my delayed bloodwork. Before the pandemic, I was going to the dentist every 3 months to try to keep my gum pockets from getting worse; because of the pandemic I went 16 months between cleanings/checks, and the gum pockets were exactly the same, and I needed only the usual amount of scraping with metal tools, and both the hygienist and the dentist commented that they would never have known from the state of my teeth/gums that it had been so long, so now I’m going to go every 6 months instead of every 3, and I expect this will improve the quality of my life.
Henry failed one of his finals, and this class requires a C in the class (he had this) and also on the final (he did not have this) in order to go on, which means he has to repeat the entire thing next year, and we’ve struggled all year to make him do it FOR NOTHING. It’s fine. It’s fine! He’ll just be a year behind in math, that’s all. GAH THIS SCHOOL YEAR. Well, it’s over. We have made and consumed our end-of-year ice cream sundaes, and now we can turn our minds toward summer.
IN FACT LET’S TALK ABOUT SUMMER. The kids (probably just the three youngest) and I will soon have our annual conversation about our summer plans, and in recent years our summer plans have consistently involved doing something academic and/or creative each day, so that we now just call it Our Academic-Creative, so I assume we will be doing it again this summer, and have been thinking ahead to what I want to do: this year I want to read some of the HEAPS of interesting non-fiction I see when I am shelving at the library. There is so much of it, I am having trouble narrowing it down at all.
One possibility is history. I am so poor at learning/retaining history, I have many embarrassing gaps. I could read about some Major Event. Like the Russian revolution in the early 1900s, which I had to find out a little about while reading A Gentleman in Moscow. Or the Berlin wall thing, or The Cold War, which I don’t know anything about and/or if they are related. Or I could read some sort of overview of United States history, or some sort of One Hundred Things Everyone Should Know About World History / Things You May Have Missed in History Class book. It can’t be DRY or too TEXTBOOKY: it needs to be written for people who are not ordinarily interested in history and need to be persuaded.
Another possibility is politics. Again, I have many embarrassing gaps: frankly, I didn’t really tune in until 2015. I could read about some of the most recent presidents. But again: I need something written in a sort of LIVELY, even GOSSIPY, trying-to-make-it-really-interesting way.
It might be fun, and also easier for my poor brain to absorb, to combine a non-fiction book with a TV show and/or fiction book. I could re-watch The Crown, and then read a book about Queen Elizabeth or Prince Philip or Prince Charles or Princess Anne or whoever. I could watch a documentary about the George W. Bush administration, if such a thing exists, and then re-read Curtis Sittenfeld’s American Wife, and then read a non-fiction book about George W. Bush, and then maybe read something one of his daughters wrote. I could choose one of Philippa Gregory’s historical fictions, and then read some non-fiction about those same people.
Another possibility is travel. I could pick a country I’d like to visit someday, and study up on it. Though I think that might be more fun to do once travel plans have actually been made.
Or what about some sort of group project with the kids?? We could do Four Recent Presidents, and each take one and report to each other each day on what new things we’ve learned! Or we could do Four Major World Events! Or Elizabeth wonders if they might all like to study sign language together, and William said he’d be inclined to join that—though I’d opt out, since I have already started sign language several times and always lose interest, and the thought of re-re-re-learning the alphabet fills me with ennui.
Well, what do you think? What would you read, if you were me? / What are you going to do for YOUR Academic Creative this summer? Do you have any engaging non-fiction books to recommend? Ooo, or do you already have a strong interest in a particular topic, so that you would be able to recommend a little mini-course containing a non-fiction book AND a fiction book AND a documentary AND a TV show set in that time period AND…etc.??
Alison Weir wrote several serious-but-readable non-fiction history books about the same era and people as Phillippa Gregory, so that might be a good pairing?
If you go this route, also check out Six: The Musical (you can find it on Spotify). I listened to it a LOT last summer while reading about the wives of Henry VII, both in fictional and non-fiction accounts.
Oh my! This was my first thought! I love Alison Weir, her nonfiction is so enjoyable. I love the Tudor period but Eleanor of Aquitaine is my jam, so an earlier period in English history. Henry II seems like the kind of king Henry VIII wished he could have been.
I was coming to say this! Alison Weir is great. Not too heavy but scholarly, she strikes a good balance.
I like your idea for Academic-Creative. I think we need something similar to stop us sliding into complete laziness.
My first thought when you said history was a book called A History of the World with the Women Put Back In by Kerstin Lucker and Ute Daenshel. I felt like my history knowledge was too disjointed – I knew about key events, but couldn’t string it all together PLUS I felt annoyed by the way history was told entirely about men. There had to have been interesting/terrible/weird/noteworthy women – so where were they all? This book was my first step to solving those two problems!
