Julie's Journal : What I've Been Reading - Nonfiction

In my reading life, I tend towards fiction.  I like a story that takes me out of my world and into another.  However, I do enjoy non-fiction occasionally and try to incorporate it into my reading.  So far this year, three non-fiction titles have caught my attention. 

The first was Inheritance by Dani Shapiro.  Dani was born in the early 1960's, the only blonde, blue-eyed child in a dark-eyed, dark skinned Jewish family.  She grew up as essentially an only child, as her only half-sister was much older and already out of the house.  Her family practiced Orthodox Judaism and Shapiro grew up learning to speak Hebrew and eating Kosher.  As an adult, long after she had married and had a child of her own, Shapiro submitted her DNA to an ancestry site, purely out of curiosity.  The results would turn her world upside down.  She learned that her father, was not in fact her biological father.  After much research into her deceased parents' lives, she discovered that she had been conceived at a fertility clinic, where a doctor was using questionable methods.  Eventually she discovered that her biological father had been a medical student at the nearby university.  I found the book very interesting.  Ms. Shapiro takes the reader on her journey as she comes to terms with her genetic history not matching her very strong cultural history.  I am sure that more and more of these stories will start to emerge with the popularity of DNA testing.  Are we really sure we want to know all the answers about where we came from?

Duped by Abby Ellin was a look at people who lie habitually, the lies we all tell, and the characteristics that make us want to believe a lie.  Abby became involved in a relationship with a man who told her innumerable lies about his past career accomplishments.  He had achieved many things of a "highly secret" nature.  Ms. Ellin didn't discover the full breadth of his lies to her until after their relationship had ended.  Then, a second time, she believed a man who told her lies about the nature of his relationship with his "soon-to-be ex" wife.  Honestly, I found Ms. Ellin a little difficult as a person.  I tend to have a "once burned, twice shy" philosophy of life, and having been duped twice in the same manner would be difficult for me to admit.  I didn't feel like she had learned anything about how to vet a possible suitor.  However, I found her research on deception in general interesting and stuck with the book for that reason.

This week, I finished Girl in the Dark by Anna Lyndsey.  In her early 30's Anna begin developing a painful skin reaction to light.  At first she thought it was just on her face and was from her computer screen.  Gradually however, she begin reacting all over her body and to all types of light.  She became unable to work and eventually she needed to black out a room in her home and spend most of her time in complete darkness.  Even then, she wears several layers of clothing because some types of light waves still exist in darkness.  She passes the time by listening to audio books of almost every genre.  She leaves her room only to use the bathroom and to make small meals.  The rest of her house is dim, no lights are ever left on and her husband watches TV alone as the light emitting from it is too painful for her.   She does go through periods of moderate remission and relapse.  Her husband, a photographer, gets her a light meter so she can judge how much light she can handle.  She undergoes some testing, but finds traveling to doctors too painful, so doesn't get as much medical help as she needs.  Anna's story was engrossing because in reading, both fiction and non-fiction, I want to see lives that are different from my own, so that I can vicariously have as many experiences as possible.  In Anna's story, I certainly see a different type of life, and one that I am thankful I am not living.  I cannot imagine living without light.