Lately I’ve been reading a lot of non-fiction.  This just sort of organically happened, although I had made a New Year’s resolution to make a point of reading more.  I’m usually so deep into my fiction choices that I miss out on good non-fiction, although I’ll pick up a biography or a funny memoir now and again.  This year, I wanted to really explore deeper into the genre, while still (hopefully) sticking to choices that created a vivid atmosphere or brought the “characters” to life, which is what I really like in a fiction book.

Here’s what I’ve read, non-fiction style, so far this year:

• The Olive Farm: A Memoir of Life, Love and Olive Oil in the South of France, by Carol Drinkwater – Fun memoir about a couple that buys and renovates a dilapidated olive farm in Provence.  I liked, but didn’t love, this.  There were shades of A Year in Provence (and progeny) but not quite as much charm as Peter Mayle brings.
• Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar, by Cheryl Strayed – The book blog world went crazy over this, and rightfully so.  Strayed’s writing is incredible, and the situations in the book are searing and troubling.
• Walking Home: A Poet’s Journey, by Simon Armitage – Meh.  I love English walks, so I thought this stunt memoir would be fantastic, but I never really engaged with the journey and the ending was infuriating.
• The Perfect Meal: In Search of the Lost Tastes of France, by John Baxter – Fun, fun, fun!  I love France, and I love foodie memoirs, and I really love books that combine the two.
• At Knit’s End: Meditations for Women who Knit Too Much, by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee – I used to be on a huge Yarn Harlot kick and I remembered why when I dusted off this old audiobook.  Fun, funny, and makes me want to buy yarn.
• Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland’s History-Making Race Around the World, by Matthew Goodman – This was just as thrilling to read in 2013 as the original newspaper articles must have been in 1889.  See my post about the book here.
• Leonardo and the Last Supper, by Ross King – Leonardo isn’t my favorite Renaissance artist, although I do love his Ginevra de Benci, but it was fun to learn about his life and artistic process (or lack thereof).
• The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century, by Ian Mortimer – Lately I’ve been wanting to explore more history, and the format of this book (a travel guide) made it so much fun.
• The Most Beautiful Walk in the World: A Pedestrian in Paris, by John Baxter – Two Baxter books this year!  I liked The Perfect Meal better, but this was engaging and fun and made me want to go back to Paris, so win.
• She-Wolves: The Women who Ruled England Before Elizabeth, by Helen Castor – Dense history, but wonderful writing; Castor really brought her “she-wolves” to life.  (And helped me to spot a mistake on the Wikipedia page for Game of Thrones – Isabella wasn’t the “She-Wolf of France” – that was Margaret of Anjou!  Get on that, Wikipedia!)
• Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America’s Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion – Meh, I thought this acclaimed book would be amazing, but I found it hard going.  The middle section, about the Scopes trial itself, was fantastic, but the beginning and ending were not as interesting – skimming happened.

I’m not sure why, but I’ve gravitated toward history more this year; usually I’ll go for biography and memoir, as I mentioned, with a bit of popular social science sprinkled in.  I’m back on the fiction train for the moment, thanks to my library reserves, but I’ve been eyeing the non-fiction choices on my shelves and my library holds.  On deck:

• The Crosswicks Journal, by Madeleine L’Engle (four volumes) – I love L’Engle’s fiction work, and I was lucky enough to meet and talk with her for awhile when I was a kid, but I’ve never explored her non-fiction work.  Must change that soon.
• Provence A-Z and French Lessons, by Peter Mayle – These are the last two of Mayle’s France books that I have yet to read.  His writing takes me back to the sun-soaked hills of Provence.
• The Second World War, by Winston Churchill (six volumes) – I’ve been dying to read this ever since I read (and loved) Churchill’s four-volume History of the English Speaking Peoples.  I have the set of six in paperback and can’t wait to dig in – but when I do, I know this will be an undertaking.
• The Time Traveler’s Guide to Elizabethan England, by Ian Mortimer – I’m #3 on the wait list for this at the library, so I expect to have my copy as soon as the orders come in.  Hurry!
• The Tao of Martha: My Year of Living, or Why I’m Never Getting All That Glitter Off the Dog, by Jen Lancaster – I’ve never read any of Lancaster’s pop memoirs, but I hear this one is hilarious.  I’m #41 on the wait list at the library, and not moving until the orders come in, which I hope they do soon.

Do you ever go on a non-fiction kick?  What types of non-fiction writing do you enjoy?