At the start of the pandemic my family got hopelessly drawn into Sporcle, which is a quiz website, and we still visit it regularly. Through the geography quizzes I learned all the countries of the world and most of the capitals, all the states and capitals etc etc. It was something the children were surprisingly into and I can’t help but feel proud when my nine year old confidently locates Liberia on a map! (it’s fun, honestly, and not just in a braggy way – knowing where countries are seems like something we should all be able to do).
None of my libraries have this book!!! (either on overdrive OR in print). Why, why, why, why, why???? (I actually didn’t search the BPL – Boston Public LIbrary – in print. Maybe I will. no dice.) Overdrive recognizes the title, as it auto-completes it and then has zero returns. GGrrrrrrr.
I think I’ve done it before but Oregon Trail by Rinker Buck, especially the audiobook, is a delight and educational and will likely make you want a mule.
Wright Brothers by David McCollough, delight, educational, read by him, gives loads of credit to their sister.
Stuff You Missed in History Class (podcast) for potential jumping off points to delve deeper/find things you wouldn’t otherwise know about.
Sarah Vowell wrote a book on Hawaii, Unfamiliar Fishes. Bonus is her voice is fun.
I wish I had an answer to that, but I do not know good engaging historical nonfiction. I do know that most popular nonfiction is something that has historians in the field tearing their hair out, though (but I haven’t read it). But sometimes that’s “hearing the Whole Story Of His Divorce from the guy-who-cheated’s point of view without him quite remembering to tell you that he cheated” [so. many. biographies] grade vs. sometimes it’s just “but there is way more to it! more nuance! more factors! more players!” – which, I mean, fair, if someone tried to boil down, say, The Enjoyable Things About Roaming Target and boiled it down slightly too far (like “sometimes they have fun home decor for sale”), then some people would likely be left going “but that doesn’t explain the fun of wandering Target at *all* really!” so maybe?
Also, yes, the Berlin thing was related to the Cold War thing.
(but also: history and politics are both ghastly and appalling. So there is that.)
This summer: If my joint problems cooperate, I want to learn how to draw; like, practice-practice-practice even though I am lousy at it until I get better at 1. making the pencil go where I want it to in wider sweeps [I’m already good at getting the pencil to go where I want it to go in, like, fingertip-motion miniatures-level, but that does not work for drawing a straight line or a curved line over a surface larger than a business card, so…] and 2. capturing posture and implied movement. This is part because I am really bad at practicing things I am not good at, and that would be good for me to [finally] learn, and I am also bad at drawing, and would like to not be bad at drawing. But we will see what the body permits…
(learning how to be bad at things but stick with them is part of me trying to figure out how, in a balanced way, to apply item #3 from https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/sep/04/oliver-burkemans-last-column-the-eight-secrets-to-a-fairly-fulfilled-life – obviously, it is a limited point and only applies to certain areas and pushing through discomfort takes spoons and if you are shot on spoons, then: caution. But it is very true for a limited scope and I would like to apply it where it does apply…)
Thanks for the article link- and also loved the other article he references in it, – “everyone is totally just winging it”
I’m sorry Henry has to re-take the class. I had one kid whose grades during a year plus of online school were stellar and another whose grades were like a roller coaster, up and down, and up again, and down again, and who knows what’s next, except we do know now that online school is (we hope! the school district says!) over. The format just doesn’t suit some kids.
I confess to very little interest in history or politics as well – I try to walk the line between keeping myself informed enough not to be hoodwinked by all the misinformation floating around, and reading too much that contributes to feelings of Despair. BUT I am pleased that, despite this, I DO have a suggestion: podcasts! I listen to Malcolm Gladwell’s Revisionist History and Tim Harford’s Cautionary Tales and the former looks at past events from a new perspective and the latter uses illustrative examples from history to give context and meaning to current events. Both have great voices. Perhaps you can take turns choosing episodes from podcasts like these and if they are intriguing enough you can use them as jumping-off points for further discussion or research?
As for our summer: for most of July my daughter is doing a reach-ahead course in Grade 10 math if she makes it off the waitlist, and my son is taking Japanese the same mornings. This will be his 3rd year in this language, and he’s done a couple in Mandarin as well. It’s funny because he hates French, which he has to take and is in immersion for, but Asian languages seem to be his jam, despite having no ancestral ties to that part of the world.
Oh my goodness, I also worked in a library (and then a bookstore,) and used to be a fiction only person until I discovered two things: memoirs by interesting people and Bill Bryson. I had never read a science book until I read Bryson’s “Short History of Nearly Everything” (please get the illustrated version with awesome photos). I wasn’t into non-fiction history until I read his “At Home”, where he tells hilarious stories about how ordinary objects came into our houses (like salt and pepper shakers) and stories of little known people (like early electricians). I was sort of interested in travel books before, but laughed and laughed through his book about Australia. Of course he has his downfalls too, but I think some of his work might be up your alley.
Yes! I was just coming here to recommend Bill Bryson! The three books you mentioned plus “A Walk in the Woods” about hiking the Appalachian trail are some of my favorites! Tons of info, but funny and interesting!
