Hooray, Nonfiction November is here! Nonfiction November is a month-long celebration of everything nonfiction. Each week, we’ll have a different prompt and a different host looking at different ideas about reading and loving nonfiction.
Week 4 (Nov. 19 to Nov. 23)
Reads Like Fiction (Hosted by Rennie at What’s Nonfiction?)
Nonfiction books often get praised for how they stack up to fiction. Does it matter to you whether nonfiction reads like a novel? If it does, what gives it that fiction-like feeling? Does it depend on the topic, the writing, the use of certain literary elements and techniques? What are your favorite nonfiction recommendations that read like fiction? And if your nonfiction picks could never be mistaken for novels, what do you love about the differences?
Does it matter to you whether nonfiction reads like a novel? If it does, what gives it that fiction-like feeling? Does it depend on the topic, the writing, the use of certain literary elements and techniques?
Nonfiction doesn't have to read like a novel for me to enjoy it, but my favorite nonfiction books do. In nonfiction, the most important thing is truth. But the second most important thing is meaning, and I generally need story to get meaning.
And if your nonfiction picks could never be mistaken for novels, what do you love about the differences?
I love to read through books of information, like encyclopedias and dictionaries; no one would mistake an encyclopedia or a dictionary for a novel. What I love about reference books like these is the feeling that all the important things have been collected and shared in one place.
What are your favorite nonfiction recommendations that read like fiction?
For Adults:
God Save Texas: A Journey into the Soul of the Lone Star State by Lawrence Wright
The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin
LeRoad Trip: A Traveler's Journal of Love and France by Vivian Swift
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Resistance by Laura Hillenbrand
Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott
Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
The Last Shot: City Streets, Basketball Dreams by Darcy Frey
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson
Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Woman: An Intimate Geography by Natalie Angier
The Roads to Sata: A 2,000 Mile Walk Through Japan by Alan Booth
The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A.J. Jacobs
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
And let's add two more that I finished this week:
The Library Book by Susan Orlean
The American Wolf: A True Story of Survival and Obsession in the West by Nate Blakeslee
For Children:
Herstory: 50 Women and Girls Who Shook Up the World by Katherine Halligan
Radioactive: Marie and Pierre Curie, a Tale of Love and Fallout
Redwoods by Jason Chin
The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau by Dan Yaccarino
One Beetle Too Many: The Extraordinary Adventures of Charles Darwin by Kathryn Lasky
Bird Talk: What Birds are Saying and Why by Lita Judge
Let's Hatch Chicks: A Day-to-Day Chick Hatching Guide for Kids by Lisa Steele
Dolphin Baby! by Nicola Davies
Ella: Queen of Jazz by Helen Hancocks
Schomberg: The Man Who Built a Library by Carole Boston Weatherford
If the World Were a Village: A Book about the World's People by David J. Smith
Lives of the Artists: Masterpieces, Messes by Kathleen Krull
Nonfiction books often get praised for how they stack up to fiction. Does it matter to you whether nonfiction reads like a novel? If it does, what gives it that fiction-like feeling? Does it depend on the topic, the writing, the use of certain literary elements and techniques? What are your favorite nonfiction recommendations that read like fiction? And if your nonfiction picks could never be mistaken for novels, what do you love about the differences?
Does it matter to you whether nonfiction reads like a novel? If it does, what gives it that fiction-like feeling? Does it depend on the topic, the writing, the use of certain literary elements and techniques?
Nonfiction doesn't have to read like a novel for me to enjoy it, but my favorite nonfiction books do. In nonfiction, the most important thing is truth. But the second most important thing is meaning, and I generally need story to get meaning.
And if your nonfiction picks could never be mistaken for novels, what do you love about the differences?
I love to read through books of information, like encyclopedias and dictionaries; no one would mistake an encyclopedia or a dictionary for a novel. What I love about reference books like these is the feeling that all the important things have been collected and shared in one place.
What are your favorite nonfiction recommendations that read like fiction?
