2023 Favorite Reads: Nonfiction

Last week I listed my top ten fiction reads from last year. This week it’s Nonfiction. Once again, I did not include any rereads. Only books I’ve never read before were up for this list.

#10. Year Round Indoor Salad Garden by Peter Burke
This book was so exciting. It shows how to get into a cycle indoors of growing your own sprouted greens for salads, then composting the remains so that you can use the old soil to sprout new greens. I haven’t had a chance to start doing any of it yet because of my pregnancy (it’s just a really bad time for me to start a new big project like this) but once I find a new rhythm as a mother of three, this is something I want to do. I love salad.

#9. Unruly: The Ridiculous History of England’s Kings and Queens by David Mitchell
This humorous history book combined two things I love: British history and comedian David Mitchell. It was so delightful and funny. I throughly enjoyed it. I recommend listening to it on audio, read by David Mitchell.
CONTENT WARNING: contains significant profanity

#8. Counting Descent by Clint Smith
This was a beautiful book of poetry. The poems explored themes of family, love, and racial tension. It was remarkable and poignant.

#7. I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
This child actor’s memoir about dealing with her toxic mother resonated deeply with me, which is strange considering my mother never tried to push me into acting (it was cosmetology and nursing). McCurdy tells her story with humor, but it is still dark at times due to the nature of her struggles while growing up.
CONTENT WARNING: contains graphic sexual situations pertinent to the story

#6. Every Tool’s a Hammer: Lessons from a Lifetime of Making by Adam Savage
Adam Savage, I love you so. My husband and I were so excited to see this book come out (we are huge Mythbusters fans) and listened to the audiobook together on a road trip. It was read by Savage too, so that added to the fun. The book is about his experiences as a maker of things and gave practical advice on how to create. It was really a book about art, not just building, or creating in general.

#5. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel A van der Kolk
I’ve read a lot of books about trauma and toxic relationships trying to make sense of my childhood and my mental health. This book was super helpful for me in understanding what trauma has done to my brain and giving me many different ways to find healing. It gave me hope and goals to move towards.

#4. The Wager: a Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder by David Grann
This book was the thrilling true story of a British shipwreck and the complicated aftermath when the survivors are stranded on a remote island. The writing is sharp and the story gripping.

#3. Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport
This book was required reading for one of my husband’s seminary classes. I overheard some of it while he was listening and it piqued my interest. It was full of helpful advice for how to teach yourself to focus when our culture encourages us to split our focus between so many things at once. While not itself a Christian book, it was a great companion to a few of the more theological books I read this year about Sabbath rest and culling the clutter of our lives to focus on the LORD.

#2. Village of Secrets: Defying Nazis in Vichy France by Caroline Moorhead
This book centered around a remote plateau in France where a group of people, including several Protestant Pastors, worked together to hide Jews and Nazi resisters during the German occupation of WWII. Like any book that touches on the Holocaust, it was dark, but also so hopeful. Practically the whole village banned together to protect the innocent, expecting nothing in return. If you like history, you need to read this one. I will never forget it.

#1. The Glass Castle: a Memoir by Jeannette Walls
This beautiful and heartbreaking book was about the difficult childhood of writer Jeannette Walls. The struggles of her and her siblings with poverty and unstable parents was hard to read, but ultimately rewarding in its poignancy and how it shows the struggles of a child who both respects and resents their parents.

Have you read any of these? See anything you think you might want to add to your own TBR? Let me know in the comments.

Happy reading!