What to Read for Non Fiction November 2023

In which I receive some advice about which non-fiction books to read this November.
#nonfiction #nonfictionnovember #readingrecommendations #reading #booklover #bookreview
Books discussed:
The Terrible by Yrsa Daley-Ward
Citizen by Claudia Rankine
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
I am an Island by Tamsin Calidas
My Mess is a Bit if a Life by Georgia Pritchett
The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein

[@paulnorfolk2597]

I absolutely love when you do videos together, I'm subscribed to both your channels and I always make time to watch them. You both seem to have warm,fun, infectious personalities and it's like getting a virtual hug when I watch you. Please please,please do more videos together. You're fantastic! 😊 😍

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

Wow, thank you! We really enjoy making them - just a book catch-up for us 🙏🙏🙏🧡🧡🧡📚📚📚

[@Beatts113]

Totally agree

[@Beatts113]

You two on the same video is a proper treat. Love you both! Thanks for sharing x. The girl who smiled beads by Clemantine Wamariya is my rec to you both x

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

Thanks for sharing!! And thanks for your enthusiasm about what we do 🙏🙏🙏🧡🧡🧡📚📚📚

[@ericamangin1184]

Love the non-fiction recs. Really intrigued by I am an Island - added that to my TBR :) Some non-fiction books I've loved are: The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (memoir); Happy City by Charles Montgomery (you'll never look at cities the same again); Gut by Giulia Enders (so enlightening about an underrated part of our body); Born a Crime by Trevor Noah (memoir that you'll fly through!); Wilding by Isabella Tree (really fascinating and beautifully written, you'll love nature more after reading this).

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

I haven’t read any of these, so, many thanks 🙏🙏🙏🧡🧡🧡📚📚📚

[@tanyam6197]

Delightful as always! Lovely to see you both 😊

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

Our pleasure! 🙏🙏🙏🧡🧡🧡📚📚📚

[@fernandamurari8577]

Hello! Lovely seeing you both! Thank you for the recommendations. 😚

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

Our pleasure! 🙏🙏🙏🧡🧡🧡📚📚📚

[@karenkatz5260]

Lovely to see you both. I absolutely love Christmas Days by Janette Winterson. I would also recommend The right sort of girl by Anita Rani. 🤗🤗

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

Thanks for the tips! 🙏🙏🙏📚📚📚🧡🧡🧡

[@Gogglepuss]

‘How to Lose your Mother’ and ‘Wayward Lives and Beautiful Experiments’ both by Saidiya Hartman ‘Hijab Butch Blues’ by Lamya H ‘Whites: On Race and Other Falsehoods’ by Otegha Uwagba ‘H is for Hawk’ by Helen McDonald ‘On Connection’ by Kae Tempest ‘The Argonauts’ and ‘Bluets’ by Maggie Nelson

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

I know Simon LOVED H is for Hawk and I do have it on my shelves… 🙏🙏🙏🧡🧡🧡📚📚📚

[@clairebanks1903]

Thank you Louise and Simon Thoroughly enjoyed your video. Thank you for those recommendations Read I am an Island. Thought it was excellent. Pretty emotional in parts. Have read and enjoyed Diane Athills non fiction. Also Susan Hills Howard’s End Is On The Landing and Jacobs Room is Full of Books. Looking forward to reading The Five

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

I am an Island seems really popular, so might order that next 🙏🙏🙏🧡🧡🧡📚📚📚

[@mariasmiles68]

Not sure if I have the words to describe just how much I love when you and Simon film a video together. Always interesting and fun. My mother's favorite color was orange so I am sure she would have loved these covers too. 🧡📚

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

Glad you enjoyed it. Always up for 🍊🙏🙏🙏📚📚📚🧡🧡🧡

[@jodiem8088]

Philippa Gregory's Normal Women, surely deserves in win the non fiction Women's Prize. It is a book I have been waiting for years for someone to write. It's huge and I am working my way through it slowly. There is an accompanying podcast which is really good too.

