Nonfiction November

Sophisticated Dorkiness,  I'm Lost in Books, Regular Rumination, and Doing Dewey are hosting Nonfiction November.  

During November,  the co-hosts will be reading and writing about nonfiction, and encouraging other readers to join in through a series of post topics and a couple of readalongs.

The task for this first week is to consider Your Year in Nonfiction: Take a look back at your year of nonfiction and reflect on some questions:

What was your favorite nonfiction read of the year? 
Twelve of my 58 books so far in 2014 (that's 21%) were non-fiction. I was actually surprised to see so many as I don't feel I read enough nonfiction, but I guess it's relative as I love fiction too!

So, my favorite?  I guess I would have to go with One Summer: America, 1927 by Bill Bryson.  I enjoy Bryson's style, I love reading about history, and this time period is absolutely fascinating with lots of larger than life people doing interesting things and the society struggling to catch up with technology, which is changing age-old conventions at breakneck speed.

What nonfiction book have you recommended the most? 

It has to be Orange is the New Black, by Piper Kerman.  I've recommended this to fellow bloggers, family and friends.  So many people have been watching the TV series, and I found it really interesting to compare the book with the series.  Not only in terms of what works best in each media, but how a memoir can become fictionalized.

What is one topic or type of nonfiction you haven’t read enough of yet? 

I set out in 2014 intending to finally read up on WWI, since we're marking the 100-year anniversary of the start of the war.  I have a number of books on my shelf in this area, but haven't read any yet!  Must do in 2015.

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

I see this as a great opportunity to find new nonfiction books for my groaning shelves and meet some new book bloggers.   It's also a good way to start thinking about my reading plans for 2015--what I want to accomplish as a reader, and what areas/topics I want to learn more about.

One Summer - Bill Bryson

I've read and enjoyed a lot of Bill Bryson's books, but his latest, One Summer: America, 1927 is my favorite by far.  Much as I enjoy his travel memoirs (A Walk in the Woods remains an all-time favorite book), I love history even more, and in this book he tells the stories and backstories of a most remarkable summer.

This was the summer when Lindberg flew solo across the Atlantic, when Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig slugged it out along with those amazing Yankees, and when Sacco and Vanzetti were executed without a shred of evidence against them.  It was the summer Al Capone ruled Chicago, before being indicted for tax evasion, the Mississippi River flooded,and Calvin Coolidge started wearing a cowboy outfit.  It was a time of speakeasies and Prohibition, talkies were on the cusp, and Broadway was booming.

I loved every minute I spent reading this fascinating book.  You get the feeling that Bryson had an absolute ball doing the research--the glee with which he points out incongruities is infectious--and you get the feeling he really did do his research.  He quotes newspaper articles, magazine articles, advertising slogans, and letters.  I loved the focus on one period of time as a way of putting into context the passions, interests, hopes and dreams of a generation.  He balanced political history with social history, and the narrative never lagged or dragged.

Much as I enjoyed At Home, which I listened to a couple of years ago, I do think One Summer is the stronger book and I really can't wait to see what will be the next topic Bryson tackles.