Nonfiction November 2021 Week 3 Experts #NonficNov 3

Week 3 (November 15-19): Be The Expert/ Ask the Expert/ Become the Expert
with Veronica at The Thousand Book Project

Three ways to join in this week! You can either share 3 or more books on a single topic that you have read and can recommend (be the expert), you can put the call out for good nonfiction on a specific topic that you have been dying to read (ask the expert), or you can create your own list of books on a topic that you’d like to read (become the expert).

I think this is one of my favourite for Nonfiction November. Last year, I wrote about the Tudors since I love that period of English history and have read a lot about it that I could recommend to others who are interested in it. (see here)

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When I was thinking about, whether I would like to share books about another topic or ask questions, the Netherlands sprang to my mind. I have lived there for twenty years and have read quite a few books in Dutch and about the Netherlands (see here on my list about Dutch and French books).

But this is all about Nonfiction, so I put together a list of Dutch books that tell us about the people, their history and what it is like to live there).

Hirsi, Ali, Ayaan "Infidel: My Life" (NL: Mijn Vrijheid) - 2006
A memoir by a woman from Somalia. Her life story, from her traditional Muslim childhood in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, and Kenya, to her activism in the Netherlands. A very interesting book that led to a lively discussion about religion, women's rights, different lives in different countries and other books about these topics in our book club.

Mak, Geert "Jorwerd: The Death of the Village in late 20th Century" (NL: Hoe God verdween uit Jorwerd) - 1996
This book is about a small village in Friesland and the changes it underwent in the first half of the 20th century, changing from farming to a commuting place, the influence of modern technology on a people that had lived off the land for centuries. It shows us what development and improvement has done to our lives

Vossestein, Jacob "Dealing with the Dutch" - 1998
Based on his wide experiences and insights of all types of foreign views on the Dutch, Jacob Vossestein is called an interculturalist. He wrote this as a guide book for companies and people wanting to do business with the Dutch.

Westerman, Frank "The Republic of Grain" (NL: De graanrepubliek) - 1999
The description of life in a Dutch region, in the North of the Netherlands during a tough time. The rise and fall of an area due to nature, politics, decisions made.

White, Colin & Boucke, Laurie "The UnDutchables: an Observation of the Netherlands, its Culture and its Inhabitants" - 1989
Two Americans who had lived in the Netherlands for 22 years together published the first edition of this book in 1989, it has been updated every other year since then and is a huge bestseller both in the Netherlands and many other countries.

For more information on Nonfiction November check here.