Nonfiction Recommendations

This year, I’ve tasked myself with reading (or listening to, which is my preferred method for this genre) one Nonfiction book a month. So far, I’m crushing it with nine reads in August! I want to broaden my horizons and explore more topics through nonfiction since, typically, I am a fiction-only girl. If you are like me, you may struggle to find good nonfiction books that can hold your attention and interest the way fiction can. If that's the case for you, good news! Here are three recommendations for some of my favorite nonfiction reads!

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On Living

On Living by Kerry Egan was required reading in my Autobiography and Memoir class in college, and I can’t thank my professor enough for including it on the syllabus. As a hospice chaplain who had gone through a serious postpartum psychosis, Egan reflects on stories from her clients and how they resonate with her personal experiences in such a heartbreaking and simultaneously heartwarming way. Entangling one experience of her own with experiences from clients, Egan created such a beautiful flow through this memoir that made it hard to take my eyes off the page. Such a captivating read, and quick at only 218 pages, this is my number one recommendation when it comes to nonfiction.

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Columbine

If you can stomach this read, Columbine by Dave Cullen is a masterfully curated look at the events leading up to and the tragic aftermath of the attack on Columbine High School in 1999. As someone who wasn’t alive when the events happened, I hadn’t grasped the full scope of the tragedy and how it was so much more than a school shooting. Composed over ten years since the attack, Cullen’s deep research into Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, as well as the survivors and victims’ families, is immaculate and leaves no room for speculation on the events, which, to me, feels important after such mishandling from police and media regarding the true nature of the incident. I can’t thank Cullen enough for writing such an impartial account while remaining so true to the facts of the events. A hard read for the graphic descriptions and overall emotional theme; however, it is a read for the ages. 

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Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three

The real-life events told in Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three are always so shocking to me. Mara Leveritt tells one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in the United States legal system through a gripping account by an investigative reporter. When three young boys are found dead, a hunt begins for their killer. But, in a turn of events set off by “Satanic Panic,” investigators soon pin the murders on three teenagers: Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley. Heartbreaking to know that for eighteen years, these young men, robbed of their youth, were forced to face a sentence meant for the real killer, who has never been brought to justice. This account takes you through all the mishandlings by officials and explores uninvestigated avenues and leads for the true killer of those three boys. There is a sequel to this novel from one of the wrongfully convicted, Jason Baldwin; I can not attest to the sequel and how well it holds up, as I have not read it yet, but I intend to!

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If any of these reads resonate with you and you decide to read them, please write in and let me know your thoughts!

Xoxo,

Wednesday