I truly cannot believe that it is (almost) November once again! It doesn’t feel real that Nonfiction November 2024 has already come around, but I’ll never pass up an opportunity to tell you about my favorite books.
Our prompt this week is from Heather at Based on a True Story, who asks what books we’ve read this year and what our favorites were.
My “read” list for this year wins the award for my shortest list yet! Like I said, this year has flown by and I’ve felt that I haven’t had much time or energy for reading. The upside is that I didn’t waste any time on books I didn’t like. For that reason, it’s hard to pick a favorite. If I had to, I would say my favorites have been Disability Visibility and Inventing Reality. I can’t wait to dive into these two books more during weeks three and four!
In the meantime, I’d love to know what nonfiction books you’ve read this year or if there are any you have your eye on. If you write a blog post for this Nonfiction November 2024 prompt, don’t forget to link up on Heather’s post!
I loved Caste.
Many forget that the contemporary state of Israel is rooted in the aftermath of the Holocaust. During the Holocaust the Jews had no place to take shelter and even the US sent whole shiploads of Jews back to Germany to end up in the dead camps. After the war they said ” Never again” and big parts of the Jewish diaspora moved back to their place of origin.
I loved The Warmth of Other Suns a few years ago, and Caste is on my must read list for 2025.
I look forward to hearing more about Disability Visibility and Inventing Reality in the coming weeks!
I agree the year has absolutely flown by. Glad to be hosting the challenge with you again Rebekah.
I’m new to your blog – through finding you on Nonfiction November. I’ve been reading a few books about Palestine and Israel trying to understand the conflict and have recently started to read Khalidi’s The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine. I’m also reading Enemies and Neighbours: The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine, which is an immensely detailed book. So I’m interested in the other books in your post. Light on Gaza looks a real eye opener to what has been going on there!
I definitely recommend Light in Gaza! It is less politically dense than the Hundred Years’ War and a little easier to read in my opinion.
I’m glad to have found your blog through Nonfiction November. Inventing Reality sounds like a particularly important book right now. Thanks for suggesting it.
I really enjoyed it and recommend it 🙂
It seems you’ve gone down a rabbit hole of revolutionary politics and now only read books that reinforce your current worldview. Looking back through this blog and watching you transform yourself to match whatever leftist activists want you to be obsessed with is fairly sad. Especially since it culminates in you voting against your own interest for reasons of ideological purity. Hopefully one day you can recover that sense of curiosity, creativity, and skepticism. If such things were ever truly there.
I would love to read many books on your list, especially the books on Palestine. Is there any of these that you would recommend the most or to read first? Thanks for sharing!
As a North American, I found a lot to consider in Ronald Wright’s Stolen Continents, though it was written years ago. BDS : boycott, divestment, sanctions : the global struggle for Palestinian rights by Omar Barghouti gave me a better understanding of the colonialism in Israel and the occupied territories. To help me stay sane in these challenging times, I make things. Machine Quilting: The Basics & Beyond by Liz Witzenburg gave me the information and inspiration to finish a project that got me through last winter.
That’s funny, I’ve also gotten more into crafting to stay sane!
I would say start with Light in Gaza, especially the chapter by Refaat Alareer!
I’ve read fewer nonfiction books this year than in normal years, too. I’m hoping to end the year with a couple of big nonfiction books, one of which is Team of Rivals.
That’s definitely valid. Maybe we could count the year in pages instead of books. Sometimes it doesn’t look like as much but maybe you’ve read a book that’s 4x longer than others!