Hi, all, it’s November, so it’s time for Nonfiction November, which I participated in the last two years. This year, it is hosted by the following bloggers:
- Heather at Based on a True Story
- Frances at Volatile Rune
- Liz at Adventures in Reading, Running and Working from Home
- Rebekah at She Seeks Nonfiction
- Deb at Readerbuzz
Each week, the host posts a prompt for discussion and a linkup where you can link your posts. For this first week, the host is Heather at Based on a True Story, and the prompt is Your Year in Nonfiction. For more information about the prompt, see Heather’s blog. And here we go for mine.
What Did I Read?
Since November 2024, I read 16 books. I think this means that I have increased my nonfiction reading in number by one each year that I participated until now, when I went up by four (but I am not sure if I included the two books I read in November 2024 in my count last year—probably not). Last year I didn’t list them all, just totaled them by category, but sixteen isn’t so many, so I may as well, in the order that I read them. If I have reviewed them yet (I am behind posting), there’s a link to the review.
- The Dancing Bear by Frances Faviell
- Levels of the Game by John McPhee
- Elizabeth and Essex: A Tragic History by Lytton Strachey
- Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell
- Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver
- Mad Madge: The Extraordinary Life of Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle, the First Woman to Live by Her Pen by Katie Whitaker
- Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Ann Jacobs
- Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen
- A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
- Luckier Than Most by David Tomlinson
- Life Among the Qallunaat by Mini Aodla Freeman
- The Art Thief by Michael Finkel
- Pocket Atlas of Remote Islands: Fifty Islands I Have Not Visited and Never Will by Judith Schalansky
- Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent by Judi Dench
- The Novel Life of Jane Austen: A Graphic Biography by Janine Barchas and Isabel Greenberg
- Fenwomen: A Portrait of Women in an English Village by Mary Chamberlain
As far as categorizing them, here goes:
- Biography/Memoir: 10
- Art and Language: 3
- History: 4
- Sociology: 1
- Sports: 1
- Food: 1
- Science: 1
- True Crime: 1
- Maps: 1
Clearly, some of these fit into more than one category. The hardest to categorize are Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, which I have put under memoir but is as much about the importance of good food, and Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent, which I have not put under memoir, even though it includes lots of anecdotes, but under art and language, because it’s mostly about interpreting Shakespeare’s plays (which sounds dull, but it is not).
Just as a side note, when I look at my record of nonfiction reading from the past year, I see that I seriously went into it in the spring, reading half a dozen books between February and April, then sort of fell off for the summer, and picked up the pace a bit in the fall.
What Were My Favorites?
If I go by my ratings, my favorites were Life Among the Qallunaat, The Pocket Atlas of Remote Islands, and Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent. However, hands down, the one that made the most impression on me was Pocket Atlas of Remote Islands. I’m sorry, therefore, that I haven’t reviewed it yet. (It’s going to be a Best of Ten, which I tend to save up so as not to have too many in a given period, so I may not get to my review this year, because there are a bunch ahead of it.) I believe I read about it during last year’s Nonfiction November. Other books I read about last year were Cultish and Mad Madge (I think).
What Were My Favorite Topics?
Well, obviously and always, I like reading about people and history. I didn’t read anything this year that I wanted to follow up on, although I like to read about indigenous people, so probably will.
What Am I Hoping to Get Out of Nonfiction November?
Since I’m not a big nonfiction reader and don’t tend to read many blogs that focus on it, I hope to add a few more interesting books to my To Read list.
What? Me Read? 
That’s a brilliant line up especially for someone who’s not a non-fiction reader! The Man Who Pays the Rent is the one I would most like to read at the min
It was unusual but good! Its focus was different from any other book I’ve read.
The Life of Margaret Cavendish sounds good. I might have to add that to mount TBR. Thanks for taking part.
Be sure to pay attention to the book pairing I do for that one, because the fiction equivalent is just as interesting.
I will. Thank you.
Somehow I missed seeing anything about The Pocket Atlas of Remote Islands. I’ve just added this title to my wishlist.
I liked it a lot, and it is a quick read.
16 is a good total! Pocket Atlas of Remote Islands does sound interesting.
Thanks! I did better than I thought I had.
Impressive! I think you qualify as a non-fiction reader with that list! I’ve hardly read any non-fiction this year – too many chunky classics! I have Judi Dench’s book but haven’t read it yet, so I’m glad to get the impression that you enjoyed it.
Yes, I thought it was unusual and fun to read. Compared to how many books I read a year, this many nonfiction books aren’t much, maybe 10%.
I loved Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
Yes, it was entertaining and informative.
I also loved the Islands atlas – such a curious little book!
Maybe it was on your site that I read about it!
I’m reading The Art Thief right now and really enjoying it.
Oh, good!
Thanks for sharing your year in nonfiction and your recommendations
Happy Nonfiction November!
Same to you!
I’ve just added the Pocket Atlas of Remote Islands to my TBR list. Thanks for the recommendation.
I hope you like it!
I loved a Short History of Nearly Everything by Bryson. I listened to the audiobook read by the author. He has a dry sense of humor which really comes out in his narration. I tried listening to another of his books narrated by a voice actor and didn’t like it nearly so much.
https://headfullofbooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/nonfiction-november-week-one.html
I would be interested in the Elizabeth and Essex story. It seems it had more to it than one thinks. I am mostly into history and biographies of authors when reading nonfiction.
Lytton Strachey has written some fascinating biographies.
Good luck with Nonfiction November! I’ll have to look up The Pocket Atlas of Remote Islands.
Great!
Have noted Pocket Atlas of Remote Islands and will keep an eye out for your review – I’m intrigued by the title.
It’s very different.
You have a nice mix of books, I didn’t categorize mine. I hope you are able to find new nonfiction books to read and enjoy! Have a great week!
You, too!
I think we’ve got the most overlap of posts I’ve seen so far, of course Life Among … and then I’ve also read and enjoyed The Dancing Bear and have Fenwomen TBR!
Well, that’s cool.