Off The Shelf

Happy holidays! With only four days left of 2015, it's time to list both New Year's resolutions and the best books of the year. This first post in a series of three is devoted to ranking the 5 autobiographies, memoirs, and nonfiction books I read this year. Although most were for school assignments, I thoroughly enjoyed each one.   Be sure to come back tomorrow and Tuesday for the Best Historical Fiction and Best Fiction books of the year!  Top Autobiographies, Memoirs, and Nonfiction of 2015: 5.  The Return of Martin Guerre , by Natalie Zemon Davis 4.  How to Read Literature Like a Professor , by Thomas C. Fowler 3. Reading Lolita in Tehran , by Azar Nafisi 2.  Unbearable Lightness , by Portia de Rossi 1.  I Am Malala , by Malala Yousafzai I Am Malala is the remarkable tale of Malala Yousafzai, who at 15 was shot by the Taliban for standing up for girls' education in Pakistan. In this incredibly enlightening and ...

It's that time of year! Yes, it is the time for some good Christmas cheer, but also for naming the best books of the year. My "Best of"lists for 2014 will be posted over the course of three days, so be sure to check back tomorrow for my top historical fiction novels of the year. Top Autobiographies, Memoirs, and Nonfiction of 2014:  4. Standing at Armageddon: A Grassroots History of the United States, Nell Irvin Painter 3. Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass 2. Outliers: The Story of Success , Malcolm Gladwell 1. Wave , Sonali Deraniyagala (Scored: 25 /30) Wave is the story of Sonali Deraniyagala, who was vacationing with her family in Sri Lanka during Christmas, week of 2004. On December 26th, a tsunami and earthquake occurred, consuming her hotel in waves. Deraniyagala lost her parents, husband, and sons to the tsunami...she writes in an unsentimental prose that is intimate and angry... Wave  is dark and haunting, and yet ...