I came here to recommend Bryson’s Short History… as I just finished it and it is so well written and funny. It gives the grand scope of science with gossipy interesting bits about people. You get a sweeping view of the immensity of the universe, the frailty of species, and how things work at a sub-atomic level.
If your teens haven’t read it, they might like it too.
If you’re going to do ASL, I recommend NOT relearning the alphabet, but instead learn something like how to direct someone around your town. Learn how to introduce yourself, and how to say “the library is four blocks east and is on your left. It’s a red building. Actually, I work there, so I could take you!”
Or similar.
I am here to say that historical biographies tend to be very gossipy (even the ones that people are impressed that you’ve read), and I suspect you would like them quite a bit. I have mostly read biographies of U.S. Presidents. They are nice because they start out as very ordinary people, but also they are well documented and studied. You might not love the overwhelming maleness, however. There do tend to be very interesting women included…Lady Bird Johnson, Florence Harding, Bess Truman, and Bina Dole are some of the most interesting characters I remember, and you learn quite a lot about them. I’m embarrassed that I can’t think of a good biography that is specifically about a woman to recommend, but I’m sure there are several good ones.
Yes! I love a historical biography, and also a literary biography. British 20th century stuff might not be your thing, but in case it is, I’ve read excellent ones about the Mitford sisters and also Virginia Woolf and her sister Vanessa Bell. I have a history degree, but I find when I read something like that I take lots of little diversions to google facts behind specific people’s stories and I learn loads.
For readable history, I’d recommend Ken Follet’s Century Trilogy (Fall of Giants, Winter of the World & Edge of Eternity). It is historical fiction, so parts of the history are simplified, but it covers WW1 through to the cold war from many perspectives. Also – super readable. I feel like I learned so much, not just *what* happened, but *how* people came to make the decisions they did. It also helped me to appreciate just how far we’ve come as a society.
YES. Love Ken Follett. I like his medieval stuff myself but have had my eye on the Century trilogy for a while.
Agreed! These books are great and you will learn a lot about history even though they are fiction.
Also love Pillars of the Earth if you are interested in that time period.
There is a mini series based on the pillars trilogy that I would highly recommend.
I recommend reading a good spy novel set during the Cold War and watching “The Americans” on Amazon Prime. (One of the reasons I love that series is the wife is the strong, dedicated, determined individual and the husband is the waffler. Other reasons include it being set in the 80’s – the clothing, hairstyles, everything brings me back to that time and there is lots of action and drama.). Book recommendations include:
“American Spy: A Novel” by Lauren Wilkinson
“Miss Graham’s Cold War Cookbook: A Novel Paperback” by Celia Rees
I have 3 authors to suggest and I *think* they will all fit your needs VERY well. Each writes a blend of history, politics and travel in a very fun and accessible way.
Bill Bryson: Notes From a Small Island (about Great Britain), In a Sunburned Country (Australia), One Summer In America (Summer of 1927)
Tony Horwitz: Confederates in the Attic (American South), Blue Latitudes (Captain Cook’s journey, so mostly Pacific Ocean), A Voyage Long and Strange (The Americas between the Mayflower and Columbus, one of my favorite books of all time)
Sarah Vowell (all are great as audio books too) Assassination Vacation (about the 3 assassinated US presidents), Lafayette in the Somewhat United States (When Lafayette returned to the USA and toured it in 1824)
A 4th author who writes very engaging historical works but with out the travel/fun as the other 3, is Erik Larson. Most famous for Devil in the White City, but I prefer In the Garden of Beasts (about the US ambassador to Germany just before WWII and his very fun loving daughter) and The Splendid and the Vile which will make you fall in love with Churchill. Feel free to breeze through the chapters dealing with airplane and radar developments, Churchill’s family is much more interesting.
I too love Bill Bryson, I also second the Larson stuff, and I would add to the Sarah Vowell recommendation (which I am looking into!) The Hemingses of Monticello. This is a bit more text-booky, but fascinating about the Hemings family, whom Thomas Jefferson owned but also fathered.
I love Larson. Dead Wake BLEW MY MIND.
I’m awful at American history, but one book that finally made the order of the modern presidents (mostly) stick was Upstairs At The White House, by JB West. It’s a nonfiction book written by the Chief Usher of the White House, and had just a touch of a Downton Abbey upstairs/downstairs feel to it. I highly recommend it!
Came to recommend this book as well! I read it as a part of my book club and it was very enjoyable. I feel like the venn diagram of people that enjoy grocery store stock reports and people that would enjoy this book (learning about redecorating budgets and POTUS and FLOTUS habits) overlaps a lot! And there were several tidbits about current events that might pique your interest to dive deeper.