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

Ooo. I wasn’t aware of the podcast. Thank you 🙏🙏🙏📚📚📚🧡🧡🧡

[@joinbookland]

Wow, currently reading the Henrietta Lacks book! It's really fascinating and am very much enjoying it.

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

Wonderful! 🙏🙏🙏🧡🧡🧡📚📚📚

[@user-br4hn2id4w]

Love seeing the two of you together! One of my favorite nonfiction books by a woman of color is called The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson. It’s not new but really wonderfully written and important stories.

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

Thank you. I hadn’t come across this on 🙏🙏🙏📚📚📚🧡🧡🧡

[@lesleybradley9370]

Absolutely fantastic vlog. Love to see you both together. Loved I am an island, very brutal but brilliant. Please do more together you're both so funny 😂😂😂

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

Don’t worry 😉 We’ll be back 🙏🙏🙏🧡🧡🧡📚📚📚

[@janepeacock3704]

Hi 👋🏻 👋🏻 🤓 I 🧡 it too when you jointly do videos 👏🏻👏🏻 What a coincidence Simon, because only recently I purchased from a charity shop the Rose Tremain novel you referenced - “Sacred Country” 😌 The NF book that sprung to mind is Bernadine Evaristo’s “Manifesto” (think that’s the title 🤔) I need to read more NF books, so I welcome the Women's Prize NF event (& the fiction of course!) I’m interested in “I Am An Island” & the Georgia Pritchett (spelling?!) one 👍 Hope you had a fab trip 📚📚 TC xx

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

I have a copy of Manifesto but have been saving it for when I need a treat ☺️🙏🙏🙏💛💛💛📚📚📚

[@janepeacock3704]

I’m such a fan of hers 😌📖👏🏻🧡xx

[@higgsbosonblues]

Great video! Here's some non-fiction by women: Free - Lea Ypi , Priestdaddy - Patricia Lockwood, Reading Lolita in Tehran - Azar Nafisi, Zami: A New Spelling of my Name - Audre Lorde, Hidden Figures - Margot Lee Shetterly, Sequins For a Ragged Hem - Amryl Johnson, The Transgender Issue - Shon Faye, Femina - Janina Ramirez, Transcendence - Gaia Vince, My Invented Country - Isabel Allende, The New Jim Crow - Michelle Alexander, Strong Female Caracter - Fern Brady, Ancestors - Alice Roberts, The Patriarchs - Angela Saini, The Great Pretender - Susanah Cahalan, Women, Race, and Class - Angela Davis

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

Another veritable cornucopia of suggestions. Thanks so much 🙏🙏🙏🧡🧡🧡📚📚📚

[@DebMcDonald]

Lovely to see Simon at yours 📚. I just read Meg, Jo ,Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why it Still Matters and I’ve started Lucy Worsley’s bio of Agatha Christie. Jesmyn Ward has written some nonfiction also Jung Chang who wrote Wild Swans.

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

Loved Wild Swans but to spend more time with Meg, Jo, Beth andAmy would be a joy! 🤩

[@GreenBitterfly]

One of the non-fiction books by women that I love is Takeaway: Stories from a Childhood Behind the Counter by Angela Hui, and Hungry by Grace Dent. I also liked I Am Not Your Baby Mother by Candice Brathwaite.

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

All great suggestions, thank you 🙏🙏🙏📚📚📚🧡🧡🧡

[@claire5943]

Absolutely loved this, you two are pure bookish joy 😍. I also read very little non fiction but recently read Breaking and Mending by Joanna Cannon. Which was a fascinating insight into mental illness 🍊

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

I benefited enormously from reading that book 🙏🙏🙏📚📚📚🧡🧡🧡

[@tracys.mitnaul-xv7te]

What a pair the two of you are.😊

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

We really are 😂😂😂

[@karencamer7723]

One of my favourite non fiction books is Dinner with Edward. I also love all the Slightly Foxed memoirs and then there us Uproar by Alice Loxton. I’m sure these are recommendations that both if you would love . Thank you for another wonderful video. I just love you two x

