Nonfiction November: Best Nonfiction Books Of 2020 (So Far)

 

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Welcome to Nonfiction November, a reading challenge where bookworms devote a whole month to reading nonfiction. When most people think of nonfiction, they picture college textbooks. You know, the dry, tedious stuff. Today, I’m going to bust that stereotype. Nonfiction can be creative, entertaining, engaging, insightful, and beautifully written. It can keep you on the edge of your seat or make you laugh while you’re learning about the world.

Do you want to participate in Nonfiction November but don’t know what to read? I’ve got you covered! Here are the most thought-provoking nonfiction books I’ve read in 2020 (so far).

 

Nonfiction That Made Me Think In 2020

 

 

 

 

The Residence: Inside The Private World Of The White House by Kate Andersen Brower

 

America’s First Families are unknowable in many ways. No one has insight into their true character like the people who serve their meals and make their beds every day. Full of stories and details by turns dramatic, humorous, and heartwarming, The Residence reveals daily life in the White House as it is really lived through the voices of the maids, butlers, cooks, florists, doormen, engineers, and others who tend to the needs of the President and First Family.

These dedicated professionals maintain the six-floor mansion’s 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, 28 fireplaces, three elevators, and eight staircases, and prepare everything from hors d’oeuvres for intimate gatherings to meals served at elaborate state dinners. Over the course of the day, they gather in the lower level’s basement kitchen to share stories, trade secrets, forge lifelong friendships, and sometimes even fall in love.

 

Why I found it interesting: Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the gates of the White House? What does it take to keep life in that mansion running smoothly? Who are those ushers and maids who scramble out of the way when journalists with cameras enter the room? This book combines archival research and interviews with retired White House staff to answer those questions. It’s a fascinating look at recent American history with bits of gossip and a few scandals thrown in. It will make you laugh and break your heart. If you love Downton Abbey, this is a must-read.

 

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I’ll Be Gone In The Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search For The Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara

 

For more than ten years, a mysterious and violent predator committed fifty sexual assaults in Northern California before moving south, where he perpetrated ten sadistic murders. Then he disappeared, eluding capture by multiple police forces and some of the best detectives in the area.

Three decades later, Michelle McNamara, a true crime journalist who created the popular website TrueCrimeDiary.com, was determined to find the violent psychopath she called "the Golden State Killer." Michelle pored over police reports, interviewed victims, and embedded herself in the online communities that were as obsessed with the case as she was.

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark —the masterpiece McNamara was writing at the time of her sudden death—offers an atmospheric snapshot of a moment in American history and a chilling account of a criminal mastermind and the wreckage he left behind. It is also a portrait of a woman’s obsession and her unflagging pursuit of the truth.

 

Why I found it interesting: McNamara’s true crime book has been causing a buzz online since it came out. I can understand why. The Golden State Killer is a creepy dude who terrorized suburban California neighborhoods, but he didn’t get as much media attention as other serial killers, so his crimes aren’t well-known. This book focuses partially on him and partially on the author, an amateur detective who put her own health at risk to uncover his identity. It’s an examination of obsession: the obsession with committing murders and with solving them. After you read the book, please watch the documentary series! The author died before finishing the book, and the documentary helped satisfy my lingering curiosity about her life. I was riveted by both the book and the show.

 

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Becoming by Michelle Obama

In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America—the first African-American to serve in that role—she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments.

Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms.

 

Why I found it interesting: It’s surprisingly relatable. On the surface, it seems like most readers would have nothing in common with Michelle Obama, but she wasn’t always a rich celebrity. In her memoir, she talks about perfectionism, infertility, health problems, money troubles, life-altering career switches, and the struggles of balancing work and family. She is very honest about her struggles. Pick up the audiobook, if you can. Michelle Obama narrates it herself.

 

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Nomadland: Surviving America In The Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder

 

From the beet fields of North Dakota to the National Forest campgrounds of California to Amazon’s CamperForce program in Texas, employers have discovered a new, low-cost labor pool, made up largely of transient older Americans. Finding that social security comes up short, often underwater on mortgages, these invisible casualties of the Great Recession have taken to the road by the tens of thousands in late-model RVs, travel trailers, and vans, forming a growing community of nomads: migrant laborers who call themselves “workampers.”