I also recommend the Sawbones book and podcast about interesting medical history topics. It’s done as a husband/wife duo, where the wife is a doctor and the husband is a comedian, so it’s also got a heavy flavor of ‘competent woman explaining things to an adoring audience who recognizes her expertise without needing a full resume’, which is soothing.
I highly recommend The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah for WWII French women resistance. (My great-grandfather, in the Royal Air Force, was shot down and rescued by the French resistance!) You could also read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society then watch the movie of the same name on Netflix, which was so charming. Lilac Girls, Code Name Verity and Rose Under Fire (the latter two go together) which are fiction but historical fiction are also set in WWII and feature what happened to/roles of European women during the war. Bonus: all these are also written by women.
For something grittier but more to the point of this moment, you could read Tangled Up in Blue by law professor-turned-part-time-police-officer Rosa Brooks (I haven’t read it but I’m interested in doing so) and Ghettoside by Jill Leovy (also haven’t read but it’s on my list) and you could watch The Wire but also Brooklyn Nine-Nine for some takes on contemporary policing. (My husband was a cop for 5 years and still works for them as a civilian, but plot twist: we’re liberals! I also recommend The Graham Factor on substack, a free subscription, for liberal and also honest commentary on contemporary policing by a former police officer.)
To the women in WWII I would add the nonfiction book Hedy’s Folly, about how the actress Hedy Lamarr actually contributed an invention to radio wave technology that we still use today! There’s a documentary about her called Bombshell, which I haven’t seen.
Adding a show to the “women in WWII” theme: The Bletchley Circle (Amazon Prime). Four women who worked as code-breakers during the war return not completely willingly to domesticity afterwards, and find an outlet for their intellect and skills in solving murder cases. It’s not *about* the war, but their experiences during the war are part of the plot, and it fills in some sociological aspects of wartime & its aftermath. Set in London.
I love the idea of 100 Top Historical Events You Need to Know! And I also agree that history books should be more GOSSIPY because a) there is always, inevitably plenty of gossipy topics, and b) it is much easier/more interesting to read.
My own Academic Creative plan is to learn music theory and try to practice the piano more. I have a music theory book and a piano, so I feel like I am all set except for lack of motivation.
Last summer, my daughter and I did a lot of mini research projects. My favorite was about bees. There are a bunch of interesting bee-related documentaries (we would watch them through our library) and books — although the books we read were picture books, so I can’t really recommend anything specific. It would have been SO COOL to go visit an apiary but we didn’t get that far. We did observe the pollinators milling about our hibiscus bushes though.
Do you also follow https://www.instagram.com/texasbeeworks/ ?? Fascinating!
Oooh! I do now! Thank you!
If you can bring yourself to read books meant for children, may I respectfully recommend the “Dear America” series? They are chapter books intended for elementary school, in the format of a diary by a girl living in Ye Olde Times, ie the Oregon Trail, or the sinking of the Titanic, or the Revolutionary War. A light overview of US history, is what we’re talking about, and you could read them pretty quickly.
I thought about mentioning these as well! I so wish these had been around when I was a kid; no matter, I collected and read nearly the whole series in the last handful of years. Definitely taught me things, definitely inspired done research here and there; quick and easy reads (but thought-provoking!)
Do you follow Sharon Says So on Instagram??? She is wonderful!! She has a government class that runs on different topics (online, little courses) and that would be so fun for all of you to do together! She is a great follow anyway to understand what’s going on in a really balanced, non-partisan way. And she helps people!! Like, her followers have donated several $100ks to various amazing causes.
I am a governerd too! I came to suggest the book we’re reading for her summer fun pass book club, “American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI” by Kate Winkler Dawson. It’s not something I ever would have picked out myself, but I love it. The stories are so interesting and it’s not gory or creepy like I thought it might be, plus it’s a great look into the early 20th century American way of life (mind-boggling).
Oh, my academic creative mini course is actually in math. I taught prealgebra this year and loved it; I managed to keep my students away from the brink of despair despite despair being a COMPLETELY REASONABLE RESPONSE to a pandemic. Tell Henry not to worry, this does not mean he’s bad at math. It means overlaying normal-year expectations on a pandemic year doesn’t work.
Okay, so, math mini course: first read this article, https://betterexplained.com/articles/a-quirky-introduction-to-number-systems/ My students felt so much more confident in failing the first few times once they realized it was just upgrading their brain software. The same way that we cannot multiply using Roman numerals, whenever we run into a problem mastering another technique it just means we are upgrading our brain software.
Read The Man Who Counted, a book written to sound like an Arabian fable about a mathematician. It begins to show the beauty of math, and math as poetry and problemsolving tool.
Play a bit with Exploding Dots and see negative numbers, exponents, division and more in totally new and delightful ways that MAKE SENSE. https://www.explodingdots.org/
Download the app game DragonBox Algebra, to master elements of algebra without the symbols and see how all these pieces fit together.
Finally pick any book by Dr Eugenia Cheng, for instance How to Bake Pi.
