Nonfiction November // 2020 Week 1

Today I’m taking part in Nonfiction November! This is a month-long blog event co-hosted by four bloggers focused on the best nonfiction books. Each week has a theme, suggested questions to answer/topics to blog about, and a designated host. I do not plan on joining in every week, but there are a few prompts that caught my attention, including the one for this week. Check out this post for more information.

My Year in Nonfiction

This week’s theme of Your Year in Nonfiction is hosted by Leann @ Shelf Aware.

At the beginning of this year, I said that I wanted to add some variety to my nonfiction reading by including books on topics I used to enjoy learning about, but just haven’t spent much time or attention on recently. I have almost completely failed at this. Like most years, most of the nonfiction I read has been theology or somehow related to theology. I started working more earnestly on my goal of reading all of C.S. Lewis’ works, and I think I have read more books by him than any other author this year. This is definitely true for nonfiction, at least. 

 

My favorite nonfiction book of this year has to be Disruptive Witness: Speaking Truth in a Distracted Age by Dr. Alan Noble. It’s a wonderful look at the things that get in the way of truly looking at the world as it is and how we frame our conceptualization of reality and faith and so many other things. It’s also a call to realize the Christianity does not fit in the box that many often attempt to force it into. I’ve read Disruptive Witness at least twice this year and I already feel like I need to reread it!

 

I have also read a few biographies this year, which is on the fringe of my comfort zone. The one I recommend most is We Alcotts by Aileen Fisher, which is written from the perspective of Louisa May Alcott’s mother, Abba May Alcott. It’s written on an elementary level and I flew through it (when I actually took the time to sit down and read). The writing style makes learning about LMA’s childhood and young adulthood as interesting as a fiction story! Plus, LMA is my default “favorite” author (as if I truly could pick just one).

I am looking forward to seeing the nonfiction books that others recommend throughout Nonfiction November! This genre doesn’t seem to get as much love in my corner of the blogosphere as most fictional genres do, so I like the idea of focusing on it for a while. I’m also hoping to add a few titles to my TBR list.

Do you read nonfiction? Share about one that you read this year or that has stuck with you!

Until the next chapter,

Jana