In July, a small group of book bloggers came together to form the Bloggers’ Alliance of Non-Fiction Devotees (BAND). I’m not sure how I missed the launch, but when Amy of Amy Reads drew my attention to the group in a recent post, I was intrigued.

I first became interested in non-fiction (outside of post-secondary education) in my mid-twenties when, quite unusually for my age, I became interested in tracing my family history. I devoured genealogical research and social history books, and those, along with biographies & memoirs are my preferred NF read to this day.

But it seems to me that I don’t read many non-fiction titles any more. It’s not that I don’t like them; it’s just that there seem to be so many fiction books I want to read that I don’t get around to the NF. So I counted up my reads over the last couple of years and I was little surprised at how “well” I’ve done. In 2010, I read 31 non-fiction titles out of a total of 123 books. That’s a respectable 25%! So far this year, I managed only 12 (out of 110), or about 10%.

Amy’s inaugural post reminds me that I do “love the random topics and collections of facts that come from (…) non-narrative nonfiction.” So I’m going to try to consciously incorporate more such titles into my TBR short list. If you’d like to do the same, don’t miss BAND’s tmblr page!

Our three-year-old grandson has a pretty happy disposition and not much gets him down, but he was in tears this morning. We’re having a bit of a blow here on the east coast – a nor-easter with lots of rain and winds that are gusting to 100 km/hr (60mph). The ‘breezes’ caught the tree that held the start of the tree-house that Grampa is building for Steven – and took it out by the roots. Tire swing’s gone, too.

The silver lining? As Steven, who never cries for long, says: “I can fill up that hole with water and jump in the B-I-G puddle!”

It was a busy, busy month and my list of books read includes a couple of slim volumes, and one book with loads of photos. Again this month, like last, nothing reached and grabbed me even though much of what I read was very enjoyable. What was the best book you read in September?

1. Henrietta’s War by Joyce Dennys

From 1939 to 1942, Dennys wrote a series of weekly columns in the form of endearing letters purportedly written to a friend at the front in France at the beginning of WWII. From the Devon countryside, she writes of news of the home front, the refugees from London, and her family. Warm, engaging, humourous and touching. I was sorry when the book ended, and think I must pick up the second volume that covers the remainder of the war.

2. The Guide: A Novel by R. K. Narayan

A released convict takes refuge for a few nights in an abandoned temple and is mistaken by a peasant for a holy man. Gradually he takes on the role. Sly humour and a look at peasant life in modern India.

3. The Barn by Randy Leffingwell

Traces the evolution of the American barn from early beginnings with Northern European influences through technological changes, fads, and changes to barns as settlement spread westward. Scores of photos. Beautiful to look at, fascinating to read.

4. One Good Dog by Susan Wilson

Adam March, a powerful executive & millionaire has a come-apart at work and loses his job, his socialite wife and princess daughter. While performing his mandatory community service at a homeless men’s shelter, his path crosses that of Chance, a pit-bull struggling to leave the fight circuit. In alternating chapters with narration of Adam’s story, Chance tells his tale in his own words, which lifts this book above standard Grisham/Steel fare.

5. The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht

Set in war-torn Yugoslavia, The Tiger’s Wife follows a young doctor who, while on a mercy mission to immunize orphans, hears of the death of her beloved grandfather. Oddly enough he died in a village close by the orphanage and she retrieves his belongings, while unraveling the story of his childhood. It was then that a tiger escaped from a zoo during World War II bombings and wandered deep into the woods, settling just outside his peasant village. It terrorized the town, the devil incarnate to everyone, except for her grandfather and ‘the tiger’s wife’. Lots of imagery, fables, almost magical realism.

6. A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley

The third in Bradley Flavia deLuce series, and highly and widely lauded. I love Flavia and really enjoyed getting more of the flavor of her relationship with her father in this book, but I thought the mystery was convoluted and, in places, contrived. I’m swimming against the current in this opinion, so make your own decision. Besides, Flavia is fun to read even when the mystery isn’t up to par.

7. Following Josh by Dave Norman

Author Dave Norman meets an old high-school friend in Seoul and travels with him across China, Mongolia & Russia by train. This is the story of that trip – and of Dave and Josh’s dramatically changed relationship. This book is being released today, October 1st.

8. Alone in the Classroom by Elizabeth Hay

The latest by the renowned Canadian author, Alone in the Classroom spans several decades – from a Saskatchewan classroom of the 1930s to the present. The narrator uncovers the story of her father’s sister, her Aunt Connie, and of her mother and her family. Although it contained much beautiful writing (as I expect of Hay), overall the book seemed disjointed and unresolved, and disappointed me.

9. The Edge of Ruin by Irene Fleming

First in the Emily Weiss mystery series. Set in 1909 during the very early days of moving picture making, it’s a clever look at the history of the time when screenplays were dashed off in an evening and given to the actors the morning of the shoot. But the murderer was too obvious and Emily just too perfectly competent. Although the setting is interesting, I doubt I’ll be spending any more time on this series.

10. One Night at the Call Center by Chetan Bhagat

Set in a Delhi call center in modern India, and a best-seller in that country where it was originally released. One of those unfortunate times when I kept reading because I know someone (who? I can’t remember!) recommended it to me and so it must get better, but when I finished it, thought “Why did I waste x hours of my life on that?”

Links for my Canadian readers:

One Night at the Call Center