And watch NUMB3RS!
Oo, oo, I do have a recommendation! To watch: Derry Girls! To read: Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe!
I love this idea.
For a good history podcast, I love 99% Invisible (in theory it’s about design, but the stories cover so many topics and some interesting historic facts) and the Allusionist (which is more about language and the etymology of words. It’s a lot more interesting than it sounds!)
Does your library have Teen programming for summer reading? I think that gets overlookied, but there are lots of cool programs designed for tweens and teens. Our library had an engineering series where people with engineering backgrounds described jobs in their field and our youth services librarians put together science experiment kits for families to try at home. We also have STEAM kits for check out (microscopes, crystal growing kits, and solar powered cars, in addition to coding games like Ozobots). Definitely worth checking out.
First I would like to hear more about these end-of-the-school-year sundaes, especially if you can recommend a good hot fudge sauce. I keep making Pretty Good ones, and it’s frustrating because it’s not as though I’m steering clear of heavy cream or fretting about corn syrup. I will do whatever it takes!
Second (I am doing this in order of how things popped into my head; my actual feelings are stronger about this than about ice cream) I am sorry about Henry. That stinks.
Finally, I have a fondness for books that explain the complicated issues of How would that even work? Like, you hear about someone trying to get a relative out of a war zone, and I think, “But how do you do that?” Finding out how spies communicated or travelers exchanged money before there were American Express offices — and I realize they probably don’t exist any longer, but that’s how I did it back when I was backpacking for culture in college — I dig that stuff. The next time I
So: Francis Spufford’s Golden Hill (set in mid-1700s New York and drawing heavily from novels by the Fielding siblings, which you could also read). Christopher Buckley’s The Relic Master (early days of the Reformation) and The Judge Hunter (set in the mid-1600s North American colonies). Then history to back it all up.
Have you tried Smitten Kitchens “Best hot fudge sauce”? (if you’re into making your own) It comes together surprisingly easily and is delicious- more of a pourable fudge than a chocolate syrup.
I was coming to make the same Smitten Kitchen recipe recommendation as Kate, though I cut back a tad on the sugar/corn syrup and once it’s off the stove but still warm I stir in either a glug of Kahlua or a spoonful of peppermint extract.
I have tried Smitten Kitchen, whose recipes I generally love, and hers were good (doesn’t she have more than one?) but not the texture I’m looking for, which is more soft-but-not-sticky, like at an ice cream parlor.
You clearly have better ice cream parlours where you live! I make my own because all I’ve seen around here at independent places is thin watery syrup like Hershey’s syrup. So unsatisfying!
Oh, that is monstrous! Way to ruin summer, ice cream parlors near Shawna!
I once chose a place to spend the night on a road trip based on Jane Stern’s recommendation for the ice cream place there (sundaes came with a little paper cup of salted nuts, as they should)
I sense an opportunity!!! Ice cream place with good fudge. Where is this? do I want to move there?
Move to Ohio and eat at Taggart’s
http://www.taggartsicecream.com/
Or move to Upstate New York and own an ice cream shop
https://ithacavoice.com/2021/06/sweet-goodbyes-purity-ice-cream-owners-to-retire-offer-business-for-sale/
https://www.purityicecream.com/
I used to experiment with buying fudge sauces, but they were just never Right, and the kids always chose Hershey’s syrup or Magic Shell anyway, so I have given up. I love that people are giving you recipes, because now I’m going to try some of them!
Ooh, allow me to recommend making your own Magic Shell. Or having your kids do it.
Take 1 c chocolate chips and 3 T coconut oil, then alternately microwave and stir in short bursts. Add extra flavor if you want, too– I added about 1/4 t of peppermint extract to the last one I made, and it was really good. And if you have someone in your house who loves peanut butter, you can swap out the chocolate for peanut butter and make peanut butter Magic Shell.
Sanders Milk Chocolate ice cream topping. Comes in a metal container. Yum.
Is summer school not an option for you? My oldest is in school this summer because she decided that the C she got in Freshman history is not acceptable. But, she gets up and gets herself to school every morning by 8, with zero input from me, so I can’t complain.
Nonfiction I’ve enjoyed:
The Tetris Effect by Dan Ackerman- quite literally, the story of Tetris.
The Not Quite States of America by Doug Mack- the parts of the US that are not states, and why they continue to be part of the US.
Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube by Blair Braverman- autobiography of a female dog sledder
My phone just ate my comments on the U.S. education system, so I will stick to recommendations for history:
Civil Rights Movement: Taylor Branch’s trilogy on the King Years and the documentary “Eyes on the Prize”.
Cold War Germany: “Good-Bye, Lenin” and “The Lives of Others”
Resistance during the Nazi era: “Sophie Scholl – The Final Days”
If you are open to teen/YA targeted nonfiction, “King George: What Was His Problem?” by Steve Sheinkin pairs well with a Hamilton obsession.
