Last year I participated in Non-Fiction November, something I found thoroughly enjoyable. My TBR stacks grew enormously from that, but it also opened my eyes to the fact that despite reading more non-fiction than I ever have before, my reading diet is still primarily fiction. I'm OK with that, but it has given me a little more awareness of the types of books I'm picking (or not picking) up.
In January I read ten non-fiction books. These four are the highlights:
The Bold World: A Memoir of Family and Transformation by Jodie Patterson - Patterson's memoir traces her identity with gender and race through her family's history including her own childhood. Patterson was inspired to write this story after her daughter, Penelope, began expressing that she was a boy and not a girl.
I had the book sitting around for a while before picking it up, but after watching Patterson's interview on the Today show, I immediately started reading. If you've read This is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel, this is a must read.
The Incomplete Book of Running by Pete Sagal - I hesitate to ever call myself a runner. Most of my running is done on the treadmill, and I didn't even begin running until my late 20s. Sagal's memoir of races he's run along with his path to running is entertaining and I found myself nearly laughing out loud more than a few times. I listened to this one on audio, and truly enjoyed every minute.
Ticker: The Quest To Create An Artificial Heart by Mimi Swartz- this book grabbed me from the first page. Although there's plenty of medical information in it, Swartz shares the story of one of man who needed a heart transplant, which made the story personal. There are trials that work, those that don't, and some drama along the way.
Duped: Double Lives, False Identities and the Con Man I Almost Married by Abby Ellin - Ellin's romance with her boyfriend, the Commander, seemed too good to be true - and it was. He lied about his career, telling tales of important trips he took to exotic locales, involved in some type of international espionage (personally, even one story like this should raise some red flags). Eventually Ellin realizes that the Commander lies about everything and the two break up, but Ellin begins to research the ways people lie and how many people are deceived every day. This was the perfect blend of personal story along with research as Ellin melded the two together.
If you've got a non-fiction recommendation for me, I'd be happy to add another title to my TBR.
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