#NonfictionNovember is a month-long nonfiction reading initiative! We have gathered some of our non-fiction reads here for you.
A Year Full of Celebrations and Festivals
Over 90 fun and fabulous festivals from around the world!
by Claire Grace
Children’s Nonfiction
208 Pages
Published January 5, 2021 by Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
With fact-filled text accompanied by beautifully bright illustrations from the wonderfully talented Chris Corr, prepare yourself for a journey as we travel around the world celebrating and uncovering a visual feast of culture.
I thought this was a beautifully done book. I really enjoyed the illustrations and all of the information on each celebration. The celebrations are broken up into season, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. A variety of cultures and countries are showcased across these pages. Each one gives a summary of the day and why it is important as well as a few little tidbits about the day.
This would make a beautiful gift for any child!
Jenn
🥁🥁🥁🥁
The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music
Dave Grohl
376 pages
Dey Street Books
Boy is that an accurate title! Dave Grohl can really weave a tale!
Heartfelt, genuine, and funny. This book felt like having coffee with a friend while listening to years of old stories and catching up. Grohl is relatable and down to earth, from his love of KFC (with champagne) to fresh pots of coffee (look “Fresh Pots” up on YouTube). He’s a doting girl dad, proud mama’s boy, a believer in the supernatural, and the biggest fan in any room. I’ve always heard that Grohl is the nicest of guys. After listening to his life in his own words, I believe he’s that and more.
But most of all, this book is Dave’s love letter to music. And what a love letter it is!
Grohl has a way with telling a story. I was easily pulled in and hooked until the last note. I couldn’t get enough of his experiences, from being a young rocker (on a $7 a day per diem) to his ongoing, deep friendship with Sir Paul McCartney. And while those stories kept me hanging on, it’s Dave’s utter devotion to his craft and deep adoration of music itself that gave this book heart.
This book is best experienced by combining print and audio. There’s nothing like hearing Dave’s voice tell his story while looking at pictures he’s interspersed throughout the chapters.
If you’re looking for sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll memoir, this isn’t it. (The drug most plentiful in here is caffeine.) This is a genuine guy and his deep love of all things music.
Amy
🌖🌖🌖🌖
The Killers of the Flower Moon
David Grann
359 pages
Doubleday
Greed, white superiority, injustice, and murder. I knew nothing of this historic tragedy prior to reading this book. Grann brings the cold blooded, greed fueled murders of Osage Indians to life through his adept and thorough research. This true crime piece of nonfiction is dense in details and flows slowly. But ultimately the details, and the book as a whole, are necessary and well honor the Osage by highlighting the tragedy and injustice brought upon them.
Amy
Prohibition Wine: A true story of one woman’s daring in Twentieth-Century America
by Marian Knapp
An interesting family history of the Goldberg’s with a focus on Rebecca Goldberg and her foray into making alcohol to support her family during Prohibition.
While interesting information was presented, I wish that the book would have been more storytelling vs simply providing historical information found during research with a few assumptions added in.
As a peak behind the curtain of the early 1900’s, it’s a nice addition to fact gathering and understanding the varied experiences of immigrants that flocked to America.
Tanya
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