Every year, I participate in Nonfiction November. I always have a couple fiction books thrown in to give myself a break from all the nonfiction. But I’ve been thinking about attempting to only read nonfiction for a month one year. I didn’t think that would be this year because I had been in kind of a reading slump going into November and didn’t want to make that worse.

As it turned out, I wasn’t in a reading slump so much as a fiction reading slump. Because I absolutely flew through my nonfiction reads this month. And, since that’s all my brain was apparently interested in, I did inadvertently achieve my goal of reading exclusively nonfiction in the month of November. I read nine great nonfiction books, all of which were four- or five-star reads. So it was a good month. Hopefully we can keep this going into December!

What I Read

The Monster’s Bones: The Discovery of T. Rex and How it Shook Our World by David K. Randall

This was an interesting read in that it’s about dinosaurs, but it’s set in the early twentieth century. The T. rex was discovered in 1902 by Barnum Brown, aka Mr. Bones. And yes, he was named after P. T. Barnum. At the time, the general public was interested in dinosaurs, but their attention wouldn’t last long looking at pieces of what everyone thought were giant lizards. Not a lot of dinosaur skeletons were complete. And none of them were carnivores.

That changed with the discovery of the T. rex. People lined up for blocks when it went on display in 1906. I mean, we all know something that big with teeth like that is a little more interesting than a little hadrosaurus. The discovery and display of T. rex changed pop culture to this day. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It satisfied this little dinosaur geek, but was also a fun history book.

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

Next, I moved on to cults. Which are easily one of the top topics of all the documentaries and docuseries I watch when I’m not reading. I have definitely learned more about how and why people join cults in recent years, but it’s still a little weird to me. I think very few people join a cult knowing that it’s a cult. This book was about the language cults and cult leaders use to draw people in. And it was fascinating.

If you’re one of those people (like me) who see stories about cults and think “I’d never be that stupid,” read this book. It’s really fascinating how language is used to get people to lower their guards just enough to be sucked in. Maybe the fact that I’ve seen so many documentaries about cults is the reason MLMs freak me out. When most people think of cults, they think Jonestown or the Manson Family, right? Both of those cults use the same psychology to get people to join (and stay) as say, Orangetheory or LulaRoe. I really enjoyed learning more about the language that cults use, and how it’s being used in spaces we don’t typically think of as cults.

What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo

I read a few memoirs this month, and they were all so incredible I can’t even pick a favorite. This was the first, and it’s actually the only one written by someone I wasn’t already familiar with. But when I saw it was about a survivor of complex trauma, I immediately picked it up. I also have CPTSD (complex post-traumatic stress disorder) from childhood trauma, and it’s really not something I’ve read much about. Because no one talks about it.

While Stephanie Foo’s experiences are honestly much worse than anything I went through, the result was the same. I really hate when people dismiss someone else’s experience because theirs is “better” or “worse” or whatever (effects of my own trauma). But I said it here because the intensity of the experiences in this book were nothing like I experienced, and it helped me put things into perspective a little. It also made me grateful that my own healing journey – even though it was hell – did not involve tackling the things this author had to relive. This book also validated my healing experiences. It was an absolutely fascinating and incredibly brave memoir. And even though our experiences are very different, it’s really nice to have a book by someone else who has CPTSD as a reminder that I’m not alone (or crazy.)

How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question by Michael Schur

As my “fun read” I picked up a book to discover all of the ways I’m living my life wrong and going to end up in the bad place. Okay, not really. But if you’ve watched The Good Place, you’ll also know that things are not always what they seem. To quote a very wise judge (who is not a burrito), “Earth’s a mess, y’all.” (This is your cue to go watch the show if you haven’t already because it’s amazing.) This book has like a whole chapter on the ethical implications of returning your shopping cart to where you got it. Which now gives me a teensy existential crisis every time I go shopping. It’s fine. I’m fine. Everything is totally fine.

I’ve always wanted to live a better life – not in the sense that my life is Insta-worthy amazing, but in that I contribute to the world in a positive way. After watching The Good Place, I think about that a lot more. And this book did a great job of laying out a lot of the philosophical ideas in a way that normal humans can understand. I loved it. There are some spoilers for The Good Place if you haven’t seen it yet (seriously, it’s on Netflix, you have no excuse). But if you are a fan, most of the cast reads sections of the audiobook and it’s amazing. Highly recommend!

Year of the Tiger: An Activist’s Life by Alice Wong

The second memoir I picked up this month was this one. Which I was a little tempted to put off since I did read Disability Visibility earlier this year, which was edited by Alice Wong. And, honestly, I wasn’t in the best place going into this month and wasn’t sure it was the best idea to read so many books about disability and trauma (both of which I have). But, as this book stared at me from it’s place in my giant TBR pile, my brain kept telling me that I had to read a book called Year of the Tiger IN the year of the tiger.

