Nonfiction November Week 1: Your Year in Nonfiction

Once again it’s time for Nonfiction November, that time of year when book bloggers around the globe come together to celebrate the wonderful world of nonfiction. As a life-long nonfiction fan, I always look forward to seeing participants’ posts and learning what outstanding works of nonfiction everyone has been reading. Year after year I come away with great book recommendations as I’m introduced to new book blogs. Some years I even manage to pick up an additional subscriber or two.

For Week 1 our host Rennie at one of my favorite blogs What’s Nonfiction kicks it all off by inviting us to look back on 2011 and ask

What was your favorite nonfiction read of the year? Do you have a particular topic you’ve been attracted to more this year? What nonfiction book have you recommended the most? What are you hoping to get out of participating in Nonfiction November?

As for this year’s favorite, six books come to mind. Both on my blog and in conversations with others I’ve praised these works of nonfiction. Look for each one of them to make my year-end Favorite Nonfiction List.

• Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS by Joby Warrick
• Black against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party by Joshua Bloom and Waldo Martin
• The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan
• To Hell and Back: Europe 1914-1949 by Ian Kershaw
• Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism by Anne Applebaum
• Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine by Anne Applebaum

2021, as far as nonfiction goes was also a year of pleasant surprises. I decided to take a chance on these four books, knowing little, if anything about them. Each one exceeded expectations.

• Swiss Watching: Inside the Land of Milk and Money by Diccon Bewes
• Sons and Soldiers: The Untold Story of the Jews Who Escaped the Nazis and Returned with the U.S. Army to Fight Hitler by Bruce Henderson
• Reopening Muslim Minds: A Return to Reason, Freedom, and Tolerance by Mustafa Akyol
• A Mirror Garden by Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian

It was also a year for old books. As part of my 20 Books of Summer series I read two books published in the 1970s.

• The Jews in America: The Roots and Destiny of American Jews by Max Dimont (1978)
• Encounters with the Archdruid: Narratives About a Conservationist and Three of His Natural Enemies by John McPhee (1971)

As far as particular topics I’ve been attracted to in 2021 as part of my ongoing research project I continue to read books on the Middle East as well as 20th century European history. In addition to those already mentioned above, I was inspired to read these six books.

• The Forever War by Dexter Filkins
• My Accidental Jihad: A Love Story by Krista Bremer
• Iranian Rappers and Persian Porn: A Hitchhiker’s Adventures in the New Iran by Jamie Maslin
• Dark Continent: Europe’s Twentieth Century by Mark Mazower
• Family History of Fear by Agata Tuszyńska
• Hitlerland: American Eyewitnesses to the Nazi Rise to Power by Andrew Nagorski

This year, just like in past years I’ve recommended a number of books. With the exception of Robert Kolker’s Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family those recommended address democracy under threat, and the rise of anti-science and anti-reason.

• Dark Age Ahead by Jane Jacobs
• Building a Bridge to the 18th Century: How the Past Can Improve Our Future by Neil Postman
• Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism by Anne Applebaum
• Surviving Autocracy by Masha Gessen
• How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
• Us vs. Them: The Failure of Globalism by Ian Bremmer
• Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right by Jane Mayer
• The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan
• Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker

Well, that’s all I’ve got for right now. But throughout this month I’ll be sharing more posts celebrating Nonfiction November.