Nonfiction November - Reads Like Fiction

Week four of Nonfiction November!  Thanksgiving has had me running everywhere, and I almost forgot to post!  But I love this book I’m highlighting today, so I can’t miss sharing it with you.

Week 4: (Nov. 19 to 23) – Reads Like Fiction (Rennie @ What’s Nonfiction): Nonfiction books often get praised for how they stack up to fiction. Does it matter to you whether nonfiction reads like a novel? If it does, what gives it that fiction-like feeling? Does it depend on the topic, the writing, the use of certain literary elements and techniques? What are your favorite nonfiction recommendations that read like fiction? And if your nonfiction picks could never be mistaken for novels, what do you love about the differences?

Reads Like Fiction

Nonfiction is hard for me to get through.  Even if I am hungry for knowledge on a certain topic, I simply just read it more slowly than I read a novel. 

There are times when I like to sit with a pencil and underline important facts or jot notes on interesting parts.  It is important to learn from factual sources.

But I just love reading stories.  The characters pull me into their world.  The descriptions pull me into that time and place.  So, writing a nonfiction work that reads like fiction?  Yes, please, I want it!

Often biographies and memoirs are the easiest genres to have “fiction-y” nonfiction.  And my pick for this theme is an autobiography.

Or you could call it a parenting self-help book.

Which, I think makes it the best of all the worlds.

Bringing Up Bébé

The book Bringing Up Bébé is the only parenting book that I finished all the way through.  Not only did I feel like I learned a ton, I was cracking up laughing half the time.  And I felt like I was Pamela’s best friend just having a coffee with her as she imparted all her self-deprecating wisdom.

An American woman marries and Englishman and they move to Paris.  As they begin to start their family, Pamela is struck by the behavior of the French kids.  They don’t throw tantrums.  They eat their vegetables.  They play independently while their moms have a conversation.

*jaw drop*

So, Pamela set out on a mission to find the key to French parenting.

She takes you through being pregnant, teaching your baby to sleep, introducing a toddler to gourmet vegetables, giving your child choices, helping your child practice waiting and much more.  All through the story of her own motherhood experiences.

I laughed at her mistakes.  I underlined all the details.  And I dog-eared the pages with the recipes. 

She also wrote a companion book: Bébé Day by Day that is essentially the spark notes for this book without her autobiography running through it.  My copy had it in the back, and I made my husband read it. 

Basically, the French believe the child is capable of learning anything (yes, even how to sleep through the night!), but also they are not the center of the universe.  French parents have a balance between their adult lives and the lives of their children.  Not because they believe the child is less important than the adults, but because they believe everyone in the family has an important place and needs to be met.  

The French view parenting as éducation – it is teaching them everything they need for life.

Read if…

You are thinking of starting a family

You have young kids at home

You have nieces or nephews or grandchildren

You love to learn about other cultures and laugh along the way!

Nonfiction

I have been trying to expand my nonfiction reading. But I have been stuck reading the same two nonfiction books for quite a while.  Neither read like fiction at all, so I’m thinking that maybe I should make a change for my next nonfiction book. 

And I’m thinking I should probably go back to biography or memoir-type.

I really admire all of you out there who read nonfiction that does not have plot arcs and interesting characters to pull you in and keep you engaged.  You inspire me.  And that is something I need to work on.

I can’t wait to go through the Nonfiction November challenge to get some more book recommendations!

Head over to What's Nonfiction for the rest of the Nonfiction November posts for this week.

What are you reading that reads like fiction?  What should I read next?

Happy Reading!

Hannah

Nonfiction November- Be the Expert

Now that I’ve discovered Nonfiction November I’m much more motivated to make a dent in my nonfiction TBR list.  This week’s theme is become the expert, and I hope to become an expert on the three books I have for you today!

Be The Expert/Ask the Expert/Become the Expert (Hosted by Julie at Julz Reads)
Three ways to join in this week! You can either share three or more books on a single topic that you have read and can recommend (be the expert), you can put the call out for good nonfiction on a specific topic that you have been dying to read (ask the expert), or you can create your own list of books on a topic that you’d like to read (become the expert).

 Play

As a former teacher and current mom to littles, I have seen first-hand how play informs a child’s life and view of the world.  Not only is play fun and a great way to unwind, kids learn so much through it!

It is so interesting that people have been researching play for years!  Who knew?  And, now, I want to know everything they have discovered.  So, for this Nonfiction November post I am choosing “Become the Expert.”

Play How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul by Stuart Brown

From the cover:

AS Dr. Stuart Brown illustrates, play is fun, but it is anything but trivial.  It is a basic biological drive as integral to our health as sleep or nutrition.  When we play, we are open to possibility and the sparks of new insights.  Play-defined as any kind of purposeless, all-consuming, restorative activity- is the single most significant factor in determining our success and happiness.

Why I’m interested:

I’m particularly interested in how our brains are affected by play. 

Science actually has something to say about playing.  We all have memories of favorite play experiences from when we were little, and this book tells us what effect that had on our brains and the rest of our lives.  The author has esteemed qualifications such as being a medical doctor, clinical researcher, and a psychiatrist. 

The Power of Play Learning what comes Naturally by David Elkind

From the cover:

While parents may worry that their children will be at a disadvantage if they are not engaging in constant, explicit learning or using the latest “educational” games, child-development expert David Elkind reassures us that unscheduled, imaginative play goes a long way toward preparing children for both academic and social success. 

Why I’m interested:

When I was teaching, I’d listen to students list out their after-school activities and schedules for the week.  It was shocking.  These parents really wanted their kids to be the absolute best versions of themselves, but the kids were exhausted.  Elkind’s book promises to show how play is actually a vital part of growing up.

Free to Learn Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life by Peter Gray

From the cover:

In Free to Learn, developmental psychologist Peter Gray argues that our children, if free to pursue their own interests through play, will not only learn all the need to know but will do so with energy and passion.  Children come into this world burning to learn, equipped with the curiosity, playfulness, and sociability to direct their own education.  Yet we have squelched such instincts in a school module originally developed to indoctrinate, not to promote intellectual growth.

Why I’m interested:

This book seems to take a specific look at our schools.  If parents are causing a lack of play in kids, surely schools are, too.  Think about your kid’s kindergarten verses your own.  I played in creative centers, dressed up, explored arts and crafts, and kids today learn how to write complete sentences.

Final Thoughts

All three of these books have consequences for all of us, regardless of whether we currently have young children or not.  Let’s take a close look at our culture and see how it is impacting our own lives.

Be sure to check out Julz Reads for the rest of the Nonfiction November link ups for this week!

And check out last week's Nonfiction November

Happy Reading!

Hannah