Nonfiction tends to get a bad rap. Some people are intimidated by it and think that they’re not going to be “smart enough” (whatever that means) to appreciate it. Others may think that it’s going to be dry, and they’d rather stick with fiction. Well I am here in defense of nonfiction.
It’s wonderful! Sure, some of it is dry and inaccessible, and if you pick up a book and you find that you’re not getting anything out of it, I give you permission to put it down. (A post about that coming later.) But I think that you’ll find a lot more nonfiction books that are totally fascinating. What have you always wanted to know more about? I guarantee there’s a book about it.
I once decided, kind of randomly, that I wanted to learn about octopuses. I’d learned a little bit about them, I thought they were interesting, and I wanted to know more. My search led me to a fantastic book by Peter Godfrey-Smith called Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness. It sounds formidable, right? I’m here to tell you that I loved that book. I satisfied my curiosity, learned a lot more about octopuses, and enjoyed a well-written book. Think of what I would have missed if I’d shied away from nonfiction!
Another time, I picked up a book about dolphins. That book, for whatever reason, didn’t click with me, and it’s totally okay. I’ll find another book about dolphins. But the point is, I’ll keep looking.
So my challenge to you, if you’re not already a reader of nonfiction, is to give it a try. Think of a topic you’d like to learn more about, do a little digging to find a book that others recommend, and dig in! Or, if you’re looking to get your nonfiction feet wet, try one of these five books below. I recommend them all.
1. John Adams, David McCullough
Anyone who’s seen Hamilton knows that John Adams was the butt of several jokes. They did him dirty. History has mostly forgotten him, but I wish that everyone would learn about this amazing man and his equally amazing wife.
John and Abigail Adams were a power couple in the truest sense. They weren’t perfect, but they spent their lives doing and being good. In a time when real goodness and integrity seem to matter not at all, it’s refreshing to read about someone who stood fast to his principles. I’m so grateful to David McCullough for bringing our second president back to life and giving him the recognition that he so rightly deserves, but seldom receives. This book is fascinating, and you should read it.
2. Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, Matthew Desmond
Evicted is an important book, and one I think everyone should read. The author, Matthew Desmond, lived in a few different low-income neighborhoods in Milwaukee for a year. He writes about the people he met, their circumstances, and how difficult it is to keep a roof over your head when the cost of even bad housing outstrips your income.
What I like about the author’s take on this is that he doesn’t paint anyone as the bad guy. Landlords are given the benefit of the doubt, as are the tenants. He recognizes the right of landlords to collect rent and make a profit, but he also recognizes the impact that eviction has on tenants. I also appreciated that he suggested, and made a rather compelling argument for, a solution to homelessness and substandard housing. If you read one book this year, it should be this one.
Note: The author does use some strong language, usually when quoting someone. I just want you to be aware if that’s not your thing.
3. Get Well Soon: History’s Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them, Jennifer Wright
I first read this book in May of 2019, and I had no idea how relevant it would soon become to my lived experience of a pandemic. One of the things that stuck out to me, even at the time, was Wright’s insistence that we should elect our leaders based on how we think they’d handle a crisis, not based on who we’d rather go bowling with. I’m not quoting directly, but she said something to the effect of, “Who do you want in charge when the bodies start to pile up in the streets?”
I’d heard of most of these plagues before and thought I knew enough about them, but I was astonished at what I did not know. And moreover, I was touched, many times, by the author’s suggestion that we all be a little kinder. It soothes my inner Hufflepuff when I read about people coming together to support and uplift one another and fight a common enemy.
Get Well Soon was informative and reminded me that we don’t need to be geniuses to make a difference. We just have to give a darn about our fellow man.
Also, Jennifer Wright is hilarious. I want to be her friend.
Note: Strong language here too. Not a ton, but it’s there occasionally. Do with that what you will.
4. Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West, Dee Brown
It took me a really long time to finish this, not because it was uninteresting or poorly written, but because it was so emotionally draining. At one point my husband said “It’s like they’re telling the same story over and over again. Like the author is just repeating himself.” It seemed like that because the same scenario played out again and again along the various tribes. Because of this, a lot of the stories are jumbled in my head. It was hard to keep it all straight. But my overall feeling at the end of this book was a deep sadness and an anger that these things were so glossed over in my history classes. I knew that the Native Americans had been poorly treated and tricked into giving up their land. I didn’t realize just how despicably the US government had acted.
Throughout my life, I have sometimes heard people speak unkindly about Native Americans. There are a lot of prejudicial views about them and I think some people feel as though Native Americans have no real reason to complain or feel resentment. I don’t think I really felt one way or the other about it before reading this book. Now, I really want to shout from the rooftops just how justified those feelings of resentment are. This book helped me understand, just a little bit better, the feelings that Native Americans have about things that are still happening to them, like the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock, or people dressing up in headdresses at music festivals. I get it now.
I really recommend this book. If it feels like a slog, push through it. It’s worth it.
5. King Leopold’s Ghost, Adam Hochschild
“An ancient English law made it illegal to witness a murder or discover a corpse and not raise a human cry. But we live in a world of corpses, and only about some of them is there a human cry.” – Adam Hochschild
When I read King Leopold’s Ghost, I was appalled not just by the atrocities committed against the Congolese people, but also by how much I didn’t already know about it. Before reading this book, my only exposure to this terrible part of history was reading Conrad’s Heart of Darkness in high school. I didn’t pay enough attention to that book at the time, and I’ll be rereading it.
I was struck by King Leopold’s cruelty and avarice, but also by his savvy. He convinced the whole world, for years, that his barbaric for-profit tyranny in the Congo was actually benevolent philanthropy. That’s Class A villainy. I was also inspired by the heroic efforts of E.D. Morel, Roger Casement, William Shepherd, George Washington Williams, Alice Harris, etc. These people basically started the entire concept of a campaign for human rights.
This book made me reflect on the horrific things that are still going on in the world, which things become newsworthy, which things spark outrage, and why. Why is it that American schoolchildren learn all about Germany’s atrocities in the Holocaust, but know nothing about it’s genocide of the Herero people in Africa? Why is it that many Belgians today have very little idea of the suffering their nation caused in the Congo? I think we know why, and it’s time that changed. Friends, read this book.
Bonus Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, Susan Cain
Sorry, I couldn’t recommend just five. So you get a bonus recommendation!
Quiet was highly validating for me. I’ve lived my whole life feeling somewhat uncomfortable in my own skin in social situations. Actually, let me amend that statement. I’ve felt uncomfortable in large groups. Anyone who knows me knows I love a small group conversation. I can talk on the phone to my best friends for hours. But send me to a party or drag me to a school dance and I’m instantly off balance. In Quiet, Susan Cain became the first person in my entire life to tell me that that’s okay. She framed my introversion as a strength, as opposed to something that needs to be overcome. I’m grateful. So if you’re an introvert, I’d suggest giving this a read. And if you’re an extrovert, maybe this will help you understand your introverted friends and family a bit better.
Have you read any of these books? If so, what did you think of them? Tell me in the comments! And please let me know if you have a favorite nonfiction book to recommend. I’d love to hear about the books that you love.
Happy Reading!
