Nonfiction November: My Year in Nonfiction

Nonfiction November is hosted by several different bloggers and has specific categories for each week. Week 1, Your Year in Nonfiction is probably all I can handle (although it is past Week 1), and I was surprised to find I had read seven nonfiction books, all basically biography/memoir or history and all of which I enjoyed. This is about 3% of my total for the year, which seems typical for me. I do have a few more in mind for November but we shall see.

My March 2023 Reads

I returned to several old but trusted authors in March: Maeve Binchy, Elizabeth Cadell, Agatha Christie, John Grisham, and two Emilie Lorings, after reading her biography, Happy Landings. I was a little disappointed in Trespasses by Louise Kennedy, which was vivid and atmospheric but depressing. However, I enjoyed Jane Austen Cannot Marry, a time travel novel by May McGoldrick, a husband and wife team I have followed since their charming first historical novel, The Thistle and the Rose. That was the first book I bought as an editor at Penguin years ago.

My February 2023 Reads

It is rare to read two books in the same month that you know will make your "Favorites list" at the end of the year but I thought these two historical novels were exceptional; I recommend both.

Historical Fiction

Happy Landings: Emilie Loring’s Life, Writing, and Wisdom by Patti Bender

Title: Happy Landings: Emilie Loring’s Life, Writing, and Wisdom
Author: Patti Bender
Publication: City Point Press, hardcover, 2023
Genre: Biography/Literary Criticism
Setting: Massachusetts and Maine

Patti Bender has created a biography of Boston-born writer Emilie Loring that is part labor of love and part interpretive narrative, describing a life story that was rich in friendship, idealism, and dedication to family – all of which were revealed in her books.

WWW Wednesday – January 25, 2023

WWW Wednesday is hosted by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Dr. Livingstone, I presume?