Nonfiction November- Nonfiction Favorites

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized

Week 4 already! And my TBR is out of control with all my new interests. Lol.

This week our prompt is:

Nonfiction November Week 4: Nonfiction Favorites: We’ve talked about how you pick nonfiction books in previous years, but this week I’m excited to talk about what makes a book you’ve read one of your favorites. Is the topic pretty much all that matters? Are there particular ways a story can be told or particular writing styles that you love? Do you look for a light, humorous approach or do you prefer a more serious tone? Hosted this week by Leann from Shelf Aware 

I generally tend to read nature writing, true crime, history, some travel, some memoir. There is probably some overlap in there too, with some of those topics. I do seem to be having a love affair with British Nature Writing lately though. I actually wrote a post about it at the beginning of the year if you are interested. (and it would probably explain these first two books on my list as well a little better!)

My Favorites, of which I have probably forgotten quite a few!

James Herriot and John Lewis-Stempel. Two of my favorites forever and ever. That is all.

There’s No Such Thing As Bad Weather really changed my view on how I see the outdoors. Then I followed it up with The Nature Fix and I really felt the world open up to our family in so many different ways. I actually read that book when my phone was broken and I was waiting on my new one – so my access to technology was less and I could see the difference in my life very clearly, with phone and without.

I also like to read books about people hiking.

I loved all three of these for very different reasons. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil was just brilliant, its description of Savannah and all its eclectic denizens, I just knew I had to go and see for myself. So we did! Wide Open World was such a cool book about a family who spent a year volunteering around the world and wow, what an experience. It made me yearn for a freer lifestyle myself! Finally, The Oregon Trail. This book was amazing. My husband and I read it at the same time, and mini book clubbed it. I will say I now have a much better appreciation for mules! It was a great book about one man’s journey to retrace the Oregon Trail by covered wagon. I loved it.

It is probably fair to say that these books set the bar for most of my interests in nonfiction reading right now – and I say now because I am a person whose interests change all the time, I am always stumbling upon things somewhere then wanting to read all about it for a bit. But these are the mainstays, and not just “I have to know more right now!” reads.

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35 thoughts on “Nonfiction November- Nonfiction Favorites”

  5. This is such a great list! And that’s so amazing that you went to Savannah because of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil!!! I love that book and would love to visit there someday. Meadowland sounds wonderful, and I can’t believe there’s a book about someone doing the Oregon Trail! How interesting.

    I have a copy of A Walk in the Woods but felt kind of so-so about his other books I’ve read so wasn’t in a hurry to get to it. I’m glad to hear you liked it so much, I need to give it a try.

    If you like British nature writing, you might like Underland by Robert Macfarlane. It’s nature writing blended with a lot of other things – natural science, a look at climate change in various parts of the world, a little bit of memoir. The author is British and part of it takes place there. I thought it was excellent. I also recently read Under the Rock, which is more centered around just the author’s little corner of nature in the UK. I was torn on it, it had parts I absolutely loved and others that didn’t work for me, but I’m in the minority, it seems to be pretty well loved. Might be worth a try for you 🙂

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    1. Lol I was super inspired to see the house and Savannah after reading it! That was before I was a mom though, and was young and had limitless everything, it seems. LOL. We had a blast, I highly recommend visiting the city and touring the home.

      Meadowland was so good, I love John Lewis-Stempel. He has such a turn of phrase combined with these observations skills that I think most people have lost. I think kids have them, and I am beginning too, now that I am paying more attention and not just stomping my way though my days. 🙂 And the Oregon Trail book was pretty fascinating!

      I have McFarland on my TBR! It sounds like I need to get to him sooner than later!

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  8. We will agree to disagree on Wild. I was the one women in the world who hated it, LOL. It’s fine–everyone I know liked it. Meadowland has been on my TBR a long time–I will move it up. James Herriott–those are dear old friends, and I’m crushed that they are re-making the tv version. No one can fill those shoes for me but the original tv cast. Good job!

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    2. Lol no I can see how Wild could affect different people, differently. I felt really connected to some of it, but other parts blew my mind a little. I think that is why I personally felt so fascinated by her journey, it seemed like it should never have worked – which is why I think I enjoyed A Walk in the Woods too. Both are about people who took these tremendous hikes and were not prepared but it worked out ok. Lol.

      But I can definitely see how it is not the book for everyone. 🙂 I picked it for my book club and it was an interesting discussion, as some of us loved it and others just really didn’t. 🙂

      And yes! I have such mixed emotions about the new tv show! I will probably watch it and then decide I can’t bear it and turn it off. My husband and I had to stop watching the original once they changed the actress for his wife, so it doesn’t bode well for a new series for us. Lol.

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    1. I have been reading more and more nonfiction over the years. I am kind of picky about it, I like narrative nonfiction more, where it reads like a fiction book. 🙂 That helps me. Lol. There is No Such Thing as Bad Weather is so good! I highly recommend it!

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  12. Hooray James Herriot! And I loved A Walk in the Woods when I read it (in hardback, so presumably when it came out) although I haven’t revisited it. I have added Wide-Open World to my wishlist as that combines my love of travel writing and “quest” books. Thank goodness we’re in November, when I have my book-buying ban (because I’m in three secret santas, two booky, and have booky friends AND my birthday’s in January, so buying books now raises the risk of duplication) so all these are going on my wishlist not my actual TBR!

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  13. Sophia Rose

    Great response to the prompt and I love seeing which ones really hit the spot for you. I’m really intrigued by the Oregon Trail since I spent a few summers walking along the trail in spots.

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  15. Susie | Novel Visits

    I don’t think I’ve read many nonfiction books having much to do with nature, but I’ve seen a couple of lists with that focus this month. It’s funny how sometimes we miss whole groups of really great books.

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  16. Lisbeth Ekelöf

    Nature is great, and most of the time it is for free. I have also started to enjoy being out in nature more, the last years. I must read ‘There’s No Such Thing As Bad Weather’, which I think is true. Another true thing is, that when you go away from your social media, you find a lot of nice things around you, like nature and meeting people. How wonderful is it not, to sit in a nice place in nature to read a book. Listen to the sounds around you and just enjoy the fresh air. Great to be reminded.

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  18. I loved All Creatures Great and Small! I need to re-read it sometime. I am going to buy a John Lewis-Stempel book for my son for Yule. I hope he likes it because the books will look nice on his bookshelf. Ha ha. I have The Nature Fix on my Kindle, and I need to get to it. Thanks for sharing. 📚✨

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