Before I started blogging, I hardly read nonfiction. Now I can’t imagine my reading life without it. During the last decade, which has been tumultuous for both my outer and inner life, nonfiction books have educated, consoled, and inspired me. However bad things get, I am still given hope and strength when I receive news of the human spirit striving to create, to understand, to connect — not only always to destroy and disintegrate. And I’m so grateful for the books that tell that true story in so many and varied ways.
Now, it’s time to celebrate nonfiction with one of my favorite blogging events. This year, Nonfiction November is hosted by She Seeks Nonfiction, Volatile Rune, Based on a True Story, Readerbuzz and Adventures in Reading, Running and Working from Home. Thank you all for keeping this event going!
Time is short this year, so I’m just going to do a single post that mixes up some of the topics of the month.
I tend to gravitate toward memoir and biography, so this year I tried to mix things up a bit by joining the Nonfiction Reader Challenge … although a lot of the books I chose for those prompts ended up still being memoir-ish. Nothing really wrong with that, there are so many fascinating true life stories to be told.
In the memoir department, I have to make special mention this year of Dani Shapiro — I reread Inheritance, her memoir about discovering a hidden truth in her ancestry, and then ALL of her other four memoirs as well as one of her novels. Hourglass, the memoir that focuses on her marriage, was my favorite, aside from Inheritance — which I still think is her best book so far.
Another book that stood out was What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About, to which 15 contemporary writers contributed personal essays circling around that vital, but often non-communicative, relationship. I found myself wanting to read more by the writers included, and I’ve started already … we’ll see how far I get with that project.
A title that was a bit more off the beaten path was How To Catch a Mole, which beautifully combined memoir, nature observation, thoughts on our changing culture and climate, and fascinating information about the strange life of that humble creature under our feet. I highly recommend it, even if you have no interest in catching moles!
Some of the topics I gravitate to are mental health and brain science (Everything Is Fine, The Collected Schizophrenias, The Brain That Changes Itself), addiction, recovery, and body-mind integration (Drinking: A Love Story, The Recovering, The Wisdom of Your Body), art, culture, and books (All the Beauty in the World, Custodians of Wonder, Once Upon a Tome), theater and film (The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock, Making It So, The Kindness of Strangers).
Compared to previous years, I did not do much spiritual reading this year, aside what was required for my spiritual direction training. But a book bridging science and spirit was After by Bruce Greyson, about a doctor’s study of near-death experiences. Greyson was and is not religious, nor a believer in the supernatural, but an inexplicable experience he had with a patient prompted him to investigate NDEs by gathering data from thousands of experiencers. I think he gives a rational and balanced treatment of the topic, valuable for broadening our minds beyond the limits set by materialism.
Other books from which I learned a lot were American Nations (how cultural schisms developed through the waves of European settlement in America), Falling Upwards (a whimsical history of “how we took to the air” through ballooning), and The Discovery of France (the wild and dangerous side of non-Parisian France, in the time when it was mapless and only partially civilized).
In fact, as I look back over these memories of a year of nonfiction reading, I think the overall theme to which I am drawn is “How are we split, and how can we come back together?” That’s the potential in reading for me: to restore wholeness. And I’m not giving up yet!
As for a book pairing, I’ve just recently come across this one:
The connection? In Michener’s novel, some of the major characters are members of the Hakka ethnic group in China, who originally migrated from northern China to the Cantonese region, and remained a culture unto themselves. When some of them migrated to Hawaii as farm laborers, it brought a new element into the unique ethnic mix of the islands.
In Jeff Chu’s forthcoming memoir, we learn that his ancestry includes Hakka forbears, while he struggles with finding integration and peace within American culture. Engaging with the soil, through a farm-based program of the theological seminary he decides to attend, becomes a transformative experience.
As you can see, it’s been another incredible year of nonfiction reading, and I look forward to gathering more recommendations from you. What have been your highlights this year?
I have not read much nonfiction this year – I was going to say one book but I just checked and it was four out of about 150. I tend to read history and avoid memoirs (so many seem pretentious to me: why do these people think their lives are of interest to me?) but occasionally one appeals to me.
I know what you mean about memoirs, but there are also many good ones, written with more humility and self-knowledge (and a truly interesting story to tell). It can be hard to sort them out from the “Me-moirs,” though. A few of my favorites from recent years are Run Towards the Danger by Sarah Polley, All the Beauty in the World by Patrick Bringley, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby, and The Salt Path by Raynor Winn. Oh, and have you read Beverly Cleary’s memoirs? I was surprised to learn what a difficult family she had, and fascinated by the details of her life as a librarian as well as the story of how her first book was written and published.
I like seeing the variety of the nonfiction you read this year. I am surprised you did not read more spiritual titles.
I was too, but they got pushed aside by other interests this time!
It is hard for me to imagine that you used to hardly read nonfiction, as you are one of the bloggers I follow who most frequently reviews nonfiction! I enjoy reading your reviews even if I don’t pick up nonfiction as often myself, as you often introduce me to books on topics I would have never thought of.
Believe it! Although I certainly read the occasional memoir or history book before, I really got into nonfiction through participating in Nonfiction November, starting in my first year of blogging in 2014. There are just always so many tempting recommendations.
I’m mostly a history reader but a try to expand a little every now and then. Bruce Greyson sound super fascinating. I’d love to read that one. I’m adding it to my never-ending list. Thanks for sharing! 😀
It was a fascinating book, I still think about it often. I appreciate doctors who can write well!
I love that blogging has increased your nonfiction reading and you’ve got some great ones there – and an inspired pairing, thank you for contributing that one!
Yes, it just fell into my lap this week. 😀
I read American Nations several years ago and it did help explain a lot about the country as it is. Another book that helped me with that was The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson.
I’ve heard of that but hadn’t really taken it in … looks like it could be an important next step in learning more. Thanks.
Hi. new here. I like the look of the nature book and mole. Cute cover. The subtitle Find Yourself in Nature … is something I’d like to do. I will look for the book! thanks.
It’s an unusual book, hope you enjoy it.
I’ve never heard of What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About, but it sounds like a fascinating book. I originally started out years ago as just a fiction reader, but yes, I can’t imagine my life now without my nonfiction habit! 🙂
You are certainly a nonfiction powerhouse now! I always value your thoughtful reviews.
I’ll check out Hourglass (I thought Inheritance was excellent). Will also hunt down After (I and a grief and loss counsellor, so frequently find myself having conversations about death and what happens after it).
Inheritance was amazing, and I do look forward to Shapiro’s next memoir.
And I think anyone dealing with questions about what comes after death could benefit from reading After.