How did you get into reading nonfiction? Do you remember your first nonfiction book or subject? If so, do you still read those subjects?
I don't recall my first non-fiction book or subject. It was way too long ago for me to remember that; however, I do recall that the first subject matter that really got me to read non-fiction with any regularity was history. Specifically, that subject would be English history.
Why English history? Well, to start with, I was a history major in college. Being a history major would make it sound like you could read tons of books about interesting history subjects, but, despite my wanting to learn about English history, there were really almost no history classes offered when I was there on English history or in the areas of English history I wanted to learn more about. Those areas were generally Tudor-England as well as the area around the War of the Roses, like with Richard III. Actually, there were classes that were listed as being possible to be taught on Tudor History, but they were never even offered when I was in college!
I loved the history about the famous Kings and Queens and the Tudors always just seemed like an interesting time period (not to mention the time period of Shakespaere. I mostly, for fun, would read Alison Weir's books. This was before she started writing historical fiction set in the same time period.
I still enjoy reading history, though I usually read more memoirs than history these days. I haven't read English history from that time period in a while, though I currently am reading a book on a UK spy-ring in Washington during World War II (Jennet Conant's The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington).
How about you? What were your first non-fiction books that really grabbed a hold of you?
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment