Nonfiction November Week 1
Nonfiction November has arrived and this year I’m going to try to join in.
This week, we’re all looking back at our year of nonfiction, and for me, that’s pretty sad: my favourite NF books were cookbooks. In fact, the majority of nonfiction I perused this year was about food: cooking it (Sheet Pan Suppers, The Fibromyalgia Cookbook, One Pot French, Edwardian Cooking: The Unofficial Downton Abbey Cookbook, Salad in a Jar, Fermented Vegetables), avoiding it (Minimize Me: 10 Diets to Loce 25 Pounds in 50 Days, Eat it Later: Mastering Self-Control and the Slimming Power of Postponement), or digesting it (Gut: the Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ).
Out of the handful of non-cookbooks I read, I most enjoyed The Shelf: From LEQ to LES: Adventures in Extreme Reading by Phyllis Rose.
Rose chose a shelf of (ironically) fiction books in her library and read each of them, reporting on her progress, the history behind the books, and other literary tidbits.
However, the book I recommended the most was a short memoir about buying a old farmhouse in southern France and living there part of each year. Beginning French: Lessons from a Stone Farmhouse by Les Americains is charming and includes mouth-watering recipes. (There we go with food again.)
Although I read two other memoirs (Wildflower by Drew Barrymore and Paris Nights) and a microhistory (Frozen in Time: Unlocking the Secrets of the Franklin Expedition), I missed reading history or biographies that include history. I’m looking forward to getting some great ideas in that area this month from the other participants in Non-Fiction November.
Bring it on!
P.S. The links are affiliate links so I will receive a small percentage of any purchase you make after clicking through from this blog
Beginning French sounds like something I would enjoy. I’m a sucker for all things French, add to that old stone houses and cooking? I’m all in. Non-Fiction, when it’s good, is really my first love when it comes to books.
Give it a try, Trish – it’s a lark!
Since you loved Beginning French so much, I bought the Kindle version. I hope to start it soon.
I hope you like it, Vicki. Please let me know. I’m interested to see how our tastes line up!
Love all your nonfiction food recommendations. I just read Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain and I loved it.
I have Kitchen Confidential on my bookshelf, Amanda but haven’t gotten around to it yet. Thanks for the reminder.
And thanks for dropping by Exurbanis!
I just saw Beginning French on Litsy this morning! And Sheet Pan Suppers looks like something I’d like. I love roasting veggies, but rarely roast entire meals.
Here’s a little more about Sheet Pan Suppers, Sarah. It makes me feel so efficient when I’m making my whole meal at once. 😉 And I excerpted a recipe from Beginning French here.
Welcome to Exurbanis.
I think I have read less non-fiction than usual this year so far. Only 5.
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
Voices From Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievich
The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson
The Autobiography of Upton Sinclair
Mary Todd Lincoln, A Biography
But all good ones, Judy! I’ve had Silent Spring on “top” of my TBR stack for a couple of years now. I AM interested, but I just can’t seem to find the time to get into it.
Beginning French looks like a book I’d enjoy, too! Sheet Pan Suppers is a great choice, too. I got an ebook review copy before it was released, but I really want a hard copy, too.
The only problem with my hard copy of Sheet Pan Suppers, JoAnn, is that it won’t lay (lie?) flat.
Beginning French sounds lovely. I do enjoy armchair traveling (and eating) through books.
A very interesting history book I read this year was The House by the Lake – German history seen through five families who occupied the same house near Berlin. Amazing the changes that region has gone through in little over 100 years.
I heard about The House by the Lake earlier this year, Lory, and added it to my TBR list. Maybe I should move it up the list!
Thanks for stopping by Exurbanis.
I also loved The House by the Lake – brilliant for the history of Berlin through real lives. This year I also really enjoyed The Warmth of Other Suns – a great combination of biography and history if you haven’t read it.
I haven’t read Warmth of Other Suns, Caroline, but it sounds quite intriguing. It would perhaps make up for my reaction to Southern Cross the Dog.
Glad I’m not the only one who needs November for a kick in the rear to read more nonfiction this year!
I know, right, Lisa? Good intentions, good intentions . . .
I just finished the book I told you about Elle & Coach. It is really wonderful. And the dog lives. haha. Great kid, great dog, great family.
I’m glad that book was good, Nan. I added it to my TBR list when you mentioned it before.
Heck yes, foodie books are the greatest. But ‘The Shelf’ also sounds super interesting!
I really did enjoy The Shelf, Louise, and I think any serious reader would too.
I’d like to read Gut. I didn’t think to include cookbooks in my list, I have found Tapas Revolution by Omar Allibhoy has been a fantastic addition this year – we can now cook a pretty authentic paella and it’s not even that much work.
Ellie, funnily enough, although Gut was super-hyped, I found it very disappointing. I thought it read like a lot of class papers put together in one volume without any editing for overlap.
I would like to read more history too. It has been a sub-genre that I have enjoyed in the past, but have read very little nonfiction as of late.
I find reading nonfiction comes in spurts for me, Toady.
[…] Beginning French: Lessons from a Stone Farmhouse – Debbie at Exurbanis […]
funny, we have featured lots of books similar to Beginning French on France Book Tours, but I was not aware of this one
Emma, their author page contact info is here: http://beginningfrench.com/book/
Adventures in extreme reading sounds fun. I should check it out.
Have fun with it, Rachel – and thanks for stopping by Exurbanis!
Nice to see you sidling up to some more challenges once more, in moderation of course.
I really enjoyed The Shelf. But, like you, overall I haven’t been reading all that much NF. This should be a good incentive, and maybe some of your other choices will inspire me too!
I’d like to read more nonfiction about food and it sounds like you had some great reads in that category! I’m always surprised that my favorite books aren’t necessarily the ones I recommend the most, but they aren’t 🙂
Funny how that works out, Katie. I hope you like any books of mine that you try!