Week 1: (November 2-6) – Your Year in Nonfiction (Leann @ Shelf Aware and her post on this is here): Take a look back at your year of nonfiction and reflect on the following questions

What was your favorite nonfiction read of the year?

I’ve completed 65 nonfiction reads by the time of writing this post.

Jess Phillips’ “Truth to Power” shared how to speak up and speak out – so necessary these days

Lennie Goodings’ “A Bite of the Apple” was a marvellous read about Virago Books, another love of mine

Helen Lewis’s “Difficult Women” took a series of big fights and showed the women who were involved in them, featuring some huge characters

Jacky Klein – “Grayson Perry” was a marvellous enormous art book taking in Perry’s whole artistic life with gorgeous illustrations

Stephen Rutt – “Wintering” made me slightly obsessed with geese (I’ve reviewed this for Shiny New Books but it’s not out yet; I will link when it is!)

Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinené – “Slay in Your Lane: The Black Girl Bible” taught me a lot and made me angry and is such a great resource for its primary audience

There were other books that were important but I can’t say I enjoyed, such as Kevin Maxwell’s “Forced Out” about the racism and homophobia endemic in the UK police.

Do you have a particular topic you’ve been attracted to more this year?

I’ve read a lot of nature and a lot of biography and memoir, which is par for the course. I’ve bought a good few running books but haven’t read as many as other years. I have been buying quite a lot of books on BIPOC people’s experiences from last year onwards (not JUST after the Black LIves Matter movement although the book lists and recommendations coming then helped me collect more).

What nonfiction book have you recommended the most?

I’ve recommended Simon Barnes’ “Rewild Yourself” to a few people, and “Slay in Your Lane” to more.

What are you hoping to get out of participating in Nonfiction November?

I started joining in with Nonfiction November last year and it was marvellous for finding new blogs to follow and make new connections. I read a lot of nonfiction anyway, more than many people, so it was great to find some new kindred spirits and to also spot some old favourites popping up.

I also found a lot of recommendations to put on my wish list. And THIS year, I will note where I saw them …