I’ve been a fan of non-fiction throughout my life. The list maker in me wishes I had notes on every book I read from childhood on. What an evolution of a person, of a reader, right?

The Diary of Anne Frank would have been among my early reads, but I’m sure it wasn’t the first. I soon learned the differences between biographies, authorized biographies, and autobiographies—my preferred genre. Is there anything as much fun as reading Katharine Hepburn’s  Me? Or the outrageous, The Making of ā€œThe African Queen.ā€ Or How I Went to Africa with Bogart, Bacall and Almost Lost My Life.

Bookcases laden with a variety of books
Dad-built bookcases–full of non-fiction & fiction books

Utterly irrepressible stuff from this grand lady.

You won’t catch me reading gore or horror—not on my fiction shelves. Yet FBI Mind-hunter John E. Douglas is always a compelling read. 

As a Christian, I enjoy Bible studies and Anne Lamott is a favorite for an off-the-wall point of view. Love her non-fiction, can’t stand Lamott’s fiction.

WWII Books

I fell into reading books about WWII by accident. My sister had given her husband Best 100 Stories of World War II. There one winter, I had to dive in, didn’t I? Published in 1945, it is a different read from stories written today. Which leads to the authors I discovered by attending local history lectures at our library. Two local fellows volunteered to provide these lectures over the winter months. How great! They led to me becoming a huge fan of Alex Kershaw. If you enjoy learning about WWII, he’s a the top historians to read and by all means, catch his lectures. Don’t miss him.