I read fiction for pleasure and relaxation. Even if the stories are dark and twisty, I can sink into them and remove myself from life’s realities for awhile. Case in point, one of my all-time favorite novels that I still can’t resist recommending:
Whenever I pick up a work of nonfiction, though, I feel caught in a kind of hyper-reality, always aware of the time and place of its narrative. I read a lot of history for work: research, course prep, book reviewing. I can’t set aside my training as a historian even when I pick up a nonfiction book for leisure reading. My critical senses are always tingling.
Of the many nonfiction books that crossed my desk and/or found their way into my book bag in 2017, there are a couple–one old, one new–that stand out.
Malcolm’s book is a modern classic, a fascinating analysis of the life of Sylvia Plath told through an examination of the various biographies written about Plath. It’s a near perfect meditation on the struggle to control the meaning of a life.
I rarely read memoirs or true crime stories, but I was intrigued that Marzano-Lesnevich chose to combine both in this inventive hybrid. She is such a talented writer that both parts of the story are almost equally strong, with the whole book a compulsive page-turner.
On Facebook and Twitter, I co-moderate Nonfiction Fans, a discussion group that launched in early 2017. (Join up and/or follow to get some of the best nonfiction recommendations, especially ones by and/or about women.) Because of that group, I’ve read some wonderful books, including:
Hindley has written a terrific story and a stellar work of history.
Though I rarely read true crime stories, if they are set in the past, I can’t resist. Cox’s book is especially valuable for its emphasis on race.
Finally, a few other works of history I liked in 2017:
I have memories of this event, and Toobin recounts it with compelling precision.
Most of my World War II reading (and writing) focuses on the Pacific theater, so I enjoyed expanding my knowledge of the European theater with Olson’s book.
An absolutely fascinating slice of early American history.
Anyone who loved The Devil in the White City should definitely read Creighton’s tale of the 1901 Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, New York.
Renaissance rivalry among French queens. A great examination of the monarchy through the experiences of women.
And that’s a wrap of my 2017 reading.
Theresa Kaminski 
I adored Last Hope Island and really hadn’t given a thought before to how it was a wee island and really the last ‘man’ standing against Hitler. It also made me more aware of the leaders of other countries that, again, I hadn’t pictured before. It’s always country X fell, then country Y, but they never talk about their former rulers had to go somewhere or fall themselves. (I swear, I’m not as ditsy as those comments sound, only not used to so many smallish countries being so close together. Live here in the vast US, it is easy to forget!)
As a companion piece to that, might I suggest, Darkest Hour by Anthony McCarten? It was as uplifting in such a trying time for Britain as Last Hope Island was.
As to the rest of your list, loved Karen Cox’s book and have added the rest to my wishlist, thanks!
LikeLike
Thanks for the McCarten recommendation, Gwen. And I liked Last Hope Island for the same reasons you did–the fascinating stories about what happened to leaders in other the countries and the fact that an island nation was holding out against the Nazis. An island!
LikeLike