[@ericamangin1184]

Dinner with Edward sounds great - have added to my TBR :)

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

Thanks for sharing these recommendations. Glad you enjoyed it 🤭🙏🙏🙏🧡🧡🧡📚📚📚

[@cindyhaiken5644]

Double the Savidge fun!! Two nonfiction books by women I’ve read this year and loved were Monsters by Claire Dederer and Hilary Mantel’s posthumous essay collection A Memoir of My Former Self, which mostly made me mourn her loss all over again. I am hoping to turn this weekend to Hunting the Falcon, which is by the husband and wife team of John Guy and Julia Fox and is about Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn and sounds really, really good, so that’s at least half by a woman. I’m also quite excited for next year’s first WP for nonfiction!

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

Love anything Tudor! Fab recommendation 🙏🙏🙏🧡🧡🧡📚📚📚

[@marjoriedybec3450]

When I read NF, I hope to learn something. I'm not looking specifically for riveting storytelling, (altho often you get both.) I love biographies and autobiographies for if someone's life merits such a book, its likely they have some extraordinary something from which i can take a lesson. Here are some women authors of NF I have read with the star rating I gave it at the time I read it: Robin Wall Kimmerer (Braiding Sweetgrass, 3*); Mary Gabriel (Ninth Street Women, 5*); Joan Dideon (Slouching Towards Bethlehem, 4*); Lisa Napoli (Susan, Linda, Nina & Cokie: Founding Mothers of NPR, 3*); Kate Hennessy (Dorothy Day: The World Will Be Saved by Beauty, 3*); Cassie Chambers (Hill Women, 4*); Claire Tomalin (The Invisible Woman, 3.5*); Elizabeth Bard (Picnic in Provence-a memoir, 4*); Annie Lowrey (Give People Money, 3.5*); Harriet Backus Fish (Tomboy Bride: A Woman's Account of Life in a Mining Camp, 5*); Laura Coppet (The Art Dealers, 5*-altho outdated now); Frances Moore Lappe (Diet for a Small Planet, 5*); Alice Kaplan (Dreaming in French-about Jacq Kennedy, Susan Sontag and Angela Davis in Paris, 4*); Helen Castor (Joan of Arc, 4*); Sue Roe (In Montmartre: Picasso, Matisse and Modernism, 5*); Peggy Guggenheim (Out of this Century: Confessions of an Art Addict, 5*). Sorry SImon, I like to read about Art. Braiding Sweetgrass is beautifully, poetically written. Each chapter is its own thing. You could easily serialize the reading of this book so you could read it while reading other things. Some of the stories really stick with you in a somewhat haunting way. You will be smarter after reading it. I don't remember why it only got 3*s, because now 3 years after reading it, I'd probably give it 4. Ninth St Women, Out of This Century and Tomboy Bride were three of my favorite reads of all time. Least favorite from my list: Dorothy Day, I found her to be less likeable than I wanted her to be and the writing was lackluster. Hill Women is a very poignant and perceptive and respectful view of the people of Appalachia. It starts out a bit slow but by the end its tremendous. As I look at my past NF reading, you are right...way more male writers than women...but some are superb reads even if they are mansplaining. lol. Thanks guys ! Happy book shopping.

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

Thank you for such an exhaustive list. Really appreciated. Didion has been in my list for a while, you’ve spurred me on 🙏🙏🙏🧡🧡🧡📚📚📚

[@marjoriedybec3450]

@@louisesavidgemuses4135 Dideon definitely has a gift. At first I found it a bit too journalistic but about halfway through Slouching somehting clicked and I literally reflect on all her essays all the time.

[@ann-kathrinmeyenburg7265]

Thanks for the Video. I am not much of a non-Fiction-reader. But I liked Turning - Lessons from Swimming Berlin’s Lakers by Jessica J.Lee.