Steve Sheinkin books are wonderful for adults, too!
He wrote one about Benedict Arnold that I’ve read twice. Super interesting. I remember reading late into the night to find out what happened.
I think you would enjoy A History of the World In Six Glasses. I’m trying to think what else I’ve read along those lines, but nothing is coming to me. But, I really like a history lesson through an unusual lens like that.
I haven’t read any books about W per se, but I did read Laura Bush’s memoir, Spoken From the Heart, and she went into some detail about her training as a librarian. It would be a sparky pairing with Sittenfeld’s book! Oh, and all the White House behind-the-scenes books by Kate Anderson Brower (The Residence, First Women) are fascinating (cross-party friendships between bitter political rivals!) Also planning on reading the recent Lady Bird Johnson biography, Hiding in Plain Sight.
I once read a pair of memoirs by Padma Lakshmi and Salman Rushdie: (Love, Loss, and What We Ate and Joseph Anton, respectively). They both dished on one another delightfully. I read Midnight’s Children and watched many seasons of Top Chef prior to reading the books.
I’m also planning to read The Hemingses of Monticello by Annette Gordon Reed as a supplement to the Art of Power (about Thomas Jefferson) by Jon Meacham.
after I watched The Crown, I read several books about Princess Margaret as she was someone I felt compassion for in the way she was treated by the monarchy. it was very interesting.
If you haven’t read it yet, Lady in Waiting is a memoir of one of Margaret’s ladies. Doesn’t focus much on Margaret but is still interesting!
No suggestions on books, but my kids’ (10 and 14 yo) required task for the summer is learning to type. I’m not sure if they will be successful, but it’s worth a try! We are starting with typing.com.
Accidental Presidents – covers history and politics and is peppered with interesting historical facts. Would be good paired with the armchair expert podcast featuring the author.
I have one more suggestion! The John Green Crash Course history videos are fabulous and if you ever need a quick 10 minute overview of anything, that is a good place to start. If I’m reading historical fiction, I sometimes use the videos as a refresher.
He talks FAST, so when I used them them with my middle school students, we had to watch with CC on and pause every so often!
I am terrible about history and wish I knew more, but for me it’s just something that doesn’t stick.
Something I did find really interesting for a while was a particular rabbit hole on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3Jef7i7v1U is an example. This channel has a lot of videos. They go through what it was actually like to live in Victorian times. Some of it’s a bit ghoulish for my tastes, but some of it’s genuinely interesting and not as dry as most historical stuff I’ve seen. Things like how the whitest possible bread was desired and so makers used to put terrible, poisonous chemicals in it to make it look more attractive. Things like how the first indoor toilets and indoor plumbed baths were dangerous.
They go through the actual historical, emotional, *people-based* context for all this. It’s not just “hey these people were so dumb and we’re much smarter now” (I’m sure in another 200, 300, 800 years people will be marvelling at the things that we’re doing today that are dangerous as hell). It’s “if you were a wife in these times then you did this and that”.
Also, I just like having videos along those lines, that I can put on when I’m feeling fidgety, where it’s genuinely interesting but I don’t have to look at the screen the whole time.
Some of my fave pop-history books are “The History of the World in 5 Glasses) (tackling different eras of change through world history based on the popularity of different beverages) and “A Brief History of Nearly Everything” (Bill Bryson writes mainly comedy and memiors) and also “1492” (About the Americas before Columbus) which are all fun, slightly gossipy history nonfiction books.
I like your idea of academic-creative. My kids are too young to really delve into that but I make them read for 20 minutes and do 20 minutes of writing each day before they can get on tablets/watch tv.
Have you tried duolingo? I am re-learning Japanese using duolingo which is SO REWARDING. It is gamefied and slightly competitive, so I wan to keep up my streak/be in the top 3, but also easy because I took 9 hours of Japanese in college (though not too easy because that was 10 years ago!)
The Perfect Mile about the quest for the first 4 minute mile was enjoyable. Also Island at the Center of the World about the Dutch influence/founding of New York City.
I LOVE non fiction, and it is 95% of what I read. I read most of the non fiction I hear about from Fresh Air. If I hear the podcast and the book sounds interesting, I immediately put it on my library request list.
These are more deep dives into particular subjects, but Erik Larson writes great non fiction that almost reads like a novel. Devil in the White City is great, as is the one about the Americans in Germany in the 1930s (I can’t recall the name). Michael Lewis also writes non fiction that doesn’t read at all dry—The Big Short is so good. People have very polarizing opinions of him, but I also really like Malcolm Gladwell. What the Dog Saw would be a good intro for him—it is a collection of his non fiction essays from the New Yorker.
I get a lot of my nonfiction books from fresh air too :) just finished reading a good provider is one who leaves…if you haven’t read it/heard the author interview yet, they were both really great.
