2025 Nonfiction Challenge Completed!

Yeah! Another challenge completed. I really enjoyed this one this year and even managed to read more than my original goal, which is a good thing. I also managed to read at least one book in each category this year, which I didn’t start off thinking I would do. Somehow half way through the year, my brain rewrote my original goal of ten books to 12 books one in each category. It was fine and it all worked out in the end. I managed to read 13 books total, which is pretty good for me. I’ve listed them in the order I read them and linked their titles to my reviews.

Lighthouses at the End of the World was a very interesting and fun read. I love lighthouses and learning about some of the most remote ones was fascinating.

The Big Redhead Book was a very interesting look at the genetics and culture of redheads. If you are a natural redhead this is a must read.

Loch Ness Uncovered was a middle grade book about the Loch Ness Monster hoax. It was interesting but a little dry and could have been presented a bit better. But still an interesting story.

Go To Hell was and interesting book about the many places around the world that are associated with the Underworld.

Field Notes from a Fungi Forager is a beautifully illustrated book about mushrooms, mostly specific to the Pacific Northwest. Not meant to be a field guide, but talked about the different edible mushrooms you can find and eat.

A Field Guide to the Apocalypse was actually a pretty good book. Full of helpful tips for surviving almost anything. It also talked about the more plausible types of apocalypses that could occur, but also included the nonsensical ones like zombies. (This is the only one I fudge a bit for the prompt as I think ‘How to’ was suppose to be in the title 🙂)

Hell’s Half-Acre was a really interesting book. I had no idea that this had happened, but not too surprising that the family was able to get away with it considering how easy it was to disappear in the old west.

TreeNotes was a very short but interesting little book about trees. It is based on these broadcasts on Public Radio. Very informative though.

The CIA Book Club was very informative about a time period I know little about. It was mostly about how Poland won independence from the USSR, through the use of the free press.

A Walk in the Woods is a book that has been around a long time and one I always meant to read. It was a very enjoyable listen and it was often funny.

Everything is Tuberculosis was the best nonfiction book I read this year, if not ever. This is one everyone should read.

A Dumb Birds Field Guide to the Worst Birds Ever was my bonus read and doesn’t really fit any of the categories. I had a lot of fun reading it though and was either chuckly or laughing out loud while I was reading it.

The Un-Discovered Islands was a really interesting book with lovely illustrations. I learned some interesting things about the myths surrounding some of these islands.

I am planning on doing this one again, it was fun and really made me stretch my nonfiction reading choices. If you want to check out next year’s challenge and maybe even sign up for it check out Shelley Rae’s blog, Book’d Out. There are some very interesting prompts for next year’s challenge, and I already have a few books in mind for some of them.

Did you read any nonfiction this year? Any suggestions for me? Let me know in the comments.

Until next time…

Happy Reading!