What's the best non-fiction book you read this year? + 1 sentence plug

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Art Thief.
The Wager
Careless People
Dirtbag Billionaire

Did anyone else feel like reading this that the author clearly bought into too many of the subject's lies?

[Anonymous]

I also really enjoyed The Wager and Careless People.

Other highlights from 2025:

- The Indifferent Stars Above: It retraces the Donner Party’s trail from the perspective of a ~20 year old woman in the party. The author also wrote the Boys in the Boat.
- Stoned: History through the lens of gems and jewels. The author has a clear appreciation of fine jewelry, history, and the foibles of people—she writes with an arch tone/a bite of sass, which was fun.
- Endurance: About Shackleton’s Antarctic expedition—interesting to read after the Wager

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I also really enjoyed The Wager and Careless People.

Other highlights from 2025:

- The Indifferent Stars Above: It retraces the Donner Party’s trail from the perspective of a ~20 year old woman in the party. The author also wrote the Boys in the Boat.
- Stoned: History through the lens of gems and jewels. The author has a clear appreciation of fine jewelry, history, and the foibles of people—she writes with an arch tone/a bite of sass, which was fun.
- Endurance: About Shackleton’s Antarctic expedition—interesting to read after the Wager

Endurance is a seriously great read (and this coming from someone who generally has low-to-zero interest in arctic exploration!).

[Anonymous]

The Life and Times of Hannah Crafts by Gregg Hecimovich - about the life of an enslaved woman who escaped and wrote a really wonderful novel, The Bondwomand's Narrative (I read that too).

Path Between the Seas by David McCullough about the building of the Panama Canal (an older one, maybe from the 1970s, but still very relevant)

Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey - a woman with chronic illness can't get out of bed and bonds with a snail.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Far From the Tree, by Andrew Solomon

The author interviews families where the child is very different from the parents. (The title comes from the saying, “the apple fell far from the tree.”)

Each chapter focuses on a category of difference - dwarfism, deafness, autism - or a characteristic or topic much, much larger (he interviews the mother of one of the Columbine shooters.)

The entire book is brilliant and moving - because Solomon approaches every interview and every sentence with the deepest empathy, patience, and insight. No purient curiosity. He treats everyone involved with maximum dignity, including the reader.

These are complex and interesting topics, and he explores all sides and the many challenges and conflicting feelings involved. But the two things that stood out for me all the way through were empathy and love.

I am certain this book has made / will make me a better parent and person. It’s very long (!!) but a must read!

(By the way, I listened to it on audio. Solomon reads it slowly, so I upped the speed to 1.5x/1.75x)

I also read Far from the Tree last year, and really learned a lot from it, although I did have to pick and choose chapters since I got it through Libby, and wouldn’t have made it through the whole book before I had to return it. Someone else mentioned The Indifferent Stars Above which was also a very informative, albeit often harrowing, read about the Donner Party. So many mistakes, so much hubris. In a much lighter vein, 100 Places to See After You Die is a quick, cheeky, surface-level survey by Ken Jennings about how various religions and cultures interpret what the afterlife might be like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:George Orwell 1984

LOL

[Anonymous]

The Ravenmaster by Christopher Skaife
My life with the ravens at the tower of London.

The title is pretty self-explanatory. Christopher is a Beefeater who lives and works at the tower of London. The book has a little bit of British history, personal narrative, and a lot about ravens

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Far From the Tree, by Andrew Solomon

The author interviews families where the child is very different from the parents. (The title comes from the saying, “the apple fell far from the tree.”)

Each chapter focuses on a category of difference - dwarfism, deafness, autism - or a characteristic or topic much, much larger (he interviews the mother of one of the Columbine shooters.)

The entire book is brilliant and moving - because Solomon approaches every interview and every sentence with the deepest empathy, patience, and insight. No purient curiosity. He treats everyone involved with maximum dignity, including the reader.

These are complex and interesting topics, and he explores all sides and the many challenges and conflicting feelings involved. But the two things that stood out for me all the way through were empathy and love.

I am certain this book has made / will make me a better parent and person. It’s very long (!!) but a must read!

