50 Great American Places by Brent D. Glass

Title: 50 Great American Places: Essential History Sites Across the U.S.

Author: Brent D. Glass

Publisher: Simon & Schuster 2016

Genre: U.S. History

Pages: 292

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Perpetual (NonAd); What's in a Name - Number in Numbers

 A one-of-a-kind guide to fifty of the most important cultural and historic sites in the United States guaranteed to fascinate, educate, and entertain—selected and described by the former director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

I grabbed this one from the library new books shelf. I love a good history book and thought this would be fun little book where I could learn some new facts. Unfortunately for me, I knew 90% of the information presented. Sometimes it sucks to be a U.S. History major... I did enjoy the book and Glass highlights some interesting spots around the country. It's just not going to be on my favorite reads for the year.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Fantastic Planets, Forbidden Zones, and Lost Continents by Douglas Brode

Title: Fantastic Planets, Forbidden Zones, and Lost Continents: The 100 Greatest Science Fiction Films

Author: Douglas Brode

Publisher: University of Texas Press 2015

Genre: Nonfiction - Movies

Pages: 411

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Perpetual (NonAd); Nonfiction; 52 Books - W24

Whether you judge by box office receipts, industry awards, or critical accolades, science fiction films are the most popular movies now being produced and distributed around the world. Nor is this phenomenon new. Sci-fi filmmakers and audiences have been exploring fantastic planets, forbidden zones, and lost continents ever since George Méliès’ 1902 film A Trip to the Moon. In this highly entertaining and knowledgeable book, film historian and pop culture expert Douglas Brode picks the one hundred greatest sci-fi films of all time.

Picked this up from the new books shelf at the library. While J and I debated some of the choices on the Top 100 list, it was a very entertaining read. In reality, we've got into a few debates owing to our fairly extensive scifi movie experience. I loved all the tidbits about how the movie got made, influences, and trivia. Very enjoyable read for the past few days. Plus we've made a list of those movies we've somehow not seen before.

U.S. Presidents Reading Project

I found this great idea for a reading challenge, but decided to change it to a perpetual reading challenge.  I was trained as a U.S. History teacher, so reading about the Presidents sounds like great fun to me.  I plan on getting started after the New Year. 

The rules are simple:

1. Read at least one non-fiction book about each of the U.S. Presidents 2. Take as much time as you need 3. Have fun learning about U.S. history and its leaders 4. And if you like buttons for your blog, feel free to add this one provided by the fabulous Michele at A Reader's Respite. Thanks, Michele!

That's it! If one book about each president sounds a bit like "too much information" to you, feel free to choose books that talk about more than one president at a time and count it for each one. Tailor this project to suit your personal level of interest. Maybe you just want a passing knowledge of each one. Maybe you found a couple presidents interesting enough to read two or three or more books about them. Maybe you'll discover so many avenues you'd like to explore that we'll need to start an American History Reading Project. :-) The possibilities are endless!

LIST OF U.S. PRESIDENTS

1. George Washington (1789-97)
2. John Adams, 1797-1801 (Federalist)
3. Thomas Jefferson, 1801-9 (Democratic-Republican)
4. James Madison, 1809-17 (Democratic-Republican)
5. James Monroe, 1817-25 (Democratic-Republican)
6. John Quincy Adams, 1825-29 (Democratic-Republican)
7. Andrew Jackson, 1829-37 (Democrat)
8. Martin Van Buren, 1837-41 (Democrat)
9. William Henry Harrison, 1841 (Whig)
10. John Tyler, 1841-45 (Whig)
11. James Knox Polk, 1845-49 (Democrat)
12.  Zachary Taylor, 1849-50 (Whig)
13. Millard Fillmore, 1850-53 (Whig)
14. Franklin Pierce, 1853-57 (Democrat)
15. James Buchanan, 1857-61 (Democrat)
16. Abraham Lincoln, 1861-65 (Republican)
17. Andrew Johnson, 1865-69 (Democrat/National Union)
18. Ulysses Simpson Grant, 1869-77 (Republican)
19. Rutherford Birchard Hayes, 1877-81 (Republican)
20. James Abram Garfield, 1881 (Republican)
21. Chester Alan Arthur, 1881-85 (Republican)
22. Grover Cleveland, 1885-89 and 1893-97 (Democrat)
23. Benjamin Harrison, 1889-93 (Republican)
24. William McKinley, 1897-1901 (Republican)
25. Theodore Roosevelt, 1901-9 (Republican)
26. William Howard Taft, 1909-13 (Republican)
27. Woodrow Wilson, 1913-21 (Democrat)
28. Warren Gamaliel Harding, 1921-23 (Republican)
29. Calvin Coolidge, 1923-29 (Republican)
30. Herbert Clark Hoover, 1929-33 (Republican)
31. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1933-45 (Democrat)
32. Harry S. Truman, 1945-53 (Democrat)
33. Dwight David Eisenhower, 1953-61 (Republican)
34. John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 1961-63 (Democrat)
35. Lyndon Baines Johnson, 1963-69 (Democrat)
36. Richard Milhous Nixon, 1969-74 (Republican)
37. Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr , 1974-77 (Republican)
38. James Earl Carter, 1977-81 (Democrat)
39. Ronald Wilson Reagan, 1981-89 (Republican)
40. George Herbert Walker Bush, 1989-1993 (Republican)
41. William Jefferson Clinton, 1993-2001 (Democrat)
42. George W. Bush, 2001-2009 (Republican)
43. Barack Hussein Obama, 2009- (Democrat)