I am really glad I picked this one up. There were definitely moments that were difficult to read and made me angry at society for being so awful to disabled people. But Alice Wong is so incredibly positive and strong that I came out of this book just being happy that someone like her is out there getting people to see the problems. She’s so inspiring and this book was such a wonderful read. I don’t know how she does everything she does because I’m exhausted from just life and my job (which is why this post is going up so late), but she is an absolutely badass and I love her.

In Defense of Witches: The Legacy of the Witch Hunts and Why Women are Still on Trial by Mona Chollett, translated by Sophie R. Lewis

If there was any year in recent history that really made me thinks of the Salem witch trials, it was 2022. I studied the Salem witch trials in college (and, to a lesser extent, witch trials in other places of the world). And it’s always been clear to me that they were just a war on women. There have been so many times in history that women start to behave like equal human beings, and the men in power find “legal” ways to essentially murder the women who aren’t “behaving” – by calling them witches.

This was a fascinating read because it also made some of the same connections. It’s actually from a French author, so it was a lot more about what’s going on in Europe than America, but I did enjoy that since I wasn’t as familiar with that history or politics. She also talks about the idea of witches throughout history and the kinds of women that would have been called a witch. As an independent, single woman who has no interest in having children and reads everything I can get my hands on, I would absolutely have been called a witch at some point in history. It was definitely interesting to think about.

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk

This book has been recommended to me for years, and I finally read it! As I mentioned earlier, I do have a lot of childhood trauma. That trauma has caused me quite a few health issues. I have been trying to understand more about it, so this book was an obvious one to pick up. And honestly, that’s not really what I took away from this book. I already had some understanding of how trauma affects you physically, and I don’t know that this book went too much more into that.

However, I did learn a lot about why I have so much trauma from certain things. There was one section in particular that just made so many more things make sense for me. It was something that, on the surface, doesn’t seem like a huge deal. And for a long time, I tried to minimize it, even though it made me feel horrible. Now I understand how huge of an effect that thing can have on a small child and also why I feel the way I do about it.

I was curious to read this, particularly since it has been so popular in the past couple years. It’s even a popular TikTok book. I think it’s because so many young (and not so young) adults now not only have effects of childhood trauma, but are dealing with their trauma instead of just ignoring it like our parents and grandparents did. And I’m proud of us. Even if I wish we didn’t need to read books like this to understand why we stay up late reevaluating conversations we had when we were twelve.

Finding Me by Viola Davis

My last memoir of the month was by the brilliant Viola Davis. I am a massive fan of hers, and was very excited to read this one. I’ve read a few celebrity memoirs so far this year, and they’ve all been incredible. This one was no exception. It also kind of fit in with the whole childhood trauma theme I accidentally had for this month. Which is totally fine (I think those are the books I gravitate towards because I identify with them), but just something to be aware of if you’re thinking about reading this book. Which I absolutely recommend you do.

I really don’t have too much to say except this book was amazing. I loved it, and I adored her reading of it. Which she is actually nominated for a Grammy for! And I have my fingers crossed because if she wins, she will be the newest member of the exclusive EGOT club. Which is well deserved.

Queens of the Age of Chivalry by Alison Weir

Finally, I read this beast of a book. This is the third in a series all about England’s Medieval Queens, and it’s so good. Admittedly, it is a bit dry. But that’s to be expected since this is a history book. But it’s still a really great book about a group of pretty badass women. I jokingly refer to this series as The Real Housewives of Medieval England because the drama is just next level. While it can be kind of a lot to get through, especially if you’re not used to reading history, it’s still a really entertaining read. 

*Queens of the Age of Chivalry was provided to me by Random House and Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

What I’m Currently Reading

An Immense World by Ed Yong

I have to cram a lot of books into December to hit my reading goal this year, so naturally my instinct was to pick up this four-hundred and sixty-plus page book about animals. So far, I’m really enjoying it, though. Maybe not the best choice for being able to accomplish my reading goal, but it’s a fun one. 

What I Watched

Blockbuster

Yes, I am one of the old people who remembers the day of blockbusters. I think they closed before I could drive myself, but I vividly remember perusing those shelves. I think I even bought a couple DVDs from there when they went out of business. So this was kind of a cute series about the last Blockbuster. The cast is amazing, and it’s just a lot of fun. 

Spirited

I’m not quite feeling the holiday spirit yet this year, but I couldn’t resist a movie with Will Ferrell, Ryan Reynolds, and Octavia Spencer. This is sort of a retelling of A Christmas Carol, but with a couple twists I did NOT see coming. It’s also a musical, which is always fun. If you’re looking for a Christmas movie that you haven’t seen a million times already (and isn’t a cheesy romance), this one is worth checking out. 

And that’s it for November! This post is up a little late because I’ve just been crazy busy lately. Keep your fingers crossed for me because I have to finish nineteen books this month to meet my reading goal for the year. I have a little over a week off work at the end of the month and I have a feeling it will involve a lot of reading. 

What books do you want to read before 2022 is over? 

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