Nonfiction November – Week 3: Become the Expert

On November 15, 2021 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn nonfiction november15 Comments

Expert Week! This week participants can choose to 1) Be the Expert and recommend books on a topic that they have enjoyed 2) Ask the Expert and request books on a topic you want to learn more about or 3) Become the Expert and create your own list of books on a topic. This year, I opted for number three, become the expert! And I think I have a “whaley” good topic!

So if you couldn’t figure it out by my really bad dad joke, the topic I chose was whales! I have seen the book Fathoms: The World in the Whale by Rebecca Giggs around for a whole year now, and I know that I want to read it. Because I love whales. Who doesn’t love a whale tale, for that matter? As a teen I was a total Greenpeacer and wanted to save the whales – I mean, I still do. My heart broke for orca Tahlequah, who grieved for her dead calf for 17 days in 2018. (good news, she is a mother again) They are gentle giants of the sea, mysterious, adorable. They have inspired so many legends and stories, good and bad. I dream of going on a whale watch in the next five years. I just really love whales. But I could know more about them.

So, I have created a list of books I want to read to learn more about these magnificent beasts of the deep.

Starting with this one:

Then I have done some looking and reading and made a list of a few more.

And now I will ask you – have you read any of these? What do you think? Do you have any to recommend? I can be very sensitive to animal cruelty so I skipped the Sea World books. But I would love your thoughts on any others!

Nonfiction November- Week One

On November 1, 2021October 29, 2021 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn nonfiction november51 Comments

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!

Nonfiction November: Week 1 – A Year in Nonfiction

On November 2, 2020November 1, 2020 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn nonfiction november44 Comments

It is my second year participating in this challenge and I am very excited about it! I feel more prepared this year – last year was such an amazing experience and I was like a crazy kid let loose in a candy shop – all the books!! Week one takes a look back at your year in nonfiction, and is hosted by Leann @ Shelf Aware.

I have had a weird year of reading this year – I just couldn’t always focus on reading like normal. I still managed to read some fantastic books this year, including more nonfiction than I normally read.

Not tons, but I feel like this was a good amount for the reading year I had this year. By far, my favorite and most recommended nonfiction read this year was The Call of the Wild and Free. It was a book that resonated in my bones, and I knew that this was the journey I wanted to start with my son. I had a feeling we would be homeschooling this year, and then when I read Arment’s book, it brought everything together for me. Wyatt has cerebral palsy that mainly affects his mobility, with some developmental delays, and Arment said something in her book that just rang so true for me – that in the classroom, the focus is on the disability; at home, the focus is on ability. (I am paraphrasing here) I know that this is not the right solution or experience for everyone, but it works for us, at least right now.

It sparked a year of reading more books about homeschool and alternative types of schooling, about creativity and adventure. And I still have two more of this type on my shelf, waiting to be read. I have found inspiration not just for our homeschool, but also for our everyday lives in these books. It just works for us!

Last year, I was introduced to just how many fabulous nonfiction topics are out there waiting to be explored. There really is a book out there for everything, and for everyone. I think this year, I am just excited to see what everyone else is reading, what their interests are, and to maybe find a few new topics of interest to learn about as well. I also “met” so many new people and found new blogs – the community that arises from this event is incredible, and I am looking forward to that aspect as well!