5 Nonfiction Books for November
By Hannah Dendas of naptime book review
I just learned that #nonfictionnovember is a thing (at least in the Instagram world) and I’m always looking for ways to incorporate more nonfiction into my reading. If you are too, check out some of my recommendations below.
1. All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days
by Rebecca Donner
This World War II biography reads like a thriller about an important but nearly unknown until now woman named Mildred Harnack. It is written by Mildred’s great-great-niece who uses documents from her family archive, as well as extensive research in Europe, to piece together the many ways that Mildred aided the resistance to Hilter and the Nazis. The book is chock full of tension, spies, and clandestine meetings that will keep you hooked, despite knowing the outcome from the start.
Nonfiction
Price: $30
2. Crying in H Mart
by Michelle Zauner
This is a beautiful memoir about a daughter who puts her life on hold to care for her dying mother. Food was a big part of their relationship so the book includes mouth-watering descriptions of many typical Korean dishes and is a unique way to show the love between mother and daughter. It also shows a balanced look at grief and doesn’t shy away from the uglier sides of it like when Zauner feels jealousy towards other caretakers of her mom or when she has disagreements with her father. I listened to it on audio (it’s read by the author) and appreciated hearing the Korean pronunciation of the foods she describes.
Nonfiction
Price: $25
3. Come Fly the World
by Julia Cooke
I initially picked this up out of interest in the lives of flight attendants during the Jet-Age but it turns out this book is about so much more. Cooke weaves together the stories of three real Pan Am stewardesses with American history and the geopolitical climate of the time. I learned so much about Pan Am’s involvement in the Vietnam War (including Operation Babylift - imagine almost 400 infants on a plane!), the surveillance of stewardesses in the Soviet Union, and how much stewardesses were expected to know about the politics/etiquette/customs of all the countries they were visiting. There are some dry parts of the book, mostly around aviation history and the business side of things, but overall I liked learning about the contributions of stewardesses to world travel and political events in a time when a lot of opportunities were still closed to women.
Nonfiction
Price: $26
4.Know My Name: A Memoir
by Chanel Miller
If you only read one nonfiction book it should be this one. Known as “Emily Doe” during legal proceedings, Chanel Miller was sexually assaulted by Brock Turner while she was intoxicated at a party on the Stanford campus. The case received wide-spread media attention when Turner was sentenced to only six months in jail and Miller’s victim-impact statement went viral on Buzzfeed. Her statement, as well as her book, are incredibly well written and incredibly important. It should be mandatory reading for anyone raising girls who will go off on their own someday AND anyone raising boys who will also go off on their own. It’s also for anyone who is concerned about the culture of sexual assault in America, victim blaming, and how the criminal justice system is set up to empower the perpetrator.
Nonfiction
Price: $17
5. Brain on Fire
by Susannah Cahalan
A compelling and terrifying memoir about a 24-year old woman who wakes up in a hospital with no idea how she got there or what is wrong. Over the course of the book she battles the medical community for a diagnosis to save her life but also to prove wrong the professionals who accuse her of hypochondria and madness. She uses doctors notes, video, and her family’s recollections to piece together what happened to her during the times that her memory fails. It reads almost like a mystery as you, the reader, try to figure out the diagnosis as you follow along.
Nonfiction
Price: $15
Hannah Dendas is a Postpartum Doula and Certified Lactation Counselor but since the pandemic, mostly a stay at home mom to her two young kids.
Always an avid reader, Hannah recently started sharing book reviews on her Instagram page @naptimebookreview. She has a book stashed in nearly every room of her house, is a frequent visitor to her local library, and loves historical fiction.