I read a fair amount of non-fiction – I enjoy learning about social issues, people, experiences different from my own. I like reading about nature, books, social issues, racism, physical and mental illness and memoirs of people I find intriguing. So my recent non-fiction reads are a bit of a mishmash, as usual!
I enjoyed all three of these, though they were extremely different. Margolyes book is an autobiography, and I had the great good luck of listening to the audiobook version read by the author. She’s a prolific audiobook reader, and her own book was brilliant in this format because her voice is so charismatic. Raceless was an interesting book I stumbled across that deals with the identity crisis that arises when a child isn’t told the truth about their genetic (and in this case, ethnic) origins, and what it’s like to put the pieces in place as a young adult. It was a fascinating look into a situation and experience I’ve not encountered before, and full of important points about what it means to be from a particular racial background in a family that doesn’t share that ethnicity. Mangan’s book was just a delight to my book-loving soul. She traces a line through her life following the books she read in childhood, and her discussion of each of these books and what she remembers and what they meant to hear at whatever age she encountered them echoed so many of my own experiences (we had several books in common, which helped). I adored it.
What about you guys? Which non-fiction books have you read recently that made a strong impression – good or bad? Have you read any of these, or are you interested in doing so?
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I hadn’t heard of any of these books, but they all look good!
Thanks for stopping by earlier.
They are! Thank you too!
Raceless sounds like an interesting read.
A few years ago, I read Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge and it was honestly really informative. I learned a ton from it as well.
Oh, I love WINLTTWPAR! That and Natives by Akala are my favourite books I’ve read so far about race and racism in Britain. This one didn’t hit quite the same way, but it’s also an experience I’ve never seen shared in print before, so I liked having the opportunity to step into Georgina Lawton’s life.
I love Miriam. She’s definitely a one off. The other two books sound interesting too, I’ll have to check them out!
Me too!! She’s one that leaves you a little unsure of how to figure her out, but also not really caring because she’s entertaining anyway. I was just back on your post and there’s no option to reply directly to your last comment – maybe it’s a two comment limit on a nested conversation – but I enjoyed chatting with you there!