Happy Halloween, all! It might be the last day of October, but today also marks the official start of Nonfiction November. So grab some candy and let’s dive into this week’s topic courtesy of Katie over at Doing Dewey.
Your Year in Nonfiction: 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?
All in all, I had a great year reading nonfiction. My pile of books was still full of its usual chaos. From humorous essays to food-focused memoirs to political sludge, I didn’t find myself gravitating toward one particular nonfiction arena. If anything, I found myself reaching for worlds and experiences I was less familiar with—even sports!
So this year, instead of highlighting a list of favorites, I’m going to include all the nonfiction I’ve gotten through over the past year. I’m sure I’ll go into more detail on a few in later weeks, but maybe you’ll find a new favorite from this tangle of books in the meanwhile. That’s my favorite part of participating in Nonfiction November—you all always leave my TBR pile stacked and my bookshelves groaning.
Before I do that, though, I need to give a special shoutout to Séamas O’Reilly’s Did Ye Hear Mammy Died? It might be the hardest I’ve ever laughed while reading a book.
And with that, here’s what I’ve been reading:
All Over but the Shoutin’
by Rick Bragg
All the Truth is Out: The Week Politics Went Tabloid
by Matt Bai
Are You in the House Alone?: A TV Movie Compendium 1964-1999
edited by Amanda Reyes
The Best Book in the World: Tales from My Mama’s Table
by Rick Bragg
The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination with the Most Mysterious Creature in the Natural World
by Patrick Svensson
translated by Agnes Broomé
Bullwhip Days: The Slaves Remember: An Oral History
edited by James Mellon
Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World
by Carl T. Bergstrom & Jevin D. West
Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War
by Tony Horwitz
Did Ye Hear Mammy Died?
by Séamas O’Reilly
DisneyWar
by James B. Stewart
Elite Capture: How the Powerful Took Over Identity Politics (and Everything Else)
by Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò
Fed, White, and Blue: Finding America with My Fork
by Simon Majumdar
Harry, a History: The True Story of a Boy Wizard, His Fans, and Life Inside the Harry Potter Phenomenon
by Melissa Anelli
Hello, Molly!: A Memoir
by Molly Shannon
How to Stitch an American Dream: A Story of Family, Faith, and the Power of Giving
by Jenny Doan
Humble Pi: When Math Goes Wrong in the Real World
by Matt Parker
If You Lived Here, I’d Know Your Name: News from Small-Town Alaska
by Heather Lende
The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride
by Daniel James Brown
Madam Ambassador: Three Years of Diplomacy, Dinner Parties, and Democracy in Budapest
by Eleni Kounalakis
May at 10
by Anthony Seldon
with Raymond Newell
Mysterious America: The Ultimate Guide to the Nation’s Weirdest Wonders, Strangest Spots, and Creepiest Creatures
by Loren Coleman
Off the Edge: Flat Earthers, Conspiracy Culture, and Why People will Believe Anything
by Kelly Weill
The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor – the Truth and the Turmoil
by Tina Brown
Pastrami on Rye: An Overstuffed History of the Jewish Deli
by Ted Merwin
Quakery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything
by Lydia Kang & Nate Pedersen
The Radioactive Boy Scout: The Frightening True Story of a Whiz Kid and His Homemade Nuclear Reactor
by Ken Silverstein
Scorecasting: The Hidden Influences Behind How Sports Are Played and Games Are Won
by Tobias J. Moskowitz & L. Jon Wertheim
Sealand: The True Story of the World’s Most Stubborn Micronation and Its Eccentric Royal Family
by Dylan Taylor-Lehman
A Season with the Witch: The Magic and Mayhem of Halloween in Salem, Massachusetts
by J.W. Ocker
Selling Hitler
by Robert Harris
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto
by Chuck Klosterman
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating
by Elisabeth Tova Bailey
Still Standing: The Savage Years
by Paul O’Grady
Sunburn: The Unofficial History of The Sun Newspaper in 99 Headlines
by James Felton
Suspicious Minds: Why We Believe Conspiracy Theories
by Rob Brotherton
We Believe the Children: The Story of a Moral Panic
by Richard Beck
The Winning Ticket: Uncovering America’s Biggest Lottery Scam
by Rob Sand
with Reid Forgrave
Woman in the Making
by Rory O’Neill
You Don’t Want to Know: The Grisly, Jaw-Dropping and Most Macabre Moments from History, Nature and Beyond
by Rory O’Neill
That was my year in nonfiction. How was yours?
If you’re interested in participating in Nonfiction November, be sure to head over to Doing Dewey and link-up to this week’s prompt. And if you’re on Instagram, Jaymi @theocbookgirl is planning a ton of fun stuff starting November 1. She’s also the one who made all of the amazing Nonfiction November graphics, which you can find and share from here.
As always, happy reading!
Plucked from the Stacks 
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