Nonfiction November 2020 runs from 2nd to 30th November 2020. This year it’s hosted by Katie at DoingDewey, Rennie at What’s Nonfiction, Julz of JulzReads and Leann at Shelf Aware.
As in previous years, they’ll be posting a discussion question and link-up on the Monday of each week. Check out this post for the full schedule and proposed prompts. You can read my response to the first week’s prompt below.
My Year in Nonfiction
Leann asks: Take a look back at your year of nonfiction and reflect on the following questions – What was your favorite nonfiction read of the year? Do you have a particular topic you’ve been attracted to more this year? What nonfiction book have you recommended the most? What are you hoping to get out of participating in Nonfiction November?
Here are the nonfiction books I’ve read since last year’s Nonfiction November, grouped roughly by subject matter. Links from the titles will take you to my reviews. I would say my favourite was The Salt Path, Raynor Winn’s account of her journey along the South West Coast Path with her husband, Moth. I have also read a number of Holocaust memoirs. They never make easy reading but are invariably incredibly inspiring.
Memoir
The Salt Path by Raynor Winn
The Wild Silence by Raynor Winn
One Hundred Miracles: A Memoir of Music and Survival by Zuzana Ruzickova & Wendy Holden
Living Among the Dead: My Grandmother’s Holocaust Survival Story of Love and Strength by Adena Bernstein Astrowsky
History
Adrift: How Our World Lost Its Way by Amin Maalouf
A Book of Escapes and Hurried Journeys by John Buchan
Homilies and Recreations by John Buchan
The Last Secrets: The Final Mysteries of Exploration by John Buchan
Here are the nonfiction books I hope to read in November. It will be good to get them off my TBR pile and Nonfiction November gives me the perfect push to do that! Click on the title to view the full book description on Goodreads.
In A Time of Monsters: Travels Through A Middle East in Revolt by Emma Sky – won in a Readers First giveaway, this has been on my shelf for way too long. It promises to make ‘a complex region more comprehensible’. I shall look forward to that.
The King’s Grace by John Buchan – his portrait of Britain during the reign of George V published in 1935 to mark the 25th anniversary of the King’s accession.
It Was Different At The Time by Inez Holden – published by Handheld Press alongside the author’s novella Night Shift (so perfect for next week’s book pairing prompt), It Was Different At The Time is Holden’s account of wartime life from April 1938 to August 1941, drawn from her own diary.
Are you taking part in Nonfiction November?
The Salt Path has been on my TBR since it came out. So happy to see you enjoyed it so much!
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How did you like the follow up to Salt Path?
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I enjoyed catching up with Raynor and Moth but I didn’t feel quite the same connection with it as The Salt Path, where I was familiar with the area they travelled through.
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A personal connection makes quite a difference!
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Earlier this year, I read a lot of memoirs. I think I recommended The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of September 11, 2001 by Garrett M. Graff the most.
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The Salt Path is one my favourites too! I’m trying to write my review of The Wild Silence but finding it very hard!
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Looks like a good year of non-fiction reading for you, Cathy and you are the second person to mention Raynor Winn’s memoirs. I am also taking part in Nonfiction November and here is what I have been reading: https://thebookwormchronicles.wordpress.com/2020/11/02/%f0%9f%93%9a-nonfiction-november-2020-week-1-my-year-in-non-fiction/ 🙂
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