It’s Week 2 of Nonfiction November hosted by Frances at Volatile Rune. The topic this week is Choosing Nonfiction.

What are you looking for when you pick up a nonfiction book? Do you have a particular topic you’re attracted to? Do you have a particular writing style that works best? When you look at a nonfiction book, does the title or cover influence you? If so, share a title or cover which you find striking.

I read mostly to learn, sometimes to escape. Nonfiction can be just as much an escape as fiction. Inside a good nonfiction book the world, or at least some part of it, becomes comprehensible. It seems orderly and often beautiful. Even when I read about frightening topics like climate change or rising autocracy or mental health, I can find calmness and reassurance because between the covers of a book it all makes sense.

These days, I need that.

I have a wide variety of interests but for the last few years I’ve been focused on the environment, nature and especially climate change. I have no problem reading highly technical material, but academic writing can be soporific, so I prefer more engaging styles of writing. As Richard Powers says in The Overstory,

“The best arguments in the world won’t change a person’s mind. The only thing that can do that is a good story.” [p. 488]

Sure, I like a beautiful cover or a clever title as much as anyone. Here are a few that caught my eye this year. (Links point to my reviews.)

How Infrastructure Works is a wonderful book that looks deeply at the function, development and future of infrastructure. It might seem like a nerdy topic, but Deb Chachra writes that infrastructure is so much more than pipes and cables, dams and bridges. Infrastructure is how we care for each other. I like how the cover shows some of those cryptic markings we see spray-painted in bright colors on streets and sidewalks hinting at the infrastructure buried below.

In Our Moon, Rebecca Boyle explores how the Moon has inspired culture, religion and science for thousands of years. Our fascination with the Moon probably helped kickstart the beginnings of civilization. She also shows how the Moon affected the formation of the Earth, and guided the evolution of life itself. The cover showing a couple of wolves howling at the Moon reminded me how wonderful it is to get out of the city and see the bright Moon in a clear night sky.

Finally, Around the World in 80 Birds is exactly what it sounds like. For each species, there’s a brief profile written by Mike Unwin. He describes the birds, their behavior, habitat and relationship to humans. The book is brought to life by the fabulous illustrations created by Ryuto Miyake, some of which you can see in the riotous collage on the cover. It’s impossible to pick 80 birds out of 11,000 species in a way that pleases everyone, so you’ll find some of your favorites and some you may never have heard of. It’s a good mix.

Thanks for reading.