I wonder if you and the family would like Hank Green’s new book/ series of podcasts, The Anthropocene Reviewed, and then do your own reviews. It’s not as strictly educational as some of these projects, but maybe you’d just like it.
The king’s speech movie with Colin firth + The King’s Speech book + biography of King George called The reluctant king by Sarah Bradford was a fascinating dive into a period of time and a topic that I knew nothing about a few years ago…it led to the realization I knew nothing about world war one and kept going from there.
Several years ago I read this nook and found it to be engaging AND funny.
https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Mental_Floss_History_of_the_United_S.html?id=LqdNEHd4Mg8C
I love reading historical fiction because it always leads to me googling and learning other stuff I didn’t know. I am with you on the Crown – it’s great – and also I am with Megan above for the King’s Speech. I read a great biography of the Queen Mum a few years back, and it was fascinating. I will try to remember the name of it!
I don’t think you’re a podcast person, but I’ve been enjoying the podcast Trashy Divorces for gossipy history. They made me care about British royalty (which is saying a lot!) and they’re also very funny. The hosts are two ladies who are married to each other, may they never get their own trashy divorce. There are lots of fun pop culture episodes too.
For nonfiction videos about American people and history, virtually everything produced by PBS’s “American Experience” series is terrific.
Hi from the Czech Republic! You might enjoy reading HHhH by Laurent Binet and watching the 2016 film Anthropoid. It is about some very brave ordinary people who found themselves in an important moment in history and did the right thing. In the end most of them die but it is still a good read (if you are ok with the author’s approach and tone) and actually not depressing. And it’s all true, this really happened.
A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn is a good introduction to the concept of history not written by the winning side. It’s not a hard read-I read it sophomore year of high school, but it’s good. I recently read Bryson’s book about the human body and it was good so I’m planning to read more Bryson this summer.
I’m reading Zinn’s book right now–yeah, it’s good. I love how this book gives voice to the powerless. I’m continually shocked how one-sided my history education was.
Swistle, I know you (mostly) quit reading books by men, but I want to mention one I found quite fascinating, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. I enjoyed his big-picture anthropological approach to the history of our species. It’s very readable and gave me a lot to think about. I saw it graphic novel form recently, too.
I am so sorry that Henry has to repeat his math! I am sorry that the school system doesn’t accommodate for A HARD YEAR! (My sister is advocating for her Grade 9 son to take “academic” Grade 10 math next year, despite not quite having the required grade. I really wish that advocating wasn’t necessary – that perhaps math is hard already, and math IN A HARD YEAR it is too much.)
Please search for Lucy Worsley on YouTube! She is a curator at Hampton Court Palace in London and she makes amazing history documentaries. They are very lighthearted for the most part. I think she is an author too. Another great show is Fake or Fortune, where they try to establish the provenance of paintings and see if they are…fake or worth a fortune. Sounds a bit meh, but is actually fascinating and they travel all around the early researching the origins of the painter etc.
Seconding anything Crash Course. I used to use them when I was teaching sociology, and now they are the reason I passed a macroeconomics class this year. The history ones are really good.
I recommend Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates. I don’t normally like non-fiction as it requires too much active thinking and I prefer passive reading. This book read like fiction though and was truly inspiring.
I read The Children’s Blizzard, which was only okay and is fiction. But one of her sources was Timothy Egan’s “The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Dust Bowl” and it was TERRIFIC. I too really only like nonfiction that reads like fiction, and this suits. However, it’s a pretty depressing story. Did you know the dust bowl is the greatest ecological disaster in the history of the United States? When I learned that I thought, What? How do I not know more about this? So I started reading. Seriously, that book blew my ever loving mind. What a depressing period in American history. And to think, some of those people are still alive today!
I absolutely loved London and New York by Edward Rutherford. They are fiction for sure but telling the stories of typical families from every time period from the oldest recorded history of the area until current times, late 90s. London in Roman times!
The different stories are told from the perspectives of people of all different classes.
Inspired me to look up and study actual dry nonfiction about certain historical events.
I am not into this kind of reading but my husband and mother are. My husband has read several historical fiction Edward Rutherford books: https://www.edwardrutherfurd.com/edward-rutherfurd-books.html
My mother is British and likes to read about Tudor history. I’m sure there are TV shows on that too. I have heard of this one but not watched it: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0758790/
I searched my old messages to see what books she had told me about:
The Lady of the Ravens (Queens of the Tower, Book 1)
Book by Joanna Hickson
“Early Tudor setting, from 1485 Henry VII takes the throne from Richard III, ends the War of the Roses marries Elizabeth of York and starts the Tudor dynasty. They were the parents of Henry VIII.” Google says: “‘A fascinating portrait of the women who helped make a dynasty’”
Another one she read: ” I read the Secret diary of Juan Luis Vives, a historical novel set in Tudor times based on a real academic who was Jewish but had to profess to be Catholic because of the Spanish Inquisition where non Catholics were persecuted. He was a tutor to Henry V111’s daughter Princess Mary and he believed in social and health care for the poor and needy.”
