Day 4 of Armchair BEA is about Ethics and Non-fiction. I've done my post on ethics.
We bridge the genre gap from fiction to all things non-fiction. Do you read non-fiction? Why or why not? Is there a specific type of non-fiction that you prefer to read (i.e. historical, true crime, memoirs, biographies, etc)? What is the perfect book for a first-time non-fiction reader?
Um yes. Remember when I discussed fiction and I said I read MANY genres? Well non-fiction also falls into this category. I don't typically read much history, true crime, memoirs, or biographies (all the types mentioned above), but I will and would. Remember how I said for me what determines how I feel about a book is about the emotion behind the story. All of these categories are still about stories. If there are emotions involved, I'm there.
However, there's another kind of non-fiction that wasn't mentioned above. I know this is debatable (as most genre classifications are), but to me...anything that's not fiction falls into non-fiction (makes sense, right?). And so that type of non-fiction is SELF-HELP! I love me some self-help books.
Actually, I'm all about ANYTHING in life that can help me grow as a person, as an individual, as a Christian, as a blogger, as a wife, as a hopefully-one-day-mother, as an employee....basically if there's any aspect of my life in which I can grow--that would be all of them, right?--then I'm not only open to it, I'm eager to devour it.
I've actually found that I'm almost more eager to hand out my 5-Star rating to books that I feel really have helped me grow and those are typically self-help books. I realized about halfway into my first year of blogging that the only books I was giving 5 Stars to were self-help books--and most of those at least have religious undertones if not straight classified as Christian. I've remedied that by now of course by reading some pretty awesome 5-Star fiction books, but it did bring to my attention the fact that I really do enjoy books that can help me grow as a person. Of course, fiction can help you grow as a person too, but it's not always designed to do so.
My top 5-Star Non-fiction books are as follows--all of these are books I feel like EVERYONE should have to read:
The Power of a Praying Woman by Stormie Omartian
Boundaries by Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. John Townsend
Honorable mentions are:
48 Days to the Work You Love by Dan Miller
Love & Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs
Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeurst
One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp
The Power of Prayer to Change Your Marriage by Stormie Omartian
What about you? Do you read non-fiction? Are there any must-reads on your list that I need to check out?
I want to read that Francis Chan book along with the Rob Bell book (I can't remember which came first but one is a response to the other, of sorts).
ReplyDeletePush by Chalene Johnson is a fab book! I loved it :)
ReplyDeleteBoundaries a fave here. I've more additions for your list when you've time to check them out in today's post and in the book reviews tab or my Goodreads shelves - let me know which ones you like ...
ReplyDeleteHapPy Weekend!
OOh, I loved Crazy Love. I read lots of non-fiction and my favorites are Christian living and anything entrepreneurship. Great list!
ReplyDeleteI made a promise to myself this year to read at least one non-fiction book. I'm debating between Malcom X and Anne Frank, but I guess that means biographies/memoirs are my type of non-fiction. I love storytelling, and I'd love it further if it was real and actually happened in real life.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Sandy!
Self help isn't my favorite but you're right; it's often overlooked as non-fiction!
ReplyDeleteYesssssss. I love self help books! I think for the same reason. And most of the spirituality books I read fall under that umbrella as well. LOVE THEM.
ReplyDeleteOh yes. I've read another book by Francis Chan and really enjoyed it too. I'm not sure I know which books your talking about specifically though. You'll have to let me know if you think of the names. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
ReplyDeleteOh I haven't "met" anyone else who's read it! I love Chalene...from her work outs to her inspiration. And I've totally adapted a lot of habits from Push. Great stuff! Thanks for stopping by!
ReplyDeleteOh awesome! A friend recommended Boundaries to me, but I haven't met anyone else who's read it! I feel like it's one of those books that EVERYONE must read! I'll go see if I can find you on Goodreads so I can check out your shelves. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
ReplyDeleteCrazy Love was awesome, was it not? I've got Entreleadership by Dave Ramsey in my possession that I need to read too. Have you read that one yet? Thanks for stopping by!
ReplyDeleteI read The Diary of Anne Frank in school...that one was really good. Really moving. A great story is always something I'm looking for too! Thanks for commenting!
ReplyDeleteThat's okay. We all have our preferences. I like that the Armchair BEA crew did a link up to genres that we didn't cover today. I didn't do a post for that, but it gives those "neglected" genres a chance to shine! Thanks for commenting!
ReplyDeleteI love it when I find a kindred book spirit. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and commenting Katie!
ReplyDeleteOops I had the wrong Chan book. Rob Bell's book was Love Wins, and Chan's response to that book is Erasing Hell. Interesting interview from 2011 here: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/julyweb-only/francis-chan-hell.html (I definitely want to read both!)
ReplyDeleteI haven't read Erasing Hell...I have it in my possession, but I haven't read it yet. I've read Crazy Love and Forgotten God though. I'll have to check out Rob Bell's book first since Erasing Hell was written in response to that. Going to check out that article now. Thanks for looking it up for me!
ReplyDeleteSounds intriguing. Also sounds like Rob Bell's book is probably pretty controversial. You'll have to let me know if you read it before I do! Thanks again!
ReplyDeleteYou have a great list of books! I've read several of the ones you have listed.
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