Hello Patrons! 🙂

It’s that time of year again… book gifting time! If your anything like myself, you know that gifting season is just an excuse to give your loved ones books. But what book to give to whom!? I will try to recommend some non-fiction books today to try and help with that. (Fiction is tomorrow!)

I broke down these recommendations into several categories. First starting with Biographies, then Humor, followed by Current Events (I.e. Race, Immigration, Feminism etc.) books, “Ingenuity” books (otherwise known as A Person (or Persons) Did A Thing!), and ending with Graphic Memoirs. (Books about books will be it’s own separate category of recommendations.)

Let’s get into it!

Biographies:

I have a lot of recommendations for this category because I read a ton of biographies this year.

The Answer is… Reflections on My Life by Alex Trebek. This is for the Jeopardy fan in your life. Alex wrote this book to talk about his life and it is so good! I learned so much and it made me like Trebek even more than I already did. I highly recommend the audiobook because Trebek (as well as former contestant Ken Jennings) narrate.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Life by Jane Sherron De Hart. For fans of the Notorious RBG in your life. Like with Alex’s Trebek’s biography I learned so much about Justice Ginsberg. The narrator of the audiobook takes some getting used to but I enjoyed myself while listening.

Grant by Ron Chernow. For the presidential historian in your life. I heard Ron Chernow had published this book but at first wasn’t super interested in reading it. I knew some basic knowledge of President Grant but not a ton. Around the time of my birthday this year I had no idea what I wanted to put on my list. I decided to put Grant on my list on a whim as something to listen to while at work. I was gripped from the time I started listening to when I finished it a couple weeks later. I was so immersed in Grant’s life. Chernow knows how to write history.

Becoming by Michelle Obama and A Promised Land by Former President Barack Obama. If someone in your life needs some escapism from the past year (or four). I highly recommend both books on audio. Both Michelle and Barack have such calming voices. (I couldn’t recommend one without the other!)

Over the Top: A Raw Journey to Self Love by Jonathan Van Ness. For someone in your life who loves Netflix’s Queer Eye. I cried while reading this book. Like ugly tears. JVN goes into detail about all aspects of his life. (Another one that I highly recommend listening to! JVN narrates it and when I wasn’t ugly crying I was laughing out loud!)

The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. For the History Buff in your life. I read these back to back at the beginning of 2020 and I loved them both so much. (trigger warnings for violence and sexual assault in Caged Bird). I knew absolutely nothing about Malcolm X, nor about Angelou. My mind was blown! Both books should be taught in high schools.

(I also recommend Catherine the Great by Robert K. Massie and Romantic Outlaws by Charlotte Gordon. They are both about super interesting women in times where woman were thought of to just be pretty objects).

Humor

Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby. (All Samantha Irby is fantastic, I just chose the book that I read first for this list). This is for anyone who just wants to laugh. (Don’t we all?) I didn’t have super high expectations for this book so I was glad when I actually ended up liking it. Irby has a way of writing about the mundanity of life and making it funny.

Current Events:

These books are for the people in your life who want to be a little more woke.

Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in America by Laila Lalami. Lalami talks about what it means to actually be an immigrant in the United States. This book made me angry about the immigration system in America, which was sort of the point. (Definitely recommend the audiobook!).

White Fragility: Why It’s so Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo. DiAngelo is a diversity coach, and she breaks down why exactly white people haven’t been able to talk about race and why that’s detrimental. I do not recommend the audiobook the narrator isn’t good.

How to Be An Antiracist by Ibram X Kendi. I read this book and White Fragility in June around the time of George Floyd’s murder and subsequent Black Lives Matter rallies. This was so eye opening. Listen to this on audio, Kendi narrates the audiobook.

Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Brittany Cooper. This was my most recent listen. I felt the rage and I learned a lot. Pick this up!

Ingenuity!:

This is for anyone who wants to know how stuff got done!

Hidden Figures by Margo Lee Shetterly. This talks about how a group of black female mathematicians helped Nasa put a man on the moon!

The Splendid and The Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz by Erik Larson. This follow’s Churchill’s first year as Prime Minister of England and Nazi’s bombing England. The audiobook is narrated by a posh British dude. So good! I knew nothing about Churchill and he was such an interesting dude! (If you like that then try Dead Wake or The Devil In The White City by Erik Larson).

Brave Companions by David McCollough. Several short essays about various interesting folks in history. I enjoyed the audiobook. I learned about people that I didn’t learn about in school.

Graphic Memoirs:

For someone wanting to learn, but who also appreciates graphic novels.

They Called Us Enemy by George Takei. Takei of Star Trek fame, writes about his and his families’ time in Japanese Internment camps during WWII. I was floored. Again this was another topic that ~surprise~ they didn’t teach me in school. (I swear I was taught some American history in school). The art style was great, the story was heart breaking.

The Fire Never Goes Out: A Memoir In Pictures by Noelle Stevenson. Stevenson talks about her struggles with mental illness through out her life and how that affected her career. The art was so beautiful.

Let me know if you read any of these books. Tell me what your reading in the comments below. As always take care of yourselves, wash your hands, wear a mask in public, practice some self care, and…