Giving Our Least Favorite Subjects Another Try

When I first started at the Twin Rivers branch, our book discussion group usually chose a fiction title for each month’s pick. At some point we decided to switch things up and focus on non-fiction titles. We have read memoirs about newly-initiated morgue attendants and falconers working through their grief, a book about the Ebola virus and a book about disconnecting from technology and finding peace and quiet. After making that switch, no topic was off-limits when it came to the books we read. Of course, not every member of the group enjoyed every book, but we often found ourselves saying things like, “Well, I would never have thought to read a book about that.” We all agreed that was a good thing, even if a particular book was a bit of a letdown.

Over this past year, we have not been able to meet for our book discussions - but that hasn’t stopped me from reading. While I have not stuck strictly to non-fiction like our book club did, a majority of the titles I have read would have made the cut. As I read more and more, discovering something new and interesting each time, I found myself thinking, “I don’t remember learning about this in school. Maybe if I did I would like (insert subject of choice here).” And although it has been years since I’ve been in an academic setting, I find these prejudices towards certain topics are still present within me, possibly stopping me from reading a really good book.

In an attempt to overcome those subject prejudices, I have compiled a small list of books that anyone, be they a proponent or detractor, could read, hopefully enjoy, and discover a subject that they have a new interest in.

Math

    

What comes to mind when you think of mathematics? Addition and subtraction? Multiplication and division? A 350-year-old mystery and challenge to come up with a solution for, as the Guinness Book of World Records puts it, the “most difficult mathematical problem”? In Fermat’s Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World’s Greatest Mathematical Problem, author Simon Singh explores the history of and solution for Fermat’s Last Theorem, that “no three positive integers a, b, and c satisfy the equation aⁿ + bⁿ = cⁿ for any integer value of n greater than 2.” Readers should not expect to solve any equations, but instead learn about a colorful cast of mathematicians who attempted to meet Fermat’s challenge over the past four centuries and the one Princeton professor who, in 1994, did.

We could also explore the connection between mathematics and astrology. In A Scheme of Heaven: The History of Astrology and the Search for our Destiny in Data, Alexander Boxer describes astrology as the first system of algorithms and the ancient world’s ambitious application of mathematics that predates our data-driven world. Or maybe mathematics and magic. Magical Mathematics: The Mathematical Ideas That Animate Great Magic Tricks by Persi Diaconis and Ron Graham will teach readers how to perform a number of card tricks and the mathematical ideas behind them.

English

        

English class, a place where we learn to spell and expand our vocabulary, express ourselves through the written word, and read and analyze the ever-changing “Classics.” But for some, that is not enough to pique their interest and may even seem, dare I say, boring. Maybe an investigation of punctuation and its global and time-spanning history will be a gateway to the subject? If that is the case, students may enjoy Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols & Other Typographical Marks by Keith Houston. If we expect a lot of reading from our students maybe they should explore the wide variety of fonts, as Simon Garfield does in Just My Type: A Book About Fonts.

Another possible approach for those usually uninterested in the English curriculum is to focus on the tactile aspects. Before we are asked to grab our #2 and write an essay, we might want to read The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance by Henry Petroski. Before we can ace our spelling test and provide synonyms and antonyms for this week’s vocabulary list, perhaps we should read The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester. And can we truly be expected to handle classic literature, which must be held in reverence, without fully understanding how to handle the book itself? For that we could turn to Bookbinding: A Comprehensive Guide to Folding, Sewing, & Binding by Franziska Morlok.

History

              

While history is an extremely broad term for a subject of study, if the names of political leaders and the dates and locations of wars sums up the subject for you, it is probably safe to assume that this topic is not at the top of your interests list. But those topics are usually covered in introductory classes, and seen as the surface of history. Although the surface is a great place to start digging, why not look for something a little more unusual?

Books like Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germany by Norman Ohler and A Demon-Haunted Land: Witches, Wonder Doctors, and the Ghost of the Past in Post-WWII Germany by Monica Black take an interesting look at Germany and World War II, focusing on the rampant drug use in the Third Reich and how Germans turned to faith healers after the war. Learn about how our diets are greatly affected by our militaries with Combat-Ready Kitchen: How the U.S Military Shapes the Way You Eat by Anastacia Marx de Salcedo or how scabies were as much of a nuisance for the French as enemy soldiers in Wicked Bugs: The Louse That Conquered Napoleon’s Army & Other Diabolical Insects by Amy Stewart.

Of course, there is more to the world’s history than our wars and military conquests. Titles like Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the Woman Who Made America Modern by Joshua Zeitz and The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America by David Hajdu explore how a single element of creative expression can cause drastic societal changes. We can look at how our world’s history is shaped by the unassuming seed or everyday drink receptacle in The Triumph of Seeds: How Grains, Nuts, Kernels, Pulses, & Pips Conquered the Plant Kingdom and Shaped Human History by Thor Hanson and A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage, respectively.

Science

    

Science is another one of those subjects that cuts a wide swath when it comes to the topics that fall under it, but if you are generally not interested in science you probably aren’t going to make the distinction. Luckily, there are also a wide variety of interesting books that may persuade even the largest opponent of the scientific method.

If you don’t find the periodic table of the elements interesting, maybe a book like The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements by Sam Kean will change your mind. In it, Kean touches on Ghandi’s hate for iodine, what element you would need to take down Godzilla, and other interesting anecdotes that will keep you reading. Or maybe you just want to focus on a single subject. For that you could try Rain: A Natural and Cultural History by Cynthia Barnett and brush up on your Earth science. Finally, if you want to read about something a little more out of this world, crack open UFOs, Chemtrails, and Aliens: What Science Says, by Donald R. Prothero and Timothy D. Callahan.

Home Economics and Woodshop

        

Worried about missing the nail and hammering your finger or jabbing yourself with a sewing needle? Hesitant to get near a circular saw or that preheated oven? These are all understandable fears, but that should not let you miss out on learning something new. There are other ways to approach these topics, like One Good Turn: A Natural History of the Screwdriver and the Screw by Witold Rybczynski and The Devil’s Cloth: A History of Stripes & Striped Fabric by Michel Pastoureau.

While there are numerous cookbooks that cover cuisine from around the globe and whichever diet you are following, maybe you aren’t interested in the cooking aspect of food. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to skip the farm and kitchen steps of “from farm to table.” You could spend that time reading. If this sounds good to you, may I suggest White Bread: A Social History of the Store-Bought Loaf by Aaron Bobrow-Strain, Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat by Bee Wilson, or Pickled, Potted, and Canned: How the Art and Science of Food Preserving Changed the World by Sue Shephard to satiate your literary needs.

So, there we have it. A small collection of titles that you or someone you know could try reading, even though they “just don’t like that subject.” What about you? Have you read a book about a subject you thought you had no interest in? Do you have a suggestion for someone else who just seems to despise math? Or science? Or any other subject? Feel free to share a title in the comments that you just know would change someone’s mind.

- by Christopher Y., Twin Rivers Branch