Thursday, September 10, 2009

Booking Through Thursday

btt button

What’s the most informative book you’ve read recently?

I don't read a lot of nonfiction but fiction can be just as informative in some respects. Sarah Dunant's lovely, well-researched Sacred Hearts had a lot to teach about womens' lives in sixteenth-century Italy; The Marriage Bureau for Rich People talked about marriage rituals among Muslims and Hindus in India, and Shalom India Housing Society contained lots of information about the Bene Israel community of India.

You can find more Booking Through Thursday answers here.

13 comments:

gautami tripathy said...

Interesting books. I will check those out.

misty, dusty

Kill Word Verification

JoAnn said...

Sacred Hearts is on my wish list.

Anonymous said...

I wholeheartedly agree that fiction is just as informative. I chose True History of the Kelly Gang which really opened my eyes to a whole new portion of history and folklore

rhapsodyinbooks said...

I read the first two, and I did love that they were informative. And of course as you know Cutting for Stone was very informative as well. It's so much more rewarding for me to read a fiction book from which you also learn a lot!

Icedream said...

I can understand your choices. I always think I have learned so much from reading well researched books I chose with more interest than the dry textbooks I used to have in school.

BurtonReview said...

I also enjoyed Sacred Hearts and learning about the way the nuns lived, & their customs. Many of my reads are informative for me otherwise they would bore me as I am not into chick-lit and fluffy stuff unless I am in a rare mood of course, but for this meme I chose the one that indeed was full of facts. See my answer here at The Burton Review.
Congrats on your shortlist nod by the way, job well done!
Visit my blog that week for lots of giveaways and a brand new Historical Fiction Bloggers Round Table Event which is going to be tons of fun!

jlshall said...

My response was pretty much the same. I believe good fiction can be very informative. I even mentioned Sacred Hearts, too - it taught me quite a lot.

Anonymous said...

Cool
Mine is here http://vampira2468.wordpress.com/2009/09/10/psychological-thursday/

Literary Feline said...

Like you, I think fiction can be just as informative as nonfiction sometimes. I haven't read any of the books you mention but they are all ones want to read.

Anonymous said...

It is amazing the information one can find in fiction books. There is quite a bit of research that goes into many of the stories. Great picks!

Anonymous said...

All those sounds really interesting, especially Sacred Hearts. I'll have to look into that one a bit more.
BTT

Bryan R. Terry said...

Sounds interesting, especially Sacred Hearts.

My BTT answer is HERE

Petunia said...

Sacred Hearts was my pick too. There was so much in it. The informative parts were better than the storyline IMO.