It’s time for Nonfiction November, starting with my ‘Year in Nonfiction’, hosted by Julz Reads.
Strictly speaking, I should call it Memoir November (Memvember?!) – doesn’t have quite the same ring but it is more accurate in my case, given that the majority of my nonfiction reading is memoir (specifically, I’ve read 16 memoirs, one biography and four other nonfiction titles this year).
Julz has set some questions:
What was your favourite nonfiction read of the year?
Two books stand out – Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, in which author and therapist, Lori Gottlieb, explores her own therapy experience in parallel with that of her clients. I’m a bit of therapy voyeur, so this was brilliant.
And earlier in the year, there was much reading pleasure to be found in Helen O’Neill’s superbly presented biography of Florence Broadhurst.
I’ve just started reading The Bright Hour by Nina Riggs, and I’m confident that it will be one of my favourites for 2019.
Do you have a particular topic you’ve been attracted to more this year?
Memvember says it all! But drilling down, I am always interested in memoirs that deal with grief.
What nonfiction book have you recommended the most?
Small Wrongs by Kate Rossmanith, a book about remorse in both a personal and a legal sense, was really thought-provoking and I have returned to it a couple of times since reading it.
I have pushed The Arsonist by Chloe Hooper into many friends’ hands, as well as The Prettiest Horse in the Glue Factory by Corey White.
What are you hoping to get out of participating in Nonfiction November?
Last year, I thought the ‘book pairings’ posts were the best thing since sliced bread – it was the reason my TBR stack grew! I expect the same this year.
I’m most attracted by Small Wrongs. I’m sure we could all learn a lot from that.
Yes, the mix of personal story with the stories of others was really interesting – it forced the author, in making judgements about others and their remorse, to examine her own.
Ditto with The Arsonist.
The Florence book looks delicious – this is how it begins. My tbr Wishlist exploding & you’re my very first nonfiction November blog visit!!
😀 The Florence book is gorgeous – it’s one you need in hardback because it’s destined for the coffee table, not the shelf. Also, I hadn’t realised she’d had such a crazy life!
I need to read Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, it sounds right up my alley!
Self-help books are rarely gripping but this one is!
I just added Small Wrongs to my list for my TBR. I loved Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, too. Nonfiction is fantastic!
It’s by an Australian author (and didn’t receive much publicity here), so I hope you can get a hold of it.
I haven’t read any of these books, although I have seen at least one, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone. That one I am intrigued by because I don’t know…maybe I should talk to someone. 🙂
We all need to talk to someone 😀
This is my first year participating and I am really excited to see the book pairings – that sounds so fun! Maybe You Should Talk to Someone sounds fabulous!
It’s compulsive reading 🙂
I’m keen to read Maybe You Should Talk to Someone. The Bright Hour is brilliant, one of my faves from 2017.
Borrowed it from the library (and almost finished) but have decided I need my own copy.
I loved The Bright Hour as well and memoirs are my go-to. Some of my past favorites include Option B, When Breath Becomes Air, Where the Light Gets in: Losing My Mother Only to Find Her Again, A Mother’s Reckoning: Life in the Aftermath of Tragedy, The Short and Tragic Life of Rober Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League, Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved, A Thousand Naked Strangers: A Paramedic’s Wild Ride to the Edge and Back, and Grief Works: Stories of Life, Death, and Surviving. If you haven’t read any of these, I bet these are ones you would enjoy as well. Thanks for sharing!
I’ve only read When Breath Becomes Air from that list, so you’ve just done a very good job at adding to my TBR!
The Arsonist is going on my wishlist now though whether i can get it at reasonable cost in the UK remains to be seen.
I’m drawn to memoirs too it seems – all but one of the NF books I’ve read this year fits into that category.
Can you ask your library to get The Arsonist? Bit cheeky but worth a try!
I can request but based on past experience it will never materialise
That’s too bad. My library is pretty good at getting things as long as you’re prepared to wait.
Feeling rather envious now
I love memoir, too–it seems to be the majority of my nonfiction reading. Glad to hear that Maybe You Should Talk to Someone is worth the read!
I zip through memoirs but other NF I tend to dip in and out of…
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone is on my tbr list! Glad to see more about it here.
I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.
I also really loved Maybe You Should Talk to Someone! It was both so smart and so personal.
I agree – she got the balance absolutely right.
Totally agree with you on the book pairings post. I’m so looking forward to those – not long to wait with it being next week’s prompt.
Happy reading in November!
Have been thinking of my pairings for months!
Nice variety, thanks for sharing! My post is here: https://wordsandpeace.com/2019/10/28/nonfiction-november-my-year-2019-in-nonfiction/
Maybe You Should Talk To Someone is high on my list. Glad you joined in! Here is a peek at my year so far!
My Year in NonFiction
I haven’t read any of these – The Arsonist tempts me the most. Last year I enjoyed the ‘book pairings’ posts too.
I absolutely loved Maybe You Should Talk to Someone… the audio version was excellent! I’m not familiar with Florence Broadhurst, but your review of the biography has me interested in learning more!
The Arsonist has long been on my TBR list, I’m adding Small Wrings to my wishlist now too.
Please stop by to see my Introduction to NonFicNov
I think The Arsonist was short-changed in terms of literary prizes this year. Small Wrongs as totally overlooked but so interesting in terms of inter-generational trauma.
Here’s mine, just scraping into week one: https://anzlitlovers.com/2019/11/01/nonfiction-november-my-year-in-nonfiction/
Never too late!
I definitely been moving more into biography/autobiography/memoir more so than I ever have before, it’s interesting how our reading tastes and interests can change and develop over time. Happy reading!
These all sound so interesting. I really enjoy your non-fiction posts and you’re definitely encouraging me to read more NF. I’m not a poly-reader normally but I’m thinking I might start reading one fiction and one NF, otherwise NF always seems to go to the bottom of the pile…
You’ll have no trouble being a poly-reader if it’s one fiction and one NF on the go – different kinds of narratives. I usually choose different formats as well (with my NF reading most often being hardcovers that I can annotate and refer back to easily).
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone keeps popping up, but seeing it so high on your list made me add it to my TBR. (Thank you!)
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