Fall is my favorite time of year. As I write this I’m bundled up in a sweatshirt, listening to the rain outside, while my house smells like apples. It’s a bittersweet time as I say goodbye to the scary fun of Halloween, but I’m reassured because November has something just for itself: Nonfiction November! For me, Christmas is only welcome once I’ve done my annual nonfiction roundup.
Heather at Based on a True Story is our host for this week, asking, “What books have you read? What were your favorites? Have you had a favorite topic? Is there a topic you want to read about more? What are you hoping to get out of participating in Nonfiction November?”
Without further ado, the following are my nonfiction reads for 2025.
I was a bit surprised that I was able to top my smallest stack of 11 books in 2024 with a whopping eight books in 2025, but there are some years when life or mental health simply get in the way of reading. As a primary reader of nonfiction, it takes more work for me to get into the right mindset to learn about increasingly difficult topics than it would for a just-for-fun read. For example, I was reading The Revolution Will Not Be Funded during my last suffocating months at Americans United, where I was experiencing the exact same troubles the book described about the nonprofit industrial complex. After every day of being exhausted from a toxic work environment, I could hardly get myself to read even a page or two about others’ experiences in those same situations.
While it was a difficult year, I still think it’s worth congratulating myself on having the emotional energy to finish seven books and start an eighth. Light reading has never suited me; I would rather push through books on CIA torture and coups, on police abolition, and on Zionist pinkwashing, even if they have to be read sporadically. After all, this post is about celebrating my year in nonfiction, and that includes celebrating the little wins.
Thanks for sharing your year in nonfiction. I hope your work situation has improved.
I applaud you for choosing the hard books. I struggle with that myself. But I added Africa is Not a Country to my TBR list. I’ve had it up to here with American politics. So much so that my husband and I left the country.
I always love seeing your list because you don’t back away from difficult topics. Thanks for sharing these insightful titles. I’ll go back through your list and find one that I have the capacity for at the moment….
Good for you at pushing through some tough reads!
You always have books that I’ve never seen! I’m making note of your “difficult books” and want to challenge myself in 2026 to read at least one!! That will be my little win! Thanks for your list and hosting this challenge.
Africa Is Not a Country is on my TBR–a couple of these are going there now. Good list.