Nonfiction November 2021 Week 1 My Year in Nonfiction #NonficNov

Week 1 (November 1-5): Your Year in Nonfiction
with Rennie at What’s Nonfiction

As I've announced in October (see here), it's Non-Fiction November again and this year, it is hosted by Christopher from Plucked from the Stacks. He has put together a plan that looks highly interesting.

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Take a look back at your year of nonfiction and reflect on the following questions:

1. What was your favorite nonfiction read of the year?
2. Do you have a particular topic you’ve been attracted to more this year?
3. What nonfiction book have you recommended the most?
4. What are you hoping to get out of participating in Nonfiction November?

I have read 24 non-fiction books this year, that makes two per month. Tough to choose the favourites but it is probably "The Truths We Hold. An American Journey" by Kamala Harris closely follwed by "A Promised Land" by Barack Obama. If you didn't know already, you probably have an idea about my political inclinations. If you have followed my blog for a while, you will have heard this story: According to a test on facebook I am "very liberal, as far left as can be before heading into Stalin's backyard". That was at least ten years ago but nothing has changed in my views and I doubt it ever will.

I have also read a few more books about racism and slavery, a topic that can't get talked about often enough and so I could add a number of them to my Anti-Racism post: "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave", "The History of the Jews in Germany", and "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl".

Some good books about travels and other countries were:  "From the Swede who took the train and saw the world with different eyes", "An Unexpected Light. Travels in Afghanistan", "The Silk Roads. A New History oft he World".

And I finished a few great books about general knowledge and science: "The Communist Manifesto", "Science & Islam: a history", "Couchsurfing in China: Encounters and Escapades Beyond the Great Wall" and "Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst".

And a book about books by one of my favourite authors, "The Naïve and the Sentimental Novelist". They are probably the most important ones from my list.

I think that answers questions one and two. As to the third one, I have recommended my top two books most.

Question 4. Well, last year I found a few new books and authors that I was going to read (and some of them I have read in the meantime) but the main thing was the exchange of opinions with other bloggers. Something I always enjoy, no matter what book but non-fiction books are special, they widen our knowledge so much. It's never too late to learn more.

And here are all my non-fiction books of the year:

Andersson, Per J. "From the Swede who took the train and saw the world with different eyes" (aka Take the train: on the track through history, present and future) (SW: Ta tåget: på spåret genom historien, samtiden och framtiden) - 2019
Binchy, Maeve "The Maeve Binchy Writers' Club" - 2010
Ditfurth, Hoimar von "The mind did not fall from the sky: the evolution of our consciousness" (GE: Der Geist fiel nicht vom Himmel: Die Evolution unseres Bewußtseins) - 1976
Douglass, Frederick "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave" - 1845
Elbogen, Ismar; Sterling, Eleonore "The History of the Jews in Germany" (GE: Die Geschichte der Juden in Deutschland) - 1935/66
Elliot, Jason "An Unexpected Light. Travels in Afghanistan" - 1999
Frankopan, Peter "The Silk Roads. A New History of the World" - 2015
Gödde, Stefan "Nice to Meet You, Jerusalem. On a Discovery Tour into the Heart of the City" (GE: Nice to Meet You, Jerusalem. Auf Entdeckungstour ins Herz der Stadt) - 2019
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von "Italian Journey" (aka Letters from Italy) (GE: Italienische Reise) - 1817
Harris, Kamala "The Truths We Hold. An American Journey" - 2019
Jacobs, Harriet Ann (Linda Brent) "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" - 1861
Judd, Naomi "Love Can Build a Bridge" - 1993
Kaminer, Wladimir "The Lost Summer. Germany Smokes on the Balcony" (GE: Der verlorene Sommer. Deutschland raucht auf dem Balkon) - 2021
Krug, Nora "Belonging: A German Reckons With History and Home" (GE: Heimat. Ein deutsches Familienalbum) - 2018
Mann, Thomas "A Man and His Dog" (GE: Herr und Hund. Ein Idyll) - 1918
Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich "The Communist Manifesto" (GE: Das kommunistische Manifest) - 1848
Masood, Ehsan "Science & Islam: a history" - 2009
Obama, Barack "A Promised Land" - 2020
- "Of Thee I Sing" - 2010
Orth, Stephan "Couchsurfing in China: Encounters and Escapades Beyond the Great Wall" aka "High Tech and Hot Pot: Revealing Encounters Inside the Real China" (Couchsurfing in China. Durch die Wohnzimmer der neuen Supermacht) - 2019
Pamuk, Orhan "The Naïve and the Sentimental Novelist" (TR: Saf ve Düşünceli Romancı) - 2011
Sapolsky, Robert M. "Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst" - 2017
Snider, Grant "I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf" - 2020
Dorling Kindersley "Eyewitness Guide Paris" and "Top 10 Paris"

For more information on Nonfiction November check here.