Non-Fiction in January

I check out a ton of non-fiction from the library and purchase quite a bit as well. And yet, the amount of it I get through is pathetically unimpressive.  I'd love to say I read more than three non-fiction books in January, but that is truly all I managed to get to, with hopes that February's totals will be higher. 

It's not that I need to read more or that there is a quota I need to meet. But I'd love to have read the books I'm not getting to. There are truly great non-fiction reads out there.

Home Now: How 6000 Refugees Transformed An American Town by Cynthia Anderson covers the topic of refugees and immigration -something I find fascinating, especially since the school district I teach in has a large refugee population.  Anderson shares how Somali refugees (along with refugees from other places as well) have settled in Lewiston, Maine, and made this town their home.  Lewiston had been thriving at one point, but before the arrival of the refugees the town was slowly dying.  With an influx of people, the town is seeing a revival of sorts that looks entirely different from the Lewiston they knew previously.  There are growing pains, along with some rough patches as the long time Lewistonians must navigate an influx of people with a different culture.  Anderson does a good job presenting the story from various perspectives as well as providing vignettes about the refugees, something that always makes me enjoy a story more.

The Matriarch: Barbara Bush And the Making of An American Dynasty by Susan Page - I love a good biography, especially about anyone presidential, and Barbara Bush has long been a favorite of mine to read about.  Considering the fact that I had read her memoirs (long ago), there weren't tons of big secrets that were revealed, but I liked the look back at her life and the details that Page filled in. Some of Bush's life was a little like taking a walk down memory lane, like revisiting her relationship with Nancy Reagan.  Other parts were new to me and I enjoyed learning these additional tidbits.  

Why We Can't Sleep: Women's New Midlife Crisis by Ada Calhoun - this is a book that every Gen X woman needs to read.  I found bits of nostalgia within the pages as Calhoun aptly describes childhood experiences familiar to me and many others in my demographic. I also found a sense of belonging as much of what Calhoun writes of directly mirrors experiences I have had or am having currently.  As I read, I felt that Calhoun really "got it" and that was comforting.  Not every single thing applied to me and I couldn't relate to every single experience, but I could relate to enough of them to nod my head in agreement and want to press this into the hands of my college friends and talk about it with a few more people who I know "get it."

We'll see what February's non-fiction reads bring. I've already started two different books (one on audio, one on the treadmill) and have looked at several others that seem to be calling to me.  

What non-fiction books did you read this month that you'd recommend? I don't want to miss out on anything!