On frequently traveled routes between seasonal jobs, Jessica Bruder meets people from all walks of life: a former professor, a McDonald’s vice president, a minister, a college administrator, and a motorcycle cop, among many others—including her irrepressible protagonist, a onetime cocktail waitress, Home Depot clerk, and general contractor named Linda May.

In a secondhand vehicle she christens “Van Halen,” Bruder hits the road to get to know her subjects more intimately. Accompanying Linda May and others from campground toilet cleaning to warehouse product scanning to desert reunions, then moving on to the dangerous work of beet harvesting, Bruder tells a compelling, eye-opening tale of the dark underbelly of the American economy—one that foreshadows the precarious future that may await many more of us. At the same time, she celebrates the exceptional resilience and creativity of these quintessential Americans who have given up ordinary rootedness to survive. Like Linda May, who dreams of finding land on which to build her own sustainable “Earthship” home, they have not given up hope.

 

Why I found it interesting: “Interesting” is the wrong word. “Distressing” might be better. It’s a fascinating and terrifying peek into my future. I’ve always had low-paying jobs, sometimes in campgrounds. It’s very possible that I’ll end up living in a van and sleeping in the parking lot of an Amazon warehouse someday. The book is not completely depressing, though! There are nomads who have embraced their lifestyle and formed tight-knit communities of van-dwellers. They prefer being “houseless” to being tied down in one spot. Honestly, the freedom of their lifestyle is kind of appealing.

 

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Strangers In Their Own Land: Anger And Mourning On The American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild

 

In Strangers in Their Own Land, the renowned sociologist Arlie Hochschild embarks on a thought-provoking journey from her liberal hometown of Berkeley, California, deep into Louisiana bayou country—a stronghold of the conservative right. As she gets to know people who strongly oppose many of the ideas she champions, Hochschild nevertheless finds common ground and quickly warms to the people she meets—among them a Tea Party activist whose town has been swallowed by a sinkhole caused by a drilling accident—people whose concerns are actually ones that all Americans share: the desire for community, the embrace of family, and hopes for their children.

 

Why I found it interesting: I guess we have to get personal for a paragraph: I have extremely complicated feelings about this book. Even though the first edition was written before Donald Trump became relevant, it still falls into the “understanding Trump voters” genre of media. I’ve been inundated with that type of media over the last 5-ish years. I’m tired. I’m conflicted about this book because I want to know my fellow humans, but I’m surrounded by Trump-lovers in my real life, and they’ve made zero effort to understand the “non-Trump voters.” Mostly, they mock them. I feel like I’m doing all the work in the “understanding others” group project. If you’re in my situation, books like this are exhausting to read.

Okay, enough whining.

Strangers In Their Own Land is a psychological study of the Tea Party. That makes it sound boring. It’s not! I promise! It’s a compassionate examination of coastal Louisiana and the people who live there. If you’re interested in environmental issues, then please read this book. I learned a lot about the impact that oil and chemical companies are having on the health of people and wildlife. I also learned why people choose to ignore problems that are literally killing them. This book is captivating, eye-opening, provocative, infuriating.

 

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Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover

 

Tara Westover was 17 the first time she set foot in a classroom. Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, she prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling home-canned peaches and sleeping with her "head-for-the-hills bag." In the summer she stewed herbs for her mother, a midwife and healer, and in the winter she salvaged in her father's junkyard.

Her father forbade hospitals, so Tara never saw a doctor or nurse. Gashes and concussions, even burns from explosions, were all treated at home with herbalism. The family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education and no one to intervene when one of Tara's older brothers became violent.

Then, lacking any formal education, Tara began to educate herself. She taught herself enough mathematics and grammar to be admitted to Brigham Young University, where she studied history, learning for the first time about important world events like the Holocaust and the civil rights movement. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge. Only then would she wonder if she'd traveled too far, if there was still a way home.

 

Why I found it interesting: If I had to choose one favorite nonfiction book of 2020, I’d reluctantly pick this one. “Reluctantly” because I’ve read a lot of thought-provoking books this year. Educated lives up to the hype! I read it way back in January and still find myself thinking about the resilient author and how she took control of her life. If you are interested in a topic, go learn about it. Follow your curiosity. Discover you passions. You never know how far your interests will take you.

 

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Talk to me about the most interesting nonfiction books you’ve read this year.