Nonfiction November

One of my favorite booktubers, ABOOKOLIVE, is the host of Nonfiction November. Let’s ignore the fact that we’re into the first week of the month already…mkay?! The goal is to simply get people to read more nonfiction. If you typically read none and you read one, you win! And, if you like nonfiction and read it regularly, add a few more to your TBR. It is one of my favorite reading challenges. Whenever I’m in a reading slump I gravitate towards nonfiction. Before Google and Reddit rabbit holes to follow, there was the library filled with books on everything to memoirs to essay collections to true crime and those are the books that comforted me!

There are no real rules but she does offer a few one-word prompts that may be interpreted in any way you want. I’ve added a bunch of amazing recs to my Goodreads list and since I’m also doing NaNoWriMo this month(!) I’m only going to attempt to one book for each prompt.

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Design: Slugfest: Inside the Epic, 50-year Battle between Marvel and DC by Reed Tucker This was a recommendation from Olive. I chose it for design not only because I love the comic book designed cover but also because the creators of both Marvel and DC have meticulously designed the worlds their characters inhabit. I’m a fairly new fan to the MCU and I’m excited to learn more about the history of these two giants of the industry.

Sport: Unnecessary Roughness: Inside the Trial and Final Days of Aaron Hernandez by Jose Baez I had only marginally been keeping track of the Aaron Hernandez saga. Hernandez was a star athlete and professional football player who was charged and convicted of murder. This book is written by the famed defense attorney, Jose Baez who not only defended him in a second double-murder trial but ultimately got him acquitted. It is an in-depth dive into the last year of the life of Hernandez and details only Baez had access to. I’m interested in reading more about what makes a man who seemingly had everything fall, how CTE may have played a part in his crimes and a closer look at the justice system.

True: A Deal with the Devil: The Dark and Twisted True Story of One of the Biggest Cons in History by Blake Ellis Because real life is always stranger and more interesting than fiction! My interest in true crime has changed a lot in the past few years. But, I find fraud and the people that perpetuate them endlessly interesting. This book is an investigation into a criminal enterprise that defrauded people to the tune of $200 million dollars through various mail-order schemes.

Voice: Motherhood So White: A Memoir of Race, Gender, and Parenting in America by Nefertiti Austin When I started my journey of new motherhood over again I noticed immediately that finding resources and stories about what parenting is like for black mothers in the 21st century were virtually nonexistent. I am a black stay at home mom of a young child and while I don’t find my circumstance particularly extraordinary, seeing my journey reflected in fiction or nonfiction is relatively rare. I chose this story about a single black woman’s choice to become a mother through adoption because these voices and stories need to be told.