I made a special effort to read more nonfiction this year, and I discovered some gems while doing so. These are my favorite nonfiction reads from 2015. Not all of these were published in 2015, but I did read them this past year.
1. Mission at Nuremberg: An American Army Chaplain and the Trial of the Nazis by Tim Townsend. Such a good book about Henry Gerecke, the Lutheran chaplain who ministered to the high-ranking Nazi prisoners at Nuremberg.
2. Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More—Poet, Reformer, Abolitionist by Karen Swallow Prior. I was captivated by “extraordinary life†of this woman of God, “best-selling poet, novelist, and playwright, friend of the famous, practical philanthropist, and moral conscience of a nation.â€
3. Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital by Sheri Fink. Deeply disturbing, dare I say scary, story of the events at a hospital in New Orleans during and after Hurricane Katrina.
4. Caught Up in a Story: Fostering a Storyformed Life of Great Books & Imagination with Your Children by Sarah Clarkson. I didn’t review those, but it’s an excellent book about the power of story in the lives of children and adults.
5. The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia by Candace Fleming. This young adult nonfiction title raised a lot of questions about the ability of religious practice and conviction to actually change our actions and subvert our cultural sins. The Romanovs were devout, but extremely misguided in many ways.
6. She Is Mine: A War Orphan’s Incredible Journey of Survival by Stephanie Fast. The almost unbelievable and harrowing story of a Korean war orphan, abandoned by her mother and unknown to her American GI father, She is Mine is an amazing testament to the courage and endurance of the author, but even more to the grace of God in her life.
7. I Dared to Call Him Father: The Miraculous Story of a Muslim Woman’s Encounter with God by Bilquis Sheikh. Classic testimony of a well-to-do Muslim Pakistani woman, Bilquis Sheikh, who came to faith in Christ at the age of sixty-five through a series of dreams and visions and through comparison of the Koran to the Christian Bible.
8. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures by Anne Fadiman. 1997 story of a Hmong family from Laos and their difficulties with the medical system in Merced County, California, as it related to their epileptic daughter, Lia Lee.
9. Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic by Sam Quinones. Again, disturbing and riveting, this time concerning opioid abuse in the United States.
10. Sacred Marriage: Celebrating Marriage as a Spiritual Discipline by Gary L. Thomas. I didn’t review this one, but I did give my copy to my daughter who got married on January 2nd. Excellent exposition of the meaning of Christian marriage.
12. Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad by M.T. Anderson. Finalist for the Cybils award in Young Adult Nonfiction.
13. The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings: J.R.R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams by Philip and Carol Zaleski. I finished up 2015 with this book about the Inklings I was reading it on New Year’s Eve and into 2016. Review coming soon, the book was dense, but fascinating.
I very much enjoyed She Is Mine and I Dared to Call Him Father. I have Mission to Nuremburg on my TBR list, I think.
Thanks for sharing these recommendations. The Envoy looks really good. I will pick that one up next week for sure.
My favorite non fiction of 2015 was Tom Gallagher’s amazing memoir ‘Tara’s Halls’. http://thegallagherplace.us
This was not only an amazing story of a mans spirited determination to better himself but also a fascinating cultural and historical read.
I imagine this book would be a big hit with fans of Frank McCourt. I thought it was truly outstanding. One of those that has really stuck with me.