Then she read “Mistress Cromwell” by Carol McGrath https://historytheinterestingbits.com/2020/06/25/book-corner-mistress-cromwell-by-carol-mcgrath/
A few years ago I listened to the audiobook about the history of the fur trade in the US, called “Fur, Fortune, and Empire: The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America” by Eric Jay Dolin. I put it on my to-read list after hearing about it on NPR and didn’t really know what to expect. I found it absolutely fascinating and learned so much about the founding of the United States. It was the entertainment for a road trip I took with my parents and every twenty minutes or so we would pause the audiobook just to talk about what we were learning. I remember the prologue being a bit dry and the last chapter or two felt like it was hurrying to finish up, but the vast majority of the book is really interesting.
I also have a couple other non-fiction books on my to-read list that may interest you:
– “Liar, Solider, Temptress, Spy” by Karen Abbott
– “You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington” by Alexis Coe
If you would be interested in science non-fiction I heartily recommend “A Short History of Nearly Everything” by Bill Bryson. It is engaging and informing and I enjoy it so much I own it.
Have you read The Library Book by Susan Orlean? It is non-fiction and quite good! There are a lot of fiction books to choose from about libraries or even bookstores, and The Librarians is a fun TV show.
I completely concur with this method of learning by stealth. A while ago I read a novel about code breakers at Bletchley Park during WWII (forget which one, there are several). I was then dying to learn more about the whole incredible endeavour which got me into several otherwise daunting volumes of non-fiction on the subject. For a while there I was quite well-informed on the workings of the Enigma machine (the details are alas largely forgotten) but I also enjoyed watching ‘The Bletchley Circle’, a TV series about four ex-code breaking women immediately post-war who turn their logical minds to solving a crime. The movie ‘The Imitation Game’ not so much, as it largely side-lines the women characters (ho hum) but I was very pleased to learn that Marvel’s Agent Carter is apparently also a Bletchley alumnus!
And forgot to mention, if you do happen to have time for podcasts, Dan Carlin’s ‘Hardcore History’ has a fascinating series on WWI and several others that are free.
I didn’t read all the recommendations, but:
I’ve had several of these type books in my amazon cart for a while, which present American history from a more inclusive perspective. I plan to get the “For Young People” versions so I can add them to my classroom library after I read them; but also general overview books targeted toward tweens/teens are often a lot more engaging! And they give you a good overview and if you are Intrigued by anything specific you can dive deeper elsewhere!
-A Young People’s History of the United States
-A Queer History of the United States For Young People
-An Indigenous People’s History of the United States For Young People
Late to the game here, but I wanted to recommend the travel writing of Alice Steinbach, who won a Pulitzer for her work at the Baltimore Sun. This is more of a recommendation for you than for the children, perhaps…she’s not a humor writer, but she is clear and compelling in her descriptions of the places she goes and the experiences she has there (mainly Western Europe).
Oh! One of my favourite entertainy-educatey Twitter accounts is https://twitter.com/susie_dent. She tweets about old slang words she likes, and other things. She’s the words person on Countdown. While this isn’t exactly what you’ve asked for, it is educational! She mentions some great words, and I like the glimpse into what it was like for people back in those times.
Was on vacation when you posted this so maybe your list is already too long, but I skimmed and don’t think anyone else recommended Michael Pollan. His book The Ominovore’s Dilemma is one of the best nonfiction books I’ve ever read. All about how food is produced and how it gets to us and honestly how and why we are all consuming so much dang corn. It is fascinating and funny and charming. Highly recommend!
Nonfiction isn’t my usual, but there are some I’ve enjoyed reading.
A Treasury of Royal Scandals: The Shocking True Stories of History’s Wickedest, Weirdest, Most Wanton Kings, Queens, Tsars, Popes, and Emperors – Michael Farquhar
Women Sailors and Sailors’ Women: An Untold Maritime History – David Cordingly
The Professor and the Madman – Simon Winchester
Fermat’s Last Theorem – Simon Singh
Oh, and everything by Bill Bryson. I particularly love In a Sunburned Country.
It just occured to me that you might be looking for women historians as a first step into history/nonfiction reading. I’m into Svetlana Alexievich’s book (An Unwomanly War, Secondhand Time) because she did a ton of interviews with women who served in the Soviet army during WWII. There aren’t many nonfictions books with lines like this:
“She died in a sniper’s duel.”
Also, Mary Beard does great popular history of Roman civilization. How Do We Look is a recent one I enjoyed.
And then, of course, our American Doris Kearns Goodwin. I haven’t read her but I do intended to look at Team of Rivals, about Lincoln’s cabinet.
Mary Roach writes the most hilariously perfect non-fiction, mostly on science-related topics.