Nonfiction November- Week One

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn nonfiction november

Week One : Your Year in Nonfiction with Rennie at What’s Nonfiction

It’s November! It is my third year participating and I am really excited to see what everyone has been reading and enjoying! I just really started reading nonfiction a few years ago, and do not read as much of it as some of the other bloggers participating, but..maybe one day!

My favorite nonfiction read this year was without a doubt World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil. I recommended it to everyone I know, and I once waxed rhapsodic about it at wine night with my friends. I loved Nezhukumatathil’s rememberings of her childhood, some of which resonated with me and my own childhood, some which took me on a different journey of a little girl living on the ground of a mental hospital, an adult woman making her own way in the world, starting her own family. I love how Nezhukumatahil was able to weave our connection with nature into these memories, to illustrate how we can learn from the natural world around us. I absolutely loved everything about this book, so much so that I wish I could go back and read it for the first time again.

A look back at what I read this year:

My goal this year was to read 12 nonfiction books and I am so happy to see that I accomplished that!! With time to spare too! Next year I will work on increasing the number, but for this year, I am satisfied!

Looking at my list, it is pretty obvious that I am a nature book lover! John Lewis-Stempel is one of my favorites of all time. I love his observations and thoughts on his wilder neighbors. I would say I loved all of these books with the exception of one, which was a struggle to finish. I was very close to ditching it but then went back and finished it to say that I did. But now I know that style of book is not for me.

And there it is, my nonfiction year in a nutshell!

51 thoughts on “Nonfiction November- Week One”

  7. I loved World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil. It’s one of those books that I love more and more as I think about it and think about it again.

    I think I will add Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln’s Mother & Other Botanical Atrocities to my list of books I’d like to read.

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  8. Ooh, lots of interesting titles here!

    I was pretty nervous on our first few hikes in Alaska because of brown bears. I swear, the first thing any Alaskan says when you say that you like to hike is, “Always take your bear spray!” But then it felt like we were practically the only ones who carried it! My husband and I joked that must be how Alaskans mark tourists! 😀 I couldn’t have read 29 Days up there but now that we’re back in the south with our familiar black bears, I might give it a try.

    Several of the women in my family, all of whom I adore, love Brene Brown’s work. I started reading Rising Strong but gave up and wrote this about it: “I tried this, but the author refers so much to her other books that I feel like I’ve walked in on the middle of a conversation. I’m putting it aside now and will seek out one of her earlier works.” And I still haven’t read any of her earlier works. *sigh* So little time.

    I have a feeling most of these are going on my TBR, especially World of Wonders.

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    1. The Brene Brown is the one I walked away from! It just didn’t jive with me.

      Lol there is no way I could have read the 29th day had I been living in Alaska at the time! 😂 Bears freak me out anyway. I remember hiking in Michigan’s U. P. at warp speed because I was nervous about black bears!

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  13. I love hitting a reading goal with time to spare! Nice work! I love when I find a book that I talk about at a wine night!
    I can never remember which Brene Brown books I’ve read – what is wrong with me? I listened to one this year that broke me down. She has such a knack for digging into the hard stuff, almost casually.

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  15. World of Wonders sounds like such a great book. I love books about nature, but somehow don’t read very many of them. My favorite nonfiction book of 2021 (so far) is On Island Time by Hilary Stewart. I loved learning about the trees, moss varieties, animals and bird life on Quadra Island. It was such an unexpected pleasure to read her book.

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  20. Wintering: A Season With Geese looks interesting. They’re a significant seasonal marker for me too, although in Canada And the US it’s their departure that marks the autumn. Definitely going to have to read this one.

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    1. They are quite a seasonal marker around here as well! I love hiking in late fall and having a flock fly overhead, honking away. I will usually stop and watch until they fly out of sight. 🙂 Liz Dexter recommended that one last Nonfiction November and I am so glad that I added it to my list.

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  22. I love the titles and covers of all your nature books. I am busily jotting down titles and adding them to my GoodReads TBR list. I will probably put World of Wonders at the top of the list since you recommend it so highly.

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  26. You had such a wilderness and nature-themed nonfiction reading year, I love it! I’m glad to hear World of Wonders was so meaningful for you. I thought I would love that one and ended up DNFing it, it just wasn’t working for me. I’m happy that it struck such a different note with you!

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