For Adults:
God Save Texas: A Journey into the Soul of the Lone Star State by Lawrence Wright
The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin
LeRoad Trip: A Traveler's Journal of Love and France by Vivian Swift
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Resistance by Laura Hillenbrand
Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott
Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
The Last Shot: City Streets, Basketball Dreams by Darcy Frey
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson
Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Woman: An Intimate Geography by Natalie Angier
The Roads to Sata: A 2,000 Mile Walk Through Japan by Alan Booth
The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A.J. Jacobs
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
And let's add two more that I finished this week:
The Library Book by Susan Orlean
The American Wolf: A True Story of Survival and Obsession in the West by Nate Blakeslee
For Children:
Herstory: 50 Women and Girls Who Shook Up the World by Katherine Halligan
Radioactive: Marie and Pierre Curie, a Tale of Love and Fallout
Redwoods by Jason Chin
The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau by Dan Yaccarino
One Beetle Too Many: The Extraordinary Adventures of Charles Darwin by Kathryn Lasky
Bird Talk: What Birds are Saying and Why by Lita Judge
Let's Hatch Chicks: A Day-to-Day Chick Hatching Guide for Kids by Lisa Steele
Dolphin Baby! by Nicola Davies
Ella: Queen of Jazz by Helen Hancocks
Schomberg: The Man Who Built a Library by Carole Boston Weatherford
If the World Were a Village: A Book about the World's People by David J. Smith
Lives of the Artists: Masterpieces, Messes by Kathleen Krull
Thanks for posting links. I put a bunch of your recommended titles for adults on my Goodreads TBR list and placed an order for two of them!!!!
ReplyDeleteWonderful. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
DeleteNonfiction doesn't have to read like fiction for me either but I will admit to being partial to it when it does. I've made note of several of the titles you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteUnbroken is one of my favorite narrative non-fictions as well. However, I did not love Glass Castle nearly as much as everyone else.
ReplyDeleteI love memoirs, and The Glass Castle was a favorite. This week, I added Becoming, by Michelle Obama.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your books...and thanks for visiting my blog.
I love nonfiction that reads like fiction and see a couple of favorites here, especially The Nine and Traveling Mercies. God Save Texas is on my wish list and I'm waiting (not so patiently) for the Susan Orleans book to come from the library.
ReplyDeleteTo Hatch a Chick sounds like a cute project/guide for young ones. I don't read much non-fiction but I'll have to keep these in mind for when I do. Happy reading! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting all those links, I don't read nonfiction much but I will definitely be adding some of those to my TBR.
ReplyDeleteWow! That's a lot of nonfiction books! I need to read some more nonfiction books!
ReplyDeleteHere’s my Sunday Post!
Ronyell @ Rabbit Ears Book Blog and join in this week’s Book Photo Sundays
Nonfiction doesn't have to read like fiction for me, but it's a bonus when it does. I'm going to explore your list in more depth and add to my reading list.
ReplyDeleteI don't read nonfiction often, but when I do, I prefer it to read like fiction. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteI was so glad to see Radioactive on your kids list - I read it a few years ago for #NonFicNov and adored the format. I had read lots of dry information books about Marie Curie for a big school project many, many years ago and I've been fascinated by her story ever since, & was delighted by such an artistic approach to science.
ReplyDeleteI had forgotten about LeRoad Trip - another art non-fiction combo that was thoroughly engaging.
PS I liked how you discussed the importance of a good reference book :-)
DeleteI don't expect nonfiction to read like fiction. My weekly updates
ReplyDeleteI have similar feelings - I don't need nonfiction read like fiction, but it never hurts when it does. I appreciate that you've included children's and adult books in your list of recommendations. Thanks for posting!
ReplyDeleteI love Woman: An Intimate Geography too although I don't think it reads like fiction but it's a great read in general. I like that you included some options for kids, I love children's nonfiction too.
ReplyDeleteI like the connection you make between story and meaning. The intangible quality of coherence and relationship is what draws me to reading all kinds of books - fiction or non.
ReplyDelete