ArmchairBea | Turn the Page Reviews

At Armchair BEA today’s topic is Ethics. We were given prompts to the discussions that asked us to give recommendations to new bloggers to ensure credit is give where it tis due. This is a topic that interests me a great deal, as I have only been blogging 3 months, and wonder this myself. So rather than write about a topic I do not have much knowledge on, I am instead going over to Armchair BEA at http://www.armchairbea.com and read what more seasoned bloggers had to say.

Our genre today is NON FICTION.

Uh oh, I thought, I’m not going to have much to say on this since I read mostly fiction. Then I rethought it, and am going to give it a shot!

Is there any specific type your prefer or dislike?

Well, I thought, I don’t like memoirs, but then I remembered I read The Glass Castle I really enjoyed it. Then I thought-one of my favorite books was The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion. If you have ever lost anyone close to you-you have to read this. Ms. Didion is an amazing writer and really describes what I thought was indescribable. I also enjoyed Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (though I did like the eat and love part more than the pray-just saying).

Do I like true crime– goodness no! But wait, I did read

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote and really liked it. Oh yeah- and recently I read

In the Garden of Beast, by Erik Larson, about the American ambassador and his family living in Nazi Berlin right before WWII, which was AWESOME!!

I also read The Lost Dogs- Michael’s Vicks Dogs and Their Tale of Rescue and Redemption by Jim Gorant. It was a well written book of a horrible story.

As for historical non fiction, well, I do enjoy it, but can’t for the life of me think of one book right now, which is a little embarrassing since I was a History major, and taught U.S. History in high school.

Finally, biographies? NO, I do not read them. Wait- that’s right- I loved Tuesdays with Morrie– but wasn’t that more a memoir?

Well, I guess I do read non fiction, and enjoy it quite a bit!

What non fiction would you recommned for me?

Today is Day 3 of the Armchair BEA! Today’ s Genre is Literary Fiction. When I saw this I was a little confused-hmmm, what is literary fiction exactly? So, I do what everyone does when they find themselves in need on information- I googled it. As best as I can put together, literary fiction is- “critically acclaimed”, serious, focuses on subject, not plot, “based in language”, lyrical and poetic, and focused on character development. Ok- this I can work with.

So far this year, I have enjoyed The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin- https://turnthepagereviews.com/2013/04/17/the-orchardist/

I also really like Silver Lining Playbook by Matthew Quick-

https://turnthepagereviews.com/2013/04/01/silver-lining-playbook/

In the future, I would like to read The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Life of Pi. I also can’t wait to get my hands on And The Mountains Echoed!

For someone just getting into literary fiction, I would recommend The Cider House Rules by John Irving or The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kinsolver. Also- The Kite Runner was amazing!!

I honestly have trouble differentiating between genres sometimes. Another book many would call a classic, but I think qualifies, would be Pride & Prejudice.

I think the label “literary fiction” can be off putting, as if you have to be a Literature major in order to read certain books. I think that is ridiculous! Anyone can read any book, as long as they enjoy it. If it feels like work, or a chore, then it is not meant to be.

Maybe I should remind myself of that as I try to tackle more “classics” 🙂