Meme yet again

[browngirl]

(since I was reading anyway.)


papersky propagates memes of grand niftyness. This is the "first lines of favorite nonfiction"; I'm going to do 8 for now, as that was how many books I could carry at once. I'm doing first lines of introductions unless otherwise noted (despite my tendency to read introductions last).

"For millenia women have sat together spinning, weaving, and sewing." Elizabeth Wayland Barber, Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years, first chapter.

"We all know that history has proceeded very differently for peoples from different parts of the globe." Professor Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel (Prologue: "Yali's Question")

"Hi, I'm Scott McCloud." Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics

"When this project was begun two and a half years ago, it was decided to initiate an in-depth application of state of the art scientific analyses to a group of Minoan and Mycenaean ceramic artefacts." Yannis Tzedakis & Holley Martlew, general editors, Archaeology Meets Science: Minoans and Mycenaeans, Flavors of Their Time (This is the book that the Greek National Archaeological Museum sent me.)

"In the short time that has elapsed since Sir Arthur Evans effectively rediscovered the Minoans in the early 1900s, the people of bronze age Crete have become familiar figures in our mental landscape of European prehistory." Rodney Castleden, Minoans: Life in Bronze Age Crete

"There has long been a place vacant, on the history shelves of the world, for a volume covering the Second Millenium, B.C." Geoffrey Bibby, Four Thousand Years Ago

"CookWiseis for everyone interested in cooking." Shirley O. Corriher, CookWise

"I started to think about the theme of this book at least thirty years ago." Jeff Smith, The Frugal Gourmet Keeps the Feast (Yes, yes, I know.)

Comments

[apel.livejournal.com]

"When this project was begun two and a half years ago, it was decided to initiate an in-depth application of state of the art scientific analyses to a group of Minoan and Mycenaean ceramic artefacts." Yannis Tzedakis & Holley Martlew, general editors, Archaeology Meets Science: Minoans and Mycenaeans, Flavors of Their Time (This is the book that the Greek National Archaeological Museum sent me.)

I saw the exhibition that goes with the book. It was in Birmingham, UK, in October last year. What I remember from the exhibition was lots and lots of pottery, some of it very beautiful. The exhibition designer could have done a better job of showing the materials that they found traces of in the pottery. Attempts to reconstruct the scents for instance. That would have made it a lot livelier. But at least it was well lit. I went to the archeological museum in Iracleon when I visited Crete a couple of years ago and it was pretty dark.

[pocketnaomi.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this one. I had a perversely good time trying to winnow my favorites list. Why was it so much harder for me to do this with nonfiction than with fiction? I think it's because I count on being able, sooner or later, to throw my favorite fiction at my friends, but this is one of the few chances I have to bring out my favorite nonfiction and show it off.

My list is in my own journal, too long to post as a comment.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

When I saw that meme I thought of you. ;)

A.
who very much enjoyed your list

[angelovernh.livejournal.com]

I love "Cookwise", too :)