It’s nearly November, that means it’s time for Nonfiction November! This week’s prompt is hosted by Kim @ Sophisticated Dorkiness .
What was your favourite nonfiction read of the year?
Angela Saini’s Inferior was a fascinating look at the bias at work in science, specifically when it comes to studies in sex difference. Women are so used to hearing that we can’t do things just because we’re biologically different to men, so it’s good to hear the arguments (both sides are talked about). I also loved reading about the work of cadaver dogs in What the Dog Knows.
Do you have a particular topic you’ve been attracted to more this year?
I’ve been using non-fiction to fulfil quite a few challenge prompts this year, so the subjects have been all over the place! I’ve probably been a bit more drawn to natural history, maybe because it provides a distraction from real world misery.
What nonfiction book have you recommended the most?
*Mumbles* probably still The Radium Girls which was my answer last year, I’m still not over it. Out of this year’s reads, I’d say Born a Crime is the one I think most people would get something out of. And that was one of the books I picked up from a previous Nonfiction November recommendation!
What are you hoping to get out of participating in Nonfiction November?
I am looking forward to topping up my wishlist with books I never usually hear about. I don’t get through many of them in a year, but I know I can always look back on Nonfiction November recs when I want something. I’m on the look out for well-narrated audiobooks as this is the first year I’ve got the hang of listening to them.
I also hope to read a few non-fiction books this month and make sure I have all my related reviews posted.
Non fiction read since last November:
The Stranger in the Woods by Michael Finkel
The Secret Life of Cows by Rosamund Young
The Idiot Brain by Dean Burnett
The Line Becomes a River by Francisco Cantú
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara
The Bumblebee Flies Anyway: A Year of Gardening and (Wild)life by Kate Bradbury
Barracoon: The Story of the Last Slave by Zora Neale Hurston
Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong—and the New Research That’s Rewriting the Story by Angela Saini
Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly
Other Minds: The Octopus and the Evolution of Intelligent Life by Peter Godfrey Smith
What the Dog Knows: Scent, Science and the Amazing Ways Dogs Perceive the World by Cat Warren
The Greatest Love Story Ever Told by Megan Mullally + Nick Offerman
Tamed: Ten Species That Changed Our World by Alice Roberts
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Inferior sounds really good! And your list from the last year is full of interesting titles. I haven't done much nonfiction on audio this year, so I don't really have a new recommendation for that. I loved Into Thin Air as an audiobook though — one of my all time favorites!
I really enjoyed Born a Crime in 2017. Here is my post: https://wordsandpeace.com/2018/10/29/nonfiction-november-my-year-2018-in-nonfiction/
Yea audiobooks! I sometimes have trouble with fiction audiobooks, especially romance – I can read it fine but listening makes me blush! After listening to podcasts nonfiction feels natural as long, as you say, it's narrated well. Of my recent audiobook reads I liked the narrator of The South Side: A Portrait of Chicago and American Segregation by Natalie Y. Moore. The narrator is a Chicago native so I felt like I could rest easy knowing that all the names and things were being pronounced correctly, and she's pleasant to listen to overall. Huzzah for nonfiction! 🙂
Snap! for The Secret Life of Cows this year!
Your instagram pic has inspired me to get myself sorted with mine…
Born a Crime is so great – and especially great on audio!
I've recently added The Line Becomes a River to my list for the month, and your review has me wanting to check it out sooner rather than later. Your list has so many fascinating books on it!
I read The Radium Girls earlier this year, and it is my only 5 star read of the year! Loved it, I recommend it to everyone, too!
What the Dog Knows sounds really interesting. I have a weakness for dog books, and working dogs are fascinating.
I've added Born A Crime to my nonfiction wishlist thanks to nonfiction November – so great to see another rec for it. Happy reading in November!
Born a Crime is on my radar for 2019. Thanks for the reminder.
I just started The Radium Girls yesterday… totally hooked already. It's SO good!!
Born a Crime is so good! I'm kind of ashamed I haven't read The Radium Girls yet. I really need to pick that one up. I'm really curious about What the Dog Knows now though. It sounds a bit gross but I'm going to have to look it up.
I have Radium Girls on my Audible Library, but haven't gotten around to reading it yet. I really want to. Loved Born a Crime. Wasn't it funny and intelligent at the same time?
Haha, nothing wrong with still being in love with Radium Girls! I thought it was really good too. I just got Born a Crime in a book swap, so I'm excited to get to that, and Inferior sounds fascinating as well. It sounds very similar to Delusions of Gender, which debunks a bunch of flawed research on gender.