Friday, May 31, 2013

Armchair BEA: Non-fiction

When I was a child, my favorite non-fiction was biography. Other than that, my non-fiction reading was usually dictated by the fiction I was reading. I read a lot of historical fiction and would get curious about the real events surrounding the book. I remember reading piles of books about World War II and then the history of Russia when I was in middle school. My non-fiction reading was almost always for a purpose, rather than for entertainment except for some of the biographies.

It wasn't until I was in my thirties before I began to start randomly reading non-fiction in much the same way I choose fiction. Non-fiction was finally something to read for fun. I still read more fiction, but I am likely to pick up something like The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements (which was hilarious) or The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary for no reason at all beyond curiosity.


I prefer narrative non-fiction and have consumed several excellent examples in the past few years. Most of my favorites are young adult and children's. Here are some of the best of the best in no particular order:








Do you read a lot of non-fiction? What is it about non-fiction that you enjoy?









7 comments:

  1. The Disappearing Spoon? Haha such a long title but it doesn't sound like a mish mash of interesting topics. My favorite time period we talked about in middle school and high school was WWII. I'm also so weary to say that aloud because it's not like I'm supportive of Hitler. I'm completely not okay with what he did, at all. But the events that took place, the camps, the way that more and more countries slowly got involved. It's also very interesting to learn about. I'm so glad to see you liked learning about that time period, too! How was HITLER'S YOUTH?

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    1. *does sound like.
      *all so very interesting

      I need to spell check before I submit these things. Whoops!

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    2. Hitler Youth was excellent. It was about the mobilization of the young people in Germany. It explained how Hitler used them, but it also detailed some of the young people who did not go along with it. I had never known about the White Rose resistance group until I read that book.

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  2. Hooray for nonfiction!! It's my favorite :)

    I *just* finished The Professor and the Madman. What a book! The Disappearing Spoon sounds right up my alley.

    I enjoy all types of nonfiction. I think historical nonfic is my all time favorite though.

    The World's Strongest Librarian is the latest memoir that I adored. Such a great story :)

    Happy reading~!

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    1. I will look for The World's Strongest Librarian. My foreign exchange student was crazy about science and he recommended The Disappearing Spoon. It was really quite fascinating even though chemistry was not my favorite class by a long shot. ;)

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  3. What a great nonfiction list! Haven't read some of them- thank you for sharing :)

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    1. I'm glad you stopped by and they are definitely worth tracking down and reading. Have a great week!

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