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

Ooo. Haven’t come across that one 🙏🙏🙏🧡🧡🧡📚📚📚

[@ilovaychanka1026]

greetings from Ukraine ☀️ and thank you for this video. For non-fiction female authors I would recommend "Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men" by Caroline Criado Perez and also books by Mary Roach - like "Packing for Mars" or "Stiff" (this one is a bit gory, but educational).

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

‘Gory but educational’ is a really intriguing tag 😊🙏🙏🙏🧡🧡🧡📚📚📚

[@janethansen9612]

I’m half way through Wifedom by Anna Funder which I am very much enjoying. Next up will be Indelible city by Louisa Lim which is about the identity of Hong Kong.

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

Loved Anna Funder’s book about Berlin and have been tempted by Wifedom, so thanks for the recommendation 🧡🧡🧡📚📚📚🙏🙏🙏

[@tientsin92]

Delightful as always and it’s made me want to read them all! Currently listening to The Transgender Issue by Shon Faye and reading some Annie Ernaux! X

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

Great recommendations. Thanks 🙏🙏🙏📚📚📚🧡🧡🧡

[@mradcaqbdb]

I was just at my local indie chatting with one of my favorite booksellers about Non-fiction November. She had just finished Empress of the Nile: The Daredevil Archeologist Who Saved Egypt’s Ancient Temple’s From Destruction by Lynne Olson and said it was fantastic. I’ve put it on my audiobook list to read in the future. It looks really fascinating!

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

That sounds right up my alley and had not heard of it. Many thanks 🙏🙏🙏📚📚📚🧡🧡🧡

[@christinebarone7496]

I mostly read non fiction, have my whole life. The Trauma cleaner has stayed with me for years since I've read it, UGH and books mostly don't remain in my head for long, its onto the next one, but yeah.........let's see more of you two together, it was charming! As to the subject of authors, male for female, I always pick for the subject and not the author , I so when I hear someone say, give me some female author names I go blank, Same for men authors though, am I alone in this weird manner?

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

I’m much better at remembering these days, I think making the blogs helps 🤭I agree that we should pick for subject but look forward to a time when I can do that from a wider range due to more female input 🙏🙏🙏🧡🧡🧡📚📚📚

[@spexi513]

💚 y’all videos together! 📖🪱💚

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

🙏🙏🙏🧡🧡🧡📚📚📚

[@susprime7018]

I still want to read I Am An Island, kept hoping it would eventually be available for Kindle, not yet, I remember the presentation by Simon and Melanie Sykes, which was a fine one even though the book sounds a bit creepy, just ordered a physical copy. Simon, The Same River Twice, Honoring the Difficult by Alice Walker, lucky enough to have an advance uncorrected reader's proof, hey Louise, just saw on the shelf that I have read Kate Atkinson, Started Early, Took My Dog, which I enjoyed, now Alice Walker goes back on the shelf. Congratulations Louise on your gift, Miss Savidge Moves Her House.

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

Some great recommendations there, thank you 🙏🙏🙏📚📚📚🧡🧡🧡

[@Penny-ws4mz]

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty. A book that's interesting, uplifting, serious, fun and a lot more.

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

Another I haven’t come across. Thank you 🙏🙏🙏📚📚📚🧡🧡🧡

[@enidlacob1157]

I just adore the two of you Savidges.I found this difficult to hear is it only me .? I need to read more non fiction so this was marvelous. Thanks

[@jacquelinemcmenamin8204]

I’ve just finished a book you’d like Louise. It’s not nonfiction though. Happiness Falls by Angie Kim. I found it very good because one of the characters is non verbal autistic/Angel man syndrome. I highly recommend The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Most of my nonfiction is around mental health, autism, psychology etc. There area a lot of books in these areas written by women. I also love books about the history of medicine. There is a book about the first female doctors in England . Cannot remember the title or author.

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

No one else has mentioned the sound but I’m grateful for the comment as I know editing is not my strong suit 🙏🙏🙏🧡🧡🧡📚📚📚

[@judithgray3739]

I couldn't hear anything the man said.

