Non-Fiction November is an event I always look forward to because it makes my TBR pile just explode and then for the next year, I have a good list of non-fiction books to choose from. I love reading people’s blog updates to see what they read the previous year and what they are considering reading for the upcoming month. This first week of Non-Fiction November is dedicated to reviewing books read during the last year and highlighting favorites.

While I was reviewing all the non-fiction books that I read during the last year, it was pretty easy for me to identify which ones had risen to the top of the pile for my favorites. It kind of surprised me that several of my favorites were memoirs or biographies – one was even the memoir of an animal (and I had a couple other similar books during the year).

Books Most Recommend: I’ve probably recommended all of my favorite books at least once. Several (Fallout, Dopesick and The Woman They Could Not Silence), I’ve mentioned in my current master’s programs as books that fit various topics we were discussing. Caste is a book that should be part of any college curriculum in history or sociology – it is a must-read to me. A Promised Land made me feel both alternately sad and happy at the same time – there was something soothing about listening to Former President Obama reading his memoir and I can’t wait for the second book to come out (maybe in 2022?).

Most Common Theme: Looking back through my 2020-21 reads, I didn’t really have any prominent themes that stuck out to me – if I had to say one, then it probably would have been World War 2 non-fiction – I read a couple of books about different concentration camps, as well as one about the detonation of the atomic bomb (Fallout – which was also one of my favorite reads).

Non-Fiction Reads from December 1, 2020 to October 31, 2021

December 2020

• Running with Sherman – Christopher McDougall – Topics: Animals, Sports, Memoir
• We Could Not Fail: The First African Americans in the Space Program – Richard Paul – Topics: History, Space
• A Promised Land – Barak Obama – Topics: Memoir, Politics
• March: Book Two – John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell – Topics – graphic non-fiction, memoir, civil rights
• March: Book Three – John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell – Topics – graphic non-fiction, memoir, civil rights

January 2021

• The Prisoners of Breendonk: Personal Histories from a World War II Concentration Camp – James M. Deem – Topics: World War II, Holocaust

February 2021

• You Had Me at Woof: How Dogs Taught Me the Secrets of Happiness – Julie Klam – Topics: Animals, Memoir, Humor

March 2021

• Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic – David Quammen – Topics: Biology, Disease, Environment
• His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope – Jon Meacham – Topics: Biography, Civil Rights, History               
• Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents – Isabel Wilkerson – Topics: History, Politics, Sociology

April 2021

• Foxcatcher: The True Story of My Brother’s Murder, John du Pont’s Madness, and the Quest for Olympic Gold – Mark Schultz – Topics: True Crime, Sports
• Fail Until You Don’t – Bobby Bones – Topics: Self-Help, Memoir

May 2021

• When the Air Hits Your Brain: Tales of Neurosurgery – Frank T. Vertosick Jr. – Topics: Medicine, Autobiography

June 2021

• Wallace: The Underdog Who Conquered a Sport, Saved a Marriage, and Championed Pit Bulls– One Flying Disc at a Time – Jim Gorant – Topics: Animals, Sports
• Dear Evan Hansen: Through the Window – Steven Levenson – Topics: Theatre, Music

July 2021

• The Answer Is…: Reflections on My Life – Alex Trebek – Topics: Memoir, Entertainment
• The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear – Kate Moore – Topics: Biography, History, Women’s Rights, Mental Health

August 2021

• Astrophysics for People in a Hurry – Neil Degrasse Tyson – Topics: Science, Astrophysics

September 2021

• Fallout: The Hiroshima Cover-up and the Reporter Who Revealed It to the World – Lesley M.M. Blume – Topics: History, World War 2, Journalism

October 2021

• The Boy Who Drew Auschwitz: A Powerful True Story of Hope and Survival – Thomas Geve – Topics: History, World War Two, Autobiography
• The Big Ones: How Natural Disasters Have Shaped Us and What We Can Do about Them – Lucy Jones – Topics: Science, Geology
• Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America – Beth Macy – Topics: History, Science, Health, Addiction