Life has been a bit hectic lately, so my usual monthly round up for General Non-fiction has become a seasonal round up just this once!

Thankfully, most of you have been reading fiction, so the back log wasn’t too bad.

During the months of September, October and November we read and reviewed 22 non-fiction titles.
Only two of the books had two reviews (Kitty Flanagan’s 488 Rules For Life: The Thankless Art of Being Correct and Anna Funder’s Stasiland), the rest were singletons. Twelve separate reviewers fronted up, with N@ncy topping the list with seven reviews and Jennifer hot on her heels with six. A number of the books have been featured previously while most are brand new to our lists.

Medical and rural health issues were covered with Bush Doctors by Annabelle Brayley |Shelleyrae @ Book’d Out
More personal health matters were explored in Pain and Prejudice by Gabrielle Jackson |Cass Moriarty

While Men at Work: Quarterly Essay 75 by Annabel Crabb | Rebecca Bowyer and Boys Will Be Boys by Clementine Ford | n@ncy discussed how the patriarchy doesn’t necessarily work for many men either.

Stasiland by Anna Funder | Claire Holderness | Jennifer Cameron-Smith made a reappearance in the challenge, no doubt thanks to the recent 30th anniversary of the Wall coming down in Berlin.
Going back even further in time was Australia’s First Naturalists by Penny Olsen & Lynette Russell | Jennifer Cameron-Smith until we reached pre-historic events in Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia by Christina Thompson | n@ncy.
Closer to home was Through Ice and Fire: The adventures, science and people behind Australia’s famous icebreaker Aurora Australis by Sarah Laverick | Jennifer Cameron-Smith.

For even more science try Dr Space Junk vs The Universe: Archaeology in the Future by Alice Gorman | n@ncy.

Science with an Indigenous perspective can be found in The Memory Code: The Secrets of Stonehenge, Easter Island and Other Ancient Monuments by Lynne Kelly | Veronica Strachan. 

Going online can be a dangerous thing as we discovered in Troll Hunting: Inside the World of Online Hate and its Human Falloutby Ginger Gorman | n@ncy.

The China connection was explored in The Phoenix Years: Art, resistance and the making of modern China by Madeleine O’Dea | n@ncy.

Blooms and Brushstrokes: A floral history of Australian Art by Tansy & Penelope Curtin | Jennifer Cameron-smith continued the art theme.

While books in books and authors talking about books got a good run in The Book that Made Me edited by Judith Ridge | Amy @ Lost in a Good Book.

Two previous red-hot favourites reappeared this month Everywhere I Look by Helen Garner | n@ncy and Any Ordinary Day by Leigh Sales | Carolyn Scott.

Thankfully we can finish on a lighter note with 488 Rules For Life: The Thankless Art of Being Correct by Kitty Flanagan | Shelleyrae @ Book’d Out and Ashleigh Meikle – The Book Muse. A book I suspect will be under many a Christmas tree this year!

Photo by Eleonora Albasi on Unsplash

Thank you for your patience during my recent absence – I promise to do better next year.

Until next month,
Happy Reading!

About Bronwyn: I have been a book blogger at Brona’s Books since 2009 and a bookseller (specialising in children’s literature) in Sydney since 2008. Prior to this I was as an Early Childhood teacher for 18 years in country NSW.

I joined the AWW team in 2015 as the History, Memoir, Biography editor. In 2017 I moved to the General Non-fiction page and in 2018 I picked up the role of editor of Poetry. You can also find me at The Classics Club as one of the new Gen 2 moderators.

I taught myself to read when I was four by memorising my Dr Seuss books. I haven’t stopped reading since.

You can find me on Twitter @bronasbooks and Litsy @Brona.