[@p_p_p_p_7732]

I'm reading and really enjoying Homelands by Chitra Ramaswamy at the moment

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

Fabulous 🙏🙏🙏🧡🧡🧡📚📚📚

[@jacquelineturner7206]

I recommend Caste by Isabel Wilkerson and South to America by Imani Perry. They both deal with race in America, but I think in ways that would be interesting to non-Americans, especially on the topic of class.

[@ericamangin1184]

Totally agree with Caste - I've made lots of my relatives read it. Such an interesting and well-written piece :)

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

I think the race issue is relateable here too, thanks for the suggestion 🙏🙏🙏🧡🧡🧡📚📚📚

[@MJ-in-Canada]

I loved the synchronized “bye!” at the end. Here are some recommendations of nonfiction books by female authors: “They Said This Would Be Fun: Race, Campus Life, and Growing Up” by Eternity Martis, published in 2020 by McClelland & Stewart. It’s a memoir about what it's like to be a student of colour on a predominantly white campus. “Superfan: How Pop Culture Broke My Heart” by Jen Sookfong Lee, published in 2023 by McClelland & Stewart. Description: “A sharply observed memoir that uses one woman's life-long love affair with pop culture as a lens to explore family, identity, grief, the power of female rage, and what it's cost to resist the trap of being a good Chinese girl.” “Unearthing: A Story of Tangled Love and Family Secrets” by Kyo Maclear, published in 2023 by Scribner. Kyo Maclear had a British father and a Japanese mother. This memoir unearths her family secret, revealed by a DNA test. I could go on but I’ll stop while I’m ahead.

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

Great list. Thank you. Am hoping to get to more non-fiction after I retire at Christmas, so this should come in very handy 🙏🙏🙏🧡🧡🧡📚📚📚

[@MJ-in-Canada]

I should have also mentioned that my list of three books is by female authors who aren't white women. Simon had requested at the end of the video that he would like our suggestions. @@louisesavidgemuses4135

[@dunkbiscuit]

Check out the wainwright prize. Mainly women this year. And some corkers.

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

Duh! Didn’t even think of that 🫣🙏🙏🙏📚📚📚🧡🧡🧡

[@lizh9497]

One of my favourites is The Fictional Woman by Tara Moss

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

🙏🙏🙏🧡🧡🧡📚📚📚

[@jorjastonej]

Nonfiction by women, mostly women of color: Raynor Winn’s books, especially the first one will open yr hearts to homeless and resilient in England. Soil: A Black Mother’s Garden by Camille T. Dingy. How Kyoto Breaks Your Heart by Florentyna Leow. World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil. Tiny Moons: A Year of Eating in Shanghai by Nina Mingya Powles. Managing Expectations: A Memoir in Essays by Minnie Driver. Becoming by Michelle Obama. Beyond Diversity by Rohit Barghava. The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story -Nicole Hannah-Jones. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Wisdom, and the Teachings of Plants. Fresh Banana Leaves: Healing Indigenous Landscapes through Indigenous Science by Jessica Hernandez. sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Disabled Body by Rebekah Taussig. The Rumi Prescription: How an Ancient Mystic Poet Changed my modern Manic Life by Melody Moezzi. Sissinghurst: Vita Sackville-West and the Creation of a Garden. Windswept: Walking the Trails. of Trailblazing Women by Annabel Abbs.

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

The only one of these I’ve read is Becoming. Thanks for taking the time to offer such a wealth of ideas. Much appreciated 🙏🙏🙏🧡🧡🧡📚📚📚

[@MJ-in-Canada]

Agree with the choice of Raynor Winn's books for you, Louise.@@louisesavidgemuses4135

[@rebeccamaclean6242]

Men We Reap by Jesmyn Ward.

[@louisesavidgemuses4135]

🙏🙏🙏📚📚📚🧡🧡🧡

[@Joeda6]

every. book. vignettey.