(By the way, I listened to it on audio. Solomon reads it slowly, so I upped the speed to 1.5x/1.75x)

I also read Far from the Tree last year, and really learned a lot from it, although I did have to pick and choose chapters since I got it through Libby, and wouldn’t have made it through the whole book before I had to return it. Someone else mentioned The Indifferent Stars Above which was also a very informative, albeit often harrowing, read about the Donner Party. So many mistakes, so much hubris. In a much lighter vein, 100 Places to See After You Die is a quick, cheeky, surface-level survey by Ken Jennings about how various religions and cultures interpret what the afterlife might be like.

Yes, you can definitely pick and choose chapters if you’re low on time. Each felt self-contained. I liked that about the book, too!

I do think I started to feel/recognize themes as I went, and I especially appreciated Solomon’s personal reflections at the end - pulling together what he observed/learned and weaving in his perspective as a person and a parent, as well. So, so good!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Barn - did the audiobook

Me again - I also did Careless People and Dopesick (also audiobooks), both of which I enjoyed. I was a little frustrated by the author's choice to keep staying in Careless People, but I'm ultimately glad she did so that we could hear the story.

[Anonymous]

Dogland: Passion, Glory, and Lots of Slobber at the Westminster Dog Show by Tommy Tomlinson

As a dog-lover who has mostly owned rescues, I've always been fascinated by the dog show world. Who are those men in tuxes and women in sparkly St John's knock-offs and Vionic flats racing around Madison Square Garden with their pampered pooches? Sure, you can watch Best in Show to get a hilarious, satirical take on this scene, but if you're looking for a non-fiction deep dive, you can't do better than Tomlinson's account of embedding with Striker, a champion Samoyed, and his team as they make their last-chance run at Best in Show. Tomlinson, a sportswriter for the Charlotte Observer knows how to spin a gripping underdog story, but goes well beyond that to provide readers with nuggets of fun facts about the history of dog shows, laugh-out-loud anecdotes from his own experience as a dog dad, and, finally, a beautiful epitaph to his dog. I borrowed this book from the library and then went out to buy half-a-dozen copies to give to family and friends who love dogs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Far From the Tree, by Andrew Solomon

The author interviews families where the child is very different from the parents. (The title comes from the saying, “the apple fell far from the tree.”)

Each chapter focuses on a category of difference - dwarfism, deafness, autism - or a characteristic or topic much, much larger (he interviews the mother of one of the Columbine shooters.)

The entire book is brilliant and moving - because Solomon approaches every interview and every sentence with the deepest empathy, patience, and insight. No purient curiosity. He treats everyone involved with maximum dignity, including the reader.

These are complex and interesting topics, and he explores all sides and the many challenges and conflicting feelings involved. But the two things that stood out for me all the way through were empathy and love.

I am certain this book has made / will make me a better parent and person. It’s very long (!!) but a must read!

(By the way, I listened to it on audio. Solomon reads it slowly, so I upped the speed to 1.5x/1.75x)

I also read Far from the Tree last year, and really learned a lot from it, although I did have to pick and choose chapters since I got it through Libby, and wouldn’t have made it through the whole book before I had to return it. Someone else mentioned The Indifferent Stars Above which was also a very informative, albeit often harrowing, read about the Donner Party. So many mistakes, so much hubris. In a much lighter vein, 100 Places to See After You Die is a quick, cheeky, surface-level survey by Ken Jennings about how various religions and cultures interpret what the afterlife might be like.

So I just read an excerpt from this book and adding to my TBR list. Thank you !

https://parents.simonandschuster.com/9780743236720

[Anonymous]

Good Morning, Monster

Stories of individuals’ healing process through trauma with the help of a therapist.

[Anonymous]

The Salt Stones by Helen Whybrow.

A woman’s Memoir about raising a flock of heritage sheep in Vermont over 25 years also about land stewardship and farming interwoven with an ancient French shepherds text. Really lovely and timeless almost.

Reading 1929 now…having a hard time getting over the hump. I hope it pulls me in soon!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dark Renaissance. It is about Christopher Marlowe, written by Stephen Greenblatt, and I'm reading it right now and I can't put it down.

Really good writer -Also ‘Will in the World’ and ‘Swerve’ if you like that sort of thing.

Thoroughly researched contextual explanations of how and why of English language foundational scribblers

[Anonymous]

It wasn’t this year but When Breathe Becomes Air is a phenomenal book written by a nuero surgeon about life and death/ dying.