November's Reads: Nonfiction

So, November was supposed to be all nonfiction. Which was great. I had 3 books on my list, and I was excited about all of them. Unfortunately, I kind of sabotaged myself by putting other books on hold at the library right at the end of October. So, that happened…

I started out the month reading The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Humphrey Carpenter. If you have any interest in Tolkien, I highly recommend this collection. Tolkien was a prolific letter writer, and this collection omits a lot for the sake of brevity. It’s still a hefty book, though. I found that it took me a little while to get used to his style of writing and the places and people he mentioned frequently. There are copious notes in the back for each letter, but it was kind of a pain for me to flip back and forth, so I mostly ignored them unless I was really confused or wanted more clarification. It’s not a book that’s I could read a little bit every now and then. I found it much easier to follow when I read it consistently, because I could get into that flow more easily.

That’s true of a lot of nonfiction, though. Because of the distractions that I will get into in a moment, I am only about halfway through this, but I’m enjoying it and find it a fascinating look into Tolkien’s mind. I think I’ll share some of my favorite discoveries and excerpts once I finish it. You can also find a selection of his letters on the website for the Tolkien Estate.

I’m also partway through State Names, Seals, Flags, and Symbols: A Historical Guide by Benjamin F. Shearer. This proves my nerdy tendencies. I had been looking into state symbols and facts for a different project, and it made me curious about the history of different state symbols. Unfortunately, this book for some reason has not held my attention very well. On the surface, it seems to be what I wanted. I think the layout is what’s hampering me the most. For example, when learning about state flags, I’d like the picture of the flag to be right there. Instead, all the illustrations are in the center of the book. A lot of books do this; I’m sure it’s a cost-thing. It just made it hard for me to follow along and visualize, so I’m not enjoying this as much as I had hoped I would.

Now to the books I actually finished this month. None of them were nonfiction. The Katie Weldon books I’ve been waiting on for a long time finally came in at the library, so I got distracted…

I mentioned the first book in this series, Peculiar Treasures, in my Young Adult post from August. This month I finally got a chance to finish the series with On a Whim, Coming Attractions, and Finally and Forever. If you’ve been keeping up with my posts, then you know I’ve kind of rediscovered Robin Jones Gunn this year. I’ve gotten to dive back into some nostalgia with her Christy Miller series but also move into the present with her. And this latest series kind of straddled the line, giving me college Katie moving into independent and in love Katie, and that was really fun.

I’m very excited going into December’s genre, which is Historical Fiction. I’m already into my first book. I may also try to slip in a reread of The Hobbit, just because it feels Christmasy to me for some reason (and, of course, I’m in the midst of a bunch of Tolkien information at the moment), but we’ll see. What have you been reading lately? I’d love to hear about in the comments!