Nonfiction November - Week 1

 

Nonfiction November has started. Leann@Shelf Aware is guiding us through the first week. The aim is to look at what you have already have read this year, choose your favourite and recommend to others. 

What was your favourite nonfiction read of the year? 

I have read 23 nonfiction books so far. I think that is more than I usually read. Most of them are about history, some biographies and some reflection books. I will not mention all of them here, just a few of my favourites.

The Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood by Jan Marsh about the women who surrounded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Very interesting to see the relationships from the women's point of view, and how it affected their lives. 

The Tigress of Forli (Renaissance Italy's most courageous and notorious countess, Caterina Riario Sforza de' Medici) by Elizabeth Lev. An interesting story of an extraordinary woman surviving politics, intrigues, relationships, plagues, war and much more during the end of the 15th century. Her courage and determination never abandoned her. There is an interesting account of how she is trying to protect her people from the plague. Being in a pandemic where we have all learned a lot about these kinds of things, it is amazing to see how well she knew what to do. The paragraph is quoted in my review under the link. 

Laterna Magica by Ingmar Bergman. A surprisingly interesting account on his life and deeds. A talented man, ideas not always understood by others and a creative vein that took him to world fame.  

Ostend by Volker Weidemann is about a gathering of authors, journalists and creative people in Ostende in 1936. Many of them Jews who felt the tightening grip of the situation in Europe. Mostly it is about Stefan Zweig and Joseph Roth. It is a gripping, but also a sad account of the present time and the prospects for the future.  

Familjen Mann (Die Manns, The Mann Family) by Tilmann Lahme is a biography about Thomas Mann and his family. The family is somewhat dysfunctional and the family's dynamic very strange. As a reviewer from the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung states: "Each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way, says Tolstoy. One should read this book to understand the meaning of it." I can only agree. 

You will find the titles of the others that I have read under Read 2020. Nonfiction books have NF after the title. 

Do you have a particular topic you’ve been attracted to more this year? 

As always my main interest is history, also this year. I have a couple of books on evolution and would like to know more about that. Biographies are also a big interest of mine. In my introduction to Nonfiction November, I choose five subjects: History, Evolution, Literature, Life and Nature. Well, I guess that about covers most subjects?

What nonfiction book have you recommended the most? 

I think I recommend all books by Simon Sebag Montefiore. He is a British historian and author and writes fantastic books. Well researched and are read like a thrilling story. A warning though, they are usually very thick. For those interested in Russian history I can recommend:

Catherine the Great and Potemkin (2001) 

Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar (2003)

Still have two to read on my shelves: 

Jerusalem: The Biography (2011)

Sashenka (2008) (Fiction)

What are you hoping to get out of participating in Nonfiction November?  

I find it interesting to see what other nonfiction readers are interested in. I also hope and am sure I will, be inspired to read something I usually don't read. 

Reading this week

So far I have read two nonfiction books. The Gospel of Eels and an educational book about literature.  I am currently reading Näktergalen (The Nightingale) by Ingela Tägil, a biography about Jenny Lind. She was the most famous opera singer of her time in the mid 19th century.