November Nonfiction I

 To absolutely no one's surprise, I am late to November Nonfiction, which is an event I really enjoy.  Week #1's question is hosted at Rennie's What’s Nonfiction blog, and 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?  

 

Right now, my pick for favorite is The Woman They Could Not Silence by Kate Moore, but I warn you that I also started All That She Carried and that bids fair to match or surpass it.  I have only had a few
weeks to recommend the story of Elizabeth Packard, but I did tag it a 'book everyone should read,' so I think that's the one.

My nonfiction focus this year has largely been on World War II.  There's a WWII challenge for this year, and I decided to make it something of a theme.  I've tried to get one book a month in.  This will not reduce my WWII book pile by 50%, but it will make a good dent in it.  There have been some fantastic books in there, but I think I will nominate Last Witnesses as an incredible, important book.

 Looking back, I've also been reading (or listening/watching) about evangelical religion in America.  I read Jesus and John Wayne by Kristen Kobes Du Mez and have been listening to the podcast The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, which led me to a documentary, I Survived I Kissed Dating Goodbye.  I also recently started reading The Making of Biblical Womanhood.    

We can safely call 'women stuff in general' another big theme for 2021, as it always is.  So I've read about historical women, women in WWII, women in evangelicalism, the genes of motherhood, women's work, and women in today's culture battles.

What I hope to get out of Nonfiction November is: some fun, some new titles for my TBR, and some good reminders of what I've enjoyed this year.